Chattanooga Grades

In 121 years of Alabama football, there has never been a group like them. No other class of players has won more games, claimed more championships and sent more opposing coaches to the unemployment line. If you closed the book today on AJ McCarron, Kevin Norwood, CJ Mosley, Cody Mandel, Cade Foster, Deion Bellue, Ed Stinson, Tana Patrick, John Fulton, Kenny Bell, Nick Perry, Anthony Steen and Kellen Williams, you would have a story of success that is unrivaled in the annals of the college game.

Numbers tell the outlines of their story: 3 BCS Championships; 2 SEC Championships; 3 Western Division Championships; 5-0 records against Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Arkansas; 4-0 record in post-season bowls with victories over Texas, Michigan State, LSU and Notre Dame. Yet this senior class still has one or two more chapters to write. 

Three more wins, and the players who arrived on campus as freshmen in 2009 and 2010, will depart Tuscaloosa with a record of achievement that might never be surpassed. 

Shortly before 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon, those seniors were honored in the traditional pre-game ceremony with Coach Saban and their families. Less than three hours later, they were honored again with a sustained standing ovation from the fans. AJ, Kevin Norwood, Bellue and Fulton made a victory lap slapping hands with appreciative fans. 

Others, not ready to go into the tunnel leading to the dressing room, stood on the playing field and waived to the cheering crowd. CJ Mosley,who chose to delay his pro career in order to return for his senior season, was perhaps the most reluctant player to leave Bryant Denny Stadium. According to the Tuscaloosa News, after getting dressed, Mosley returned to the field and walked out to the fifty yard line where he stood with his family and his thoughts.

The seniors, and their teammates, gave the fans a demonstration of Alabama football fitting for Senior Day. Not only did they thoroughly dominate Chattanooga 49-0, they did so in a display of depth that bodes well for next season when so many of this year's seniors are playing on Sundays. 

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: B- Readers of The Grades know that a one grade reduction is made as an adjustment for the quality of the opponent. 

Alabama gained 435 yards of total offense [251 rushing], earned 22 first downs, and faced only 7 third downs the entire game, converting on 4 of the 7. The Tide had six drives that gained in excess of 40 yards [83, 80, 42, 62, 63, 70] producing five touchdowns and a turnover on downs. The minus was earned when the Offense failed to finish a 32 yard drive in the first quarter and turned the ball over on downs at the Mocs' 44 yard line.

AJ was ruthlessly efficient, completing 13 of 16 pass attempts for 172 yards and 2 TDs. His longest pass went across the middle to Kevin Norwood whose catch and run gained 50 yards. Norwood led all receivers with 84 yards and a TD on 4 receptions. Amari Cooper caught 3 passes for 42 yards and a TD. Christion Jones and Kenny Bell each caught 2 passes. Eight different receivers caught passes including Black & White and McCarron. Coach Saban told reporters after the game that at the half he told OC Doug Nussmeyer to come up with a play where AJ could throw to his brother, Cody. The younger McCarron told reporters that he really concentrated on making that catch because he knew if he dropped it AJ would "yell at him in front of a lot of people."    

Seven different players gained yards rushing. Kenyan Drake gained 77 yards on 11 runs. Derrick Henry carried the ball 6 times for 68 yards, and Dee Hart ran 5 times for 25 yards. Altee Tenpenny and Blake Sims each ran the ball 4 times and the longest run from scrimmage was turned in by wide receiver Chris Black who scored a touchdown on a reverse that gained 31 yards. 

Defense: B+ For the third time this season, the Tide held an opponent scoreless. Since  the second game of the season in College Station, the Tide Defense has allowed all opponents to score only 5 touchdowns and leads the nation in scoring defense at 9.3 points per game.

The Mocs were held to 173 yards of total offense [93 rushing] and 8 first downs.

Landon Collins and CJ Mosley each made 7 tackles. Collins was credited with 5 solo stops while Mosley made 2 tackles for lost yardage. Reuben Foster and Trey DePriest each made 4 tackles.  Foster had a  tackle for lost yardage and DePriest made an interception. Tide defenders accounted for 8 tackles for lost yardage, a forced fumble [Jonathan Allen] that was returned 35 yards [Eddie Jackson]. 2 pass breakups and a blocked field goal attempt [A'Shawn Robinson].

The Mocs with their run-oriented offense were hopefully a good tune-up opponent for Auburn.

Special Teams;

Punting: C+ Cody Mandell's picture would have been on milk cartons around Tuscaloosa this morning if he had not come into the game to hold on place kicks after AJ was finished for the day. The middling punting grade is the average for Christion Jones who fumbled one punt (a knuckle-ball that he overran and tried to catch one-handed) and returned another for a touchdown. 

Place Kicking: A Tide kickers were perfect on all seven PATs.

Kickoffs: B Alabama averaged only 58.9 gross yards per kick and the coverage unit occasionally struggled, allowing one return for 24 yards and achieving an average net yards per kick of only 43 yards.

Coaching: B The Tide did what it had to do against the Mocs. Alabama gained 527 all-purpose yards and was only penalized twice. By early in the 4th quarter, the quick reference guide in the program was utterly useless. The participation report lists 74 players who saw action Saturday afternoon. 

After Saturday's game, AJ McCarron has won more games than any other Alabama quarterback, and the 2013 season still has one game to play. And what a game it will be. In 1992, the SEC adopted the two-division format and instituted a post-season game to determine the conference champion. This marks the first year that whoever wins the Iron Bowl will also be the winner of the SEC West.

The stakes for Alabama could not be higher. Win in the Village and play for the SEC Championship. Win the SEC and play for the BCS title for the third consecutive year. The opportunity for Auburn could not be sweeter. Beat the nation's number 1 team, earn the right to play for the conference crown, and have 365 days to crow about how Auburn crushed Alabama's championship hopes and dreams.

With Baylor falling ignominiously to Oklahoma State, and Oregon getting hammered by Arizona, Auburn finds itself in the improbable position of being two wins, and an indictment away from playing Ohio State for the BCS Championship. Or the Tigers could face FSU if Michigan State beats the Buckeye's for the Big 10 Championship. There are a lot of if's and but's that Auburn needs in order to play for the Big Crystal Football. Alabama, on the other hand, is the master of its own destiny. And Alabama has a huge advantage in its favor: a senior class that knows how to win. 

The 2013 seniors may have played their final game at Bryant Denny Stadium, but their season, and indeed their quest for unmatched greatness, are far from over.  Those Auburn fans who last week were chanting "We want Bama", are about to get more Bama than they can handle.

The Commissioner   

 

MSU Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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We liked the grades better than the game, Commissioner.  We've mentioned before that things have changed mightily.  We have reached the point where beating a division opponent by two touchdowns, holding it to a single score, more or less doubling its yardage gained, and doing all that despite four (try not to think about it) turnovers.

Alabama is ranked #1 in the country, is undefeated, controls its own destiny for the SEC Championship, and is putting together yet another top recruiting class.  In such circumstances, we'll take an ugly win in Starkville any day.  We expect plenty of Oregon fans who were solidly #2 in the polls two weeks ago or last week's #4 Stanford Cardinal would trade places with us today.  The bottom line, though, is that Alabama didn't play to its standard.  The Grades correctly reflect that fact.

Offense:  So we have a running back run for over 150 yards (and go past 1000 on the season), give up a single sack, score 20, average over 5 yards a carry, over 7 yards a reception, give up one sack (on a drive where we scored), win the game and end up with an offense with a grade of "F"?  Dadgum right.  We tried really hard to say that all that added up to a D- and passing (sort of like when Mr. Walden gave us points on our Algebra II final in high school) but we just can't do it.  AJ was off all night.  We are highly suspicious that one of the two interceptions really wasn't one, but apparently ESPN didn't have a camera angle that would have helped.  But he was just not himself, either on his decision-making or his throws.  Coach has alluded to some lingering shoulder problems from the Tennessee game.  Both running backs put the ball on the ground and it's no use calling these isolated instances or "great plays" by the defense.  "Once is a mistake, twice is a habit" is the rule around here when a guy forgets to balance a customer's new set of radials.  Yeldon and Drake now both have fumbling habit .  Perhaps this is good, given that it will keep the team from getting the big head and give the coaches specific points to work on for the tail end of the season.  We hope so.

Defense:  The Defense was on the field a lot of the game, especially in the first half.  But they held the Bulldogs down pretty well.  A rushing total of 52 yards on 29 attempts will not win a lot of football games.  Picking up a loose ball in the end zone probably would have preserved a shut out.  Somehow Clinton-Dix not only intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it, he managed to knock MSU's quarterback out of the game on the same play.   The defense clearly misses Vinnie Sunseri.  The Stop Troops were consistently put in bad positions by the generous attitudes of their offensive counterparts (pun intended).   It seemed like the defense was having trouble getting off the field, but the statistics show that was an illusion.  A good grade is warranted.

Special Teams.  Hats off to our punter.  We know it is a team game, perhaps the ultimate team game, but kickers are the biggest (loneliest) individual element.  On Saturday night Cody Mandell earned a gold star.  His punts averaged over 55 yards and two of them were downed inside the 20.  He is a weapon.  Kick off coverage was far improved over the last two games.

Broadcast:  F.  You know, we don't really mind the ESPN night time crew, but whatever bonehead made the decision to stay with the post-race interview portion of the second string car race championship and to move the Alabama Mississippi State football game to ESPNews, and then move it back to ESPN in the middle of a drive with practically no warning, needs some priority lessons.  I'm not saying college football is better than car racing necessarily, but the race was over a good 30 minutes before the game was to kick off.  I am saying that a live SEC football game is better sports programming than watching people talk about a second-level car race that has been over for half an hour.  Wouldn't interviews with race car owners sound like programming for ESPNews?  Down here at the Tire Store, we have to pay attention to what the customers think -- apparently ESPN doesn't.   It didn't help any that as soon as they switched the game back to ESPN the talking heads on ESPNews started gushing about how great Alabama Polytechnic University was for blowing a three-score lead in the fourth quarter.

In addition to the more recent past, it is a good thing to remember the not-so-recent past.   In 1980 Alabama was undefeated, ranked number 1, on a 28-game winning streak, and was trying to win its third straight national title.  Alabama fumbled inside the five on the last play of the game to lose to Mississippi State in Jackson, 6-3.  Last night may not have been the best Alabama performance of the year, but because I go back past 1980, I'll take this one, I surely will.

On to Senior Day, for a group that is entitled to as much adulation as any we can remember.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store

Mississippi State Grades

Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. Meaning that what is aesthetically pleasing, is inherently subjective. In other words, if it looks good to you, then it is good as far as you are concerned. 

I think that the opposite must also be true. If something looks ugly to you, then as far as you are concerned it is ugly.

Applying that logic to Saturday night's game between Alabama and Mississippi State leads me to conclude that what the Tide displayed in Starkville is about as ugly as it could be and still result in a win. In fact, what the Offense coughed up-literally as well as figuratively-was awful enough to lose two games. The redeeming feature was excellent play by the Defense which had to respond to four turnovers; three in the second half, two of which were committed in the fourth quarter. 

When a serious case can be made that Cody Mandel was the player of the game, you know you are dealing with the ugliest of ugly wins. 

Think about this: The Alabama drive chart contains as many lost fumbles as touchdowns, and as many interceptions as field goals.

The offensive line allowed 7 tackles for lost yardage, and 7 quarterback hurries. Alabama was only able to convert 4 of 12 third downs, and Cody Mandel punted as many times Saturday night as he did the entire month of October.  

To be sure, there were some noteworthy individual performances against MSU. TJ Yeldon ran for a career high 160 yards in the game and topped the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the second year in a row. Tight end, Brian Vogler caught his first career touchdown pass, and AJ secured his place in the Alabama record books with 8,146 career yards, surpassing John Parker Wilson as the record holder in that category. But these individual efforts do not make up for the turnovers, negative plays and penalties [5 for 41 yards] by the team as a whole.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: F A failing grade in a win over a conference opponent? I do not believe any other grade is justified. The Offense earned the failing grade notwithstanding the final score. I know State has big, strong defensive linemen who play a very physical game. So does LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss. So also does Auburn, but more about theTigers later.

AJ went the distance. His second interception was the result of a throw made under duress and the first pick was not made in bounds. He threw 32 times and completed 18 for 187 yards and 2 TDs. 

Cyrus Jones was the leading receiver with 37 yards on 5 receptions. Amari Cooper gained 45 yards on 4 catches. DeAndrew White added 28 yards on 2 receptions and Kevin Norwood caught 2 passes for 23 yards and a TD. It seems like every time Norwood catches the ball it is a play fit for the highlight reel. Eight different players caught passes.

TJ Yeldon's 160 net rushing yards came on 24 carries [6.7  average] including a fabulous 50 yard run in the third quarter. Kenyan Drake carried the ball 4 times for 28 yards. Both running backs lost fumbles. Drake's miscue was the result of poor technique; he carried the ball too low and away from his body in traffic. 

The Offense managed only four drives that gained in excess of 40 yards [59, 78, 77, 75] each resulted in points. In the first half, the Tide's drives opened with a field goal and concluded with a touchdown. In between, the Offense produced three punts and an interception. The second half's drives opened with a lost fumble, but the Offense seemed to regain its footing with consecutive long scoring drives that earned 10 points. Then the wheels, as they say, came off with the final three meaningful possessions resulting in an interception, a lost fumble and a punt.

Defense: A- Some readers will no doubt criticize this grade as being too generous. After all, they will argue, State suffered a self-inflicted missed field goal at the end of a sustained second quarter drive that gained 73 yards on 10 plays. Nevertheless, MSU only converted 4 of 15 third downs during the game, gained only 197 yards of net offense and earned only 53 yards rushing in the game. 

CJ Mosley led all defenders with 8 tackles. Trey DePriest made 6 stops including 1 for lost yardage and broke up a pass. Jarrick Williams, Landon Collins and A'Shawn Robinson each were credited with 5 tackles. Jeffrey Pagan, Cyrus Jones and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix each made 4. Collectively, the defensive unit made 5 tackles for lost yardage [2 sacks], forced 2 fumbles [no recoveries], broke up 4 passes and hurried the State QB once. Snuffing out a scoring threat, Clinton-Dix made an interception in the end zone which he returned 16 yards.

Special Teams:

Punting A+ Cody Mandel punted 4 times for an average of 54 yards per punt. He made one punt for a career high 63 yards and  kept State in disadvantageous field position.

Place Kicking: A Cade Foster was good from 33 and 35 yards. He made both PAT attempts.

Kickoffs: B+ Foster handled all of the kickoff duties and averaged only 59.2 yards gross per kick even with two touchbacks. With a net average of 41.8 yards, the coverage unit played a much better game than it did last week against LSU.      

Coaching: C+ The coaching staff grade must reflect the poor performance of the Offense. Moreover, for Alabama to commit 5 penalties in a game where Mississippi State-a perennially undisciplined team-is flagged only once is inexcusable.  The participation report lists only 47 players who saw action against the Bulldogs.

As ugly as Alabama's win over the Bulldogs was, it was much more attractive than the Eastern Bulldogs' loss earlier in the day down in The Village. In case you were engrossed in last minute study of the Alabama game plan and missed the ending of The South's Oldest Football Rivalry, here is a summary: Georgia erased a 17 point deficit in the 4th quarter to take a one point lead, 38-37, over Auburn. With only seconds to play, and facing a 4th down and 18 deep in Auburn territory, the Tiger QB threw a Hail Mary pass deep down the middle of the field. The pass was under-thrown and the AU receiver was double-covered. Instead of simply knocking the ball to the turf-which would have given UGA the ball at the AU 22, both of the Georgia DBs tried to intercept. This resulted in the ball ricochetting into the air and into the hands of the dumb-founded Auburn receiver who took it unmolested into the end zone for the game-winning points. 

How bad is the quality of Georgia coaching? How much longer will the keepers of the football flame in Athens tolerate Mark Richt?

What does this mean for Alabama? Probably not much. Auburn will certainly be sky high. The Villagers were chanting "We want Bama," like that hasn't been done already this year. Let' s see: I remember TAMU and LSU doing it, as well as Oregon. The Aggies and Tigers got more of Bama than they could handle and the Ducks wanted Alabama so much they forgot about Stanford.

The Tide has two weeks to get ready to play the Iron Bowl. Saturday night's game against MSU will certainly provide many items for the Tide coaching staff to put on the To-Do list. Most of those will be allocated to the position coaches working with the Offense. 

While UT Chattanooga is next up, and while it is Tide doctrine to respect each opponent and not to look ahead, let's be candid with each other. Next week's game is a chance to iron out problems and work on fundamentals. The work done between now and Thanksgiving will determine the championship of the SEC West.

I would not trade the senior leadership of CJ and AJ for any pair of players in the game, and nobody in their right mind would want anyone other than Coach Saban at the helm of their football program. I am confident that they will get the job done, and no matter the "style-points" any win over Auburn is a thing of beauty. 

There is no such thing as an ugly win on the Plains. So, welcome the Moccasins to Tuscaloosa this coming Saturday. Pay tribute to the finest senior class ever to wear Crimson and White. And  help the 2013 Tide write their names in crimson flame. 

The Commissioner

LSU Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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That was an outstanding edition of The Grades, Commissioner.  Glad you got to see that one in person, though given the breeze, rain, and chilly-looking conditions, we were happy to be snug in the Tire Store with plenty of replays, Golden Flake chips and icy cold Coca-Colas (uh, and a thermostat).

Coach Stallings used to say that to win the ball game you needed to: Run the ball; stop the run; not turn the football over.  Alabama out rushed LSU  for the game 193-53 (LSU had -9 yards in the fourth quarter) and won the turnover battle 2-0.  There are other simple things to do -- not commit penalties; win the kicking game; dominate time of possession....  Teams that are disciplined and talented enough to do the first three usually don't have any problem with the others.  Last night was just an outstanding display of football from a team that has gotten gradually better as the season has gone along.  Something to say when you got almost every first place vote in the initial national polls.  That is a tribute to the coaching staff, of course, but also to the young men who are the 2013 edition of the Crimson Tide.

 Defense:  It was no secret that LSU intended to try to take advantage of Alabama's injury-riddled cornerbacks.  Les Miles actually said so in his press conference early in the week.  In the first half, it seemed as if that strategy was working.  This morning we hoped to read about the important adjustments, inside-the-locker-room techniques, etc. that were applied to allow Alabama to basically reverse the situation for practically the entire second half.  We learned an interesting thing.  Nothing was different except the result of the plays.  Coach Saban said he told the defensive backs they weren't going to get any safety help; they just needed to man up and do the job they have been taught to do, turf toes, high ankle sprains, future NFL wide receivers, outstanding opposing quarterback, notwithstanding.   And so they did. 

Offense:  Let's talk about the offensive line.  For the first three games of this season, the O line was, shall we say, a work in progress.  Well that work is nearly complete.  The O line finally gave up a sack last night, but it was a very peculiar play.  For those of you tracking it, last year's super duper offensive line had given up about twice as many sacks at this point of the season.  Otherwise, the work was excellent, as well.  The false starts are disappearing.  LSU's front seven, the strength of their defense, had no answer for the road grading Alabama front.  Short swing pass for a touchdown called back on a ticky tack alignment penalty?  No worries, we'll just knock them back a little further next down.  This was true across the line.  It was not a night were we ran only behind Steen.  On one of Yeldon's runs, the Kouandjio brothers gave a textbook example of blocking.  On the tackle side, Cyrus turned his man and pushed him so far towards the sideline he could hear the cheerleaders.  Arie blocked his man so far into the defensive backfield that before the replay we assumed he had been "uncovered" and fired out to take on a linebacker.  We could have rolled two all-terrain tires through that hole, letting athletes like Drake and Yeldon run through them is almost not fair.  However, we mostly want to applaud true freshman (and latest addition to the "J"  name team), OJ Howard.  His catch, and more importantly run, for a touchdown was just about as exciting as anything that has happened since a customer threw his cigar down and set the grease pit on fire.  We were worried he'd get the ball punched out when the pursuing defensive backs ran him down.  Never occurred to us that he would run off and leave them.  I mean, he's 6'6" 237 pounds.  Anything that big that goes that fast ought to have a light and a siren.

Special Teams:  Our kick coverage has suffered exactly since Sunseri went down with his knee injury.  Lots of reasons for this, including how many more snaps Collins is having to play.  In any event, it's time to go back to kicking the football out of the dadgum end zone. 

Coaching:  I'm not sure the original plan deserved that lofty score, but the in-game adjustments and the second half play calling, was just as superb.  Coach Miles was so downcast after that game that at his press conference we counted at least three sentences that had both subjects and predicates.  Down here at the Tire Store, we have generally been ok with Lester, he's a little odd, but in a harmless, almost entertaining sort of way.  However, his decision to send his quarterback out for that last series, and to even make him try to compete on fourth and forever after having been knocked goofy on three consecutive plays, well, let's just say we trust our coach would never do that.  If no other reason, didn't Miles remember they have to play Texas A&M in two weeks? 

Officiating:  Matt Austin's crew is generally considered by the SEC to be at least one of its best crews.  We understand that may be like being the tallest player on the Japanese Olympic basketball team, but still.  For the most part the officials weren't the center of attention last night, which is always a good thing.  If the game had been closer at the end the extent to which the players were "allowed to play" could have had different results.  For example, the newspaper photo of Kevin Norwood's touchdown catch this morning shows a solid form tackle being applied by the LSU defensive back.  Left arm firmly around Kevin's waist, right arm on his back, shoulder driving through his midsection.  The only problem is that the football is still a yard or two away.  No harm no foul, I suppose.  I cannot say the same for the "personal foul/late hit" that was called later in the game.  Regular readers know it is safe to say that I am not a fan of the so-called targeting rule.  It is ill-considered, poorly defined, and they can now add unevenly enforced.  Not liking the rule doesn't mean it isn't in the rule book.  If Losten's hit on Norwood isn't "targeting" then apparently there is special, extra definition that I don't know about.   Perhaps the SEC has just decided not enforcing the rule is the easiest course.  We'd like to give Losten the benefit of the doubt, it was only a few plays later that he instituted a shoving match near the goal line.... 

On to play the Bulldogs West over in Starkville.  In case you haven't heard, it's another prime time game, so we'll have lots of time for rotations and balances in the morning and still be able to see the Alabama Polytechnic game against the Bulldogs East.  If you are going to the game, we recommend some earplugs, those artificial noisemakers that the conference bans every other fan base from using are louder than an air wrench.

The Correspondent From The Tire Store 

LSU Grades

WVOL: Travis in Crossville, welcome to Vol Calls.

Travis: Butch Jones is a [bleep] joke, man. He should have been fired at the start of the 4th quarter yesterday. I can't [bleep] believe that we hired that Bamer-[bleep] Dave Hart to be athletics director. What the [bleep] man! What do you [bleep] expect? Hart brings in [bleep] Jones and Auburn hangs 55 points on us in Neyland [bleep] Stadium! That is some [bleep]...

WVOL: Coach Jones is just in his first season.....

Travis: Do I give a [bleep] about first seasons? Gus [bleep] Malzahn is a first year coach and he treated Butch Jones like his [bleep]. What game were you watching?

WVOL: OK, Travis, you want Butch Jones fired?

Travis: [bleep] yeah! Send his [bleep] packing!

WVOL: And who would you replace him with?..........Travis?.......Travis?.......

Travis: Lane Kiffin is available. He still owns property in Knoxville and he can recruit like a [bleep]. You guys are as big a joke as [bleep] Jones. How do you [bleep] keep your [bleep] job?

WVOL: OK Travis, thanks for calling. We always enjoy it.

Travis: No problem, man. Talk to you next week. GO VOLS!

...

WGTR: Stan on a cell phone, you're on the air with the Gator Nation, what's on your mind?

Stan: Is anybody in charge of the Florida football program? I mean, for the love of God, you can throw a rock in any direction from Gainesville and hit a 5 star recruit. Florida football was on auto-pilot so we bring in Will Muschamp because he was once in the same room with Nick Saban and we get beat in the Swamp by Vanderbilt for the first time since 1945....

WGTR: We understand your frustration.....

Stan: "Frustration?" You don't know "frustration." Frustration is losing a close game to that preening incompetent Mark Richt. Getting beat by Vanderbilt in a game where we can't even score 20 points is a disaster that only a coaching change can repair.

WGTR: OK, we hear you, but who do you think is out there that would be a viable alternative?

Stan: Helloooooo. Doesn't somebody have Urban Meyer's cell phone number on speed dial?

WGTR: Uh..... Urban Meyer?...

Stan: Yes, Urban Meyer. Two BCS Championships, Urban Meyer;  two SEC Championships, Urban Meyer;  one Heisman Trophy, Urban Meyer.  What's so hard about this?

WGTR: Uh, well Nick Saban is still the head coach at Alabama......Stan?.......Stan?......I think we lost him.

...

WNPR:      Welcome back to "What In The World" I'm Terry Gross. Our guest today is Mia Foshee-Kumbaya-Guevara, Professor of Critical Studies at New York's New School. Mia, that was a very interesting discussion of your new monograph, "From Hugo Chavez to Barack Obama: The Complete Political Spectrum." Let's go to the phones, we actually have a caller today. Hello Justin in Nashville, what in the world do you want to talk about?

Justin: Hi, Terry and Mia....love your show.

WNPR: Thanks, Justin, so do we.

Justin:  I just wanted to ask Mia if she thinks that Vanderbilt risks losing James Franklin to Texas, what with Mack Brown in free-all and the 'Dores looking like they are poised to make it three in-a-row for bowl appearances?.......Hello?......Am I still on?.....Terry?

WNPR: Justin, I.....we....you...I'm sorry, but I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to, would you like to elaborate on that for us?

Justin: Yeah, sure thing. You see, the head football coach here at Vanderbilt is James Franklin and he's like the best coach we have had in like forever, and the head coach at Texas, Mack Brown, is on the hot-seat, so my friends and I were thinking that it might be that Texas tries to hire Franklin away unless there is any truth to the rumors about Nick Saban being interested in the UT job.

WNPR: ........

Justin; Hello?

WNPR: ......Thanks for calling, Justin, I'm sure our listeners found that very interesting....so,Mia what is your next project?......Well, Terry, I have been thinking about writing a paper on gender inequity in math and physics faculties in universities located in states that comprised the former Confederacy, and I think Justin's call helps illustrate the urgency of my research..

Two of those universities located in the deepest regions of the Deep South played a college football game Saturday night, and while Terry Gross and Prof. Froshee-Kumbaya-Guevara might not appreciate what happened over the span of three-plus hours at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the 100,000 plus fans who witnessed Alabama's 38-17 victory over LSU certainly did. They manifested that appreciation by arriving early and staying late; by not letting an unpredicted rainfall dampen their enthusiasm; and by wishing the Bayou Bengals a safe homeward journey by four....count 'em, four....complete verses of Rammer Jammer.

OK, each verse of Rammer Jammer is identical, but the opponents that the Tide has dispatched so far this season usually have provoked only one perfunctory post-game taunt. LSU was on the receiving end of four. And if the Million Dollar Band had not needed to take a well-deserved rest, the crowd was in a mood to keep the love going a little longer. 

In Friday's CW Game Day special, Sports Editor, Marc Torrence, had a piece about the Bama-LSU rivalry. It was titled "Toe To Toe" and argued that LSU achieved dominance over Alabama when Saban was coaching the Tigers, and Les Miles has managed to maintain at least parity, if not a slight edge in the rivalry. That thesis was left in tatters after Alabama thoroughly dominated LSU in the second half, breaking the Tigers' will with a smothering defense and a punishing offense.   

How badly did the Tide dominate the Tigers in the second half? Consider this: In the second half, LSU gained only 52 yards of total offense. In the 4th quarter, LSU had -29 yards rushing and only 20 yards passing, for a total offensive gain of -9. In the second half, LSU converted only 1 of 5 third downs, and twice turned the ball over on downs. Meanwhile, Alabama ran 35 offensive plays in the second half to LSU's 22, and three of the Tide's 35 plays were out of the victory formation. Alabama gained 228 yards of total offense on the first three possessions after intermission, scoring a touchdown on each. And, Alabama had three times more rushing yards in the second half [122] than LSU had for the entire game [43].

At intermission, the Tide held only a 3 point lead [17-14] which evaporated when LSU kicked a field goal on its opening possession of the second half. Those were LSU's last points in the game as Alabama scored 21 points in its next three possessions, drained the clock, and crushed the life out of LSU.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense: A In the first quarter, AJ found himself under constant pressure, and his passing accuracy suffered. The second quarter saw dramatic improvement and by the second half, Alabama was throwing only when it chose to, not when it needed to. AJ completed 14 of 20 pass attempts for 179 yards and 3 TDs. He was sacked once. His 179 passing yards secured AJ the Alabama record for career passing yardage.

Kevin Norwood caught 4 passes for 38 yards and a TD. Amari Cooper made 3 catches for 46 yards, and DeAndrew White gained 17 yards on 2 receptions. O.J. Howard caught 1 pass for 52 yards and a TD. Eight different players caught passes, including Jalston Fowler whose lone reception scored a touchdown. [He would have had another TD reception but for an illegal procedure penalty.]

TJ Yeldon gained 133 yards on 25 rushes and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. Kenyan Drake gained 65 yards on 10 runs and Jarrick Williams gained 6 yards on his single rushing attempt; a fake punt that converted a 4th down, keeping the Tide's initial second half possession alive and snatching momentum away from the Tigers. 

Alabama's five touchdowns came on long drives [78, 80, 79, 71, 78] and the Tide converted 5 of its 10 third downs; however, the meaningful statistic is 5 of 9 since Bama's 10th third down of the game was on the final "victory" possession. Bama punted only twice and had no turnovers. 

Defense: A For the first 30 minutes, the Tide Defense had no answer for LSU's tandem of talented receivers, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr., as Zach Mettenberger had plenty of time to throw precision strikes to open receivers. LSU gashed the Alabama Defense for 232 yards in the first half, and would have taken the lead into the locker room at intermission but for a fumble forced by Tana Patrick at the Alabama goal line. The second half-as they say-was a different story.

The Stop Troops surrendered a field goal on LSU's opening third quarter possession, on a flukey drive that included a near interception that ricocheted into the hands of an LSU receiver. For the balance of the game, the Tide defense harassed Mettenberger, throttled LSU's Jeremy Hill, and imposed its will.

CJ Mosley made 12 tackles and broke up 2 passes. Trey DePriest had 6 tackles, a fumble recovery and a sack. Cyrus Jones and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix each were credited with 5 tackles. Bama defenders recorded 8 tackles for lost yardage including 4 sacks, and broke up 4 passes.

LSU only ran 22 offensive plays in the second half and only converted a single second half third down.

Special Teams

Punting: B+ Cody Mandel averaged 43.7 yards per punt on two punts and LSU managed only a single punt return for 8 yards. Alabama did not return a punt.

Place Kicking: A Cade Foster was good from 42 yards on his only field goal attempt and Bama converted each of 5 PATs.

Kickoffs: D Foster and Mandel shared kicking duties and averaged 64 yards per kick. Christion Jones and DeAndrew White collectively returned 4 LSU kicks for 83 yards. The coverage unit, however, allowed Odell Beckham, to return a third-quarter kick 82 yards and surrendered a total of 174 yards on four returns.

Coaching: A The resilience of the team to compete at a very high level in the second half is a reflection of the coaching job and is the quintessence of The Process. Only 47 players are listed in the participation report, the Tide was penalized 4 times for 35 yards, and Alabama gained 455 all-purpose yards.

Les Miles' post-game comments acknowledged that Alabama has separated itself from the parity that Marc Torrence wrote of in the CW.  The columnists at the Time Picayune are remarkably restrained in their criticism of Miles considering the curb-stomping Alabama delivered Saturday night. They recognize what was on display in the second half: Alabama is a better team, with better players, who are better coached, than any other team in the SEC; maybe even the country. There are no calls for Miles' head coming from the Big Easy.  

Late in the fourth quarter, the student section, mocking pretenders like Oregon and Ohio State, began chanting: "We want Bama......We want Bama....." 

Some people argue that with the defeat of LSU, the only team that can derail Alabama's quest for its 16th national championship is Alabama itself. But, I am not persuaded. There is no room for error in the remaining games. Mississippi State is next. Alabama has two remaining conference games, both to be played on the road. Auburn has a single loss, is nationally ranked and has its offense playing at a very high level. The right to play in the SEC CG has not yet been secured. 

Alabama must stay focused. So should the fans. But with all the agony going on around the league and fans calling talk radio about replacing coaches, one Alabama partisan, seeing a jubilant Nick Saban leap into the arms of AJ McCarron at game's end, emailed his chat-thread: "Who is that happy short guy.....and what did he do with our head coach?"

The Commissioner