FAU Grades

WLAC-Nashville: 

Host 1:   We are back from our break, and welcome once again to Vol Calls. After a bit of a slow start, the Volunteers are victorious today over Arkansas State in  Neyland Stadium.

Host 2:    Yeah, it was good to see so many fans turn out to watch the Vols play very well against an opponent that was really overmatched. There were even fans seated in portions of the upper deck

Host 1:    Let's go to the phones....Travis from Crossville, welcome to Vol Calls.

Travis:      Hey guys, how are you?

Host 1&2:  Great thanks...

Travis:     So I was watching the game on the SEC Network today... andI just want to know what you think about this....it's been bothering me since spring football....now that [bleep] Lane [bleep] Kiffin is the offensive coordinator at Alabama, does that make him an even bigger [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] than he was before? 

Host 2:   I thought you had a question about Tennessee...

Travis:   THAT IS A TENNESSEE QUESTION you [bleep]....don't you remember Lane [bleep] Kiffin? He used to be the Vol's head [bleep] coach [bleep]!  Or have you had your head [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] for so long that you can't remember that far back?

Host 1:  No...it's just that Butch Jones is our coach now, and we are on our second head coach after Lane Kiffin and...

Travis:  IT'S LANE [BLEEP] KIFFIN! Or are you some kind of [bleep] [bleep] or something?

Host 1:  My point is just that: why get all sped up about a guy that is on his second job after leaving Knoxville? And, they didn't mention his name a single time during the broadcast of today's game.

Travis:  What do you mean 'they didn't mention his [bleep] name' They kept showing him and that [bleep] Nick [[bleep] Saban on the sidelines between every play.

Host 2:  What game were you watching?

Travis:   That [bleep] Alabama and Florida [bleep] Atlantic game...what else?

Host 1:  Maybe the Tennessee-Arkansas State game?

Travis:    What the [bleep]?

Host 2:  Yeah...this is Vols calls....you know that, Travis,  You're one of our most regular callers. Didn't we give you the award for most calls in a season when the Big Orange Caravan came through the Upper Cumberland?

Travis:    [bleep] the Big [bleeb] Orange [bleep]-a-van! Nick Saban comes to Bradley County, Tennessee and the hall is so full the fire marshall doesn't let any more people inside and the National Guard has to control the crowd outside....Butch Jones goes there and they hold the meeting in a phone booth.  The Alabama road show comes to Nashville and they fill up the Omni Hotel with an overflow crowd, ESPN anchors and NFL players. What kind of [bleep] is that? 

Host 2:  Uh....Doug....I just checked the ratings info for the games today and it says here that more sets in Tennessee were tuned to the Alabama-FAU game than were watching the Vols.....   

I really don't know whether more people in the Volunteer State watched the Tide roll over FAU than watched the UT-Arkansas State match, although the official attendance at BDS was north of 100,000 while barely 99,000 went through the turnstiles at the Home Of The World's Largest Vols Sign. But I do know that the SEC Network's broadcast crew was obsessed with the fact that Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban stalked the same sideline. 

I guess this is what passes as "news" in Sports TV Land: from time to time, Saban had things to tell his Offensive Coordinator!  Imgine that! It must not happen in other programs. They even showed instant replay of Saban talking to Kiffin......and I do mean "talking."  It's not like Saban was hitting Kiffin with The Bug Zapper, or expressing frustration as he occasionally has good cause to do with the Zebras.

He was just saying things to him. I don't know what he said.....there is still some zone of privacy within which coaches work during games....but here are some possibilities:

"Wow! Number 9 is a really good football player."

"OK, now I understand why we practiced the screen pass so much this week."

"Is there anybody else that would like to carry the ball in a running play? How about we give it to Kouandjio once just to see the other team's reaction."

"Thanks for the Little Debbie snack cakes......ever since my daughter moved to Nashville, I've missed getting them." 

Seriously though: what is it with the media's obsession with Kiffin? Last week's broadcast was just as bad.  Come on people!  The guy is an assistant coach. By all appearances, he's doing a good job...see more on this topic below.....His boss, a notoriously hard grader, says that he is very pleased with his performance.  Enough already!

So, let's get on with the game.....

It was a way shorter affair than last week's West Virginia Marathon....in part because the clock was not stopped as often, and also because the respective ADs decided to cancel the last 8:00 of the 4th quarter rather than sit out an indeterminate lightning delay. 

As short as it was, however, there was more than enough material from which to draw some conclusions. Here are mine:

1.  Blake Sims made a vast improvement in the week since the season opener.

2.  Jake Coker has not earned the starting job.

3.  Eddie Jackson and Trey DePriest are difference makers on defense.

4.  Number 9 is indeed a really good football player.

   

With those conclusions in mind, here's how I grade the game:

Offense:  B      Readers will recalll my rule that the level of competition is taken into account by an automatic one-grade reduction for Offense and Defense.  A lost fumble at the goal line and a failure to manage the clock at the end of the first half are enough to keep the offense from earinging the +.

Alabama gainied 620 total offensive yards [204 rushing], earned 27 first downs, converted 6 of 12 possession downs [plust 1 of 1 on 4th down] and mounted 8 drives that gained 40 or more yards [74, 74, 78, 87, 69, 63, 71, 41] producing 4 TDs, 2 FGs, a lost fumble and the end of the first half. 

Blake was obviously more comfortable in the QB role than he was a week ago as he completed 11 of 13 pass attempts for 214 yards and 2 TDs. Jake added 202 yards and a TD on 15 completions out of 24 pass attempts. 

Amari Cooper tied DJ Halls' single game record for receptions [13] on his way to gaining 189 yards and scoring a TD on a pass reception. He also gained 20 yards rushing on the opening play of the game-a brilliant reverse that was THIS CLOSE to gaining 26 more yards-to be the leader in all purpose yards [209]. 

Red-shirt Freshman, ArDarius Stewart, the Pride Of Fultondale, made his debut performance count for 63 yards on 3 receptions while Soph. Chris Black made 3 catches for 45 yards. Kenyan Drake had a single reception that gained 30 yards and scored one of his two TDs for the day. Jalston Fowler also scored a TD catching a swing pass out of the backfield from 5 yards out in a play from the Jumbo [3 tight ends] Formation.

Last week, two running backs each gained more than 100 yards. This week, 8 different players ran with the football. Drake was the leading rusher with 45 yards and a TD on 7 carries, TJ Yeldon added 43 yards on 7 carries but lost the ball on a fumble at the goal line in the Tide's first drive of the thrid quarter. There was clealry miscommunication on the play. Blake thought it was a running play, TJ thought it was a play-action pass. I have no idea who was right, but the official stat sheet credits the fumble to Sims and neither Blake nor TJ touched the ball after that.

Tyren Jones made his playing debut. The RS Freshman from Marietta, Georgia, carried the ball 4 times for 33 yards and looked really good doing it.

Defense:     B-       The return of Eddie Jackson and Trey DePriest made a big impact on the Tide defense.  FAU was held to only 145 total yards [57 rushing] and managed to convert only 2 of 10 third downs.  The Owls had 9 offensive possessions; 5 of them ended in three plays or less. FAU's day at the office produced 7 punts, a lost fumble, a turnover on downs......and a check for $1 million.

Reggie Ragland made 5 tackles [3 solo], 1.5 for lost yardage and a fumble recovery. Eddie Jackson, Landon Collins, A'Shawn Robinson, and Trey DePriest were each credited with 4 tackles. Tide defenders made 6 tackles for lost yardage [3 sacks], forced 2 fumbles, recovered a fumble and broke up one pass. 

Special Teams:

Punting:      A        JK Scott never saw action, but the return game earned 77 yards on 3 return.

FGs:           A        Adam Griffith was perfect on two FG attempts [22, 28] and 4 PATs.

Kickoffs:     A        Griffith averaged 64.5 gross yards and 43.5 net yards on 8 kickoffs and included 2 touchbacks. Christion Jones returned FAU's only kickoff 26 yards.

Coaching:    B+     The Tide showed vast improvement from last week.  Gone were timeouts called to avoid delay of game penalties, as the players on offense seemed to have a much better understanding of what play had been called and their part in it.  The outcome of the contest was never in doubt, and the decision to call the game was clearly in the best interest of the players. It would have been coaching malpractice to wait out the lightning and put cold players back on the field for 8 meaningless mintues. Alabama gained 723 all purpose yards, and the participation report lists 65 players who saw action. Certainly those numbers would have been higher had the game not been interrupted. A down grade is neverthless justified by the 6 penalties that cost the Tide 60 yards of field position. 

While the Blake vs. Jake competition continues, there is no question that, for this week at least, Sims has put a bit of daylight between himself and Coker.  Expect to see a similar rotation at QB next Saturday against Southern Miss.  How long the rotation will contniue is anybody's guess.  The Head Coach told reporters it will be his decision based on which player gives the team the best chance to win the football game.  In 1981 Coach Bryant said exactly the same thing, in just about those identical words, when a caller asked him: "Why are you playing Joe Jones at running back when you have a better player, Kenny Simon, sitting on the bench?"

"I'm playing Joe Jones because I'm trying to win a football game," Bryant said.  Then he added: "What 'bidness' are you in?  Maybe I can help you with your 'bidness'?"  When the caller admitted to being a lawyer, Bryant declared "Well, in that case, I can't help you with your 'bidness'."

Handling such questions the same way is not the only similarity between Coach Saban and his celebrated predecessor. My opinion of the comparison between Bryant and Saban is pretty much in line with what Paul Finebaum recently wrote in the Waller Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-joyless-triumph-of-nick-sabanpaul-finebaum-my-conference-can-beat-your-conference-why-the-sec-still-rules-college-football-1407190195  

If he keeps at it long enough, Saban has what it takes to surpass Bryant's record of 6 national championships.  Whether he will add another one this year remains to be seen.....there are some encouraging signs in the way the Tide has progressed in two games.  But the season is long. The playoff format is new. And the competition is hard at work.....and, unlike the media pundits, they don't care about Lane Kiffin's track record....they are studying what happens on the field, not on the sidelines......Then again, so is Saban and the Alabama staff.

Our Correspondent From The Tire Store reminds us before the start of every season, what Lewis Grizzard wrote about college football being about our way of life versus theirs....about Us v. Them. For now, Lane Kiffin is one of "us".....so, Roll Tide, Y'all!   

The Commissioner