We agree with this very excellent set
of grades. We were lucky enough to be
able to attend the game this Saturday (the Tire Store comptroller delivered an
unexpected set of tickets earlier this year as a birthday present. Safe to say, she has set the bar pretty high
for next year.) For those of you who could
not attend the game, this was the sort of day the good Lord intended for the
play of football. The morning was a
little chilly, but the sunshine was bright and temperatures were in the mid to
upper 70s by kickoff. The breezes were
enough to cool it off a little, without affecting play. The occasional passing high clouds gave some
relief to those in the east stands who forgot their sunblock. On the Quad after the game the temperatures
remained comfortable even after sundown to allow friends to stand together
(some shaking their heads in near disbelief) until the dew started to form and
people loaded up to leave the Quad.
Watching the Alabama Crimson Tide
dismantle the Texas A&M Aggies on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in
Tuscaloosa sort of invited the question:
“Who are you guys, and what have
you done with the Alabama Crimson Tide?”
This group seemed so different from
(and so much better than) the team that played in Oxford two weeks ago and in
Fayetteville last Saturday that it seems strange to compare the performances
and realize that you were talking about the same individual players and
coaches. We think this statistic sums up
almost the entire game. Texas A&M
managed 8 first downs; Alabama scored 8 touchdowns.
Because the Commissioner has done
such a great job in grading the on-field performance, we thought we’d point out
some things we saw only because we were there.
It may be that CBS covered some of these – we expect by the middle of
the third quarter, Verne and Gary had run out of things to talk about (it may have
been good practice, as CBS decided to feature the Mississippi State vs.
Kentucky game as their Game of the Week, instead of, say, Mississippi at LSU).
1.
One big change that we noted was that the team just seemed, well, happy
and that was before the game even started.
During warm-ups, players were smiling, encouraging one another, giving
high fives. Early in the game the
offense was cheering on the defense. Big
special teams plays, even kickoffs out of the end zone, garnered sideline
celebrations after the play was over.
The better the game went, the higher the enthusiasm. Whether you can “coach” that or effectively
utilize it in future games, we don’t really know. It was refreshing to see, though. The team just looked like a bunch of guys
having fun.
2.
It tended to tug at your emotions to see an athlete of K. Drake’s
caliber walking around with one foot braced on that little pushcart. Having a box of Little Debbies in there made
for some comic relief. When the team
sprinted for the locker room (apparently anxious to get in there so they could
get back out on the field to play some more) to a thunderous ovation at half
time, Drake was staying out of the way, but also trying to keep up. It was gratifying to see T. J. Yeldon slow
down and walk along with Drake into the tunnel.
Later in the game, we noticed Drake sitting on top of one of those black
equipment storage container on the sideline (not exactly sure how he got up
there) so he could see the field over the heads of his teammates. In a few minutes, we noticed he had been
joined by A. Cooper – just a couple of friends watching a football game.
3.
Alabama still has occasional problems with the play clock. We are not sure if this is because Kiffin in
on the sidelines, if we have trouble making decisions on what plays to run, or
if the offensive nomenclature is just too wordy (“OK, guys, listen up, we are
going with supercalifragalisticexpialadociuos, right, on two). Not really an issue on Saturday, but in the
first two drives in the red zone in particular, we were just not getting to the
line of scrimmage with enough time to get set, analyze the coverage, check if
we needed to, and snap the ball. On the
other hand, when that is the biggest criticism you can manage in a game against
an SEC West opponent, you are in tall cotton.
4.
The most improved element of the team was the offensive line. After each series they were quick to the
sideline for analysis and coaching up on what was going on. Grant Hill, who has been out for several
weeks with an unspecified illness, was pressed into service after an injury and
did not seem to miss a beat. Kelly was
on the sideline and seemed to be walking relatively normally. We wonder if he could have played in an
emergency. It did seem odd to burn a
freshman center’s redshirt in the second half, but we’ll leave that sort of
strategic decision to the coaches.
5.
There were lots and lots of recruits at this game. We heard that the recent quarterback commit
from California, B. Barnett, played in his team’s game Friday night, accounting
for over 500 yards of offense, then flew to Tuscaloosa overnight so he could attend
the game on Saturday.
6.
When most of the first string
offense left the field early in the third quarter Alabama had 10 times more
yardage than Texas A&M. Remember
that despite its losses and playing good defenses like Mississippi’s, Texas
A&M was a top five offense nationally coming into Saturday, and had gained
over 400 yards of offense in both of its losses.
7. From time-to-time during the Saban era at Alabama
there are games where the team just seems to come together and beat a quality
opponent like a redheaded rented yard dog.
I don’t know what causes it, can’t say that I can feel it coming, and I’m
not sure even the coaching staff could say why it happens. For examples, I’ll mention the 2008 Auburn
game, the Capitol One Bowl against Michigan State, and the Championship game
against Notre Dame. I wasn’t at all of those
games, but Saturday had that same feeling to it – in fact, it may be the best
example of what I am trying to describe.
It’s the sort of game where even during the contest you think, “boy,
this is a pretty special performance, I’d best enjoy every second of it.”
8. If
you haven’t seen J.K. Scott punt in person, it’s almost worth the ticket
price. Even in warm up he can make you
say “wow”. Television doesn’t do justice
to how fast he gets the ball up and how it seems to just hang up in the air.
9.
If R. Foster can learn to keep his head in proper position when he
tackles, he is going to be one of the most devastating hitters in recent
Alabama history. When he made his
special teams tackle that got practically the entire defense to run out on the
field you could hear it all over the stadium. It was like a small car had run into the poor
kick returner. If he doesn’t practice
the proper from, I fear they are going to take him off on the cart one of these
days.
10.
We still have defensive players get lost. But it is not as many and not as often as it
was against WVU. T. DePriest, in
particular, gets players in the right places.
It’s a cliché, but it really is like the lights are coming on for a few
of them. They are not only playing the
way they should, it’s like they are understanding why they are doing certain
things and not having to concentrate so hard on what to do next. Continued improvement is both desired and
necessary, but this is an improving defense.
This has been an odd scheduling season. One hopes that the Tuscaloosa County
Convention and Visitors Bureau made an appointment with the SEC Commissioner’s office to try to find out what they had done
to offend and humbly beg forgiveness.
Although it has its usual allotment of home games, including getting critical
games against Mississippi State and Alabama Polytechnic Institute at home, this
Saturday was Alabama’s only game in Bryant Denny Stadium between September 20
and November 15 – nearly 60 days. That’s
not much longer than the stretch between the end of bowl season and the start
of Spring Practice…. And it’s not like
the merchants, restaurateurs, and hoteliers in Tuscaloosa make their living on
visitors to historic Moundville or the strength of the Tuscaloosa Opera season. So between now and November 15, Alabama must
travel to Knoxville and Baton Rouge. We
hope that the same strategies employed by the coaching staff and the same
players that performed so brilliantly this past Saturday make those two
trips.
Roll Tide, everyone. Beat Tennessee.
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