Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Report from The Faculty Lounge

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We're in the time of year where teachers everywhere are administering and grading final exams, totaling all the extra credit assignments, and reporting the semester's work to the registrar.  While crunching the numbers is not a big deal, most of us in the Faculty Lounge will look for anything to keep from grading exams. Clean out the garage?  Rearrange the attic?  Change the air in the tires? (We could just go to the Tire Store and have them do it, but what would we do with all the time we saved, grade exams?) Going back over the game by game grades to get a look at the body of work produced by the Tide over 12 games?  Now's the time!
 
Here's what the season looks like when you covert the Commissioner's grades to a 4.0 scale and then back to a letter grade.  There's some rounding involved, but you get the idea:

Offense: B.  Three A+ efforts (TAMU, Auburn, Mizzou) were pulled down by, shall we say, less that stellar performances against Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Western Carolina.  When you consider the "rehab" projects that were ongoing over the season, a solid B by the offense is pretty impressive.  We'd all like to see the offense play every game like they played against TAMU, but that's not gonna happen.  What is important is that down the stretch in the "big" ones, Sims and Company rose to the occasion.  With A+ in the last two games, we should expect similar results in the next two, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  The most important game of the season is the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.  We need an A+ in that one.  

Defense: B+.  Four A+ grades (FL, TAMU, Aub, Mizzou) were offset with rather poor performances against WVU, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.  While giving up some yardage between the 20s in the Iron Bowl, the red zone defense the last two games was something to behold.  The B+ average for the season could have been an A if we gave a little "extra credit" along the way.  But perfect attendance or class participation isn't going to get it done on Jan. 1, so the room between a B+ and an A is there to be taken out on OSU.

Punting:  B+.  What, you say!  Scott was perfect in six games (WFU, Ark, TAMU, MSU, Aub, and Mizzou) and had a solid A against FAU and LSU.  But an F anywhere along the way will wreck a GPA.  A muffed return against USM wrecked this one.  It wasn't Scott's fault, of course, but this is a team sport.  Without a doubt, however, JK is a great kicker and has a bright future.  His ability to flip the field allows the defense to do their thing.  What a weapon.  I'd be tempted to give extra credit to bring the season grade to an A, but we could use that little bit of room for improvement on Jan. 1.

Kick Offs: A-.  Four perfect games (Ole Miss, WCU, Aub, and Mizzou) bolstered by A's against FAU, SMU, Ark, TAMU, and MSU combined to offset the F earned in the opener against WVU.  Obviously, the coverage improved after WVU returned a KO for a TD and the subsequent grades reflect that.  That's what we like to see in the faculty lounge, folks learning and improving.

Place Kicking: B.  Without a doubt the weakest part of the operation.  Griff started off with two perfect games (WVU and SMU) and an A against FAU.  But things started to slide from that point as a nagging injury, and maybe some loss of confidence, took its toll.  A perfect performance against TAMU and Auburn, along with an A- in the SEC CG, may indicate we've turned the corner.  Plenty of time to heal between now and Jan. 1, and plenty of time to kick lots of balls through the uprights at the practice facility.

Coaching: B+  Miserable, read failing, grades against Ark and Ole Miss, along with a C outing against WVU, pulled the average down.  But as the Commissioner so eloquently explained, the rehab projects of Lane Kiffin and Blake Sims more accurately reflect the quality of Nick Saban as a head coach.  In reality, of course, there's no way our coaching staff will ever average an A+, even though they earned it the TAMU, Auburn, and Mizzou games.  It goes against the entire philosophy behind The Process. If we think we've done it perfectly, we're really fooling ourselves.  At this point, the only game in which coaching needs to be perfect is the one scheduled for Jan. 1, the most important game of the season, so far.

So that's how things look in the Faculty Lounge.  Some will complain that the average is too low in light of the performance down the stretch.  But somebody is always going to complain about his or her grade.  Those of us who hang around the Faculty Lounge are pretty calloused to those types.  The Commissioner called 'em as he saw 'em and the grades are what the grades are.  Pretty good overall, but there's still room for improvement.  We have an opportunity to demonstrate that improvement against OSU in the Sugar Bowl.

 Roll Tide! 

Monday, December 8, 2014

Tire Store Report SEC Championship

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Excellent job, Commissioner.  As Coach Bryant used to say (really often) “We are tremendously proud of the boys for winning the football game”.  As noted last week, when “winning the football game” also means “securing another SEC Championship” it is particularly sweet.  For those of you who are counting that made number 24.

We like to think Coach Bryant would love this team.  It is for sure they are very fond of each other.  Remember a couple of years ago when one of our very good quarterbacks and one of our very good centers got some unwanted publicity for a testy little shoving match during the National Championship game?  We sort of chuckled about it at the time, especially because they were roommates and we were leading by umpteen points.  Can you even imagine Kelly shoving Sims?  In any situation?  Us, either.  When Sims took his curtain call in the fourth quarter, it looked like everyone on the team lined up to give him a hug, including Lane Kiffin (as you’d expect) and Kirby Smart (as maybe you wouldn’t expect).  In case you missed the news, Blake was named a permanent captain at the team banquet Sunday night.  The way he constantly deflects praise and compliments and shines the spotlight on his coaches and teammates (and even his ex-wife for helping his little girl make it to the game) is more than admirable.

There continue to be lots of new things introduced in college football under lots of nifty-sounding names.  To quote Coach Bryant one more time (cause, why not?) the same things win that always won.  Run the ball, stop the run, and don’t turn the football over are three of them.  Saturday, Alabama outgained Missouri by almost 200 yards on the ground and did not turn the ball over once.  That sort of performance will win games and championships.


As to the grades themselves:

Offense:  If you stop to think about it, the offense had about as impressive a day as you can imagine.  Certainly this was its most consistent overall performance since Texas A&M, against a more formidable defense.  And we clearly left points on the table and hurt ourselves with ball security, penalties, etc.  The offense can improve and probably needs to for the remaining efforts.

But, boy.  You want west-coasty spread, multiple, hurry up, no huddle, run-n-shoot, fun-n-gun, speedball offense (or whatever they are calling it nowadays)?  How about the opening drive that never resulted in a third down play, but did result in six points before lots of fans finished their first hot dog.  You want traditional I formation, full back lead run behind the guard, then maybe a toss sweep and a quarterback draw?  Sure, have a spirit-crushing 90-yard drive that eats half a quarter.  Oh, you want to see a speedy receiver split the safety and the cornerback and catch a beautiful spiral in stride for a play that covers more than half the football field?  Yeah, we can do that.  If you are lucky enough to have a recording of the game, go back and listen to the Sims to White touchdown pass.  It’s as if the whole crowd noticed he was behind the defense and took a collective breath and held it till White caught the ball.  It got really noisy right after that.  Oh, and Kiffin did the signal-a-touchdown-before-the-pass-is-thrown thing again.

There were outstanding individual contributions in this game.  White, Ch. Jones, and Cooper all held on to receptions after bone-jarring hits.  Cooper, in particular, had several key down field blocks.  Some players who are heading to the Heisman Ceremony can get to be prima donnas.  Well, prima donnas don’t do downfield blocking. (For whatever it is worth, I feel somewhat sorry for whomever gets the task of trying to draw a lot of words out of him for the obligatory NYC interview).  I could watch the replay of Sims’ quarterback draw, including multiple spin moves, 20 times in a row and not grow tired of it.  The offensive line played admirably in pass protection and opened holes for the running backs against Missouri’s very good offensive line. 

Henry ran for nearly 150 yards.  Many knowledgeable football observers will tell you Henry is a little too tall, a little too slow, runs too upright, is too underdeveloped in his lower body, and lacks a signature evasive move to be a feature back in the SEC.  Just don’t try to tell the Missouri defense any of that.  Did you see him go over after his touchdown and put his hands on and say something to every single member of the offensive line?  Yeldon did not seem to be 100% and we heard he did not practice much last week though he was still productive in the game.  We hope he has time to heal before New Year’s Day.  Jalston Fowler also had an impressive day, from catching a pass on the game’s first down from scrimmage to just shoving Missouri defensive backs out of the way like they were second graders trying to break in the sixth grade only lunch line.

Defense:  The defense can play better, but not a lot better.  They held Missouri to 41 yards rushing.  Usually that number is skewed based on a lot of quarterback sacks.  Alabama had double digits in hurries, we expect, but we don’t remember any sacks of Maty Mauk.  Playing mostly with four down linemen, Alabama regularly reset the line of scrimmage into the Missouri offensive backfield.  Linebackers and safeties slashed through formations to knock runners not just down, but backwards.  After a rough outing last week, the coaches put Jackson back in the game at corner and he responded well, though we admit no one is going to confuse these Tiger receivers with the ones from last Saturday.  Perry has been a different player since about mid-October for no reason that we can discern, but we aren’t complaining.  Collins and DePriest are a wrecking crew.

In particular, however,  A. Robinson is the darn truth and you better believe it.  He is the curious sort of combination of playing older than he is and looking older than he is.  Go back and take a look at his recruiting photo -- he looked 34-years-old then.  On at least two plays we can remember he “set the edge” on running downs after being lined up over the center.  If you are the opposing offensive coordinator and you do not account for him on every single play, you are not only wasting a down, you may be putting the ball carrier’s health at risk. 

Special Teams:  The contrast to A. Robinson is J.K. Scott.  He looks like he is on his way to his 10th grade biology lab and stopped off to watch the varsity.  Make no mistake -- this is one cool customer.  We already knew he could kick it 70 yards, because he did last week.  This week, he gets the first bad snap of the year that we can remember, does that nifty basketball thing where you dribble it between your legs, and kicks it to the opponent’s 20 yard line.  Admittedly not his best effort, but compared to what for many teams would have been a blocked punt + scoop and score, it was terrific.  Ch. Jones, who at one time had the most costly fumble of the year on a kick return set the SEC Championship Game record for average kick off returns and twice put Alabama in business past the 30-yard line.

Coaching:  Alabama was well-prepared to play in this game.  Missouri’s most effective offensive plays were ones where the play itself had broken down, the quarterback was running for his life, and heaved up a prayer.  At least once it was answered when the receiver got away with a push off.  On one, we really think he was trying to throw it out of bounds and just didn’t get enough on it.  Smart and Kiffin both called masterful games from their respective positions.  Our favorite quote from the day was a reporter who tried to get Kiffin to answer a question about the offense, in violation of Coach Saban’s standing order.  Kiffin reportedly replied “I don’t think I’d better answer that. The head coach is happy with me right now.”

Officiating:  My stars and garters was that the best the SEC has to offer?  Sadly, we fear the answer is “yep.”  The uncalled pick play led to Missouri’s only touchdown.  One of their field goals was aided because the receiver was permitted to use both hands to shove our player out of the way as the wounded duck floated down the from the sky.  I suppose we should be glad that the officials have finally remembered that there are limits on how far offensive linemen are allowed to run down the field on pass plays.  The targeting call was correct (don’t get us started on this rule) but pretty hard to miss.  In fact, it sort of looked like it should be in the video called: “How to Spot Targeting Fouls -- A Beginner’s Guide”.  On the whole, we have seen worse efforts out of SEC officiating crews, but it is enough to make you want to go over to the message boards for the teams in bowl games that will have SEC crews and just say in advance that we are really, really sorry.
 
Broadcasting:  Verne’s slips of the tongue are slowly infecting the entire crew.  From Gary starting to get the team names swapped from time to time to the on-field reporter asking Saban how it felt to win another national championship, CBS is going to have to step it up.  We actually kind of like Gary.  He has generally good insights, especially on what offenses are doing.  It's just that once he figures something out, he can't leave it alone.  Maybe next fall will be different.

On to the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day to play the Buckeyes of Ohio State.  Sims was asked in the post-game interview if he was ready for the Championship and he responded in his best Georgia drawl, “I shore am”.  Us too, Blake, us too.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

SEC CG Grades

Here in Downtown Franklin, you encounter rehab projects everywhere. Walk down any street in the Historic District and you see old houses restored and updated. Tucked away in unlikely places, you find clusters of new construction filling-in space that you may not have known existed. On a more ambitious scale, disused commercial eyesores are being replaced with new projects that harmoniously fit with the overall character of the historic Downtown. The result of this rehabilitation has been nothing short of astonishing.

Because life is a metaphor for football, I have been thinking about the comparison between Downtown Franklin, and Alabama Football. Just as historic preservation and restoration in a city like Franklin is a constant undertaking, so too is the rehabilitation of a sports program. Both require constant attention, dedication and teamwork. Rehabbing Franklin has not been one big project; it has been the cumulative effect of lots of discrete efforts, from battlefield reclamation, to street-scape, and individual restorations. The same is true for the Crimson Tide. What is The Process, if not a rehabilitation project. Returning the program to greatness has not just been improving the facilities, or transforming Bryant-Denny Stadium. It has involved recruiting, conditioning, player and coach development, transforming the culture, elevating the national media perception, reenergizing the larger fan base and much more.

On a micro-level, this season has featured two rehab projects, both of which seem to be coming to fruition at just the right time. These are the rehabilitations of Blake Sims and Lane Kiffin. 

Although highly touted and heavily recruited as a quarterback out of high school, Sims redshirted his freshman year in Tuscaloosa. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, Sims was a running back who saw action in only 5 games. In 2012, he played in 10 games, mostly as AJ McCarron's backup and attempted 10 passes, but he also was featured as a running back where he carried the ball 30 times for an average per rush of 6.2 yards and scored 2 TDs. The 2013 season saw him officially as AJ's backup. He played in 8 games and took most of his snaps against the Tide's non-conference opponents.

The 2013 season ended in ignominious fashion with back-to-back losses to Auburn and Oklahoma. The team that was poised to win three consecutive national championships was stunned in the Iron Bowl and embarrassed in the Sugar. Coach Saban told reporters that he was going to have to "start over from scratch" with The Process. 

For 2014, the Tide was loaded with skill players on offense and had a cupboard full of talented players on defense. The one glaring hole on the roster was quarterback. 

Not to worry, though; Jake Coker had arrived in Tuscaloosa! You could not conceive of a better successor to AJ McCarron. Jake was not only from Mobile.....he played behind AJ at St. Paul's and his high school coach declared Jake to be a better pure passer than AJ. And as for Blake Sims? Well, notwithstanding Blake's really poor showing in the A-Day Game, he would no doubt push Jake to be a better player with some competition during the summer.

But something happened on the way to Jake becoming Alabama's starting quarterback. And that something was Blake Sims. 

I have written before about how amazing it is that Blake started the season without yet having won the starting job, and grew to become the indispensable man in Alabama's offense. Today, I can write that Blake's growth.....the rehab project if you will....has taken him to be the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 SEC Championship Game. 

Blake's success is surely the product of individual effort, competitive character and dedication. But it would nevertheless not have been achieved without great coaching. So that is where the second rehab project comes into play.

A year ago, "Lane Kiffin" was either the answer to a sports trivia question -"Name the biggest coaching-bust in the history of football"-or a punch line. What he was not, was a coach respected by his colleagues, loved by his players, and feared by opposing defensive coordinators. Well, fast forward twelve months, and that is exactly what Lane Kiffin is today. 

Readers of this blog know that I have had little patience with the media's obsession with Kiffin as a member of the Alabama staff. So, it may come as somewhat of a surprise, that just as I think Scott Cochran was the architect of Alabama's win in last Week's Iron Bowl, I credit Lane Kiffin with designing and overseeing the construction of Alabama's offensive route of Missouri in the SEC Championship. I could point to Alabama's opening drive [10 plays; 58 yards; 3:36] as exhibit A and rest my case. Blake was 5 of 5 passing for 39 yards; TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry combined for 5 rushes for 29 yards and a TD. Alabama never faced 3rd down. 

But, I don't like relying on a single piece of evidence. So how about the second scoring drive, following two punts and a missed field goal. No doubt feeling a bit frustrated, Kiffin dialed up a home run deep pass, and Blake delivered a 58 yard strike to DeAndrew White. Drive summary: 1 play; 58 yards; 00:16. 

The Tide scored 6 touchdowns in the game against the SEC East Division Champion, each score coming on long drives [68, 58, 75, 64, 90, 62] and scored 21 points in the 4th quarter. At the right time, Kiffin adjusted his play calling from an up-tempo, run-pass balance, to what Marc Torrence called the "try-and-stop-the-grownass-man portion of the Alabama gameplan." In short, it was a brilliant performance for a coordinator, with a brilliant performance by the player whose position he coaches. 
Pundits who were making jokes about Coach Saban hiring Lane Kiffin as the Tide's offensive coordinator and QB coach, are now speculating that after one more season in Tuscaloosa, Kiffin will be the hottest name among candidates for head coaching jobs.

The story-line for Alabama's 2014 season is the rehabilitation of Lane Kiffin and Blake Sims. That success of that rehab project was on full display in the SEC Championship, so here is how I grade the game:

Offense:       A+    Alabama gained 504 yards of total offense, made 28 first downs, converted 9 of 13 third down, including 4 of 5 in the second half, and possessed the ball for 36:43 of the game. Blake completed 23 of 27 pass attempts for 262 yards and 2 TDs [DeAndrew White; Christion Jones]. His 85.2% completion percentage set a SEC CG record displacing Auburn's Jason Campbell who completed 77% of his pass attempts in the 2004 game. Sims also set a SEC CG record for consecutive pass completions [10] topping Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerfffel who were tied with 9.

Amari Cooper caught 12 passes for 85 yards and set a conference record for receptions in a season [115] displacing Vanderbilt's Jordan Matthews. White gained 101 yards on 4 receptions, and Christion Jones caught 3 passes for 40 yards. OJ Howard added 20 yards on 2 receptions, Jalston Fowler gained 13 yards on a single reception and Brian Vogler caught 1 pass for 5 yards. 

Derrick Henry gained a career-best 141 yards on 20 rushes. TJ Yeldon gained 47 yards on 14 runs. Tyren Jones ran the ball 3 times for 9 yards and Fowler, who had a brilliant day blocking, gained 2 yards on his only running play. 

Defense:        A+       Mizzou gained only 41 yards rushing, and its 272 yards of passing offense was the result of 4 desperation deep passes that Matty Mauk threw while running for his life. That those passes were caught is a tribute to the individual effort of the Tiger receivers.

On the game, Missouri only made 10 first downs, was forced to punt 7 times, had five possessions that ended after 3 and out, and lost a forced fumble. Mizzou only managed 3 sustained drives [58, 75, 65] which produced two FGs and a single TD.

A'Shawn Robinson was the leading tackler with 9 stops [5 solo]; Landon Collins made 7 tackles [6 solo] and Geno Smith was credited with 5 tackels [4 solo]. The Tide defense made 6 tackles for lost yardage, force and recovered one fumble [Collins] broke up 4 passes and hurried Mauk 11 times.

Special Teams:

Punting: A+        JK Scott only punted 3 times for an average of 43.3 yards per kick. He dropped 2 inside the 20 and kicked 1 in excess of 50 yards. His best punt might arguably have been the one where he had to salvage the bobble of a low snap and avoid the rush.

Kick Offs:        A+           Griff averaged 58.6 gross yards per kick and the coverage team played very well achieving a net per kick average of 38.7. Christion Jones set a SEC CG record for kick return average [28.3] returning 3 Mizzou kicks for 85 yards. He replaced Tennessee's Peerless Price who set the previous record of 27.5 yards in the 1998 SEC CG.

Place Kicking:      A-       Griff was perfect on 6 PATs but missed a makeable 43 yard FG attempt.

Coaching:       A+          Alabama was only penalized 2 times for 10 yards and the participation report lists 58 players who saw action. By contrast, Mizzou was penalized 6 times for 60 yards, including an ejection of the team's sack leader for targeting, and the Tigers played only 46 individual players.

The College Football Playoff Committee has selected Alabama to occupy the first seed in the four-team playoff. The Tide will face Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's night. Urban Meyer's psychotherapist has already booked a flight to New Orleans, and Coach Saban could barely repress an ear-to-ear grin when ESPN's Reece Davis asked for his reaction to the match-up. Meyer was not available during the ESPN broadcast.....no reason was offered....my guess? Therapy sessions usually last between 45 minutes and an hour. That just about accounts for the duration of the media blackout in Columbus.  

Mal Moore's legacy is nothing other than a restoration of Alabama's historic greatness. Without Mal Moore, Nick Saban would not have been hired as Alabama's head coach, and the enormous capital investment that preceded the 2007 hiring of Saban may never have happened. Restoration takes time and effort. Rehab projects do not happen over night.

For Lane Kiffin and Blake Sims, rehabilitation has taken all season. I do not believe that either Kiffin or Sims have yet coached or played their best games. A couple of missed reads, and two lapses in ball-security in the Championship Game are opportunities for improvement. I think the time between now and New Year's Day will be put to good use.

As for Urban Meyer's psyche.....that's a rehab project of a different sort. I wonder if Coach Meyer has Dr. Phil's cell phone number on speed-dial.

It has been a great season so far y'all. The Tide are Champions of the SEC for the 24th time, and there are two more games to play! I'm looking forward to the Tire Store Report......

The Commissioner        

Monday, December 1, 2014

Tire Store Report Alabama vs. Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn Tigers Plainsmen War Eagle Villagers

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Thanks, Commissioner, for that excellent and prompt edition of The Grades.  We aren’t accustomed to keeping the hours it takes to see a 99-point game that starts after dinner time.  We weren’t even in Tuscaloosa and we were still up till midnight trying to calm down.


Cooper correctly said that this team is used to and able to deal with adversity.  That is an excellent thing for the young men.  It will serve them well in life after their football careers are over.  However, on behalf of those of us who, um, have a few more miles on our tread, we’d just as soon have a little less “adversity” in one of these big games.  We hear this is the way they like their football out on the left edge of the country -- sketchy defense, 100-point totals, last one with the ball probably wins….  They can have it.  We’re quite happy with 21-14 and a goal line stand in the 4th quarter, so long as we have the 21, thank you very much.


It is hard to believe that the regular season has ended, though we are very happy that we get to see this team play some more.  In many ways, we have seen this team grow up before our eyes. 


Offense:  After a promising start, the offense bogged down on the strength of three Blake Sims’ interceptions.  One of them, maybe, arguably, could have been prevented by a slightly more determined effort from the receiver.  The others, well, were just bad.  The good thing about this offense is that they don’t give up.  Sims may have been rattled, but he didn’t show it.  He ran the  ball sparingly, but with devastating effect.  We have heard repeatedly since A Day that Blake Sims did not have the arm to throw an effective deep ball.  The phrase “arm punt” was used.  He will never say it to anyone, such is his level of maturity, so we are glad to step up on his behalf and say “Na-Na-Na-Na-Nah Nah”.  On a deep throw to Cooper after the Perry interception return, Sims set up around the 45 and delivered a beautiful spiral that hit a wide open Amari Cooper near the 15.  Not enough for you?  The very next series Sims wound up in the middle of the field around his own 18 and hit Cooper in stride about the other 23, outside the numbers.  Not impressed?  Let’s see you do it.

Yeldon ran hard (of course).  When Cam Robinson went down with a sprained shoulder, the offensive line was reconfigured, but hardly seemed to miss a beat.  The offense overcame penalties in the red zone that would have often resulted in field goal attempts in prior years. We were excited to watch Julio Jones play as much as possible, because we expected we would not see his equal again in our remaining life time of watching football.  Boy, were we wrong.  Amari Cooper is the complete package -- route-running, hands, downfield blocking, knowing what will make a particular defender vulnerable, selling it when he is just a decoy….  Enjoy every minute of it, because we may not see his like again (hoping for the reverse jinx). Alabama’s offense delivered with contributions from future NFL stars as well as players that one day may be the answer to hard trivia questions.  A high grade is warranted.


Defense:  This was an odd sort of game.  Auburn had made a living this year running the ball.  Hard running up the middle, misdirection in the backfield, and so-called jet or speed sweeps around end had been their bread and butter.  On Saturday night, they came out throwing it.  In fact, before Saturday night their quarterback had averaged a little over 20 throws a game and had really only exceeded that total in a desperate comeback bid against Mississippi State.  Saturday night they were well over 40.  It was somewhat reminiscent of what Oklahoma did in the Sugar Bowl.  Fortunately, Alabama reacted much better and much more quickly than it did in January.  Nick Perry came up with a huge interception.  After performing, shall we say, less than optimally against West Virginia in the first game of the season, Bradley Sylve came on as cover corner and played lights out.  He broke up a pass in the end zone (well, he broke up that one pass about three  times) in excellent coverage and managed an outstanding interception he didn’t get credit for (see below).  The defensive line played way too many snaps again, but fatigue never seemed to be an issue.  Pettway slapped down a pass so hard it’s a wonder the ball didn’t burst like a water balloon.  Big men were chasing Nick Marshall hard and fast well into the fourth quarter.  A+?  When you give up more than 40 points?  Darn right.  


Special Teams:  What in the name of the entire Tiffin family is going on?  Our kickoff to start the game sure looked like some kind of on-side kick but it looked like only our kicker was in on the plan.  Perhaps our place kicking specialist hurt himself, or read a key no one else did, but it sure seemed like a bad omen. Later, we bailed the enemy out by fielding a kick off that was desperately trying to elude us and go out of bounds.  No harm done, we suppose.  Our punter continues to execute his main responsibility flawlessly.  In fact, it occasionally looks like he is showing off -- a 70-yard punt? Really?  His substitute efforts as primary kick off man were more than serviceable.  I know the Commissioner will hand out awards at the end of the season, but I nominate J.K. Scott for several, including Freshman of the Year.  He’s already a finalist for the Ray Guy Award.  The hidden yards you get when a guy like that flips the field with a big kick are just invaluable.


Coaching:  Wow.  Kirby Smart gets so little attention that it is pitiful.  As noted above, the defense was not prepared for much of what was thrown (quite literally) at them.  However, they bowed up when it counted, forcing field goal attempts repeatedly during series that began with “something and goal” keeping Alabama in the game until the offense settled down.  Perhaps one day some broadcast team will see fit to focus on this coach’s contributions.  The personnel change noted above was a great recognition of matching the right talent to the right situation.


Kiffin gets tons more camera time than Smart, for reasons we can guess.  A host of broadcasting teams, camera operators, producers, directors, etc. have been frustrated in efforts to show a giant shouting match between Coaches Saban and Kiffin.  If one didn’t break out Saturday night, it isn’t going to happen.  If you haven’t seen the video clip yet where Kiffin is already signaling “touchdown” on the play where Cooper breaks open in the middle before Sims has even thrown the ball do yourself a favor and Google it up.  It’s open for discussion whether Kiffin’s occasionally offensive (that pun not intended) attitude has changed for the better.  I suppose we’ll know more as play reaches the point that he has to be made available for interviews.  What should not be open for discussion is whether this guy can coach quarterbacks and call plays.  Sims put it best when he said he liked having a coach who told him: “here is what you are doing wrong and here is how we’ll fix it.”


Finally, a word about the head coach is called for.  Nick Saban has done some fairly amazing things thus far in his career.  However, without regard to what happens from this point forward, we think this may be his finest coaching job ever. It is worth noting that Alabama is playing one of the youngest rosters on the FBS list.  If you think back to early August, with practice reports saying that Sims couldn’t throw and Coker couldn’t learn the offense, a completely reconfigured offensive line, struggling defensive backs, a suspended defensive leader, all the drama about Kiffin’s hiring, blah, blah, blah, you couldn’t blame some who took a look at Alabama’s schedule and predicted three, maybe four, losses.  This was the classic “rebuilding year”.  We’d see if we could reset things for a run next year.   Then there was a raft of injuries -- Drake, Kelly, Yeldon, Cooper, Griffith, Jackson, Vogler, Stewart, Robinson, Foster, Sims. ugh, I’ll stop before I don’t feel well.  Yet here we are.  Alabama heads to the SEC Championship as the betting favorite, AP #1 (a spot now obtained at some point in the season for 7 straight years), and current #1 in the first four team Battle for the Big Gold Beer Tap. Saban may not win Coach of the Year, but I’d be interested to read the credits of the other contenders.


 Officiating:  We have heard for years from other teams’ fans (looking at you LSU) that some combination of the Red Elephant Club, the A-Club, the Illuminati, and your local Masonic Lodge have bought off each and every member of every officiating crew in the conference, every week, just to make sure all the calls went Alabama’s way.  The last two games in this series should put that Dan Brown-level conspiracy theory to rest. 


Actually, we thought Saturday night’s game was shaping up to be one of the officials’ better efforts (though that may be something like being the center on the Japanese National Basketball Team) and then the inevitable happened.  It’s one thing when SEC officials miss a call.  Even as hard as we at the Tire Store can be on the officiating, we understand that it is difficult to get the spot right, look at whether the ball was secured and the receiver’s foot was in bounds at the same time, tell whether an elbow hit before the ball started falling from the runner’s hands, etc.


But there no excuse, none at all, for not knowing the rules of college football.  Sylve intercepted a pass.  The “simultaneous” possession call on the boundary was just plain wrong.  The ball should have gone to the player possessing it whose foot touched in bounds first, before the players went out of bounds.  That was Sylve.  The officials, apparently including the one in the booth, got the wrong result.  It wasn’t because they didn’t see exactly what happened, but because they didn’t know the rule that applied to what they had seen.  It was not determinative, but it could have been.  If nothing else, maybe we’ll quit hearing that Alabama fans secretly funneled the missing fortune of the Knights Templar to the likes of Penn Wagers. 


On to a game with surprising SEC East Representative Missouri.  Interestingly, Missouri is the only SEC member against whom Alabama does not hold a winning record.  We can fix that.  Besides, we come from the generation that thinks winning the SEC Championship is a big deal.  A really big deal. Because it is.


Roll Tide, everyone.  Be careful driving over to (and in) Atlanta.