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.
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