Tire Store Report -- Sugar Bowl Edition

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Uncharacteristically, we'll be brief.  Blech, that was nasty.

Sadly enough, Commissioner, those grades are precisely what the 2014-2015 iteration of the Crimson Tide earned in what turned out to be its final game of the season.  The Sugar Bowl has turned bitter for the Alabama faithful.

You know it has been a long and unpleasant evening when the bright spots are the freshman punter, who likely kept Alabama in the game till the very end and the place kicker who appears to be recovering from whatever injury or injuries have been plaguing him since about the third week in the season.

You were right to focus on the season as a whole.  For a team in rebuilding mode, whose coach declared this time last year it was time to restart The Process, and picked by many to lose three or four games, this team outdid itself, as did its coaches.  It should never be said that a season which saw Alabama add another SEC Championship to its list of achievements was anything less than successful.

In the Sugar Bowl, however, this looked like a young, confused team -- in over its head and unprepared for the big stage.  In some ways, that is both troubling and puzzling.  However, with this season done there is little to be gained from asking questions about why we didn't run more plays with Fowler leading Henry around the left side with tight end assistance, why we continued to run blitzes that our players didn't seem to understand and were not affecting the quarterback, why our linebacking corps was so thin that two injuries resulted in players who would only be expected to see the field in games like homecoming were suddenly required to play critical roles, why this team never really developed the consistent ability to put away an opponent early when it had a significant lead, and why this many games into the season we still didn't seem to be able to get a play from the sideline in to the huddle then to the line of scrimmage without the play clock nearly expiring.

Three questions are worth asking: First, did we over think and over plan for this game? Second, were we expecting a bit much of this team of overachievers? Third, what will the 2015-16 campaign be like?  Unfortunately, if we were smart enough and had the ability to see the future so we could answer questions like those, we'd have already won the Powerball, and be reading The Grades from our private island in the Caribbean, while our man Jeeves brought our drinks with those little paper umbrellas in them down to the beach.

No, we don't have the answers, not at all.  We probably won't spend much time even asking those questions any more.  Instead, we'll fairly quickly move on to some questions that we can get clues about in the Spring -- who will be next year's quarterback, will Drake fully recover from his horrific-looking injury, will Bo Scarborough be able to live up to his recruiting billing, and why shouldn't we be picked to win the SEC West. 

Stay tuned, my friends.  Spring practice begins in about 12 weeks.  Coach Cochran is working his weight room magic and almost before you know it this year's Sugar Bowl will be nothing more than motivation to achieve more in the future. 

Thanks, Commissioner, for keeping us all informed, entertained, and connected for another season.  We note and are proud of your other accomplishments this past year, but we are glad your campaign and judicial duties found their appropriate spot -- which is to say behind the quality and timely production of The Grades.

Roll Tide, everyone.  Beat Wisconsin.