by the Commissioner’s Son and Heir
It was
fine. That’s it. Just fine.
“Fine” is
acceptable. “Fine” gets the job
done. But “fine” is a far cry from
“good.” “Fine” is a long distance call
from “great.” When she’s getting ready
to go out, your wife doesn’t want to hear that she looks “fine,” she wants you
to say that she’s beautiful. Against
MTSU, Alabama wasn’t good, great, or beautiful.
Alabama was simply fine.
We’ve seen
this trend in recent years. Bama takes
on a Power 5 opponent in Week 1 and wins decisively, then kinda drags their way
thru the home opener against some cannon fodder team from the Sun Belt or
Conference USA. That 18-23 year old kids
don’t find it as easy to get up for MTSU or Florida Atlantic as it is for
Wisconsin or Virginia Tech should not come as a surprise. But it’s frustrating. As fans, we expect to bulldoze a team like
the Blue Raiders, and to see a whole bunch of second and third stringers
starting at halftime. But maybe that’s
not fair to the players and coaches. So
while it is tempting to grade yesterday’s sluggish effort rather harshly, I’ll
try not to do so.
Here’s how I
saw it (with the standard letter grade deduction for quality of opponent):
OFFENSE: C
The offense
was pedestrian. But they scored 5
touchdowns, put up 532 yards of total offense, and won the time-of-possession
battler by almost 6 minutes. Derrick
Henry rushed 18 times for 96 yards and scored 3 TDs, giving him 6 thru just two
games. MTSU geared up to shut Henry
down, and had some success for a while (though they were helped along by the
offensive play calling inexplicably keeping the ball out of Henry’s
hands). But Henry got stronger as the
game wore on, and that’s encouraging.
Drake ran 6 times for 40 yards, and Damien Harris picked up 55 yards on
8 carries late in the game, including an impressive 41 yard jaunt.
The passing
game was very hit or miss. The offensive
line didn’t play nearly as well as they did last week in pass protection, so
Coker was pressured way more than he ought to have been. Jake finished 15 for 26 for 214 yards and a
TD. Cooper Bateman took over at the half
and went 11 for 17 for 98 yards and a TD.
Both QBs threw picks that were terrible decisions and into double
coverage. 8 different receivers caught passes,
led by Kenyan Drake’s 5 receptions for 96 yards and a TD. Among wideouts, Robert Foster led the way
with 4 catches for 49 yards and a TD. OJ
Howard had a solid outing with 4 catches for 68 yards.
DEFENSE: C+
The stop
troops got off to a poor start, allowing MTSU to sustain a couple of long
drives in the 1st quarter.
The starting defense held the Raiders to a field goal, but much of that
was assisted by poor ball security. MTSU
might want to look into whether or not their starting center is in deep with a
bookie, because he single handedly ruined solid drives with poor snaps. Bama recovered 3 fumbles, 2 of which were
forced by Eddie Jackson (and he recovered one of those). Cyrus Jones also had a nice interception.
The defense
looked flat-footed and confused early.
MTSU was playing at a pace that seemed to completely disrupt what Bama
wanted to do. Bama did not record a
sack. This is troubling when one
considers the fact that we have a high-scoring, fast-paced offense coming to
Tuscaloosa next week in the form of the Ole Miss Rebels. Fortunately, the defense settled down and
mostly stifled MTSU from the 2nd quarter on. MTSU had 275 total yard (86 rushing, 189
passing). Their only TD came against our
second string. Our defensive backups are
not very good at the moment.
SPECIAL
TEAMS: Academic Probation
It’s beyond
failure at this point. Our kicking game
is on the verge of flunking out completely.
J.K. Scott punted 5 times for an average of 40.2, and none made it
inside the 20. He was better than last
week, but still way below last year’s amazing standard. Kickoffs were decent and coverage, on both
kickoffs and punts, was solid. We
blocked a punt for a safety, which under normal circumstances would merit a
good grade. But the circumstances are
not normal because…
Our
placekicker is awful. Adam Griffith is a
good kid. He has an amazing story. If you have not seen the segment on Griffith
that College Gameday did last week, do yourself a favor and watch it. He has overcome a lot in his young life. He is a terrible kicker. For the second straight week, Griffith was 0
for 2 on field goal attempts. He missed
a 24-yarder, which is inexcusable for a scholarship kicker in the SEC. He also missed a 48 yard attempt, which would
normally be forgivable, but he actually hit it on target, but kicked it almost
10 yards short. Had it been a 35 yard
attempt, it would have barely cleared the crossbar. The coaches have to go to a different kicker,
because Griffith is completely destroyed mentally. I know that he has dealt with injuries, but
this is his third year in the program and for his career he’s 13 for 26
(50%). That’s not even close to good
enough. If a game comes down to the last
play, and Griffith is lining up for a game-winning FG attempt, I’m turning the
TV off.
COACHING: D+
The team
came out flat and never seemed to get in synch.
The offensive play calling was all over the place. I know we’re trying to get our QBs as many
attempts as possible before league play, but is it too much to ask that we let
Derrick Henry bulldoze an undersized defense?
Bama won by 4 TDs, so it may seem like I’m grading a tad harsh, but the
final score is the only reason this was even a passing grade. Special Teams coach Bobby Williams shares his
players’ spot on the probation list. Our
kicking game is a mess, and that’s on him.
The SEC is way too tough to not have a competent placekicker and
punter. If Scott and Griffith don’t
improve, and do it quickly, they will cost us a game. Heck, they might cost us more than one.
It’s time to
move past this disappointment and get ready for the Rebel Black Bears. Ole Miss is a dangerous team filled with NFL
talent. Nothing short of Bama’s best
effort will get the job done. I have all
the confidence in the world in our coaching staff to have our guys ready. Remember, since arriving at Bama, Nick Saban
has only lost back-to-back games to the same team one time (LSU ’10-’11). Given the shoddy play of Mississippi St and
LSU, and the downright terrible showings by Arkansas and Auburn, the Bama-Ole
Miss game could very well decide the SEC West.
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