The game against Louisiana Monroe was supposed to answer some lingering questions about the 2015 Alabama football team. Having now digested the statistics of the Tide's 34-0 win, I am trying to decide whether those questions remain unanswered or if we got some answers we just do not like.
The biggest question coming into the game was whether the Tide offense could find an identity. After the game, all I can say is that if the offense's identity had a face, it would be mostly found on milk cartons. Jake Coker started the game and played deep into the fourth quarter. He completed only 17 of 31 pass attempts, seemed to struggle with pressure and threw a really bad interception. On the other hand, he also completed 3 passes for touchdowns. Jake's completion percentage got little to no help from the Tide's corps of largely inexperienced receivers, but it was good to see senior H-Back, Michael Nysewander, [6-1, 237; Hoover] perfectly execute a play action pass for a touchdown near the goal line that Jalston Fowler used to run so effectively. Bama was able to run the ball, but chose not to. The offense gained 200 fewer yards against the War Hawks, than it compiled in a losing effort one week ago against the far superior Rebel defense.
A subsidiary question about the offense was whether the coaches had finally settled on a quarterback. Answer: Yes. The coaches have obviously decided that Jake gives the team the best chance to win.
Special Teams accounted for worrisome questions: Can Griff find his groove? Can JK Scott get over his case of the yips and find his range? Can the return game be productive?
The answers coming out of the ULM win are a bit equivocal, but nevertheless encouraging. Griff made both of his field goal attempts [40, 30] and remained perfect on point after attempts. Scott shanked his first punt, but got more reliable as the game progressed. He kicked one punt in excess of 50 yards, dropped 4 punts inside the ULM 20 yard line and ended up with a workmanlike average of 37.8 yards per punt.
Ball security was a question coming out of last week's five turnover debacle. From a turnover margin of -5, the Tide managed to break into positive numbers....barely....on the net result of two interceptions picked off vs. one pass completed to a guy wearing the wrong colored jersey.
While there are signs of improvement, there is no denying that much works remains to be done. For a snap shot of where things stand now, here is how I grade the game:
Offense: C+ Alabama gained 303 yards of total offense [137 rushing] that produced 17 first downs, and controlled the ball for 27:28 of game time. The offense struggled to mount any sort of sustained production. Seven of its possessions resulted in 3 plays and out, and the Tide had only four drives that gained 40 or more yards [55, 43, 41, 40]. These produced 2 TDs, a punt and a successful field goal.
Jake and Cooper Bateman combined to complete 18 of 32 pass attempts that included 3 touchdown passes [Ridley, Stewart, Nysewander] and an interception.
Calvin Ridley caught 4 passes for 38 yards and a TD. Ardarius Stewart made 3 catches for 39 yards and a TD. Cam Sims added 21 yards on 3 receptions. Jr. Chris Black caught 2 passes for 23 yards. A total of 8 different players caught passes. Coach Saban made a point in his post game comments about the numerous drops of well thrown passes that kept the offense from finishing drives.
Kenyan Drake rushed 10 times for 65 yards and Derrick Henry carried the ball 13 times for 52 yards and a TD. Damien Harris added 23 yards on 4 rushing attempts. Henry's participation in the game was limited by the coaches because he had been ill earlier in the week and did not practice until Thursday.
Defense: A+ ULM only gained 92 yards of total offense, had only 10 first downs, and rushed the ball for a net of only 9 yards. Ten of ULM's offensive possessions were 3 and out and its longest drive gained only 31 yards. The Defense inflicted 12 tackles for lost yardage [6 sacks], broke up 8 passes, intercepted 2, and hurried the ULM QB 10 times.
True freshman, DB Minkah Fitzpatrick [6-1, 195] led all tacklers with a career high 7 stops. Reuben Foster, Dalvin Tomlinson, Jarran Reed and Da'Shawn Hand each had 5 tackles.
Special Teams:
Place Kicking: A Coach Saban told reporters after the game that Griff has corrected the issues that he had been having with the placement of his plant foot. Put a check mark next to that particular question.
Kickoffs: A Griff averaged 64.6 yards per kick, 3 of which were touchbacks. The return coverage team played well and the return game did not turn the ball over. On the opening kickoff, Bama's return man ran into a blocker.
Punting: B+ Scott shanked his first punt which traveled only 18 yards. The remainder of the game, however, his kicking was much more effective and consistent. The return game was productive, and twice ULM was flagged for interference with the player attempting to field the punt.
Coaching: B The participation report lists 65 players who saw action in the game. The number of penalties is still too high at 7 for 72 yards. The defensive effort was the 33d time that Alabama, under Coach Saban, has held an opposing offense to fewer than 200 yards total offense. The shut out of the War Hawks was the 53d time a Saban-coached Alabama team has allowed an opponent to score 10 or fewer points.
The Defense played very well against a clearly over-matched opponent. The offense struggled to establish a consistent passing game, and still has not managed to complete a deep pass. Special teams showed significant improvement. Two steps forward, and one step back? That is certainly one way to characterize Alabama's shut out of ULM.
Alabama travels to Athens to play a formidable Georgia next Saturday. Will the coaching staff and players make enough improvement between now and then to be competitive? We will know the answer to that question this time next weekend.
Elsewhere, Tennessee managed to lose a one-point squeaker of a game in the Swamp which the Vols led by 13 points with 4:00 to play in the game. Down in the Village, Lee County Vocational College started a brand new quarterback and a re-tooled defense in a desperate effort to overcome the merciless beating suffered last week in Baton Rouge. The result? Mississippi State 17 - Auburn 9.....the month of September is not yet over but Auburn's chances of winning the SEC West are.
A Tide win, and losses by the Vols and Aubs.....a result known in certain circles as The Alabama Trifecta!
Is that a good weekend? No question about it.
Roll Tide, Y'all.
The Commissioner
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