Someone, once upon a time, said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. Makes sense to me. By that definition, Alabama's 41-23 win over Texas A&M was one crazy game!
There was a lot of insanity on display in College Station....from both teams. For example: Alabama persisted trying to run the jet sweep, and appears to neglect practicing special teams during the week. The Aggies? Throwing under pressure into the teeth of the Tide defense. Oh, and attempting to run the football. Come to think of it; TAMU was crazy to play offense in the first place. The Aggies would have been no worse off if they had simply punted on first down.
Alabama's rushing attack gets better each week. Against A&M, Tide rushers accounted for 258 net yards. None of those net yards were gained on the sweep.
As for Alabama's special teams.....well, they were certainly special for A&M. The Tide punt coverage team gave up a 68 yard return for the Aggies' first touchdown of the game....a play that breathed new life into a team dead on its feet late in the first half. The punt return team lost a fumble that put that Aggies in business at the Bama 47 yard line. Three plays later, A&M scored its lone offensive touchdown. Not to be outdone by its peers, on the ensuing possession, the kicking team surrendered a blocked punt giving A&M a first down at the Tide 29 yard line. Excellent play by the best defense in college football, pushed the Aggies back 5 yards and the A&M kicker missed a field goal attempt.
A&M began the day with a 6 game winning streak, still smarting from the laughable 59 point beat-down the Tide delivered last year in Tuscaloosa. Their HUNH, offense was supposed to be a difficult matchup for Alabama's defense. Bama's young defensive backfield that struggled against Ole Miss, was expected to be sourly challenged by TAMU's passing game.
The Aggies ran 70 plays, 45 of which were pass attempts. A combination of two TAMU quarterbacks completed less than 50% of those attempts and surrendered 4 interceptions returned for 207 yards and 3 TDs. You would think that someone on the TAMU sideline would suggest doing something else. The problem was that running the ball was equally unproductive as the Tide defense held the Aggies to a paltry 32 net yards rushing.
Call me crazy, but here is how I grade the game:
Offense: B Alabama gained 396 yards total offense [258 rushing] earned 17 first downs and controlled the ball for 36:22 of the game.
Jake went the distance. He completed 19 of 25 pass attempts for 138 yards and no interceptions. He also gained 30 gross yards rushing, mostly in crucial situations. What impresses me is how tough he has proved to be. He is big and strong, but also elusive. And he does not hesitate to lower his shoulder and punish a tackler. Am I crazy to compare him favorably as a quarterback to the late Steve McNair?
Calvin Ridley led all receivers with 52 yards on 7 receptions. The ever reliable Richard Mullaney added 32 yards on 4 catches. In total, 7 different players caught passes.
Derek Henry had a monster game, rushing for a career high 236 net yards. Kenyan Drake carried the ball 7 times for 13 net yards.
The Tide offense struggled in the second half with center Ryan Kelly out of the game with a concussion. Alabama had 30 first down plays. Seventeen of those plays were running plays. Five of those 17 running plays resulted in negative yardage; mostly in the second half. Similarly, 5 of Alabama's 13 pass plays on first and ten failed to gain.
Alabama had only four offensive drives that gained 40 or more yards [57, 79, 68, 51] that produced two TDs and a made FG. Six Tide drives ended with a punt after only three plays.
The Tide converted only 4 of 16 third down opportunities. Kelly's loss was a significant factor to diminished production in the run game in the second half.
Defense: A++ Alabama has been playing college football since 1892. In all that time, no player has ever......EVER.....returned more than one interception for a touchdown in a game. Landon Collins was the last player to achieve a pick-six; on October 26, 2013 against Tennessee. No Tide player has ever returned more than two interceptions for touchdowns in a season, and only 7 have achieved that mark [Hootie Ingram, Bobby Johns, Antonio Langham, Cedric Samuel, Rashad Johnson, C.J. Mosley, Vinnie Sunseri]. Today, Minkah Fitzpatrick returned two interceptions for TDs. Langham and Mosley share the career record with 3 pick-sixes. I'm thinking that Fitzpatrick has a good shot at breaking that record....unless opposing teams figure out that it is insane to keep challenging the true freshman and decide to take their chances with Cy Jones, Marlon Humphrey, or Eddie Jackson instead.
Reggie Ragland once again was the leading tackler with 9 [8 solo]. Jonathan Allen recorded 5 tackles [4 solo] and with 4 tackles for 17 lost yards, Allen was in the TAMU backfield so much he might be summoned for jury duty in College Station.
The Tide defense recorded 12 tackles for lost yardage [7 sacks], forced a fumble, made 4 interceptions [Jackson, Fitzpatrick], broke up 7 passes and hurried the QB 3 times.
Special Teams;
Punting: F- JK averaged 43 yards per punt on 9 kicks and Cy Jones gained 35 yards on 3 returns. Otherwise, the punt game was simply dreadful.
Place kicking: A Griff made both of his FG attempts [32, 20] and was perfect on PATs.
Kick Offs: B+ Griff averaged 63.4 gross yards per kick and the coverage team held A&M in check on the few times the Aggies actually had a return.
Coaching: B+ Alabama gained 699 all purpose yards and was penalized 7 times for 60 yards. The participation report lists 55 players who saw action in the game. Special teams are problematic. This must be addressed....or else fans will just have to get used to holding their breath on every play in the kicking game.
Coach Kiffin's play calling is a frequent topic of criticism by fans. He is perceived as not running the ball enough, being too prone to throw when the ground game is working, too predictable, too enamored with the jet sweep. I am not entire convinced these criticisms are justified. Against A&M, Bama ran 70 offensive plays. The run/pass mix was 44/26. The Tide had 30 first down plays; 17 were runs. On Alabama's 23 second down plays it ran the ball 18 times including 11 times on 2nd and long. Bama's 16 third down plays were evenly divided between runs and passes. Even on third and long [6 runs, 7 passes]. Poor production on first downs led to 15 second and long situations in the game.
The play calling has materially changed over the last three games. Game plans are much more attuned to Jake's core strengths and he appears to be responding. Every game is an elimination game for Alabama. If the Tide is to make the playoffs there is only one path: win the West and win the SEC. Success depends on Jake's continued progress and Kiffin is, in my opinion, the coach to get Jake where he needs to be.
The defense is playing at an extremely high level. The offense remains a work in progress, but the progress has been remarkable. Place kicking and punting have improved, but much work remains. I don't want to get too far out in front of events.....but I think the Tide has what it takes.... The next few weeks will test the mettle of this team. I think they will do it. I think they will run the table.
Do you think I'm crazy for thinking that? We will find out over the next few weeks.
Tennessee is next.....so get your cigars ready.....
And Roll Tide, y'all....
The Commissioner
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