They said it was a trap game. And they were right!
For the better part of the first half, the Alabama offense must have been trapped in the locker room. Through the entire first quarter and the first five minutes of the second, Alabama had five possessions. The Tide gained a grand total of 55 yards, punted four times and threw an interception.
For most of the game, MSU's all-purpose quarterback, Dak Prescott, was trapped in his own backfield. Prescott was sacked eight times. Eight is a big number when you are tracking the times your quarterback is tackled for loss while attempting to pass. To put it in perspective, Auburn is still crowing about the seven sacks the Tigers made on Brodie Croyle when Mike Shula was coaching. Throw in four more tackles for lost yardage on running plays, and the MSU offense suffered twelve tackles behind their line of scrimmage for 58 lost yards. At one point, MSU had a first and goal, at the Alabama 7 and ended up having to kick a 39 yard field goal.
And for the life of me, I cannot help feeling trapped in some weird alternative universe when I have to endure listening to Vern Lundquist call a play-by-play. Here's a suggestion, CBS: why don't you just have the home team radio broadcast crew call your televised games. At least the other team's home crew would get the names of the players right.
The Tide offense did not play its best game, but Derrick Henry (Verne: it's H-E-N-R-Y, not "Harry") ought to have impressed Heisman voters with his performance. The defense surrendered nearly 400 yards to the Puppies, but only allowed 6 points, marking the first time in his 29 game career at MSU that Dak Prescott has been held without scoring at least one touchdown. Special teams allowed a blocked field goal attempt, but also returned a punt for a touchdown to get Alabama on the scoreboard.
The final score of 31-6 was surely a team effort, so here is how I grade the game:
Offense: C+ The Tide gained 379 yards of total offense [235 rushing] that earned 13 first downs. The offense only converted 5 of 14 third down opportunities and controlled the ball for a mere 26:30. However, nearly half of its total time of possession [10:00] came in the 4th quarter.
Jake completed 15 of his 25 pass attempts. He threw one pass for a touchdown [Calvin Ridley] and was intercepted once. Ridley led all receivers with 5 catches for 76 yards. His longest reception was a 60 yard catch and run for a touchdown. Ardarius Stewart added 32 yards on 4 receptions. Kenyan Drake caught 2 passes for 13 yards before suffering a broken arm making a tackle on a kick return. Damian Harris, Richard Mullaney and Derrick Henry each caught one pass.
Henry gained 204 net yards rushing and scored two touchdowns, on runs of 74 and 65 yards. His first TD with 8:36 to play in the first half marked the 14th consecutive game in which he has scored a rushing touchdown and set a new SEC record. His second score came in the 4th quarter on a play designed for him to run inside the left tackle. MSU had the play well defended, so Henry cut outside, broke a tackle in the backfield, turned the corner and raced down the left sideline. The State safety, Kivon Coman, had what appeared to be the right angle to intercept the Big Man and at least force him out of bounds, but Mr. Coman didn't account for two things; (i) Henry's speed, and (ii) his stiff-arm. The former changed the angle to the would-be tackler's disadvantage, and the latter face-planted him at about the State 20 yard line. Half of Henry's net yards were earned on his 8 carries in the 4th quarter.
With Drake's injury, Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris saw action in the Tide backfield. Each carried the ball three times. Both will have to use the next two weeks, and this coming Saturday's game against Charleston Southern, to maximum advantage. Drake's season, and his Alabama career, are most likely over. It's a shame. Drake is a talented and exciting football player. Here's wishing the young man a full and speedy recovery.
The Tide had five offensive possessions that gained 40 or more yards [65, 75, 41, 59, 74]. These drives accounted for 3 TDs one FG and a missed FG. But they only consumed 31 plays. Three of those drives were achieved in drives of 3 plays or less. The missed FG drive ground 6:57 off of the clock from the end of the 3rd quarter well into the start of the 4th.
Defense: A Although State gained 393 yards of total offense, only 89 yards came by rushing and the Stop Troops kept the Dogs out of the end zone. MSU converted only 7 of 19 third down opportunities.
Reuben Foster was the leading tackler with 10 [6 solo] followed by Reggie Ragland with 8 [2 solo]. Jonathan Allen and Eddie Jackson each are credited with 7 tackles. Allen made 3 tackles for lost yardage, each a sack, and forced a fumble. To a total of 12 tackles for loss, the Tide defense added 3 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception [Marlon Humphrey; 29 yard return] 7 pass breakups and 4 hurries.
Special Teams:
Place Kicking: F A blocked FG attempt requires and automatic failing grade. Otherwise, Griff was good from 42 yards and made each of his 4 PAT attempts.
Kickoffs: A Griff averaged 62.8 yards per kick on 6 kicks. Two kicks resulted in touchbacks. The coverage team did not allow any return longer than 15 yards and averaged allowing less than 11 yards per return. The return team never had an opportunity.
Punting: A+ Cy Jones earns the top grade with his touchdown scored on a 69 yard punt return. JK Scott punted 5 times for an average of 40 yards per punt.
Coaching B+ The Tide accumulated 477 all purpose yards and surrendered 453. Alabama was penalized only 4 times for 40 yards. The participation report lists only 44 players who saw action against the Bulldogs. That report is incorrect, however, because it does not list players, such as Damien Harris, Cooper Bateman and others who played after the starting two-deep rotation was pulled.
Alabama ran only 55 plays, with a run/pass split of 30/25. On first down, Lane Kiffin called 12 passes to only 9 runs. MSU snapped the ball 87 times. It is a tribute to the strength and conditioning program and the Tide defense was physically better than the MSU offense late in the game. Also, the Tide's long, run-heavy drive at the end of the 3rd quarter and start of the 4th, gave the defense a much-needed opportunity to be off the field.
Alabama vs. Mississippi State was indeed a trap game. But those who expected Alabama to still be hung over from LSU and to get trapped by its closest and oldest rival in the SEC do not know the 2015 edition of the Crimson Tide. About 15 minutes after the Alabama players dispatched State, the team hung over from last week kicked off its game in Baton Rouge. The Tigers hardly went through the motions against Arkansas, and posted a bad 31-14 loss. They also hung an "Out Of Business" sign on the door of the Fournette For Heisman campaign.
Auburn and Georgia played a trap game as well. But then again, playing any football game in a cow pasture, on a field named in honor of a coach dismissed for paying players, is to be trapped in a morally perverse environment. The less bad team won the contest, and perhaps guaranteed an extension of Mark Richt's tenure at Georgia.
The most important game of the season, however, is this coming Saturday against Charleston Southern. It will be Senior Day in Tuscaloosa. If you go to the game, give a loud cheer for the 2015 senior class: Parker Barrineau, Jake Coker, Denzel Devall, Ty Flournoy-Smith, Dominick Jackson, Cy Jones, Ryan Kelly, Dillon Lee, Isaac Luatua, Michael Nyswander, D. J. Pettway, Reggie Ragland, Jarran Reed, Geno Mattias-Smith, Bradley Sylve, Jabriel Washington, and an extra loud cheer for Kenyan Drake.
While it is never too early to hate on Auburn, players, coaches and fans still have other work to do.....don't fall into any traps between now and the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Roll Tide, Y'all
The Commissioner
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