LSU Grades

Time travel has always been a staple of popular fiction. Lots of books and and movies use the idea of going back in time as a device to drive the plot. Some are better than others. I like the original "Back To The Future" better than the two sequels. "Dr. Who" is the most popular TV show on British television. The whole deal of Superman flying backwards around the Earth in order to go back in time?  Pretty lame. 

But time travel isn't real is it? I mean, you can't actually go back to some earlier, simpler time when life was less complicated, problems were fewer, and nobody ever heard of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, or the "Hurry Up No Huddle" offense can you? At least I didn't think so, until last night when I watched Alabama beat LSU in a game that looked like something out of 1959.

For three quarters, the Tide and Tigers battled each other to a standstill. In the first half, Alabama had average field position somewhere between the tunnel into the visitor's locker room and the official wearing the red hat who keeps track of TV time outs. In the third quarter, Bama  managed to move the ball, but squandered a perfect scoring opportunity. All the while, the Tide defense was waging a ferocious battle of attrition, stuffing Leonard Fournette, and bludgeoning Tiger QB Danny Etling. For its part, the LSU defense was keying on Jalen Hurts, making the freshman look like......well.....a freshman. At any moment, the game was going to be broken open with a big play on special teams.

Then the fourth quarter arrived, and The Process asserted itself.

In the game's final stanza, Alabama gained 103 net yards on 20 rushing plays, threw the ball only twice, earned 7 first downs, scored 10 points, controlled the ball for 13:42 and held LSU to a mere 15 yards of total offense. It was a complete and demoralizing pummeling of a team as rich in NFL-quality talent as crabmeat au gratin is in cheese and heavy cream. And, just so you know ...... it was the sixth consecutive victory over a Western Division rival whose fans marinate in a bitter mix of envy, frustration, and resentment.

Because I am now completely out of food metaphors, here is how I grade the game:

Offense: B- Alabama gained 323 yards of total offense [216 rushing], earned 16 first downs, converted 7 of 17 third down opportunities, and possessed the football for 33:35. 

Jalen had his worst day passing, completing only 10 of 19 pass attempts for  107 yards, with no TDs and an interception at the Alabama 32 yard line on the third play of the game.

Ardarius Stewart was the leading receiver with 55 yards gained on 3 receptions. That stat line is a bit misleading, however, because a single catch in the Tide's first possession of the third quarter gained 52 yards. Calvin Ridley gained 23 yards on 2 receptions; his longest was 21 yards. Freshman TE, Miller Forristall caught a single pass for 22 yards. Trevon Diggs, Josh Jacobs, Damien Harris and O. J. Howard each caught a single pass. Bottom line: 97 yards of Alabama's 107 yards passing were gained on only three plays. 

Jalen was harassed all evening. He was sacked once, lost a fumble, had two passes broken up behind the line of scrimmage, and was officially "hurried" 3 times. Play selection contributed greatly to his woes. For reasons that pass understanding, Coach Kiffin insisted on calling screens and short passes to the shallow flats when it was obvious that LSU had studied Alabama game film and schemed accordingly. 

Perhaps the single worst example of bad play selection came on Bama's first drive of the second half. Following the deep pass to Stewart, the Tide had a 4th and goal at the LSU 1 yard line. Instead of huddling up, sending in a formation with two tight ends, and some extra beef like Da'Ron Payne or Dalvin Tomlinson to lead block, for Bo Scarbrough, the Tide tried to "go fast" as if LSU was going to be caught by surprise with a running play at their own goal line. Instead of powering the ball into the end zone, Jalen was tackled for a loss and the Tide turned the ball over on downs. 

One wag has suggested that Coach Kiffin's play-calling card be switched out for an actual Waffle House menu. 

Jalen was the Tide's leading rusher, gaining 114 net yards on 20 runs. Harris added 53 yards on 12 rushes, and Scarbrough gained 52 net yards on 11 runs. Alabama averaged 4.2 yards per rush and the only time the ground game was ineffective was when we insisted on trying to pass. At least the defense bailed the offense out when two turnovers gifted LSU excellent field position.

The Tide offense had 11 meaningful offensive possessions; 6 were 3 and Outs. The offense had 4 sustained drives [67, 54, 90, 50] that resulted in a missed FG, a turnover on downs, a TD and a FG. Play in the 4th quarter made all the difference. Alabama was the better conditioned team, and with the game in the balance, imposed its will on LSU. With 4:05 to play in the 3rd quarter, Alabama took possession of the football at its own 10 yard line. It drove 90 yards in 12 plays, spanning the end of the third and the first 1:50 of the fourth quarter to score the game's only touchdown. The defense quickly got the ball back with an interception at the Tide 43. Alabama drove 50 yards in 15 plays consuming 9:51 and put the game out of reach with Adam Griffith's 25 yard FG. 

Alabama totally dominated LSU in the final 20 minutes of the game. It was truly remarkable.

Defense: A+ Over 124 years, the Tide defense may have played a better game than it did on November 5, 2016. If so, I am at a loss to say when it was. 

LSU was held to only 125 yards of total offense [33 yards rushing]. LSU had more punts [8] than it did first downs [6], and in the 4th quarter, possessed the football for fewer than 90 seconds. 

Reuben Foster was the Tide's leading tackler with 11 stops [2 solo]. Marlon Humphrey is credited with 8 tackles [6 solo]. Shaun Dion Hamilton made 7 tackles and Dalvin Tomlinson and Ryan Anderson were each credited with 6. Collectively, the Tide defense recorded 9 tackles for lost yardage including 5 sacks. Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted LSU's Entling to set up the final scoring drive. Defenders broke up 4 passes, hurried the QB 3 times and blocked a FG attempt [Ronnie Harrison].

Special Teams:

Place Kicking: B- Griff missed....hooked left....from 42, was good from 25 and made the game's only PAT attempt.

Kickoffs: A- Griff kicked off three times for an average of 63 yards. He kicked 2 touchbacks and the return team allowed a single 27 yard kick return.

Punting: A- JK Scott punted 5 times for an average of 51.6 yards. He dropped 2 inside the LSU 20, but when punting out of the Tide endzone, he managed only a 38 yard punt. The return team only returned a single punt for 1 yard, and one LSU punt was muffed, but recovered. LSU's punting was outstanding. Consequently, Alabama had miserable field position in the first half.

Coaching: B- The participation report lists only 47 players who saw action, but I suspect the Game Book is compiled by the home team; it lists Jalen Hurts starting a Nickel Back and JK Scott at Free Safety. Alabama was penalized 6 times. Two pre-snap penalties were called in red zone possessions. One was clearly correct on the LT. The second, on the LG was a complete mystery. At one point in the third quarter, frustration on both teams led to a situation that could have spiraled out of hand, but the officials called offsetting penalties and both coaching staffs settled their players down.

A road win over a good SEC West opponent, is a presumptive A. The main driver behind this grade, however, is play calling on offense. I've said all I am going to about that.....for this week.

For once, the officiating played no significant role in the game. It was far from perfect. But I cannot point to any malpractice that skewed the game in one direction or the other. A missed holding call on Jalen's TD run is only fitting, given that Alabama's opponents through 9 games have been penalized for holding a grand total of 1 time. I guess the prospect of playing against the best defensive line in all of college football causes every coach to emphasize how important it is for the offensive line to avoid holding!

Even though Coach Stallings might think the game was too high scoring, it really was not a throw back to a bygone era. This was a close contest with a worthy opponent. Coach Saban summed it up with the on field reporter when he said "they held us scoreless for three quarters, but we held them scoreless for four."

Say what you will about the wisdom of LSU firing Les Miles, Coach Orgeron seems to be doing a good job. Coach O may be eccentric, but the people in Louisiana love him. The "Sign Of The Week" on ESPN Gameday read: "We finally have a coach who doesn't speak with an accent!" If Orgeron gets the LSU job permanently, the Tigers are likely to be pretty darn good for quite a while longer.

Elsewhere around the conference: One week after getting embarrassed by Auburn, Arkansas beat Florida. Georgia managed to eek out a win over Kentucky. Mississippi State upset Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt was a bad replay reversal of a fumble recovery away from  forcing Auburn into overtime. I'm not really sure what any of that means for Alabama, except that the most important game of the season.....so far.....is this coming Saturday against the MSU Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa. As Coach Saban said, we are already in the playoffs. We have to be 1-0 every weekend. 

So let's go back to the future....with back-to-back championships as in 2011 and 2012.....and beyond......

Roll Tide, Y'all

The Commissioner