MSU Grades

WJOX:

Gary:  ...... and in the second half, Auburn did not make a single first down.

Greg: Yeah, great effort by the Bulldogs. Give Kirby Smartt credit for making the right adjustments at the half.

Gary:  It looks like we have a call on the Georgia Fan Line.....Brian In Birmingham, you're on with Greg and Gary. What's on your mind this morning?

Brian: Guys, I'm really proud of my Dawgs this morning. 

Greg:  You should be. 

Gary:   Big upset.

Brian:  It's just.....well, I've got a question, maybe you can help me out.

Gary:   Sure. What's on your mind?

Brian:   Well, my boss is a big Alabama fan, and I was up kinda late after the game last night, you know, and.....well there is this project I'm working on and it's not quite as far along as i thought it would be, with the game and all, so.....Do you think that since Georgia won the West for Alabama, that my boss might cut me some slack Monday morning if the project is a little late?

Greg:   Uhhhhhh, I'm not so sure, Brian.  Your boss is probably expecting you to play to a standard.....it's the 24 Hour Rule, you know?

Brian:    That's what I was afraid you would say....

Gary:    Trust the Process, Brian.

WLAC:

Bill: .....and with the win over Kentucky, the Vols' record in the conference stands at 3-3, 7-4 overall. Next up is Travis......good morning Travis, you're on Vol Calls....

Travis:   Hey, Bill, thank for taking my call.

Bill:  My pleasure.

Travis:    So, have I got it right?  When Tennessee beats Vanderbilt, we will be in a four-way tie for the East with the head-to-head tie breaker over everybody else?

Bill:   Not exactly. The best we can hope for is a tie with Florida. The Gators control their own destiny. A win over LSU puts them a game up on Tennessee. A Florida loss and a UT win forces the tie, and we would have the tie breaker.

Travis:  Assuming?   Assuming?  I've got something you can assume you [bleep]. 

Bill:  Hey, now, there's no need for that sort ....

Travis:  No need? You know what you need, you [bleep]. How can you think that Florida will beat LSU?  This is supposed to be Vol Calls, right ..... not [bleep] Calls.

Bill:  OK, I take you point.

Travis:  So, when we win the East with the tie breaker, we play Auburn in Atlanta right?

Bill:  Uh......No, Travis, that would be Alabama.

Travis:  Ala [bleep] Bama! You're crazy. Auburn is going to beat the [bleep] out of Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Nick [bleep] Saban is going to take a ride on the [bleep] Gus Bus and never come back! We're going to be playing Auburn for the SEC [bleep] Championship.

Bill:  Uhhhh, Travis, I guess you didn't know, but Georgia beat Auburn yesterday. It's over. Alabama is the West Champion whatever happens in the Iron Bowl........Travis? ........ Travis?

Have we lost Travis?

Travis:  No.....I'm still here.....it's just.....well after that 49-10 game, I set my couch on fire, and it burned my whole apartment complex down.....so......[bleep] [bleep] [bleep]

Bill:  Yeah.....well.....just.....I don't know.....maybe.....take it one game at a time......

WVUR

Shasta:   ......so I would say to the caller, that she ought to go on-line and add her name to the petition demanding the Electoral College respect the will of the people.

Patrice:  Good advice, Shasta.  Let's take another call.....Justin, good morning, welcome to I Feel Your Pain.

Justin:   Yeah. Look. I mean. I just can't believe it.

Shasta:  ...... neither can we, Justin, neither can we.

Justin:   Everything was looking good. We had momentum. We had heart.  The opposition was a bad joke. They had no organization, no coherent strategy, nobody respected them. I just can't believe we lost.

Patrice: ..... we can't believe it either, Justin. But that's why we're here for you, and for all the others in our community who are hurting right now.

Justin:   I appreciate that.  I just wish there were more of us. That community you mentioned hasn't been showing up. Typical Vandy students. Skipping the first quarter. No wonder the team lost focus.

Shasta: I don't think I follow you.

Justin:  Vanderbilt students.  They are the worst fans in the conference. But that's no excuse for us losing to a bunch of politically correct snowflakes. At least we have a better overall record.

Patrice:  I'm still not following you, there, Justin......

Justin:   I'm talking about my Commodores losing to Missouri of all people! Jeez! I still can't get over it.

Shasta:  Justin, I think you might have called the wrong show. This is I Feel Your Pain, we are a 24-7 service of Vanderbilt University Student Services whose mission is to provide a safe space on radio for members of the Vanderbilt Community to process the results of the presidential election and organize for radical action. It sounds to me as if you are wanting to dialogue about sports......am I right?

Justin:   Are you crazy?

Patrice:  Now that is a micro-aggression and I.....

Justin:  Micro-aggression? Our defense was a micro-aggression, giving up 481 yards to that bunch of.....I mean....come on.....we nearly beat Auburn the week before....would have too if the refs hadn't stolen a fumble recovery from us.....

Shasta:  Officials stealing from the people?  I think we have something to work with there, Patrice.

Patrice:  No, Shasta, Justin is merely trying to co-opt our empowerment with his patriarchy. Go away, Justin......go away.....call someone else.....

Justin:  I would, but when the call screener finds out I want to talk Vandy Football, I never get through......

Enough already with sampling the content of sports talk radio this weekend. You and I have some serious business to discuss......Let's start with this:

The Alabama Crimson Tide is the Champion of the SEC West. That's right. It's over. Book your trip to Atlanta......OK...OK....I know most of you booked your trip to the SEC Championship Game right after Media Days.....but it is now official. Auburn's loss to Georgia eliminated the last mathematical obstacle between Alabama and the 2016 SEC West title. 

Next item: Coach Saban is giving the players a day off from football this Monday. Prep for UT Chattanooga will begin on Tuesday. More about that game a bit later.

Two Saturday's ago, Mississippi State beat Texas A&M. Yesterday, Alabama handed its oldest and geographically closest rival a beating of historic proportions. 

The final 51-3 score could have been much worse but for a gift of favorable field position, and deep rotation of personnel on offense as well as defense. 

ESPN's broadcast crew remarked on the number of seasons Alabama has failed to score a TD in the first quarter following a game against LSU. They speculated that streak would continue given how physical last week's game in Baton Rouge had been. The offense made short work of that prediction, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, doubling that total in the second, and adding two more TDs before taking Jalen Hurts out with time to play in the third stanza. 

Even with Bo Scarbrough held out of the game with a tweaked knee, Alabama rushed for 218 net yards, and 615 yards of total offense. 

Jalen passed for more than 300 yards and ran for 100. The last time an Alabama quarterback achieved that particular milestone was......well the post-game notes don't say....but Jalen has rushed for more than 700 yards so far this season. He is only the second Tide QB to top the 700 yard mark and is only 56 yards behind the great Steadman Shealy for the season rushing record for a Crimson Tide QB.

In many ways, the game had the feel of a day at the office. Time of day contributed to that. The outcome was expected, and the season's biggest and most important goals are now coming over the horizon. So here is how I grade the game:

Offense: A Alabama focused on working the passing game; 17 of the Tide's 26 first downs came by way of completed passes. The Tide attempted 41 passes, completing 31 for 397 yards and 5 TDs. Jalen was intercepted once. 

Jalen completed 28 of 37 attempts for 347 yards and 4 TDs. His longest pass, 67 yards to Ardarius Stewart, travelled all of 18 inches through the air, and was a forward pass in only the most technical sense. Cooper Bateman completed 3 of 4 pass attempts for 50 yards and aTD.

Stewart had a career receiving day with 8 catches for 156 yards and 3 TDs. OJ Howard added 77 yards on 6 receptions. Calvin Ridley gained 26 yards on 4 receptions and caught 1 pass for a TD. Cam Sims, Josh Jacobs and Miller Forristall each made 3 receptions. Derek Kief, Damien Harris, Gehrig Dieter and Trevon Diggs each had a reception. Diggs' was good for a TD. It was a good day to play receiver for Alabama: 10 different players caught passes, and the Tide's 5 TD passes tied for second all time inTD passes in a single game. The record of 7 was set in 1950 against Southern Miss. 

It was also a good day to be a backup running back. Josh Jacobs, Ronnie Clark and Derrick Gore all had carries. Jalen gained 100 net yards rushing on 11 runs and scored a rushing TD. Damien Harris carried 3 times for 9 yards.  

The offense had 8 drives that gained 40 or more yards [63, 67, 66, 73, 43, 84, 58, 61] that produced 6 TDs and 2 FGs. Alabama converted 7 of 13 third downs, but only controlled the ball for 27:22. 

The two turnovers, a lost fumble and an interception, keep the Offense from earning the +.

Defense: A MSU earned 274 yards of total offense, but was held to less than 100 yards rushing [94]. The Puppies achieved 17 first downs but converted only 7 of 20 third downs and was unsuccessful on each of four 4th down conversion attempts.

State had 14 meaningful offensive possessions; the Bulldogs punted 7 times, turned the ball over on downs 4 times,  threw an interceptions and missed a field goal attempt. 

Reuben Foster, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Rashaan Evans and Dalvin Tomlinson each recorded 6 tackles. Ronnie Harrison and Da'Ron Payne were each credited with 5 stops. 

The Defense notched 8 tackles for lost yardage [3 sacks], forced a fumble [Raekwon Davis] broke up 7 passes and hurried the State QB 12 times. Freshman Antony Averett started at corner and was picked on throughout the day to no avail. He made 4 tackles and broke up 2 passes. 

Tony Brown started at the Star position, and made an interception.

Special Teams:

Place Kicking:       A+ Griff was good from 30, 28 and 39 and was perfect on 6 PAT attempts.

Kickoffs:      A- Griff and JK Scott shared kickoff duties. Griff averaged 64.2 yards on 8 kicks 4 of which were touchbacks. Scott kicked off once for 65 yards. The coverage team gave up a 50 yard kick return, earning the slight downgrade.

Punting:      A JK punted 3 times for an average of 51.3 yards. He dropped 1 inside the State 20 and 1 punt resulted in a touchback.

Coaching:      A The participation report lists 67 players who saw action in the game. The stat sheet reports the Tide was penalized once for 5 yards.

The game plan-work on the passing game-suggests the coaching staff were confident in the outcome. Giving the players a rest day before the game with UT Chattanooga likewise suggests a degree of realistic confidence in a win this coming Saturday. It also reflects a serious focus on the first in the final stretch of four games standing between the 2016 Crimson Tide and the CFB Championship.

There remains no room for error. Washington, Clemson and Michigan, the three teams rounding out the CFB-PO bracket with Alabama, all lost Saturday. Auburn may no longer have a shot at a playoff spot, but nothing makes the Barn's season like spoiling the Tide's. 

Alabama is on a record setting win streak, and Coach Saban is guaranteed to set a new mark for wins while coaching a team ranked number one. This has already been a special season-Jalen Hurts has singlehandedly made it so-and it promises to be one of the all-time greatest.

I hope you are having fun with it......because I sure am!

Roll Tide, Y'all......

The Commissioner