Sunday, October 8, 2017

Texas A&M Grades

                I have this ritual during football season. Every Saturday morning, before I finish breakfast, I send a text message to our adult children scattered across three time zones. It’s just a little pep message, to get things going on game day. “Hey, y’all….get up and make your bed…..it’s game day….got to beat those [fill in the blank]….we will be watching with [fill in the blank] …. Kick off is, etc., etc., and don’t forget: Roll Tide!”

            Well, yesterday morning, I got busy on something else. I had to be somewhere early, and by the time I got back it was later and I figured everybody was already about their day, and skipping one Saturday morning was no big deal. After all, have you seen how the Tide has played the last two weeks? These guys are on a mission. It’s going to come down to the Iron Bowl. Nobody on our schedule between now and then is even going to slow us down, and there was the article somebody circulated about how on fire Alabama is, so….you know…..

            I should have known better.

            Come to find out I had been drinking RAT POISON!

            At least, that is how Coach Saban described it in his post-game presser: “I’m trying to get our players to listen to me instead of listening to you guys. All that stuff that you write about how good we are and all that stuff they get on ESPN is like poison. It’s like taking poison. Like rat poison. I’m asking them: ‘are you going to listen to me or are you going to listen to these guys about how good you are?”

            That rat poison takes a while to manifest itself, but when it does, look out! Coach Saban was not his usually happy-go-lucky self when Holly Rowe interviewed him at the half. He was obviously concerned about mistakes he saw his players making in all phases of the game. But in spite of the queasy feeling in the stomach, Bama held a 24-3 lead with 7:51 to play in the third quarter, and looked to be on the verge of adding at least two more touchdowns to the total and holding the Aggies out of the endzone. Then the poison hit.

            On first down from the Tide 37, the Tide was flagged for an ineligible receiver. On 1st and 15, Damien Harris gained 3 yards. Robert Foster, subbing for a dinged-up Calvin Ridley, dropped a pass that would have been good for a first down. Foster was again targeted on 3rd and 12, he made the catch but lost a fumble. …. TAMU went into business, 1st and 10 at the Bame 36.

            It took the Aggies 8 plays, and 5:11 of game time, to make the score 24-10. Along the way, TAMU converted two 4th downs! They gained 32 yards on a 4th and 9, and scored their touchdown on a 4th and goal from the Tide 2.

            After earning a first down at the 36, Bama went backwards. Following a sack, Jalen threw incomplete to Cam Sims on 3rd and 11. Then JK Scott shanked a 19 yard punt off the side of his foot. The Aggies were in business at their own 46. 

            TAMU’s freshman QB, Kellen Mond, gained 20 yards on first down, and completed a 15 yard pass on 3rd and 6. Two plays netted the Aggies five yards to the Alabama 10. On 3rd and 5, Mond’s pass attempt was intercepted by Minkah Fitzpatrick just beyond the Alabama goal line.

            Damien Harris barely avoided a safety on first down, and gained two tough yards to set up a 3rd and 8 from the Tide 3. Jalen, who was pressured all night, was unable to connect with Henry Ruggs, III and Scott came back on the field to attempt a punt with his heels at the back of the endzone.

            The punt was blocked.

            Safety.

            Aggies 12…… Tide 24…… What had been a three touchdown advantage was now just twelve points. It was the worst stretch of play the 2017 edition of the Crimson Tide has executed. Things could not get worse.

            The Tide defense surrendered a first down on a pass interference penalty on a third down play that would have been incomplete, then stiffened. Successive tackles for lost yardage and a delay of game penalty had the Aggies facing 4th and 26 from their own 24. TAMU’s punter, Shane Tripucka darn near kicked the ball clear out of Kyle Field, and Alabama took over at its own 22, with 6:49 to play in the game, needing to burn the clock and get a score….any kind of score. The offense delivered the goods.

            Jalen led the Tide on a ten-play drive that covered 52 yards, consumed 4:40 of game time and culminated in a 44-yard Andy Pappanastos field goal. A fifteen-point cushion with 2:09 to play looked like it would be enough to secure the win. Surely, the defense, having a chance to rest, would once again dominate the Aggies and close out the game…..Instead, TAMU drove 64 yards in 7 plays completing passes of 9, 12 and 39 yards in the process. As he had done earlier in the half, Mond managed to avoid the Tide rush and complete a pass to a receiver making a highlight reel catch.

            Minkah Fitzpatrick foiled the Aggies last gasp attempt at an on-sides kick and Jalen killed the game clock with one snap from the victory formation at the Aggie12 yard line.

            No disrespect to A&M. The Aggies and Tide have significant historic connections. Kyle Field is a tough place to play. But it is perfectly reasonable for Coach Saban to be frustrated how the Tide let the last 23 minutes of the game slip through its fingers. In spite of its mistakes, Alabama had the game positioned exactly where it needed to be; a 21-point advantage, possession of the football, and the opportunity to put the game away in the third quarter. Instead, the Tide left College Station relieved with a win of any size while the training staff stocked up on stomach pumps and purgatives, to get all that rat poison out of the players’ systems when they got back to Tuscaloosa.

Here is how I grade the game:

Offense:          C+                   Alabama gained 355 yards of total offense [261 rushing] that earned 16 first downs and converted 5 of 15 possession downs [1 of 1 on 4th down]. This offensive output is almost half what the Tide averaged in its last two games.

Jalen completed 13 of 22 pass attempts for 123 yards and a TD [Ruggs, III]. Before sustaining a knee-cap injury in the 3rd quarter, Calvin Ridley caught 5 passes for 68 yards. Bo Scarbrough caught 3 passes for 21 yards., Jerry Jeudy continued to make a noteworthy contribution to the offense with 2 receptions for 24 yards. Six different receivers caught a pass.

Damien Harris continued to lead all rushers with 129 yards on 14 carries. He scored a 75 yard TD to answer TAMU’s first quarter field goal. Jalen gained 56 net yards rushing and scored a TD. TAMU’s defense assigned a linebacker to “spy” on Jalen every down. The Aggies made 9 tackles for 28 yards of loss, including 3 sacks accounting for 19 yards.

Alabama had 5 three-and-out possessions and 5 drives that gained 40 or more yards [75, 75, 43, 75, 52]. Each of Bama’s scores came on sustained drives. Robert Foster’s lost fumble was Bama’s first turnover of the season.

Defense:           B-                   TAMU gained 308 yards of total offense and was held to only 71 net yards rushing. Tide defenders made 7 tackles for lost yardage including 4 sacks, forced 3 fumbles [Fitzpatrick, S.D. Hamilton, Joshua Frazier], recovered 2 [Raekwon Davis, Rashaan Evans] and made an interception [Fitzpatrick]. However, the defense allowed A&M to convert 2 of 4 fourth downs, and surrendered 3 first downs on defensive penalties.

Starting in place of an injured Da’Shawn Hand, Isaiah Buggs [JUCO Jr. DE; 6-5, 293; Rushton, La.] led all tacklers with 10 stops [6 solo]. Ronnie Harrison and Raekwon Davis each were credited with 8 tackles and Anfernee Jennings made 7. Tide defenders broke up 5 passes.

Special Teams:

Punting:           F          Scott punted 4 times for an average of 36.5 yards. His longest punt was 46 yards. He downed one punt inside the Aggie 20 yard line. These stats cannot overcome the 19 yard shank and the blocked punt resulting in a safety. Ruggs, III returned 3 punts for a total of 10 yards.

Place Kicking: B+      Scott missed a 50 yard attempt. Pappanastos was good from 34 and 44. He was perfect on PATs.

Kickoffs:        A-         Scott handled kickoff duties and averaged 62.3 yards per kick on 7 kicks. Three of his kicks resulted in touchbacks. TAMU’s longest return was 20 yards. Bama’s return game gained 39 yards on Minkah Fitzpatrick’s return of the on-sides attempt. It looked for a moment as if Minkah was going to score, but he ran out of room along the right sideline.

Coaching:        B         The Tide were penalized 6 times for 50 yards. The participation report lists 51 players who saw action in the game.

            I hope Our Correspondent from The Tire Store will offer some observations on how Matt Austin and his crew officiated this game. This bunch seems to be inordinately inconsistent in what gets penalized. Bama was certainly guilty of several dumb infractions. But the rules did not seem to be evenly applied.

            If you have read this far, allow me an aside to wish Coach Stallings a full recovery. It was heartening to see him join his 1967 Southwestern Conference Championship team for a well-deserved recognition. I have had the privilege of meeting Coach Stallings several times. He is one of the best.

            An authoritative medical web site has this to say about treating poison: “Treatment needs to begin quickly; treatment involves removal of poison by dialysis, chelating agents, replacement of red blood cells, and if ingested, bowel cleansing.” The on-line blurb doesn’t say anything about shutting down social media, turning off ESPN, extra film study, full-contact practice on Monday, quality time with Coach Cochran, or the other therapies Coach Saban and his staff will be applying this week as the Tide prepare for Arkansas. I think the, um, “bowl cleansing” looks like a less disagreeable alternative. There is one thing I am confident of: whatever treatment option is applied, the Tide will be ready for the Razorbacks.

            As the barbecue chef said to the hog: “I'm going to enjoy this a whole lot more than you are!”

            The Commissioners Son and Heir will be taking over grading responsibilities for the next two weeks. 

Roll Tide, Y’all

The Commissioner

 


  
           

           
           
  


            

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