Noted philosopher Forrest Gump once
said: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to
get.” His observation on the surprises life offers applies to the 2019 Crimson
Tide football team.
For instance: in each of Bama’s games
this season a different offensive player has been an unstoppable
play-maker. Jerry Jeudy was the offensive star in the win over Duke. When
opposing defenses schemed to limit Jeudy’s opportunities, Henry Ruggs, III and
DaVonte Smith swapped honors as leading receiver and set records for touchdown
passes against South Carolina, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss. Against Texas
A&M it was Jaylen Waddle who electrified Tide fans (and stupefied their
Aggie counterparts) with 128 yards on 4 punt returns and three receptions for
48 yards and a touchdown.
The Offensive Line has been another
pleasant surprise. Play along the offensive front has grown more consistent
each week as the rotation seems to have stabilized. Yesterday, Alabama showed
its best offensive balance of the season gaining 155 yards net rushing and 293
yards passing.
It is certainly true the Tide
Defense is not at this moment an elite unit. But as the players gain
experience, and more seasoned players return to action after injuries, their
performance has produced some surprising results. The Stop Troops inflicted on the
Aggies 7 tackles for lost yardage (5 sacks), forced and recovered a fumble,
broke up 10 passes, and blocked a punt recovered for a touchdown.
Even place kicking delivered some
surprises yesterday. Have we actually been practicing a bank-shot where the ball
ricochets off the up-right and clears the cross bar?
Because I’m trying to lose some
weight, the lid is going back on the chocolate candy and here is how I grade
the game:
Offense: A
Alabama gained 448 yards of total offense setting a new school record
for consecutive games with 400 or more offensive yards. Those yards produced 25
first downs, 30:56 of possession time, and 40 points.
Tua played the entire game, completing
21 of his 34 pass attempts. On a pass intended for Jerry Jeudy in the Aggie end
zone, he threw his first interception of the season. A completion would have
given the Tide a three TD lead over the Aggies with less than two minutes to
play in the first half. Instead, the Aggies were able (with the assistance of
two personal foul penalties) to kick a field goal and complete a ten-point
swing right before half-time. Bama received the second half opening kickoff and
answered the Aggies’ FG with a 27 yard Joseph Bulovas three-pointer.
Davonte Smith came one-yard short of
setting a new school record for consecutive games with at least one receiver
earning 100 or more yards. He caught 7 passes for 99 yards including a 47 yard
catch and run good of a touchdown in the second quarter. Jerry Jeudy gained 50
yards on 4 receptions. Waddle, Ruggs, and Najee Harris each caught TD passes. Seven different players caught passes.
Najee also posted his second 100+
rushing performance of the season gaining 114 net yards on 20 attempts (5.7
avg). Brian Robinson, Jr. gained 51 yards on 10 carries and scored a rushing
TD.
The Tide scored on its first four
offensive possessions, and did not have to surrender the ball with a punt until
the third quarter. Bama’s offense engineered five drives of 40 or more yards
[73, 57, 46, 51, 55] producing 3 TDs and 2 FGs.
Defense: B+ The Aggies were able to gain 389
total offensive yards, make 24 first downs, convert 5 of 12 third downs and
score 28 points. Kellen Mond completed 24 of his 42 pass attempts for 264
yards, and rushed the ball for 90 net yards. Otherwise, the Aggies’ other running backs were held to 35 yards on 12 rushing
plays.
Anfernee Jennings led all defenders
with 8 tackles [6 solo] including 2 TFLs [1 sack]. He also broke up a pass.
Shane Lee made 8 tackles [5 solo]. Shyheim Carter was credited with 7 tackles
[5 solo]. He also broke up two passes and forced a fumble. Xavier McKinney made
6 tackles [4 solo] and recovered the fumble forced by Carter.
The most spectacular defensive play
came when Ale Kaho [So. LB; 6-1, 228; Reno, NV] blocked an Aggie punt recovered by Tyrell Shavers [R. So. WR; 6-6, 205; Lewisville, TX] for a
touchdown.
Special Teams:
Punting: A+. The excellent punting grade was
earned by Jaylen Waddle and the rest of the punt return team. Skyler Delong
punted twice for an average of only 29.5 yards. His longest punt was 36 yards.
The coverage team allowed the Aggies one punt return that gained 10 yards.
Place Kicking: D Joe
Bulovas was good on both of his FG attempts, but he had a PAT blocked.
Kickoffs: A+. Bulovas averaged only 47 yards
per kick, but the coverage team allowed only a single return of 14 yards and
the point of the tackle was inside the Aggie 20. The kick return team gained
159 yards with Henry Ruggs, III leading the way with 4 returns for 131 yards.
Coaching: A The Tide were penalized 11
times for 91 yards. The Aggies were flagged 5 times for 55 yards. This may have
been one of the worst performances by an officiating crew I’ve seen this
season. Two of Bama’s penalties were tick tack personal foul calls, imposed on
TAMU’s final possession of the first quarter. A strict application of the black
letter of the rules against roughing the passer might…..and again I say “might”
… justify calling an infraction on those plays. But to penalize Alabama players for hitting Kellen
Mond as he is still in the process of thrown the ball, and ignore hits on Tua
several steps after the ball is in the air is changing the strike zone
when the visiting team comes to the plate.
And don’t get me started on the ejection
of DaVonte Smith. Coach Saban was asked about it in the post-game presser. He
pointed out DaVonte was wrong to retaliate in kind to being punched by the
Aggie DB after the whistle. He implied the League Office would be reviewing
the call this week. At this writing, I am not sure what exactly that means.
When officials do not call a game with
an even hand, one of the consequences is increased chippy play by the team
benefiting from the double standard. That was certainly the case yesterday. At
the end of the game, there appeared to be some extra-curricular chatter between
the Tide offensive line and representatives of the Aggie defense. Coaches and
other players defused the situation quickly and nothing seems to have come of
it. I have not been able to find any references to the dispute in published
reports. So I don’t know what exactly was going on. My guess is the players
were NOT debating whether the Earl of Oxford is the real author of the plays of
Shakespeare.
On the subject of coaching: is there
any question that Nick Saban is a far better coach than Jimbo Fisher? Don’t get
me wrong, I’m sure when it comes to Xs and Os Coach Fisher is better than most
of his professional peers. There is no doubt he is a good recruiter. But don’t
you think there was a time in the 4th quarter that Fisher ought to have given
Kellen Mond a curtain call and let his obviously injured quarterback take a
well deserved seat? I wholly endorse the concept of leading by example, but if
the TAMU players need the example of the guy who accounts for 90% of their
offense playing injured in a hopeless game with half the season still
ahead, then somebody needs to re calibrate the Aggies’ priorities.
Apart from his deep thoughts on the
meaning of existence, and receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for
gallantry in Vietnam, Forrest Gump is best known for the punt he returned for
a touchdown against Tennessee when he played for Coach Bryant. It is
once again time to focus on the Volunteers.
UT is struggling. May it ever be
so. Their win over Mississippi State probably tells us as much about the
Bulldogs as it does the Volunteers, however, I believe Jeremy Pruitt was safe
in his job regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s game. Phil Fulmer did
not want his first game as Interim Head Coach to be against Alabama.
The Tide have enjoyed an unprecedented
win-streak over the Vols since Nick Saban became head coach. There is no
objective reason to think the streak will end this coming weekend. It is a
measure of how far Tennessee has fallen as a program that broadcasters slotted
the Alabama -Tennessee game for an 8:00 pm kickoff.
Nevertheless, Tennessee is now the
most important game of the season so far. So Roll Tide, beat the Vols, and “run
Forrest, run!”
Roll Tide
The Commissioner
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