It’s always sweet to beat Auburn. Sweet like pecan pie made with extra Karo
Syrup. Holding them without a
touchdown? That’s like putting ice cream
on top. Scoring 30 on what they claimed (with some statistical support) is one
of the top ten defenses in the country?
That’s like adding warm Hershey’s chocolate sauce. Beating them for the third time in a row and
7 of the last 9? That’s sweet enough to
put the entire Million Dollar Band in a sugar coma.
Thanks for a great edition of The Grades, Commissioner. Glad you got to see it in person and we know
you did your part to bring home the victory.
Here is a stat for you. Alabama
has been ranked #1 for a total of 12 weeks this season.
Auburn has been ranked #1 for a total of 9 weeks, in the 120+ years they have been
playing football.
This is a very good team.
As always, we are somewhat surprised at how quickly the regular season
goes by. On to the game before we get
teary.
Defense: We agree
with the A+ for the defense. The Stop
Troops were put into untenable situations by the offense and by special teams
play. They did not lose their cool. Supposed
Offensive Genius Gustav Mahlzan pulled everything he could think of --
multiple quarterbacks in the same series, multiple quarterbacks on the field at
once, that goofy spin around at the last second from the huddle and run a play,
blah, blah, blah. Alabama’s defense made
it look like a thoroughbred swatting away flies with its tail. No Touchdown November is an impressive
feat. Auburn featured the conference’s
most prolific running back, Kamryn Pettway, at least from a statistical
perspective. He was riding a streak of
four straight games carrying for over 150 yards. Saturday, he picked up 17. Not to mention that at one point in the game
with a safety suspended and a corner back having a leg injury, Alabama was
playing a former walk on in the defensive backfield. It didn’t really seem to matter much.
Offense: The second
quarter was about as ugly as last week’s game.
It’s not really fair to dwell on that, though. Supposedly Auburn’s defensive line was the best
Alabama would see all season. The
Alabama offensive line made all that hype seem a little silly. Alabama ran up over 500 yards of offense on
this team. They gave up 0 sacks. The last nine minutes of the game consisted
of Alabama’s offense pounding out the last of the Tigers’ hopes. It didn’t lead to a score, though it probably
could have if they had wanted it to go that way. The scheme was more like an anaconda slowly,
inexorably, squeezing the life out of its prey.
It reminded us a lot of, well, of the 2015 Alabama offense. Coaching staffs for remaining Alabama
opponents will take note. If you give
Alabama the football midway through the fourth quarter, you’d better be
prepared for the possibility you might not see it again -- no matter how good
you think your defense is. That can be a
powerful weapon.
Hurts threw a couple of ugly interceptions. He also made plays. He is noticeably going through his
progressions more quickly and completely.
What we like best is the fact he just seems unaffected by it all. We saw a great photo yesterday. It showed Hurts crossing the goal line for
his touchdown (snapping Auburn’s streak of not allowing rushing
touchdowns). An Auburn defender is
running down the goal line attempting to make a tackle. You can clearly see his expression -- eyes
closed, face braced for an impact, anticipating the hit. You can also see Jalen’s expression. And it looked like, well, like he always
looks. Scoring a touchdown in the
biggest game of his life, sitting on the sideline waiting for the defense to
get a stop, hanging out on the Quad watching the squirrels between English and
History class -- he looks just the same.
His mind may be going a million miles a minute, but you can’t tell it
from looking at him.
Special Teams: Scott
had a rare mis-hit on a punt, reminding us somewhat just how good he has been
all year. To his credit, unlike a lot of
punters he didn’t just wave as the returner sped by, he actually helped stop
him. Adam Griffith, whose ups and downs
have been well documented, was perfect on the day. He holds or is within striking distance of
several Alabama records.
Coaching: The most
interesting thing we heard post-game was (as usual) from Coach Saban
himself. Apparently he did not read the
team the riot act in the half time locker room.
He just told them to quit making mistakes and execute their
assignments. Perhaps sometimes coaching
is less about tenancies and brilliant observations of the other teams’ weaknesses
than it is just stating the obvious to a bunch of 18-to-22-year-olds who need
to hear it. Coach gets credit for being
smart enough to do it. We again
acknowledge the fine job that Coach Cochran and his helpers do with the
team. Alabama’s offense was on the field
for 40 minutes of the game Saturday. At
the end of the last drive, it looked like they could go another quarter.
Broadcast: F. These guys are just a plain failure. We like Namath as much as the next fan, we
really do. We did not need to see or
hear him mug around in a mink coat with Verne and Gary instead of hearing the
game action called. The Macy’s Day parade
got better coverage of the live action than what CBS dispensed. Gary has started actively lobbying for calls
to go one way or another. Not that he’s
necessarily for or against Alabama, mind you, that’s just not the role of
sports commentator. We’ve said it
before, Verne and Gary are the faces of CBS sports, but this stuff is coming
down from higher up the CBS food chain.
Or at least their bosses aren’t telling them to cut it out. At least we only have to endure these clowns
for one more game this year, unlike…
…The Officials:
F. This game was badly called. This crew missed fumbles, called fumbles that
weren’t, let go a lot of late hits and extracurricular out of bounds activities. What is under our skin is the fact that, all
of the other schools’ conspiracy theories notwithstanding, Alabama finished 128th
in the country in the statistical category “opponents penalties against”. Out of a total of 128 teams. That’s right, Alabama’s opponents have been
penalized less than those of any other team in America. If the Red Elephant Club is paying off the
SEC officials as fans of other schools occasionally allege, they need to
sweeten the pot -- a lot. That, or every
other team just manages to play far more within the rules when they take on a
cupcake team like Alabama.
On to the SEC Championship against Florida. Roll Tide boys. Bring home number #30.
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