“…the
only thing that changes are the excuses when we lose.”
Down
here at the Tire Store we like to watch football, but we really aren’t all that
smart at the X’s and O’s part. So we just rely on what we have heard
various coaches (good and bad) say over the years. To win a game you need
to run the ball, stop the run and not turn the football over. Saturday,
Alabama could not stop Texas A&M from running well, particularly at the
quarterback position, did not run the ball as much as it passed, and turned it
over three times (and got zero). Added to that 30 yards in personal foul
penalties and giving up three straight touchdowns in the first quarter before
scoring a single point, and it’s enough to lose two games.
We
agree with the grades. Outside of special teams, everyone “earned” an
F. If you take a gander at the statistics, and we only read them quickly
so that the breakfast orange juice wouldn’t sour in our stomachs, it is
relatively amazing that Alabama was still in the game, much less in position to
win it at the end, much less in a position so that we can say we should have
won it in the end.
The
excuses are legion and, with the massive level of respect due Coach Bryant’s
reminder above, some of our excuses are starting to border on reasons.
Facing a bitter truth, Alabama was a tired and beat up football team. The
schedule juggling that occurred for this year did Alabama no favors. We
know a tired crew when we see one and if this had been our bunch they wouldn’t
have been able to rotate the tires on a golf cart.
Winning
a championship requires a certain amount of luck on injuries. All of our
luck in that regard has been bad. Reciting the list of players either lost
for the season or limping around is a bit horrifying, frankly. For
example, Chris Black is a freshman wide receiver. Early camp reports were
that Amari Cooper would likely redshirt this year, because Black was looking to
be the superior choice at wide out. Black suffered a shoulder injury in
Fall Camp. He just started working with the team last week. Cooper
took himself out of the game twice that we saw Saturday night. Hart is
gone. Fowler is gone. White is gone. Lester has enough tape on his ankle
to circle the Quad. Norwood left the game injured Saturday. Damion
Square (the program cover athlete this week) left with an injury. Lacy is
now wearing so much tape on each ankle I can’t remember which one he hurt
first. Belue is nursing a shoulder. Bell did not play much at all against
LSU and reports at the end of the week said he had injured his heel. We
think AJ is nursing at least one and possible more nagging things that are
limiting his effectiveness and willingness (or maybe he doesn’t have permission)
to scramble…. We have a weakness at the defensive back position that
A&M attacked relentlessly and we are not sure what the option would be at
this point. We could go on, but why?
All of that said, though, Alabama was in a position to win the game. The play calls on our last four offensive downs will haunt our dreams for a long time. Actually, a number of the offensive play calls in the game, as well as the decision to go for a field goal deep in A&M territory, raise questions on which reasonable minds can differ. Coach Saban took responsibility for those issues, as he should have. Duties, such as play calling, can be delegated; responsibility cannot.
It’s
a cloudy, rainy day with temperatures falling throughout the day, ending in the
40s. The kind of day that no one wants to buy tires. The 24-hour
rule requires that we turn attention to the fact that we have two remaining
games on the schedule. One of the team’s goals, an undefeated season, is
now out of reach. A chance to play for the national championship probably
is.
But
on a day like this, it is also a good thing to reflect on just how lucky we
really are. You can call us Pollyana all you want, but we are ranked #4
in the country. It is very likely that in two weeks we will be talking
about going to the SEC Championship game, probably even as the favorite.
In the last two seasons we have lost 2 games by a total of 8 points. A
shot at Miami is unlikely, but not impossible. The future “playoff”
system would probably include an Alabama team that no one really wanted to
play. On the middle day of November, two of our chief rivals are winless
in the conference. At least three SEC teams will be hiring coaches this
winter, more likely four. We are headed for another top 10 recruiting
class. The waiting list for season tickets continues to grow. If
you look at the roster, we are one of the youngest teams in the conference,
especially at the so-called skill positions. Yes, Saturday night was
hugely disappointing and less than six feet separated Alabama from being #1
today. But we have lived through bad Alabama Football times and good
Alabama Football times. Trust us when we say that these are very good
times, indeed.
Roll
Tide. Beat Western Carolina.
The Correspondent From The Tire Store
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