Tennessee Grades

            Alabama's 49-10 drubbing of the Tennessee Vols, raises many important questions:

*  When was the first couch set afire in Knoxville? I'm guessing right after Eddie Jackson's 79 yard punt return to open the 4th quarter with Alabama's sixth touchdown of the game.

*  Which discredited former Tennessee coach will Butch Jones be most compared to by the fans who get air time on Vol Calls? Derrick Dooley will edge Johnny Majors, simply because the average talk show caller is too young to remember the late '80s and early '90s.

*  Has Mark May disavowed his pre-season prediction of a Tennessee national championship? I  suspect Gary Danielson is now the only commentator imagining scenarios with the Volunteers in the CFB Playoffs.

*  When was the last time Alabama beat Tennessee by such a margin? It was 1906. That's right. The last time either team defeated the other by 39 or more points was the same year the White Sox played the Cubs in an All-Chicago world series, Tommy Burns was the heavyweight champion of the world, and Navy beat Maryland 12-0 in the second annual Crab Bowl Classic.

            As impressive as the score is, the scary thing for Bama's future opponents is the Tide did not play a perfect game. Two turnovers and three offensive possessions marred by an inability to execute the passing game, kept the score from being even more lopsided. Alabama accumulated 594 yards of total offense, including 438 yards rushing, while holding Josh Dobbs, a sometimes Heisman candidate, and the explosive Tennessee offense to 163 total yards of which a mere 32 were produced by the run.

            When the halftime score was only 21-7, I fully expected Tennessee to mount one of the second-half comebacks that have been the Vols' trademark this season. But the Tide were having none of it. Alabama punted on its first possession of the second half. After that, Bama ruthlessly bludgeoned the Tennessee defense with an unstoppable running game, crushed the Vol offense with a ferocious defense, and emptied the over-priced seats at Neyland Stadium. With 9:36 to play in the game, The Giant Erector Set was so empty you could clearly hear Bama fans chanting "Ed-dy....Ed-dy.....Ed-dy" hoping Eddie Jackson would take another Tennessee punt into the endzone.

            It was not perfect, but it was perfectly wonderful.  So here is how I grade the game:

Offense:          A          Two turnovers keep the offense from earning the +. Jalen Hurts completed 16 of 26 pass attempts for 143 yards. He was intercepted on a broken play that started out as a toss-sweep; he stumbled before making the pitch and tried to make something out of it. The result was a batted pass caught by a defensive lineman. Hurts made the tackle, but the turnover kept the Tide from adding to its lead in the waning minutes of the first half. Cooper Bateman completed his lone pass attempt for 13 yards.

            Ardarius Stewart was the leading receiver with 8 catches for 54 yards. Calvin Ridley gained 65 yards on 5 receptions, but had a crucial and uncharacteristic drop of a third down pass that would have been a huge play. O.J. Howard only caught 1 pass, but he gained 23 yards and came thiiiiis close to scoring a touchdown. True freshman RB, Josh Jacobs, caught 1 pass for 8 yards.

            The only thing that stopped the Tide running game was Lane Kiffin's play calling. Alabama gained 14 yards on 5 plays in its first offensive possession. This was followed by an 8 play, 91 yard touchdown march that featured 7 rushing plays and 1 incomplete pass. From that point, until the middle of the second quarter, the offense ran only 10 plays in three possessions that resulted in two punts and a lost fumble (at the Bama 11 yard line). In each of these possessions, Coach Kiffin called for pass plays but Jalen and his receivers were simply not on the same page. Passes were thrown to receivers who had no idea the ball was coming, to open areas of the field where no receivers were to be found, and thrown away to avoid sacks. It was pretty dreadful stuff. But then, Coach Kiffin flipped his Waffle House menu over to the side where all the running plays are listed.

            Jalen netted 132 yards and 3 TDs on 12 rushing attempts. Bo Scarbrough rushed for 109 yards and a TD. His longest covered 85 yards and he showed power and speed like Derrick Henry. He also discovered Vol fans lack a certain appreciation for the accomplishments of opposing players when his proffered "high five" was not reciprocated. Bo was probably surprised that a Tennessee fan was actually present that late in the game.          

            Damien Harris rushed for 94 yards on 14 plays. Josh Jacobs added 38 yards on 6 carries, while B. J. Emmons [Fr., RB; 6-0, 220; Morganton NC] earned 38 yards on 9 runs. Ardarius Stewart scored a rushing TD on his single 29 yard run.

            The Tide offense produced 8 sustained drives [91, 65, 66, 64, 51, 75, 86, 61] that produced 5 TDs, 1 interception, a missed FG and a turnover on downs at the UT 8 yard line with :54 to play in the game. Bama earned 28 first downs [20 by rushing], converted 6 of 12 third down opportunities and controlled the ball for 31:33 of the game.   

Defense:         A+      Defensively, the Tide picked up on the Third Saturday in October, 2016, right where it left off twelve months ago. You will recall the final play of last year's Tennessee game saw Dobbs sacked and losing a fumble. The 2016 defense made 10 tackles for lost yardage [3 sacks], broke up 6 passes, hurried Dobbs twice and returned an interception for a touchdown. The most impressive thing however, was the vast improvement in the play of the defensive secondary over the error filled performance turned in against Arkansas a week ago.

            Last week, despite an excellent pass rush, the Tide surrendered 400 yards through the air to the Hogs. Tennessee could only manage 131 passing yards. The Vols earned only 11 first downs, converted only 3 of its 16 possession downs, and averaged only 1 yard per rushing attempt.

            Ronnie Harrison led all defenders with 7 tackles [6 solo]. He scored a TD on a 58 yard interception return and broke up 2 passes. Shaun Dion Hamilton was credited with 6 tackles [5 solo] and Minkah Fitzpatrick also made 6 stops [4 solo].

Special Teams:

Punting:           A          JK Scott punted 4 times for an average of 50 yards. His longest punt covered 62 yards. The return team scored a TD [Eddie Jackson] but the coverage team gave up a long return of 32 yards and 60 total return yards.

Kickoffs:          B          Griff was evidently told to kick short enough to give the Vols excellent return duo of Kamara & Berry the opportunity to run one back. They nearly did.....several times. UT earned 116 kick return yards.

                       

Place Kicking:   B+       Griff missed a 38 yard FG attempt but was perfect on 7 PATs.

Coaching:        B+                   The play calling early in the game was hard to figure out. Alabama was penalized 5 times and the participation report lists 59 players who saw action in the game. Lots of freshmen have played this year, which of course bodes well for success in future seasons.

            This was an epic defeat of a worthy opponent. And it is one that Alabama fans can savor long after the season ends. But for now, Coach Saban's "24 Hour Rule" is in effect. Come Sunday afternoon, the players, coaches and fans should think about no game but the next; and what a game it promises to be! Texas A&M is a very good football team. The Aggies are blessed with abundant talent on both sides of the ball, and are very sound on special teams. The Tide's lofty ranking means only one thing: there is no room for error. If the 2016 Crimson Tide are to be national champions, every game is an elimination game.

            Bring it on!

Roll Tide, Y'all

The Commissioner

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