Monday, September 25, 2017

Tire Store Report Vanderbilt

A great set of the The Grades to follow up a Great Victory.

Somehow the words “win” and “victory” really don’t do a game like that justice, though.  In fourth grade Mrs. Baugh told us that if you didn’t know something, you should look it up.  We have a big fat Thesaurus (which sounds like a dinosaur name) here.  It suggested “smearing and pasting and creaming and clobbering and shellacking and whopping and whomping” but noted all of those were “nonformal”.  Heaven knows if we value anything it is formality, especially where the fancy pants Commodore Cornelius A. Vanderbilt University is concerned.  Still, though, none of that seemed to quite cover it.  Maybe the best description is that it was pretty clear Vandy’s, um, rear ends had begun to quit, along about the second series of the second quarter.

As the Commissioner mentions, he was gracious enough to ask us to join him for the game.  So we shut down the service bays and put the Closed sign on the door for one Saturday morning.  Our friendly competitors down the street towards Mr. Sam’s Barbeque probably picked up a few jobs that otherwise would have been ours, but he always closes his shop on his birthday in October to go deep sea fishing in Destin, so it’ll work out.  Thanks to the Commissioner and his family for tolerating us.

It was an awfully hot day on West End Avenue.  However, we were honored to meet several regular readers of The Grades.  Thanks for taking time to introduce yourselves and say “Roll Tide”.  It made the day more special.  Unfortunately, we don’t get to see those of you that we do know nearly often enough and there are many of you that we’ve never even been lucky enough to meet.  But don’t doubt that we appreciate each and every one of you and the time you invest to read our thoughts about the varsity football program at the University of Alabama.

The Commissioner has done such a great job of describing the action, we thought we’d focus on some other things.

Coaching.  We expect that the backups had heard enough from the coaches, and others, about their fairly pedestrian performance against CSU last week.  They were ready this week.  It was funny to see the team trying argue Coach Saban out of taking a knee on the last three plays.  We don’t disagree with that decision, by the way.  Watching them together, though, backs up what the Coach has said a few times this fall -- he just likes this team.  He even sort of smiled, well, as much as he does.

It’s really obvious to say that Coach Mason at Vanderbilt has a chore ahead of him.  He has to get his bunch ready to go down to Gainesville to face a Florida team that has won two conference games in a row which were still in the balance on the last snap.  The idea of “don’t let Alabama beat you twice” has to be rolling around in his head.  (And perhaps he’ll mention being a little less vocal in front of television cameras when you are still excited about beating a Big 12-ish team a/k/a don’t pull an elephant’s tail unless you have a plan for dealing with its tusks.) 

By the same token, however, we think Coach Saban and his staff have a rather interesting task this week.  They have been pushing the team to play a complete game.  And sure, there are some things to clean up -- punt fielding was not as solid as it should have been, though maybe they were just worn out from catching so many (and while we are on the subject Vandy’s punter did a really, really excellent job on Saturday -- their most successful player by far).  We are also still sometimes vulnerable to the screen pass, which Vanderbilt running backs helpfully dropped a couple of on Saturday.  We dropped a couple of important passes.  There were low snaps.  Generally speaking though, there is much less to harp on this week.  A team, especially a young team, may have a tendency to get complacent and be a little full of themselves.  The coaching staff is going to have to find a way to get them focused on Mississippi.  As you’ll recall, the last time they came to Tuscaloosa for the 8 p.m. game all manner of voodoo and shenanigans occurred.  We are about sure we saw the Tooth Fairy riding a unicorn on the sidelines that night.  

This is probably especially tough with the younger players.  As the broadcasters correctly pointed out, we had a very successful play where the true freshman running back adroitly picked up a blitzer so that the true freshman quarterback could complete a touchdown pass to a true freshman receiver.  Those three guys probably didn’t have their first high school report card on that ugly night in Tuscaloosa. 

We’ve read that it is difficult to get a college team to play at its highest level more than just a few times a season.  They were clearly at a high level on Saturday.  They will need to give a great effort again this Saturday to take care of business.  So here is an odd chore for the coaching staff to do with this team -- don’t let all the emotion you spent on Vandy last week beat you this week.

Vandy Stadium.  No two ways about it, Dudley Field is not a great place to see a football game.  Tunnel access to the seats is always an issue.  The aisles are not wide enough. The beaming sunshine had heated the aluminum seats to an uncomfortable degree by the 2:30 kickoff.  By midway through the second quarter we’d have been happy to see even creepy Larry Culpepper offering $10 bottles of warm Dr. Pepper.  The Commissioner’s son and heir volunteered to go fetch water, as he is, shall we say, somewhat less seasoned than the rest of us.  (OK, we all get discounts at the grocery store that he won’t qualify for until some more decades have passed.)  Took him nearly a full quarter of a slow game.  However, he did exert heroic and much-appreciated efforts.  The point is that even just buying Dasani in sealed bottles with cash costs you enjoying much of the game you overpaid to see.  Sure, if it is on your “bucket list” to go see a game in every SEC stadium, then, by all means, put Commodore Stadium on the list -- at the bottom. 

Supposedly, Vandy was more excited and confident for this game than for any in several seasons.  The local newspaper was reporting as news that the student ticket allotment sold out early in the week.  Even so, the student section was perhaps 50% full at kickoff.  By the second quarter it was full, except for the top few rows.  By the end of halftime, it was nearly empty.  We are told this is fairly common at Vanderbilt, if you’ll excuse us using the words “common” and “Vanderbilt” in the same sentence.  We’d go along with the Commissioner’s guess on the crowd split.  It makes the stencil on the wall proclaiming it to be “Commodore Country” a bit ironic.  One final thing.  Vanderbilt had a fairly long video invitation from its president, encouraging, ok, practically begging, people to come to homecoming (stop laughing).  The problem was, they didn’t show it till about 10 minutes left in the game.  Let’s just say that besides the team, parents, coaches, and band, which we assume are coming to homecoming anyhow, there weren’t a lot of Vandy supporters there to hear it (now you can laugh).

Officiating.  Blech.  This was just awful.  The game featured a roughing the passer call on a play where the ball was still in the quarterback’s hand when the tackler made contact.  “Diving at the knees” should not be a penalty when an offensive player backpedals away from a defensive player who has left his feet to make a lunging tackle.  Or perhaps this is just one more step down the slippery slope to two-hand touch.  Our running back was whistled down when he wasn’t.  Another wasn’t whistled down when he clearly was.  On one touchdown we are still waiting for someone, anyone, in a striped shirt to signal the score.  Holding along the offensive line is apparently no longer against the rules and both teams took advantage of this new twist. The officials nearly let things get out of hand after the late hit on Hurts, with cooler heads from both teams doing more to calm the situation than anybody who has, you know, that job.

CBS Broadcast.  We do give relatively high marks to Brad Nessler.  He is a solid play-by-play man -- gets the names right and isn’t afraid to tell Danielson when he is full of it.  Allie LaForce was pretty prompt with sideline injury reports.  And we did have some sympathy for them trying to find things to talk about by the end.  Ronnie Clark is a great story, but we understand when you are around the team for maybe four hours before game day it probably doesn’t occur to you to have an interview with the sixth-string running back.  The lesson they don’t seem to have learned is that television is different from radio.  If you don’t talk constantly on radio, people think you’ve gone off the air.  If you do talk constantly on television, people think you are in love with the sound of your own voice.  It’s TV.  We don’t need a “word picture” because we have actual pictures.  Hush for a minute -- we won’t change channels and it’ll save your voice.

In the stands, it seemed that the television time outs were terribly long.  We tried to blame it on the heat.  We should have blamed CBS.  We watched the recording we made and counted the ads.   By our count, from the beginning of the broadcast to the final whistle, there were 104 different full-blown commercials.  We are not counting the various in-game promos like Home Depot and the Aflac Duck and the sponsored first down line, staring line-ups, etc.  One thing we did notice, though -- after running their 3-4 commercials during a time out CBS will invariably run an additional several seconds of a promo for upcoming CBS broadcasts, like Young Sheldon (which for some reason made us think of Young Frankenstein -- we’re betting the new show won’t be that good).  Then they take some more time to show you an aerial view or subject you to what Gary thinks Tim Tebow would do at this point in the game.  That’s part of what makes it so long.  We get it, you have to sell advertising time to pay the conference to show the games.   And you pay a lot.  But come on CBS, you aren’t even trying to make this bearable.  Worst of all, it affects the pace and momentum of the game.

Enough complaining after a memorable victory on a beautiful day.  On to the Rebellious Black Bear Land Shark Ackbars of Old Misdial University.  They were off last Saturday to rest up.  The game’s not till late so maybe we can sell some tires and turn some brake rotors next Saturday morning and still be settled in well before kickoff.   We hope you are, too.  Roll Tide everyone.



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Sunday, September 24, 2017

Vanderbilt Grades

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History provides many examples of trash talk gone horribly awry. You know what I mean; when someone puts their mouth in motion before their brain is in gear and has it all blow back on them in an embarrassing way. Some of these ill-advised exercises in trash talk are well known. Others are less so. Here is a sampling of both kinds:

“Tell those Indians that George Custer is coming, and he’s bringing an attitude with him.” MG G. A. Custer, 1876

“The Russian winter? I guess I’ll pack my skis!” Emperor Napoleon, 1812

“Let me tell you, Donald, you can’t insult your way to the White House.” Gov. Jeb Bush, 2016.

And finally:  “Hey, Alabama…..you’re next!” Vanderbilt Commodore DL Nifae Lealao, 2017.

My point is, with a big contest coming up, you have to be careful what you say to or about your opponent.

            The Vanderbilt football team learned that lesson the hard way when Alabama delivered a 59-0 curb-stomping to the Commodores on a hot, sunny day in Nashville. How bad did the Tide whip Vandy? Rented mules are treated with more consideration.

            Think about these comparisons: Alabama had 38 first downs…….Vandy had 38 total offensive plays; The Tide scored 59 points……Vandy gained only 40 yards rushing; Bama had 9 drives that resulted in a score [8 TD, 1 FG] …… Vandy had 9 “three and out”. This game marked the first time since 1930 when both teams entered with records of at least 3-0….the result was the largest margin of victory since 1979 when Alabama beat the ‘Dores 66-3.

            Mr. Lealao, he of the infamous “you’re next” boast, became frustrated in the first quarter as Alabama was driving for what would be its third touchdown of the day, and delivered a cheap shot to Jalen Hurts after the whistle, no doubt to remind Jalen that it was his turn to be “next”. This prompted Bradley Bozeman [RS-Sr.; C; 6-7, 313; Roanoke] to say, “Excuse me, sir, but I think your competitive zeal may have gotten the better of your good judgment. That sort of thing is just not done. So, let’s have no more of that.” Or words to that effect. I could not hear the exchange, you understand, inasmuch as I was sitting 68 rows above the field, but I think that was the overall gist of the exchange between the Alabama players rallying to defend their quarterback and the Vanderbilt scholar athletes who were trying to impose their own will. The touchdown that shortly followed put an end to all debate on the subject.

            How much did Lealao’s hubris contribute to the Tide’s preparation for the contest? Jalen Hurts told reporters: “At Alabama we want to be respected and we didn’t feel like they were showing us respect. So, we came out here and tried to play Alabama football.” A post on an SEC chat board said that Alabama was not a team you played against, Alabama was something that happened to you.

So, here is how I grade the game:

Offense:          A+                   Alabama set program records for first downs [38] and consecutive turnover free quarters [30], and tied Coach Saban’s victory margin against a conference opponent [59-0 win over Texas A&M in 2014]. The offense gained 677 total yards [496 rushing], converted 11 of 17 possession downs [2 of 2 on 4th down], and possessed the football for 42:55 of the game.

Jalen completed 9 of 17 pass attempts for 78 yards. He was sacked once. Tua attempted 10 passes, completing 8 for 103 yards and 2 TDs. Tua’s second TD pass, to true freshman DeVonta Smith [WR; 6-1, 165; Amite, La.] was nothing short of astonishing. He twice avoided a sack, and threw a perfect spiral to Smith for a 27-yard score. Tua's release is very quick, and his accuracy is excellent.

Calvin Ridley caught 5 passes for 43 yards. Jerry Jeudy caught 3 passes for 68 yards and a TD. Ten different receivers caught passes.

Damien Harris was the Tide’s leading rusher with 151 yards on 12 carries, a career best for the 5-11, 221 lb. junior from Richmond, KY. He scored 3 rushing TDs.  Bo Scarbrough ran the ball 11 times for 79 yards and scored 2 TDs. Freshman, Najee Harris proved why he was the nation’s number 1 recruit with 70 yards on 10 runs. Alabama was not trying to inflate either its rushing total or the score; nine different players ran the ball. Vandy was simply unable to stop the Alabama running game. The only rushing plays that lost yardage were the three kneel-downs from the victory formation at the Vandy two yard line to end the game.

Speaking of formations; in short yardage situations, Alabama ran a “heavy” or “jumbo” formation with two tight ends and a defensive lineman at full back. The formation itself drew cheers from the Alabama crowd.

The offense had nine possessions that gained 40 or more yards [47, 70, 75, 71, 75, 68, 58, 89, 59] resulting in 7 TDs, a FG and the end of the game. Perhaps Nifae Lealao and the rest of the Vanderbilt defense was intimidated by playing in front of a hostile crowd; at least 75% of the stadium was filled with Tide fans.

Defense:          A+                   Vanderbilt was held to only 78 yards of total offense [40 rushing], that earned 3 first downs. The ‘Dores converted 1 of 10 possession downs and the best field position they achieved was their own 44 yard line.

Let’s think about that for a moment. Vanderbilt never ran a play where the line of scrimmage was on the Alabama side of the 50. No Commodore player touched the football within the radius of the team logo that spans mid-field between the 45 yard lines. The Vandy marching band actually traversed more of the field in the halftime routine than the football team accomplished in four quarters of play.  

Shaun Dion Hamilton led all defenders with 5 tackles. Mack Wilson [So. LB; 6-2, 236; Montgomery] Anthony Averett, Hootie Jones, Isaiah Buggs, and Da’Shawn Hand each were credited with 3 stops. Tide defenders made 1 tackle for lost yards, broke up 6 passes, hurried the VU quarterback 3 times and intercepted a pass [Ronnie Harrison].

Special Teams:

Place Kicking:             A+                   Andy Pappanastos [according to Eli Gold, Coach Cochran’s nickname for the Tide place kicker is “Pappa-Nasty”] was good from 22 on Bama’s lone FG attempt and perfect on 8 PATs.

Kickoffs:                     A                     JK Scott averaged 64.5 yards per kick on 10 kicks. Coverage was good; Vandy’s logest return was only 22 yards, and half of Scott’s kicks were touchbacks.

Punting:                       A-                    Scott only punted twice for an average of 32 yards. He dropped one punt inside the VU 15 and allowed no returns. The Tide punt return unit gained 33 yards on 3 returns. The minus mark is for a muffed punt catch, that fortunately was recovered by Alabama.

Coaching:                    A+                   The participation report lists 65 players who saw action in the game, including three true freshmen-Brian Robinson, Kendrik James, Major Tennison-who took the field for the first time this season. So far this year, Coach Saban has played 15 true freshmen. In addition to the three previously mentioned, the list of first year players getting game time is: Christopher Allen, Thomas Fletcher, Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy, Alex Leatherwood, Xavier McKinney, Dylan Moses, Henry Ruggs, III, DeVonta Smith, Tua Tagolaivoa, Jedrick Wills, Jr., and Daniel Wright.

After last week’s disappointing performance against Colorado State, the coaches had some work to do. They obviously got it done.

            I would like to take a personal moment in this week’s edition of The Grades. I had the rare opportunity to attend the Vandy game with the Correspondent From The Tire Store, my Son and Heir, and my older brother. It was hot. Vanderbilt Stadium is a disgrace. CBS stretched the game with commercials that consumed more air time than the Vanderbilt offense. But I would not have had it any other way:


It was a fantastic experience, and a memory I will always treasure.

            The most important game of the season is Ole Miss this coming Saturday. Kickoff is late, so prepare accordingly.

Roll Tide, Y’all

The Commissioner



  

Monday, September 18, 2017

Tire Store Report Colorado State

An entertaining issue of The Grades, Commissioner.  Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to entertain and education.   And certainly one with a message we can all take to heart.   Sure, nothing's perfect.  At this stage of the season, no college team should be.  The NFL is the league where everything needs to run at its top level from Week 1.  The college game is different.  You want and expect your team to improve over the course of the year.  It is dictated by its very nature in the turnover of seasoned players with each graduation ceremony.  However, it did seem that much of the team, like a lot of the rest of the students, became disinterested in the contest when it became clear that if it kept its foot on the gas, they could run over CSU at will.  Say, about the last play of the first quarter.  That is not a mistake than can be allowed to turn into a habit.  On the other hand, as quality of opponent increases, we suspect that a more competitive instinct will emerge.  Our guess is that it will be a point of some emphasis by the coaching staff this week.

On to the individual units.

Defense:  The Defense (at least the brand played after the first quarter, during which CSU managed a mere 11 yards) left a good bit to be desired.  Having said that, it is fair to consider that for this game the lineup was missing five linebackers due to injury.  There is hope that at least Dylan Moses, Anfernee Jennings, and, perhaps most critically signal-caller, Rashaan Evans will be available for the game in Nashville on Saturday.  That position group has been hit hard by the injury bug.  Unfortunately, that position group is integral to quality defensive performance in the 3-4 scheme.  No use crying over it.

Despite those losses, the stop troops held a quality opponent with a good quarterback to a relatively low point total.   What we do have to improve is our play against delays/quarterback draws, screen passes, and fades to the corner of the end zone.  We have heard Coach Saban expound more than once on the defense employed on the last of these.  Match the pattern of the receiver, when his eyes widen as the ball comes in, either sweep it away or pull his arm off the ball as he tries to make the catch.  Unfortunately, that tactic does not seem to be supporting the overall strategy of preventing touchdowns.  Too often, even employed enthusiastically, the effort results in a catch, a pass interference call, or as on Saturday night, both.  Blech.  At least one of those passes would have hit our defender in the facemask, had he been facing the quarterback instead of the receiver.  Is there a better way to play it?  Shoot, we don't know.  We change tires and adjust alignment.  What we do know is that if we've tried the same thing to line up someone's front end three or four times and it's not working, maybe we should try something else.

Special Teams:  Lordy.  This is an area of the team that is improving and even (gasp) threatening to become a weapon.  Pappanastos was perfect on the night making two 40+ yard field goals. Wonder what the proposition bet odds would have been on that.  Scott punted like, well, like JK Scott.  The 50+ yard FG  he attempted was wide, but only just, and had another 8 yards in it.  Regular readers will know that down here we think missing a field goal attempt of over about 40 yards is not the fault of the kicker, but of the offense for not getting him in a more reasonable range before fourth down.  The return game is not contributing at quite the level we would like, perhaps.  On the other hand, they have not committed the regular as clockwork blocks in the back we had grown accustomed to.  They are quietly and sure-handedly fielding punts and kick offs, and they are making smart decisions on which balls to return and which to fair catch/ground.  We are holding kick returners short of the 20-yard line generally and frequently kicking the football off out of the dadgum end zone.  CSU had zero punt return yards on the evening.  Is the kicking game perfect?  No.  Is it improving?  You bet your sweet kicking tee it is. 

Offense:  The first team could have probably scored 60 or more points on CSU.  There is clearly a significant drop off between the first and second offensive lines, though one would expect that to be the case.  Scarborough and the unheralded D. Harris ran with authority, hitting holes when they were there, making holes when they were not there, and being brought down on touchdown saving shoestring tackles.   CSU regularly had 8 men within three yards of the line of scrimmage and cheated safeties up.  At least as far as the first team went, it didn't matter.  The most versatile RB of the bunch, Joshua Jacobs, has been missing since a Fall Camp injury.  He got one carry, we think on the only play where he was in the game, and got six tough yards in the red zone.  Nice to see him back.  Najee Harris never really got a chance to get going behind the previously mentioned second-string offensive line.  Our coaches do not really do our second string offense a lot of favors by keeping them to a very limited set of plays and options when they appear in blow out games.  This does not help the second string defense either, keeping it on the field a lot, late in the game.  But when you are missing five linebackers, and generally have four on the field in your base alignment, it doesn't take much to get pretty far down on the three-deep chart.

We hope and expect to see a lot saltier and consistent performance on Saturday.  We expect the Head Coach will allude to that in his remarks to the team this week.  We also understand the defense is holding a players' only meeting on Monday at the invitation of Messers. Hamilton and Jones.  We expect a message of the fire-and-brimstone variety to be delivered.

[Here, we climb up on a stack of wooden shipping pallets (we don't order soap by the box)]:

One thing we are kind of tired of hearing is about how come Jalen Hurts cannot do this or that.  Now, we understand there is a decent cohort of the fan base who is either too young to remember or has chosen to block it from memory like a bad car accident, but the truth is that some of us do remember Spencer Pennington, Brandon Avalos, and John David Phillips.  Every week, the Chicken Little Brigade is out in full voice on Sunday -- "We'll never win a championship until Jalen Hurts can _______________..." 

And it tends to be something new every week because Hurts is maturing before our eyes.  Originally it was that he never threw check down passes.  Now he regularly delivers swing passes and safety valves to the running backs. Two weeks ago it was that Jalen was not throwing the ball to enough different people, focusing instead on Calvin Ridley (though, to be fair, if you have one pass for your life, whom on our current roster would you pick to catch it?)  Well, Saturday night eight different players caught passes from Hurts.  Sunday morning we woke to hear, not praise for spreading the passes around to different athletes, like the incredibly speedy Robert Foster, but instead whining about why Hurts can't exploit intermediate length passes in the middle of the field.  We figure he'll complete about four of those against Vanderbilt and next Sunday we'll be hearing that we'll never win the SEC until Jalen learns to ride his unicycle or cast more accurately with a fly rod.  As one of the announcers correctly said on Saturday night:  "If he walked on water they'd complain because he can't swim."

Look, with Hurts at the quarterback position Alabama has lost exactly one game in the last 18.  In that game, his heroics gave the Special Teams and Defense a legitimate chance to win in the fourth quarter.   (He shares some criticism for that loss, to be sure.)   There are parts of his game that could be better.  He is very young with the chance to improve, much like a lot of the rest of this team.  He was recruited to be a dual threat quarterback -- one that could play the traditional role as well as pull the ball down and make a defense pay for leaving running lanes open.  Have you watched him glide down the field like a deer zipping through the forest, with linebackers and defensive backs lunging with all the grace of a falling oak tree at the spot where he just was?  That is what we recruited him to do.  And now people whine that the sky is hitting them in the top of the head when he rips off 150+ yards rushing and scores a touchdown or two.  "This will never do.  Jalen should be ordered to stand in the pocket until he goes through 11 progressions of the passing tree and completes a two-yard dump off to the running back."  Pish posh.  Our offensive line has not exactly been giving him a six-second time to affect ratio, though it was better Saturday -- that is a subject for another Tire Store Report.  Let Hurts be who he is, because that is what we wanted.  Stop complaining that the banana split we have isn't as good as someone else's lollipop.  Take a deep breath and enjoy the options and advantages that he gives this team as well as his pure athletic talent.  In our view, too much time is spent judging this fish on his ability to climb trees.

But, but, but what are we going to do when we meet a team that can put eight men in the box, contain our running game, dedicate a spy to Hurts, and cover all our wide receivers one-on-one?"  We don't know.  The last we looked the Houston Texans aren't on the schedule this year and so far we haven't seen a college team that could achieve all that.  We'll see.

Let us pose it in the same way you began, Commissioner.  For which other SEC quarterback would you like to trade last year's Offensive Player of the Year?  Dormady at Tennessee?  Ettling at LSU?  Preseason Heisman Favorite (at least in Lee County) Stidham or his backup White (assuming he has made bail by next weekend)?  No, you say?  Fitzgerald at MSU -- I promise to listen quietly to your argument, but you won't convince me.  Based on Total QBR, Hurts ranks fifth in the country -- three of those above him play in the Defense-Optional Big 12-ish.  The other plays for Vanderbilt. Rhetorically, for this coming Saturday's game, would you prefer if our defense was trying to decide how to defend against Jalen Hurts and we were relying on Kyle Shurmur to lead us to victory on West End Avenue?  Seriously?


We suppose it is true that there is no hope for the satisfied man.  And Coach Saban himself probably needs to acknowledge no superiors in the quest-for-perfection and desire-for-improvement categories.  Do we think this is a championship caliber team right now, three games into the season? No, as a matter of fact, we do not.  Do we think it could be?  You bet your Spencer Pennington jersey we do.

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Sunday, September 17, 2017

Colorado State Grades

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WJOX

Mark: “Trey is on line two, welcome to Tide Talk Back”

Trey: “Hey guys, how’s it going?”

Kevin: “We’re great, Trey, what’s on your mind?”

Trey: “Well, Alabama travels to Nashville this Saturday to play Vanderbilt, and I’ve been studying my DVR recordings of Alabama’s first three games…..

Mark: “Yeah, me to. Looks like there are some things that need to be cleaned up, especially on defense.”

Trey: “Well, I’m more concerned about what I’ve noticed on offense. You know we have a new coordinator”

Kevin: “Right, Brian Daboll”

Trey: “Daboll, yeah….so, I’ve noticed on short yardage situations, especially near the goal line and on third down, we don’t really have a jumbo formation, like we have had since Coach Saban has been our coach, and I’m just wondering….you know, Coach Saban has opened a Mercedes dealership up in Nashville….and, back during the Stanley Cup playoffs, he was seen attending a Predators game….and, I’m just thinking…….maybe he’s spending too much time with the car dealership and delegating too many things to Coach Daboll?”

Mark: “Think about this for a second, Trey. Alabama is 3-0, with a win over Florida State to begin the season. The coaches are having to work in some guys on defense who have to step up because of injured starters. Jalen Hurts has not had a turnover, and has rushed for over a hundred yards in each of the last three games. I mean….yeah, the Tide could have played better on defense against Colorado State, but all in all, wouldn’t you rather be where Alabama is this morning than say….LSU?”

Trey: “I’m just trying not to be complacent, Mark, like Coach Saban always says. YouknowwhatImean? I think Coach needs to give up his second job at the car dealership until we get things straightened out, that’s all I’m sayng.”

Mark:  “Yeah……well…..we’re up against a hard break…..traffic and weather when we come back.”




WAKM:

Tom: ‘Travis is on a cell phone…..hello, Travis….Welcome to Swap-Shop, what are you looking for?”

Travis: “Just about anything, Tom.”

Tom: “Can you be a little more specific, Travis?

Travis: “Specific? A little more specific? How much more specific do I have to be you [bleep]. I don’t have a single piece of [bleep] furniture, not a [bleep] stitch of [bleep] clothes, not a [bleep] thing to my [bleep] name. YOU FEEL ME? I just got here from Florida.  I. NEED. EVERY. THING.”

Tom: “My word, Travis. I’m sorry for your loss. Please forgive me. I was insensitive. We know thousands and thousands in Texas and Florida are hurting as a result of the natural disasters, and we are here to help.”

Travis: “Yeah. It’s a disaster alright. But I don’t think there is anything natural about it except Butch Jones is naturally an idiot.”

Tom: “I’m sorry….what?”

Travis: “We had Florida beat….we came back…..game tied….we always win in overtime….and Butch [bleep] Jones lets them complete a hail Mary pass for a touchdown with no time on the clock. [bleep] me.”

Tom:  “Oh, you mean the football game…..I thought maybe you lost everything to the hurricane.”

Travis: “Gators you [bleep]. We weren’t playing Miami What kind of call-in show are you running?”

Tom:  “This is Swap Shop….people call in and buy, sell and trade household items and services…sort of like a radio yard sale. So what do you need again?”

Travis: “Well, I set my couch on fire in the third quarter, and it spread to the living room, but I put it out mostly by the time we tied it up….but then after that touchdown pass…..I just….well….you know…..and now it’s all gone…my apartment is completely ruined and my landlord has kicked me out.”

Tom:  “So, if you could have one thing to start with, what would I be, maybe one of our listeners could help.”

Travis:  “Is there any way to swap Butch Jones for Nick Saban?”



Tiger Talk:

Claude:  “Luc is on the phone from Lake Charles. Bon jour, Luc. Comment allez-vous?”

Luc “Je suis un clown triste.”

Claude:  “A sad clown? Pourquoi?”

Luc:  “La vie est une farce absurd. Coach Ed Orgeron was supposed to be le sauveteur du programme de football LSU”

Claude:  “C'est vrai, Luc. But the loss to Mississippi State is a calamite. Once again it looks as if LSU will become a coach’s cimetière.”

Luc:  “Oui. juste comme Jerry Stovall, Bill Arnsparger, Mike Archer, et Gerry DiNardo.”

Claude: “Qui est responsable, Luc? Le directeur d'athlétisme? Le conseil d'administration?”

Luc:  “Non. Only one personne est responsable.”

Claude: “Qui?”

Luc: “Nick Saban.”

Claude: “Ah, oui.  Nick Saban. Le saboteur de notre programme.”


            The knock on Alabama fans is we don’t seem to appreciate how good we have it. Perhaps the greatest program in the history of college football, sixteen national championships,26 SEC championships, 64 bowl appearances. The Tide has dominated the SEC West for the better part of the last decade and Alabama has been ranked number one in the country for more weeks than any other team in college football. So why are Alabama fans unhappy the morning after defeating Colorado State 41-23?

            Perhaps they saw the same game against Colorado State Coach Saban did: “[W]e came out and started fast in this game on both sides of the ball. … but we did not sustain that and we didn’t finish the game like we needed to. We started to try to play other players, but they didn’t do a very good job functionally, and we let them back in the game….We didn’t execute very well defensively; not stopping the run; not getting off the field on third down; didn’t play great in the red zone; …The continuity and togetherness is not what it needs to be on [defense].”

            Coach Saban does not talk about a future past the next opponent. I can, and I believe every conference opponent on our schedule can beat us if we play defense the way we played against Colorado State.

            The defensive line was unable to get pressure on the CSU quarterback when rushing only four. The secondary was exposed as vulnerable to screens and fade routes where our defensive backs were over-matched against tall, athletic receivers. Notwithstanding two interceptions, the defense was unable to get off the field with the result that CSU possessed the ball nearly 8 minutes more than the Tide, converting 11 of 19 possession downs. Colorado State gained nearly 400 yards of total offense including 144 rushing. It was ugly.

Because the numbers tell the tale better than I can, here is how I grade the game:

Offense:          A-          Alabama gained 487 yards of total offense [239 rushing], earned 23 first downs, converted 7  of 12 possession downs, scored on seven of ten meaningful possessions, and converted both defensive interceptions into touchdowns. The offense dominated time of possession in the first and third quarters, during which it scored 31 of its 41 points.

            Jalen completed 12 of 17 pass attempts for 248 yards and 2 TDs without yielding an interception. Calvin Ridley gained 92 yards and scored a TD on 3 receptions. Bo Scarbrough was effective as a receiver, making 3 catches for 36 yards. Damien Harris caught 2 passes. Robert Foster only caught one pass, but made the most of it, with a slashing diagonal run through the CSU defense for 52 yards and a TD. Eight different players caught passes.

            Jalen also led all runners with 103 yards and a TD on 11 carries. Through three games, Jalen has not suffered a loss of yards on a rushing play. Scarbrough gained 66 net yards rushing on 12 runs. Damien Harris gained 53 yards on 11 runs. Najee Harris gained 11 yards on for runs. Josh Jacobs carried the ball a single time and gained 6 yards.

            The offense put together 5 sustained drives [75, 95, 76, 88, 65] resulting in 4 TDs and a FG. The most glaring offensive miscue was a failure to pick up a first down on a third and 1 in the second quarter, forcing Bama’s first punt of the game.

Defense:         D-        CSU gained 395 total offensive yards while making five sustained drives [55, 85, 42, 75, 52] that resulted in three TDs, a FG and an interception. While Alabama’s longest drive consumed 14 plays, CSU had four drives with a double digit play count [12, 11, 11, 15]. The OSU coaching staff had done an excellent job of film study preparing for this game; whenever they got a favorable matchup against Anthony Averett, they took advantage.

            Keith Holcombe [R-Jr.; LB; 6-4, 236; Tuscaloosa] led all defenders with 9 tackles. De’Ron Payne, S.D. Hamilton, and Minkah Fitzpatrick each were credited with 6 stops; Christopher Allen [Fr.; LB; 6-4, 239; Baton Rouge], Levi Wallace, and Ronnie Harrison each made 5 tackles.

            All total, the Tide defense made 5 tackles for 13 yards of lost yardage, broke up 9 passes, hurried the CSU QB twice and made two interceptions [Harrison; Hootie Jones]. Hootie Jones made an excellent 65-yard return of his interception, setting the Tide offense up at the CSU 11 yard line.

Special Teams:

Punting:        A          JK Scott averaged 50 yards per kick on two punts, both of which were downed inside the CSU 20 yard line. Treyvon Diggs returned a single CSU punt for 9 yards.

Place Kicking:             A-        Pappa. was good on both of his field goal attempts [46, 43].  Scott missed his lone FG attempt from 52 yards.

Kickoffs:        A           Scott handled kickoff duties, making 8 kicks for an average of 64.6 yards. Five of his kicks were touchbacks. The return coverage team limited CSU to an average of 23.3 yards per return. Henry Ruggs, III returned two CSU kicks for 42 yards.


Coaching:        B-        Alabama was penalized 4 times for 45 yards. The participation report lists only 54 players who saw action in the game. Coach Saban clearly intended to get more players into the game but less than optimum performance by the defense did not allow the coaches to implement their substitution plan.

            I have already said that each of Alabama’s conference opponents is capable of beating the Tide if Alabama plays as it did against CSU. Vanderbilt is the first of those opponents. It has been a long time since Alabama and Vandy were both 3-0 when they faced each other, and the 2017 Vanderbilt is not the sort of mistake prone Commodore team that has customarily lived in the cellar of the SEC East. If you did not stay up late enough to see Vanderbilt best a ranked Kansas State team Saturday night, you should check out the highlights. The ‘Dores have a salty defense, which won the game by holding K-State on downs inside the red zone.

            The Tide offense will be tested. The O-Line needs to protect Jalen, because Alabama will have to achieve balance against the Vandy defense. Vanderbilt does not pose the kind of offensive threat Bama faced with Florida State to open the season, but better, more consistent play by the Tide defense is an absolute must.

            Tide fans may indeed be guilty of not appreciating how good we have it, but there is something to be said for always looking for ways to improve.  Coach Saban certainly does.

Roll Tide Y’all


The Commissioner

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Fresno State Tire Store Report

You know, when you reach a certain age, you'll forget what story you've told to whom.   People will start to  interrupt you and say, "Yes, I've heard about the time the Deputy Sheriff let you go even though you were speeding on the way home from the game and he was an Auburn graduate".  When you get a little older, though, people stop interrupting you to say they've heard this one before and just sort of smile and nod indulgently, not realizing you can tell they are thinking inwardly "yes, I've heard that one before, geezer".   (Uh, we've noticed this indulgence usually doesn't apply within the immediate family).  After a bit of that you'll even start saying to people "Stop me if I've told you this before."

Saturday's game sort of gave us that feeling.  Last Saturday, Alabama played football against a quality opponent at a neutral site and won a convincing and exciting victory.  This week, it returned to Tuscaloosa for a home opener against an opponent that was, charitably speaking, a notch or two below last week's victim.  Alabama won the game by a comfortable margin, though they couldn't be accused of running up the score.  The team at times seemed a little lackadaisical; maybe let down from the level they were at just a week ago.  A lot of players saw action.  And at times, it sort of looked like the coaching staff had decided to run an experiment or two, rather than just taking some fairly obvious steps to gain yardage or stop the opponent.  In fact, in a few cases it seemed as important to keep everyone healthy than to score and prevent touchdowns.  Shoot, last week we played FSU and this week we played FSU.... Stop us if you've heard this before.

One of the problems with college football is how far out non-conference games are scheduled.  At the time Fresno State made its way onto Alabama's list of opponents it was coming off a stretch of nine-win seasons and Alabama's offensive coordinator was an alum.  By the time the game rolled around, that offensive coordinator had moved on and FSU was having significantly less success.  So to speak.

As you correctly point out, Commissioner, this game was not really in doubt after Alabama's first drive.   Fresno State had a good game plan, particularly on offense, that really seemed more geared to keeping the game from getting ugly and protecting its quarterback than necessarily trying to win.  How many 5-yard passes did he throw before he could feel any real pressure?  It is a sad fact of the current state of college football that smaller, less well-funded schools have to play games like this in order to keep themselves afloat financially and within the top division.  It is a reward to their players and a recruiting tool to say that they have played an opponent like Alabama or Michigan or USC, etc.  Suffice it to say there are a lot reasons that games like this are played.  Millions of reasons.  FSU walked away from Saturday's game with a reported payout of about $1.4 million.  They'll earn another $1 million next week for playing Washington.  That should ease budgetary concerns for a while. We'll not get up a stack of tires to preach about how we think this system should be changed/improved.  It should be.

That is not to say that a team like Alabama does not gain an advantage from playing in a game like this.  It most certainly does.  Issues that appeared in the first game -- calls that not all the players understood, failed execution, formation issues, injury holes to be filled, experiments with personnel groupings -- all are things you can address in a game that you should win rather more easily than last week.

And all that worked out with Fresno.   Except for Levi Wallace taking a finger in the eye, the injury bug seemed to stay away from the field.  Alabama was able to experiment with formations and personnel groupings necessitated by the epidemic of injuries at outside linebacker.  Hurts got a chance to toss the ball to receivers not named Calvin Ridley (including, gasp, a tight end).  Some of the formation/motion issues that seemed to have the players confused last Saturday seemed to be straightened out (or removed from the playbook). 

A LOT of younger players got into the game.  It was fun to see a true freshman quarterback throw a touchdown pass to a true freshman wide receiver at the end of a drive where the bulk of the yardage was gained by a true freshman running back.  Given that you can bet the grocery money that every other coach in the conference, maybe the country, is telling recruits not to go to Alabama because there are too many great players ahead of them and they'll not see the field for years at Alabama, but if they come to their team, they'll get on the field early and be stars (without regard to whether that is, you know, the truth).  We'll leave that discussion for another day, except to point out that Najee Harris could have bought that line and gone elsewhere, reasonably intimidated by a running back list in front of him of including Jacobs, Harris, Scarborough, Emmons....  Instead, in only the second game of his career, Najee got his chance and all he did was gain more yardage than any other running back on the team. 

Even though we had an unsettling sense of déjà vu, this game turned out pretty well.  A win, no major injuries, plenty happened that was good (low number of penalties/no turnovers) and enough happened not so good (poor performance on third down and occasional lapse in concentration/effort)  to keep the team from getting the big head and giving the coaches images to show over and over in film study.

We will take it.  On to Colorado State.  When we scheduled that game, Colorado State was coming off one of the best seasons in its history and was coached by a former Alabama coordinator.   Stop us if you've heard this one before.

Roll Tide.  Beat Colorado State.

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Fresno State Grades

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL POP QUIZ:  2017 SEASON, WEEK TWO

1.    Auburn, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama: Which one of these is not like the other?


2.    Match the SEC coach with the temperature of that coach’s seat:

Coach                                                             Temperature

Bret Bielema                                                   Stone Cold

Kevin Sumlin                                                   Warm to the touch

Butch Jones                                                    Oven mitt recommended

Nick Saban                                                     Could fry an egg


3.     Rank Order: by using the numbers 1 through 5, where 1 means “I guarantee it” and 5 means “There ain’t no way” indicate your answer for the next head football coach at Ole Miss (use each number only once).

Coach                                                 Will be hired                            I want to be hired

Les Miles                                             _______                                  ________

Nick Saban                                         _______                                  ________

Tommy Tuberville                               _______                                  ________

Gene Chizik                                        _______                                  ________

The Interim Guy                                  _______                                  ________


4.     Essay:  Starting with the 2007 season, every football program in the SEC has changed coaches; some have done so more than once. Nick Saban is now the dean of SEC head football coaches.  How does this make you feel? Discuss.
(250 word limit) (This question is for extra credit. Alabama fans are excused.)


Well, here we are two games into the 2017 football season. Some programs are already in the ditch. Others are ticking along right on schedule. From what I saw yesterday, I think the Crimson Tide is in the second category, notwithstanding the need to fill holes in the defense created by injury. Jalen Hurts looked like the Jalen Hurts of last November. The rest of the offense showed balance and depth. The starting defense looked like …… the starting defense. Place kicking was vastly improved over Week One.

The Tide did not cover the 43 1/2 point betting spread, but it beat an over-matched opponent in convincing fashion. Less than one minute into the game, Alabama scored a touchdown, and the game was effectively over.

Readers of The Grades know it is our custom to impose a one letter grade deduction on offense and defense when justified by the quality of the opponent. Such deductions are due to be assessed today. So, here is how I grade the game:

Offense:          B+          The Tide gained 497 net yards of total offense [305 rushing], earned 28 first downs, converted 5 of 11 possession downs and controlled the clock for 30:42. Jalen had an outstanding day, completing 14 of 18 pass attempts for 128 yards and a TD [Hale Hentges].  He also rushed for 154 yards on 10 attempts and scored 2 rushing TDs. Tua Tagovailoa got significant playing time. He completed 6 of 9 pass attempts for 64 yards and a TD [Henry Ruggs, III].

Calvin Ridley led all receivers with 45 yards on 5 receptions. Cam Sims caught three passes for 28 yards. Robert Foster, Bo Scarbrough, and Irv Smith, Jr. each made two receptions. Eleven different players caught passes. In a marked improvement over last week, neither QB caught his own pass attempt.

Jalen was the leading rusher, followed by Najee Harris who netted 70 yards on 13 attempts. Scarbrough gained 36 yards on 6 runs, followed by Damien Harris with 32 yards on 6 carries.

Bama had six sustained drives [73, 62, 75, 77, 53, 75] which produced 5 TDs and a field goal. The offense scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the game and only punted three times. Alabama had no three-and-out possessions.

I still do not understand our short-yardage offense in the red zone. Against Fresno State, Bama had a couple of chances to rush the ball with a defensive lineman at full back. We lined up with two tight ends, but a single back off-set from the quarterback who was under center. The play gained yardage, but not enough to score a TD and the Tide settled for a FG on 4th down. Nevertheless, Bama scored on each of its 5 red zone possessions. Combined with last week’s success, the Tide’s red zone efficiency through two games is 100%.

Defense:         B              The Bulldogs gained 274 net offensive yards and were held to only 58 yards rushing. Chason Virgil started at QB for Fresno State. He completed 21 of 34 attempts for 180 yards and a TD. He was sacked once. Fresno converted only 3 of 11 possession downs.

Ronnie Harrison and Raekwon Davis led all defenders with 8 tackles each. Heath Holcombe is credited with 7 stops. Hootie Jones, Anthony Averett, Da’Ron Payne, and Mack Wilson each made 4. Tide defenders were credited with 3 tackles for loss [13 yards]. Anthony Averett made an interception he returned for 30 yards.

Fresno State only managed only two drives that gained more than 40 yards [70, 57]. These drives resulted in a FG on State’s second possession of the game, and the end of play.

Special Teams:    

Place Kicking:             A                      Andy Pappanastos was good from 24 and 22 and perfect on each of his 5 PATs.

Punting:                      A                      JK Scott punted 3 times for an average of 41.7 yards each of which he dropped inside the Bulldog 20. Trevon Diggs returned 2 Fresno State punts for a total of 12 yards.

Kickoffs:                     B                      Scott averaged 63.1 yards per kick on Bama’s 8 kickoffs. Three of the 8 were touchbacks. Kick coverage was good until the fourth quarter when the return team allowed Fresno State’s Da’Mari Scott to return a kick 63 yards. The Bulldogs took advantage of the excellent field position and scored their lone TD after a drive of only 37 yards.

Coaching:                    A                      No controversy this weekend. Bama was penalized 4 times for 30 yards. Sixty players saw action in the game. For the second game this season, Alabama did not suffer a turnover.

Coach Stallings once said, to win a championship, a team has to have three kinds of good luck; schedule luck, injury luck and game luck. As 2017 currently stands, Alabama has some favorable schedule luck, at least for the next week. Colorado State presents a final opportunity to make roster adjustments before diving into conference competition on the road against Vanderbilt (2-0). Injury luck has not been as favorable, so we will see whether all those number one recruiting classes have produced the kind of deep talent pool we all hope for.

Our shared passion for Alabama football is a fun diversion from current events. But now, next week, and in the weeks ahead, we should all pray for those affected by natural disasters, and devote our time, treasure and effort, to do what we are called to do in response.

Remember April, 2011 and answer your call.

Roll Tide Y’all.


The Commissioner

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

FSU Tire Store Report

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That was an excellent job of painting the picture, Commissioner.  You really helped those of us who could not attend the game get a feeling for what it was like inside the stadium.  Perhaps we’ll get to go in December.  And January.

As to the game itself, it was odd.  Partly that was because it was unprecedented.  Having two of the top three teams playing each other to open the season had just never happened before -- or at least not since they made the helmets out of leather and “facemasks took real fear out of the game”.

So as excited as we were for the return of football and as happy as we were to secure a victory, it was just a little odd to have the buildup of expectations like you would have for a playoff game in August and September.  The game itself was a little ugly.  Frankly, that sometimes happens when you have two very good teams playing each other -- your offense may look out of sorts because the other team’s defense is playing quite well.  This, in particular, is true early in the season when defensive evolution tends to be ahead of the offense any way.  Add to that fact that opening games always tend to have some rough edges -- players are a little more apprehensive, some players who do well in practice don’t quite come up to standard in games, and vice versa.  Coaches discover situations that they believed they had practiced fully only to find that perhaps the players weren’t quite as adept as believed.  In short, this had the all the makings of an ugly football game.  How refreshing, then we have decided, that it was played as well as it was.

We had some specific thoughts:

Offense 

The offense turned in a few very excellent plays.  The touchdown pass to Ridley was a great call, recognizing a key mismatch, and executed to near perfection on all counts.  Harris’s initial run in the game was beautiful.  The pass to Jeudy was also very nicely done.  We were not guilty on a hold on that play.  Instead, the official turned around just in time to see the end of a nicely executed pancake block and was so amazed at the total domination of it, he just assumed something underhanded had taken place.  We guess.

Otherwise, to be honest, the offense has a lot to work on.  FSU dared, nearly begged, Alabama to throw the ball over the middle.  They were ripe for the picking for screen passes and throws to the tight end.  Safety valve receivers ran free to no avail.  In some cases, Hurts didn’t see them.  In some cases the offensive line offered little protection.  In some cases, despite six or more defenders being on the line of scrimmage, we emptied the backfield and ran slow-developing plays with all kinds of little dipsy doodle things going on that accomplished not very much.  Here’s one way to put it, Hurts completed more passes to himself than to all the wide receivers not named Ridley combined.  This will not do.

In shades of the end of last season, Alabama converted only three third downs all night (they did convert two fourth downs and one would have been converted but for the bogus holding call mentioned above).  Even so, that is eerily reminiscent of the last three games of last season.  The average yardage to make on third down was nine.  Let’s just say that is not a recipe for success.

Having a gift first down at the opponent’s six yard line and not pounding the ball with the running game four times if necessary bothered us down here.  Look, if the other team can stop our offensive line, Harris and Scarborough (and Hurts for that matter) four times in 18 feet, then let’s just tip our cap to them.  But at least try. We could have sworn Coaches Kiffin and Nussmeier had moved on. 

However, all that said, the offense put up three scores more than the other team, gave us makeable field goals on two other occasions, and put the game in the win column.  Aside from the guys they line up against every day in practice, the offense will not see another defense as good as FSU’s for at least several weeks.  But you can bet all the other teams have gone to school on what to do.  And what to do is to dare us to throw over the middle.  I hope we can take that dare.

Defense

So we read a lot in the Winter of Discontent about how Alabama had lost too many good players in defense, about how you didn’t just replace NFL talent right away, about how especially early this season Alabama was going to have to count on its offense to “carry” its defense until young, talented players could step up.  We frankly weren’t too excited about all that.  Mostly it was because that isn’t how we like our football.  We tend to be “old school” down here at the Tire Store because we are, you know, old.  We think the way to go about winning is to make sure the other team doesn’t score very many points at all.  Mission accomplished.

Alabama’s defense played very well.  Everyone from highly recruited blue chip athletes to determined former walk-ons made their presence felt.  I’ve never even played quarterback in football in the back yard and still can imagine what it is like to see a man the size of Da’Ron Payne sprinting directly at you and causing the brief feeling that you aren’t sure whether he wants to tackle you or eat you for a snack.

Hamilton appears to be just as dominating as he was before his very unfortunate knee injury.  Former walk-on Levi Wallace had an excellent game in coverage and may have played himself into a starting position.  Hand, on at least two occasions we noticed, commanded a triple team.  Evans, one of the best players on our defense, left the game early with an injury.  ABC didn’t mention it, I suppose it being lost in important discussions of the announcer’s race horse.  The bigger thing is, we didn’t even notice it.

Our linebacking corps took a serious injury hit, however.  We need to let that be the end of season-ending injuries for the 2017 campaign.
   
Special Teams 

Hurrah.  We kicked off the football into the dadgum end zone.  Not only that, we kicked it off into one side of the end zone, allowing the cover team to have less of the field to defend.  Our only concern is to see Scott hurtling down the field like a determined crimson giraffe.  For our money he is far too valuable for that duty.  Let’s let him kick it into the end zone, pick up his own kicking tee, and hustle over to the sidelines, perhaps standing behind Payne or some other player larger than a Mini Cooper.

Kick returns were nothing spectacular on either punts or kickoffs (of which there were only two, after all, heh heh heh).  You win a lot of football games where the opponent only kicks off twice.  On the other hand, they weren’t disasters, either.  You can bet the Seminoles would happily have traded performances with us in those areas.

We look forward to a sunny, happy, contended day when we will not have to hide our faces like fifth graders at a horror movie every time we need to kick a field goal.  That day has clearly not yet arrived.  Kickers, in our opinion, get too much credit for good kicks and too much blame for misses.  Snappers and holders are critical pieces of the puzzle.  Coach Saban’s sniper analysis may or may not be perfect, but it’s as good as anything.  And the person who pulls the trigger is ultimately responsible.  But a successful sniper is usually part of a team with spotters relaying all sorts of information.  If any piece of the puzzle is off, you’ll have a miss.  The last field goal was as straight and true as anything we have seen -- it looked good, sounded good, and flew right down the middle with plenty to spare.  The good news is that if they can do that once, they have the ability to do that every time.  The bad news is they were certainly trying to do that every time.  (Look for us at the next game, peeking out between our fingers to see if Freddy Krueger is stepping up for the field goal.)

Come to think of it, that applies to a lot of what we saw Saturday night -- a team that needs to learn to do what they have shown they can do, every time.  If they learn to do that and avoid more serious injuries, this team has the potential to be very very good.  Getting the players to that level of consistency is the coaches’ job.  We have some pretty fair ones, I’d say.  If this game had been the fourth week in October, we’d be pushing the panic button.  As it stands, it’s only the first week in September.  We are going to hover over the Excited button instead. 


Roll Tide everyone.  Welcome back.  Go teach the Bulldogs to behave.

Monday, September 4, 2017

FSU Grades

The announcer on ESPN radio, whose name I did not catch…..it could have been Edward Bundy or Chas Manson, for sure it was not Bob Lee or Jeff Davis….whatever…..his name doesn’t matter…It’s what he said that got my attention. He was doing a recap of Alabama’s 24-7 win over third-ranked Florida State, and he says: “The score was 10-7 in favor of the Tide after the first half. But in the second half, Alabama did what Alabama does.”

That’s the phrase that stuck with me…..”Alabama does.” 

Just what is it that Alabama “does?” I do not believe it is “find a way to win” or “keep focused” or “play in the moment” or any of the dozens of other coach-speak phrases. What Alabama did, especially in the second half in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium, was to batter a very good football team; make the opponent one dimensional, then snuff out even that mono-existence; deny them possession of the football, and make them regret getting it back. 

Consider this: on the final play of the first half, Alabama blocked a ‘Nole field goal attempt, FSU got the ball to start the second half…the results of its second half possessions were punt, blocked punt, fumble, interception, interception, punt, and punt. From 10:06 to play in the 3rd quarter, to the end of the game, FSU ran only 17 more offensive plays, gained only 39 yards, and surrendered 14 points to Alabama. 

The Tide could have, indeed should have, scored more than 24 points. The offense was spotty. Formation and play selection produced significant head-scratching; particularly when presented by the special teams with a first and goal from the FSU 7 yard line. Personnel and scheme adjustments by the defense generated more pressure on FSU’s very fine, and gutsy quarterback, Deondre Francois, leading inevitably to hurried, off-target throws and two interceptions [Mack Wilson (So. LB; 6-2, 236; Montgomery) and Levi Wallace (Sr. DB; 6-0, 183; Tucson, AZ)]. The offensive brain-trust under the guidance of new coordinator, Brian Daboll, never seem to figure out how to protect Jalen Hurts from FSU pass rush from the left edge. To put a finer point on it, why we ran any plays in the second half out of an empty backfield formation remains an unsolved mystery.  Post game take away: make sure Doug Nussmeyer doesn’t still have his sideline pass.

More analysis of these issues awaits a dive into the stats. First, I need to try describing  what it was like to witness the inaugural event in Mercedes Benz Stadium. Some who have attended a game in Cowboy Stadium said “Jerry World” is as grand or more so than MBS. I have never been in a more spectacular indoor sport’s arena than Atlanta’s gleaming high-tech replacement for the Georgia Dome.  

Compared to its predecessor, MBS is gigantic. 



  

You approach through a large, landscaped area complete  with fountains and water-effects. 

Physical security starts with a ring of hundreds of metal detectors, each manned with three people  The screeners were polite, efficient and friendly. Less than an hour before kickoff, there were no lines. 

Ticket validation is done by a ring of kiosks and turn styles, situated inside the ring of metal detections. Scanning your ticket and and entering the building is designed and laid out to eliminate choke points. The only interruption in the flow of people to seats, is in the main concourse, where folks who entered at the north end were trying to get to sections in the lower bowl nearer to the south end, and vice versa. This would be helped greatly if tickets would include a suggested entry portal.

Large TV screens are everywhere; including the restrooms.  





The Jumbo Video screens are in a circular array near the retractable roof. From the lower bowl, close to the field, it is a bit awkward to look up, but I expect the angle is much better for the higher seats.

It did not look as if any players were distracted, even during punts and kicks, and I imagine if it were a problem coaches would have discovered it.

The lights are near the Jumbo Video screens, and I needed a hat to shade my eyes from the glare. 

One of the best features, however, may be how fan-friendly the concessions are, starting with reasonable prices. Also, the purchase of a souvenir cup entitles the fan to free re-fills at numerous stand-alone beverage dispenser stations positioned in the concourses away from the lines to the concession vendors. The Falcons organization must have figured out you can lower prices and increase revenue. Other NFL teams should take note.

The Chick-fil-A organization puts on a first-class sporting event. But I must share two things that no doubt were missing from the broadcast. First, when the Tide took the field for the coin toss, the team made its running entrance from the home-team tunnel earlier than expected. About a dozen players, including Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris, Jalen Hurts, and Henry Riggs, III, sprinted to the goal line, where they removed their helmets, knelt and individually prayed. 

Next was the invocation, delivered by Ernie Johnson. When was the last time you attended a public event with over 77,000 people that began with an invocation? This was a really good one. He gave thanks. He prayed for Houston, others suffering from Hurricane Harvey, and those who are providing aid and rescue. He prayed for unity, exhorting all to recognize our shared humanity. The crowd was attentive, silent; until he arrived at the closing. When it became obvious this invocation was to be unapologetically Christian, the assembled crowd became a thousands-strong amen chorus, spontaneously erupting in cheerful applause. It felt affirming and viscerally powerful, as if saying “this is our culture and we are not deplorable.”

But this blog is about Alabama football….so this is how I grade the game:

Offense: C One of the top five take-aways from this game is: Jalen Hurts remains a work-in-progress. There were situations presented where last year, he would have been quicker to run downfield. Now, he looks for a receiver……few were open. Last year, Jalen might have tried to force the ball and risk an interception. Now he throws the ball safely away. Last year, he attempted deep passes to a receiver behind the coverage…..I think he completed one….maybe….against FSU Jalen threw a perfect pass to Calvin Ridley for a 53-yard touchdown.  The offense gained 269 total yards (173 rushing), earned 13 first downs, converted each of its four trips into the red-zone and controlled the ball for 32:47.

Jalen completed 10 of 18 pass attempts…..7 to Calvin Ridley, one each to Scorbrough and Damien Harris….and one to himself, a brilliantly heads-up play where he snagged a batted pass, preventing an interception. Ridley gained 82 yards on his seven receptions, including the 53 yard TD. A holding call negated what would have been a terrific completion to Jerry Jeudy. 

Harris gained 73 yards on 9 carries and 11 yards on his lone reception. He also blocked a punt. The stats sheet does not reflect whether he also served Chick-fil-A sandwiches to fans in section 109. 

Alabama had three sustained drives (50, 44, 85), its first three of the game, that produced a missed field goal, a touchdown and field goal. 

Defense:       A.         Coming into this season, the most frequent question asked was whether Alabama would be able to re-load a defensive unit depleted by the 2017 NFL draft. Defensive take away: I think that question is settled.

FSU had only two drives that gained 40 or more yards (90, 50). One resulted in the ‘Noles’ lone score, the other in a blocked field goal attempt [Minkah Fitzpatrick]. FSU gained 250 offensive yards (40 rushing), earned 15 first downs and converted only 4 of 13 possession downs. 

Shaun Dion Hamilton led all tacklers with 8 stops. Anthony Averett was credited with 6 tackles. Fitzpatrick, Harrison, Lewis, Payne and Evans each made 5. Tide defenders made 9 tackles for 32 yards of loss [3 sacks], and took the ball away with two interceptions and two turnovers on downs. The pass rush, which was not particularly effective in the first quarter, turned up the pressure as the game progressed. Francois was not officially hurried, but six passes were broken up, and the pass rush clearly contributed to the Tide’s interceptions. 

Special Teams:       

Overall:       A+       Two blocked kicks, combined with recovering a fumble forced on a kick return clearly earn the maximum grade for special teams. On a detailed level, however, the story is somewhat mixed.

Place Kicking:       C      Andy Pappanastos attempted five field goals and converted three [25, 35, 33]. He missed from 42 and 41.  Special teams take away: I hope we are not faced with a game where we have to win with a late field goal.
  
Punting:        A.        JK Scott punted 6 times for an average of 35.2 yards. His longest punt covered 53 yards and he dropped 3 punts inside the FSU 10 yard line. The Noles did not return any punt.

Kickoffs:          A+           Scott also handled kickoff duties, and averaged 64.8 yards per kick. Coverage was smothering. FSU only attempted two returns for an average of 10 yards per return. 

Coaching:     B+            This grade was the topic of heated controversy during the drive back to Birmingham.  The Commissioner’s preliminary grade for the coaching staff was C-. Upon reflection, I concede that mark was too low, and was too heavily influence by the play calling after the blocked punt when Alabama had second down and goal from the 3 1/2 yard line and ended up settling for a field goal. I remain dismayed by this lost opportunity, but a broader perspective is required.  The participation report lists 51 players who saw action in the game, including several true freshmen. Alabama was penalized 5 times for 30 yards. Alabama defeated the number 3 team in the country by three scores. Coach Saban continues his streak of season opening wins, and victories over his former assistants. 

Coaching take away:   I can’t improve over what Coach Saban said: we didn’t play a flawless game, and we have lots to work on. Over the next few weeks, watch for this team to get lots better.  After all……under Coach Saban, that’s what Alabama does.

Roll Tide, Y’all.

The Commissioner