LSU Grades

     There are lots of great things about going to an Alabama football game in Tuscaloosa. Especially games with prime-time kickoffs. Breakfast overlooking the Black Warrior at Another Broken Egg. Buying your boo an anniversary present at The Shirt Shop. Tailgating with old friends, and new ones, on the Quad. Yellowhammers.

     Perhaps the best thing about going to a game in T’town is the complimentary Sunday edition of The Tuscaloosa News provided by the hotel. The TN's coverage of Crimson Tide football is to newspapers what Dream Land is to smoked ribs: ain’t nothing like it nowhere.

     Today’s edition is a case in point. Cecil Hurt, perhaps the best reporter ever to cover the Crimson Tide has it exactly right. For Alabama football, November is all about survival. The Tide survived LSU’s determined effort and notched a hard-earned 24-10 victory; extending Alabama’s win streak over the Tigers to seven games. The Tide have not lost to its SEC West rival since the regular season meeting in 2011. 

    On an unseasonably warm November night, Alabama was out gained and out rushed, but not outscored. LSU dominated time of possession by eight minutes, and with potentially season-ending injuries to Shaun Dion Hamilton [knee] and Mack Wilson [foot] Alabama suffered more losses to its already depleted corps of linebackers.

    The contest was not decided until the Tide defense forced a turnover on downs deep in LSU territory with just over two minutes to play in the game.

     Close games are often decided by a few things. This game was no exception. The first deciding factor was punting.  On a night when the offense could not stay on the field, JK Scott delivered his best performance. The Tide punter was called upon eight times; he averaged an astounding 51.6 yards per kick and kept the Tigers in bad field position all night. The other key factor was winning turnovers. Ronnie Harrison made what turned out to be the deciding play on the first snap of LSU’s third possession when he perfectly timed QB Danny Entling’s screen pass and out fought Tiger running back Derrius Guice, for an interception at the LSU 37.  Four plays later, Bama scored its second touchdown. In the war of attrition that followed, both teams managed ten more points.

     Yes, Bama survived the 2017 LSU game. The first weekend of November is in the books with a win. Three more weekends remain, however, and if the Crimson Tide are going to stay on course to compete for the CFB Playoff Championship, they will have to play with more consistency than they did against LSU, and young players will have to prove the validity of number-one recruiting classes.      

So here is how I grade the game…….

Offense:        C+.      The Tide gained 299 total yards of offense [only 116 rushing] earning 14 third downs, and converted only 5 of 14 third downs.

Jalen Hurts played the entire game. He completed only 11 of 24 pass attempts for 183 yards and 1 TD. Four of his incompletions were dropped balls. Jalen was sacked 4 times, but he had no interceptions.

Calvin Ridley was the leading receiver with 3 catches for 61 yards. Seven different players caught passes.

Jalen was also the Tide’s leading rusher, gaining 44 net yards on 14 runs [his 4 sacks cost him 27 rushing yards]. Bo Scarbrough gained 39 net yards on 11 rushing plays and scored a rushing touchdown. Damien Harris ran the ball 9 times for 33 yards.

Of Alabama’s 12 offensive possessions, 6 ended with a punt after only three plays. The Tide offense managed only three sustained drives [90, 56, 52] resulting in two TD’s and a FG. With 2:55 to play in the third quarter, Bama scored its third TD. The offense then opened the fourth quarter with a drive culminating in a field goal, and it looked as if the offense might be winning the line of scrimmage. The next two possessions, however, were both “three and out” and netted zero yards.

Defense:        B-        In spite of surrendering 306 yards including 151 rushing, the Stop Troops made LSU punt 8 times, intercepted a pass and forced a turnover on downs to seal the win. LSU mounted only two drives that gained 40 or more yards [71, 67] each of which yielded points. The Tigers’ longest rushing play was a 54 yard run by Darrel Williams out of the Wildcat formation, that set LSU up, first and goal, from the Bama 2 yard line. LSU converted 9 of 19 third downs, and only had 2 possessions end after three offensive plays. LSU held the ball for 34:07 of game time.

Rashan Evans led all defenders with 10 tackles. Raekwon Davis was credited with 9 stops, while Ronnie Harrison and Levi Wallace each made 6. All total, Tide defenders made 9 tackles for lost yardage, 6 of them sacks. Four passes were broken up and Tiger QBs were hurried 4 times.

Special Teams:

Punting:           A+       JK Scott averaged 51.6 yards per punt on 8 punts, and downed 6 of his punts inside the Tiger 20 yard line. LSU only returned 1 punt for 2 yards. Bama’s return game was nothing to write home about [3 returns; 11 yards], but Xavian Marks fielded each LSU punt cleanly.

Kickoffs:          A          Scott handled kickoff duties and averaged 63.2 gross yards per kick on 5 kicks. Three of his five kicks were touchbacks. The two kicks that were returned netted LSU 29 and 23 yards. It appeared that Scott mis-hit one kick that came downs around the 20 yard line. Good coverage prevented a bigger return.

Place Kicking:      A        Andy Pappanastos was good from 40 yards on his only FG attempt, and was perfect on tree PATs.

Coaching:        B          Alabama was penalized only once for 11 yards. Fifty six players saw action in the game. Play calling was frustrating to watch. Coach Saban told the CBS on-field reporter at the half that the Tide had not been able to establish a consistent running game. Perhaps this was due to play selection. At the half, Tide running backs had been given the ball only 9 times. Running backs rushed only 21 times the entire game. They averaged 4 yards per carry. One particularly frustrating series came on Alabama’s third possession. The Tide took over at its own 9 yard line following a Tiger punt. Damien Harris gained 11 yards on two running plays over the right side of the offensive line. So, on first and ten from the Tide 20 we did what? If you guessed “ran the ball” you would be wrong. On first down Jalen was hurried and threw incomplete to Calvin Ridley across the middle. Second down was an incomplete pass attempt to Harris., and third down was a sack for loss of 7 yards. I don’t get it……but then again I am not paid to call football plays.  

Not to be overlooked in this complaining about play calling, is the fact Alabama has now defeated 21 consecutive SEC regular season opponents dating back to a 38-10 win over Georgia on Oct. 3, 2015. Over the last five games, the Tide defense has averaged nearly 5 sacks per game. Jalen now holds the school record for rushing TDs by a quarterback [20]. And…..this one is worth repeating…..the Tide win streak over LSU is now 7 games in a row. All of this is a reminder to keep complaints about esoteric issues like play calling in proper perspective.

     And one more great thing about being present for the game ……the pregame show was quite special….the game ball was flow into Byant Denny Stadium by a unit from the US Army Special Operations Command, who flawlessly executed a three-man, HALO [High Altitude Low Opening] sky dive…..at night…..landing on the mid-field logo:

     Cecil Hurt observed that November is all about survival. These Army paratroopers have survived very demanding training, an inherently dangerous profession, and bad people shooting at them. The Crimson Tide football team, along with the rest of us, can take heart from their example.

Get ready, Mississippi State……

Roll Tide Y’all.

The Commissioner 

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