The
official temperature in Bryant-Denny Stadium at kickoff was 94 degrees. That’s hot,
but all evidence suggests it felt hotter. The media events room is
airconditioned. All evidence suggests the press conference got hotter than the
playing surface at kickoff when some reporter asked Coach Saban why Alabama
played teams like New Mexico State. “We will play anybody who will play us,”
Saban replied, then invited the reporter to “call around” and see if he can
find a team willing to play Alabama. “We’ll play anybody you find who will play
us!”
Among current coaches, Saban is alone in advocating for a
regular season of 10 conference games and 2 from other Power Five conferences.
He listed the advantages: more excitement for fans, greater competitive
challenge for players, and a clearer path to the playoffs for teams suffering a
loss during the season. Because his is a solo voice on this topic, Saban has to
coach within the system as it exists. This means New Mexico State, The Citadel,
Charleston Southern, and similar FCS teams get to play Payday Games before
100,000 fans of FBS schools.
This is not to suggest such opponents provide no benefits
for the host teams. As Saban pointed out while roasting Saturday’s unwary reporter,
the host team has an opportunity to get better and younger players have the
chance for game-time experience. Saban was clearly frustrated with what he perceived
to be some missed opportunities by his team in the game just completed.
The 62-10 score is a little misleading. Yes, Alabama compiled
over 600 yards of total offense, including 318 yards rushing, but the play of
the offensive line was inconsistent, and the running stats were skewed by 75
yards gained by Henry Ruggs, III who took a swing pass for a touchdown on the
game’s opening play. The play was classified as a run, because the pass was
completed one yard up-field from where Tua threw the pass.
Both the first and second team centers were unavailable for
the game, and it showed. Several times a high or wide snap disrupted the timing
of plays, and blocking assignments did not always appear to be clearly
understood.
The defense played well-enough for more than three
quarters. When less-experienced players were substituted into the game however,
Tide defenders had trouble executing. Consequently, the Aggies scored more
points against Alabama than they did against Washington State on week one.
Special teams were a bright spot. Every kickoff was a
touchback, and Will Reichard kicked two absolutely perfect field goals [49, 48]
that would have been good from a much greater distance. Jaylen Waddle had a punt
return touchdown nullified by a legitimate blocking infraction, but he is a
spectacular player.
In once sense it was a perfect game. Alabama won convincingly,
showed some improvement in a few critical areas, but made enough mistakes to
give the coaching staff lots to work on.
The quality of the
opponent requires a full letter grade deduction on offense and defense. So, with
that in mind here is how I grade the game:
Offense: B The offense gained 603 total net yards [318 rushing],
earned 23 first downs, converted 8 or 15 possession plays [14 third downs],
possessed the ball for 27:57, and did not suffer a turnover. Tua completed 16
of 24 pass attempts for 227 yards and 3 TDs [Jerry Jeudy (2); Henry Ruggs, III].
Early in the game, it appeared to me that Tua’s passes were a bit late, and
slightly less accurate than we have become used to. Because Bama’s receivers
are the best group of their kind in college football, some passes that might
otherwise have been incomplete were salvaged. At any rate, from the second
quarter on whatever might have been affecting Tua’s passing seemed to have been
corrected. Mac Jones attempted 9 passes, completing 5, for 58 yards and a TD
[Jeudy].
Jeudy led all receivers
with 8 catches for 103 yards and 3 TDs. Ruggs caught 4 passes for 66 yards.
Jaylen Waddle gained 52 yards on 2 receptions, and DeVonta Smith caught 5 passes
for 47 yards. Six different players caught passes including walk-on TE Giles
Amos [Sr. 6-4, 245; Perry, GA].
The Tide’s leading rusher
was true freshman, Keilan Robinson [5-9, 184; Washington, D.C./St. John’s] who scored
a 74 yard touchdown on his first play in the contest. Henry Ruggs, III’s 75
yard TD was scored as a rushing play. Najee Harris gained 68 net yards rushing
on 12 runs and scored a rushing TD. Brian Robinson, Jr. carried the ball 11
times for 57 net yards. Tua scored a rushing TD from 25 yards out and totaled
33 yards rushing on his two total carries.
Alabama mounted eight drives
that gained 40 or more yards [75, 89, 50, 72, 84, 55, 70, 74] and each resulted
in a touchdown. Bama made three trips into the red zone and scored touchdowns
each time.
Both of Alabama’s 4th quarter offensive possessions
resulted in punts following only 3 plays. Likewise, the first-team offense
suffered two “three-and-out” possessions in the first half. Consequently, the +
is simply not an available grade.
Defense: B- The Aggies were able to gain 262 yards of total
offense [101 rushing], made 14 first downs, and converted 4 of 15 possession
downs. In the fourth quarter, State dominated the Alabama defense, gaining 99
yards on 20 plays, and controlled the clock for 9:47 of the quarter. Coach
Saban was none too happy about this. In post-game remarks, he singled out the
defensive performance in the 4th quarter as an example of players
not playing the way they have been taught in practice.
Xavier McKinney was the
Tide’s leading tackler with 6 stops [5 solo]. Raekwon Davis also recorded 6 tackles
[1 solo]. Jordan Battle [Fr. DB; 6-1, 201; Fort Lauderdale, FL] and fellow true
freshman Shane Lee each recorded 5 tackles.
In total, the defense made
7 tackles for loss [31 yds]; forced 3 fumbles, recovered 2 fumbles [Shane Lee,
Josh Jobe] intercepted a pass [Patrick Surtain] broke up 3 passes, and hurried
the Aggie QB 8 times.
Special Teams:
Kickoffs: A Will
Reichard kicked off 10 times for an average of 64 yards per kick. Nine of his
kicks were touchbacks, one sailed out of bounds. Joseph Bulovas kicked off once
for 40 yards. Henry Ruggs, III made one kick return for 19 yards.
Punting: A- Skyler
DeLong punted 3 times for an average of 41 yards. Reichard punted once for 39
yards. The coverage team allowed only a single return for 1 yard. The return
team was penalized for a blocking infraction that nullified Jaylen Waddle’s TD
return. Otherwise, Waddle returned 3 State punts for 28 yards. His longest
return gained 23 yards, but involved running from outside the numbers where he
made the catch, completely across the field to the opposite side line, then
reversing his field and crossing back over to the original side of the field
and going out of bounds 23 yards down field from where he caught the ball in
the first place.
Place Kicking: A+ Reichard
was good from 49 and 48 on his two FG attempts and perfect on each of 10 PATs.
Coaching: A The participation report
lists 66 players who saw action in the game. Alabama was penalized 4 times for
35 yards. I almost gave the coaches a minus for the decision to play Tua to
start the second half with the score 38-0. I understand the importance of game
time experience, but the risk/return equation eventually signals that the
person getting experience in the game ought to be the back-up QB.
Much like last week’s contest against Duke, Bama soundly
defeated an inferior team. The outcome of the game was never in doubt. Still,
the offensive line is unsettled, and inconsistency of execution resulting from
a lack of attention to detail are things to worry about.
With two weeks in the books, there are some things around
the league coming into focus: LSU is a much-improved football team with a
potent offense. The Bengal Tigers have found the QB they have been looking for
and he is a stone-cold competitor. In the SEC East, Tennessee is …. Uh …. The Vols
are …. Well, Georgia is certainly
playing well so far.
But the most important game of the season is this coming
Saturday in Columbia, South Carolina. We have not played the Fighting Chickens
since 2010. Readers of this blog will remember that game. It is seared into our
memory. Stephen Garcia had the game of his life leading South Carolina to a 35-21
victory over Alabama. It was the first loss in the season following the ’09 BCS
Championship triumph over Texas in Pasadena. A victory this coming Saturday
will place Alabama in the unique position of having won the most recent meeting
between every other school in the SEC.
While Alabama was beating New Mexico State on Saturday,
South Carolina was dispatching Charleston Southern 72-10. The Yard Birds’
opening week loss to North Carolina may not be as big an embarrassment as some
thought at the time; the Tar Heels defeated the Miami Hurricanes 28-25
yesterday.
So, turn the heat up under a skillet of peanut oil. It’s
time to fry some chicken!
Roll Tide, Y’all.
The Commissioner
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