The
Commissioner is out of the country. (You
have to wonder why he’d take a trip like that on the third Saturday of October,
but he did.) His Son and Heir, who
usually does the grades in his absence, was in T-Town for the game and wasn’t
able to get home in time to prepare the grades before his day job called
him. Our Correspondent from the Tire
Store was on the East Coast for a wedding. (There ought to be a rule that you
can’t get married during the season). So, we’re down to the Correspondent from
the Faculty Lounge. We’ve gone about as
deep in the depth chart as Tennessee went to find a QB. But here at the
Commissioner’s Blog, we all play to a standard, even the 3’s and 4’s.
Sometimes a
win doesn’t really feel like a win.
Sometimes a win is ugly.
Sometimes a win is costly. That’s kinda how we feel about last night’s
game. Sure, the new lights were awesome
and the haze from the cigar smoke in the stadium added to the surreal
atmosphere. We beat the Vols now 13
times in a row. We got a 100-yard scoop
and score. We enjoyed the booming punts
by freshman walk-on Ty Perine. (Though we’d prefer drives ended with a score
instead of punts). We marveled at Jason Waddle’s return game. And we saw Najee
Harris chalk up his second straight 100-yard rushing game. We even saw a Bama
wide receiver throw a touchdown pass.
Things
started out pretty well. A quick TN three
and out, a short punt, and a 13-yard return by Waddle gave us the ball at the
TN 35. Four plays later Harris ran it in,
and folks were already pulling the cellophane off their cigars. An interception by Jared Mayden on the third
play of TN’s ensuing possession set us up first and ten at the TN 38. The blow-out was well underway and folks in
the stands were clipping the ends of their cigars and testing their
lighters. Two receptions by Harris and
one each by Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs, III, set us at the 2-yard line first
and goal. Then things sorta went sideways.
On first and goal from the 2, Tua
was flushed from the pocket (why we didn’t just pound it in is still under
investigation. Some have suggested that OC Steve Sarkisian mistakenly picked up
Lane Kiffen’s old playbook, but that’s just a rumor). He rolled to his left and
just before stepping out of bounds he threw a bullet . . . to Nigel Warrior,
who was wearing an orange hat. Tua’s
second INT of the season. Warrior
returned the ball 59 yards to the Bama 41.
Six plays later, the Vols knotted the score at 7 all, aided along the
way by a Bama defensive holding penalty.
Bama started its next possession at
the 35-yard line. Four Harris runs, and
a pass to Ruggs set us up for Robinson’s 9-yard TD run. OK, we got this. That interception and TN score was a
fluke. A 14-point swing fluke, but a
fluke, nonetheless.
TN drives 55 yards in 11 plays,
aided by the first of four pass interference penalties, and kicks a field goal
to make it a 14-10 game with 11:54 to play in the 2d quarter. On Bama’s next possession, Tua came out
slinging it. Obviously, the INT didn’t
hurt his confidence. Miller Forristall,
Ruggs, Robinson, and Jeudy caught 77 yards worth of passes to set up Harris’
one-yard TD run. 21-10. TN’s next possession ends after 5 plays
netted only 27 yards, aided by the second Bama pass interference penalty. A fair catch of the punt gave Bama the ball
at their own 21. We got this. Wonder if it’s OK to smoke a cigar at the end
of the first half and at the end of the game?
Then, the football gods turned
their backs on us. Tua was sacked for a
5-yard loss on the first play. He
completed a pass to Robinson to get back to the original line of scrimmage and
then left the field for the medical tent.
He then left the medical tent for the locker room. Then he left the stadium for a trip to the
hospital. Reports are he underwent a
surgical procedure for a high ankle sprain and will be out for 2 weeks. He told his teammates that he’ll be back for
LSU on Nov. 9. Here’s hoping he’s right
about that.
Mac Jones took over and hit Waddle
for 13 yards and a first down. A 3-yard
run by Harris, an incomplete pass to Major Tennison, and a sack left us with 4th
and 17 at our own 27. Will Reichard, who
had been out with a pulled hip flexor for several weeks came on to punt. He limped off after kicking a 33 yarder, ne’r
to return.
TN went three and out only gaining
five yards and punted out of bounds at the Bama 17. Eight plays and 60 yards later, Harris
running for half of those on three carries and Jones throwing to Harris and
Forristall for the rest, Joe Bulovas came on to try a 41-yard field goal. TN Head Coach and former Saban assistant,
Jeremy Pruitt, then began playing head games.
He called three timeouts to ice Bulovas before the long field goal
try. It worked as Bulovas pulled the
kick left. Some might say that Pruitt
didn’t have to use all three timeouts to accomplish his goal, but, they don’t
give you any extra credit for going into the locker room with timeouts in your
pocket. The half ended with Bama up
21-10.
Bama received the KO to start the
3d quarter and went 3 and out, gaining only 4 yards after starting on their own
9-yard line after being penalized for a personal foul on the KO. Ty Perine, the walk-on freshman, punted 42
yards to the TN 45 and received the loudest cheers from the crowd since Tua
left the game. TN then went 40 yards in
11 plays and kicked a 32-yard FG to make it 13-21.
Mac Jones answered by engineering a
76-yard drive in 10 plays, aided by a TN personal foul penalty that extended
the drive, ending in WR Slade Bolden, who played QB in high school, throwing a
6-yard TD pass to Forristall. Bama up
28-13.
Both teams went three and out on
their next possessions. A high point of
Bama’s 8-yard drive in 3 plays was Perine’s 51-yard punt. The low point was that TN returned the kick
22 yards and Perine had to make the tackle at the TN 34.
Thirteen plays and 66 yards later,
aided by yet another Bama pass interference penalty, TN lined up at the Bama
one-yard line on 4th and goal.
Jarrett Guarantano, TN’s back-up QB who came in after starter Brian
Maurer left the game in the 1st quarter with a possible concussion,
stepped under center, took the ball, and tried to leap over the line. He didn’t make it. In an attempt to break the plane of the goal
line, the ball was knocked loose and fell at the feet of Trevon Diggs. Diggs scooped it up, scooted 100 yards down
the right sideline, and scored. The PAT
was good, and Bama took the lead 35-13.
Another 14-point swing, but this time the other direction. The cheers in the stadium were the loudest
since Perine’s last punt.
TN went three and out on their
possession after the KO. Waddle returned
the punt 22 yards and Bama took over on the TN 38 with 5:00 minutes to
play. Five runs by Brian Robinson, Jr.,
and three by Keilan Robinson moved the ball 31 yards and bled all but 30
seconds off the clock. On 4th
and 1 at the TN 7, Keilan Robinson was stopped for no gain and TN took
over. The Vols took a knee and the game
ended with a final score of 35-13.
The stadium lights went crazy, the
cigar smoke was thick, another SEC win was in the books, and the third Saturday
in October still belonged to the Tide. But it still felt off. We didn’t cover the spread (34.5points). We
lost Tua and the specter of last year’s November doldrums hovered over
Bryant-Denny Stadium. Reichard, our
answer to the pitiful kicking game of the last couple of years, is still not healthy,
though Perine was a high point on the punts.
Our defense gave up 231 yards to a TN offense that was playing with
second and third string QB’s most of the game. On top of that, our DB’s were
called for four pass interference penalties against a crew of fair to middlin’
receivers who were thrown balls by a second string QB. With that in mind, here’s how I grade the
game:
Offense: B-
We put 35 points on the board with
373 yards of total offense (233 passing; 140 rushing). Najee Harris accounted for 105 of those
rushing yards on 21 plays for a 5.7 average.
Brian Robinson, Jr., gained 40 on 7 tries, averaging 5 yards. Keilan Robison ran the ball 3 times for 6
yards. Tua was 11/12 passing for 155
yards and one INT. Jones was 6/11 for 72
yards. WR Slade Bolden was 1/1 for 6
yards and a TD to Forristall. Six
different receivers caught balls thrown by the three QBs. Ruggs led the bunch with 4 catches for 72
yards. Harris also caught 4 passes and
added 48 receiving yards to his 105 rushing.
Jeudy pulled in 3 passes for 41 yards.
Forristall caught 3 balls for 28 yards and a TD. Devonte Smith, who sat out the first half due
to a targeting suspension from last week, caught one pass for 18 yards. Brian Robinson caught 2 passes for 18
yards. We converted 6/10 third downs. To
state the obvious, our offense is not as productive without Tua. Mac Jones will get plenty of practice this
week and game experience next week. He
will need it in light of the November schedule and Tua’s health.
Defense: B-
We gave up 231 yards of total
offense to the Vols who were operating with second and third string QBs for
over 3 quarters. Of that, 114 were
rushing yards and 117 passing. We did
have one interception and Diggs’ 100-yard scoop and score. But we folded like a cheap suit on TN’s
41-yard drive after the interception. Four pass interference penalties at
crucial times extended TN drives. But more importantly, the need to foul the TN
receivers in order to cover them raises some concern when we face the likes of
Joe Burrows and the LSU receivers.
Punting: A-
Perine’s punting was a high spot in
the game. The down grade comes from
giving up a 22-yard return after a 51-yard kick. Reichard’s 33 yarder was a result of his
injury, even though he was kicking pretty well in warm up.
Kicking: C
We’re back to where we were. Bulovas made all the PATs, but just can’t
nail the FGs when they’re needed. It
doesn’t matter whether Pruitt called one or three TOs before the 41-yard
attempt. Bulovas has plenty of leg, he’s
just a bit off on direction. We either
have to get him sorted or the offense has to put up enough points so that FGs
don’t matter.
Coaching: C
Eight penalties for 93 yards is way
too much, especially against teams we face down the road. I’m sure when the Tire Store opens after the
wedding, the boys in the grease pit will have something to say about the
penalty situation and the quality, or lack thereof, of the officiating. Whatever the defensive back coaches are doing
to teach how to cover receivers without fouling them needs to be reevaluated. Plus, with a new QB under center the chances
for miscommunications and timing errors are multiplied. I understand that we’re talking about games
called by SEC officials, but that’s what we’re facing down the road. That’s why the coaches get the big bucks.
A win is a win. An SEC win is an important win. A win against
the Vols is really a big win, regardless of their record coming in. So, we’re happy, proud, and grateful for
notching #13 in a row. But, it was not a
very impressive performance. We showed
some character and determination over the course of four quarters and had some
big plays but letting the Vols hang around until the 4th quarter
does not reflect good execution, focus, or intensity.
We face the Hogs next week.
Arkansas hasn’t won an SEC contest since. . . oh, well, I can’t remember
when. But they’re still an SEC opponent
and we can’t lose focus. Next week is
the most important game of the season.
Tua will be watching from the sidelines. Slinging it for over 400 yards
ain’t gonna happen. As Jermaine says, “Run da bawl!”
Roll Tide, y’all. Let’s cook up some pig!
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