That was an outstanding edition of The Grades,
Commissioner. Glad you got to see that one in person, though given the
breeze, rain, and chilly-looking conditions, we were happy to be snug in the
Tire Store with plenty of replays, Golden Flake chips and icy cold Coca-Colas
(uh, and a thermostat).
Coach Stallings used to say that to win the ball game you
needed to: Run the ball; stop the run; not turn the football over.
Alabama out rushed LSU for the game 193-53 (LSU had -9 yards in the
fourth quarter) and won the turnover battle 2-0. There are other simple
things to do -- not commit penalties; win the kicking game; dominate time of
possession.... Teams that are disciplined and talented enough to do the
first three usually don't have any problem with the others. Last night
was just an outstanding display of football from a team that has gotten
gradually better as the season has gone along. Something to say when you
got almost every first place vote in the initial national polls. That is
a tribute to the coaching staff, of course, but also to the young men who are
the 2013 edition of the Crimson Tide.
Offense: Let's talk about the offensive line.
For the first three games of this season, the O line was, shall we say, a work
in progress. Well that work is nearly complete. The O line finally
gave up a sack last night, but it was a very peculiar play. For those of
you tracking it, last year's super duper offensive line had given up about
twice as many sacks at this point of the season. Otherwise, the work was
excellent, as well. The false starts are disappearing. LSU's front
seven, the strength of their defense, had no answer for the road grading
Alabama front. Short swing pass for a touchdown called back on a ticky
tack alignment penalty? No worries, we'll just knock them back a little
further next down. This was true across the line. It was not a
night were we ran only behind Steen. On one of Yeldon's runs, the
Kouandjio brothers gave a textbook example of blocking. On the tackle
side, Cyrus turned his man and pushed him so far towards the sideline he could
hear the cheerleaders. Arie blocked his man so far into the defensive
backfield that before the replay we assumed he had been "uncovered"
and fired out to take on a linebacker. We could have rolled two
all-terrain tires through that hole, letting athletes like Drake and Yeldon run
through them is almost not fair. However, we mostly want to applaud true
freshman (and latest addition to the "J" name team), OJ
Howard. His catch, and more importantly run, for a touchdown was just
about as exciting as anything that has happened since a customer threw his
cigar down and set the grease pit on fire. We were worried he'd get the
ball punched out when the pursuing defensive backs ran him down. Never
occurred to us that he would run off and leave them. I mean, he's
6'6" 237 pounds. Anything that big that goes that fast ought to have
a light and a siren.
Special Teams: Our kick coverage has suffered exactly
since Sunseri went down with his knee injury. Lots of reasons for this,
including how many more snaps Collins is having to play. In any event,
it's time to go back to kicking the football out of the dadgum end zone.
Coaching: I'm not sure the original plan deserved that
lofty score, but the in-game adjustments and the second half play calling, was
just as superb. Coach Miles was so downcast after that game that at his
press conference we counted at least three sentences that had both subjects and
predicates. Down here at the Tire Store, we have generally been ok with
Lester, he's a little odd, but in a harmless, almost entertaining sort of way.
However, his decision to send his quarterback out for that last series, and to
even make him try to compete on fourth and forever after having been knocked
goofy on three consecutive plays, well, let's just say we trust our coach would
never do that. If no other reason, didn't Miles remember they have to
play Texas A&M in two weeks?
Officiating: Matt Austin's crew is generally
considered by the SEC to be at least one of its best crews. We understand
that may be like being the tallest player on the Japanese Olympic basketball
team, but still. For the most part the officials weren't the center of
attention last night, which is always a good thing. If the game had been
closer at the end the extent to which the players were "allowed to
play" could have had different results. For example, the newspaper
photo of Kevin Norwood's touchdown catch this morning shows a solid form tackle
being applied by the LSU defensive back. Left arm firmly around Kevin's
waist, right arm on his back, shoulder driving through his midsection.
The only problem is that the football is still a yard or two away. No
harm no foul, I suppose. I cannot say the same for the "personal
foul/late hit" that was called later in the game. Regular readers
know it is safe to say that I am not a fan of the so-called targeting
rule. It is ill-considered, poorly defined, and they can now add unevenly
enforced. Not liking the rule doesn't mean it isn't in the rule
book. If Losten's hit on Norwood isn't "targeting" then apparently
there is special, extra definition that I don't know about. Perhaps
the SEC has just decided not enforcing the rule is the easiest course.
We'd like to give Losten the benefit of the doubt, it was only a few plays
later that he instituted a shoving match near the goal line....
On to play the Bulldogs West over in Starkville. In
case you haven't heard, it's another prime time game, so we'll have lots of
time for rotations and balances in the morning and still be able to see the
Alabama Polytechnic game against the Bulldogs East. If you are going to
the game, we recommend some earplugs, those artificial noisemakers that the
conference bans every other fan base from using are louder than an air wrench.
