Ole Miss Grades

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As Denny Chimes struck midnight-a sound I have not heard in so long I can't recall the last occasion-I was none too happy with the state of Alabama football. Sure, the Tide had beaten an opponent from the SEC West by 19 points, but we were out-played in the third quarter and outscored in the second half. Field goals were kicked where touchdowns ought to have been scored, and the Ole Miss Rebellious Black Bears, or whatever they are calling themselves now, ran an up-tempo, no-huddle offense that earned 16 first downs and 218 total yards of offense.

My initial impressions were that special teams had earned high marks, but the offense and defense had been middling at best. But after a good night's sleep and some reflection, I have revised my evaluation upwards.

Let's put the 2012 Crimson Tide into some perspective: When Ole Miss scored to take the lead 7-6, it marked the first time since October 22, 2011 that Alabama trailed in regulation, and that deficit lasted all of 15 seconds. Alabama has been tied or ahead at the half in every game since the South Carolina game played on October 9, 2010. AJ threw two touchdown passes, giving him 12 on the year. He has recorded two or more TDs in four of the five games played so far this season and he has thrown 206 pass attempts without an interception. Alabama has scored in each of its 24 red zone appearances so far this year [16 TDs 8 FGs]. Tide defenders sacked Ole Miss quarterbacks 5 times marking the 6th time in 7 games that the defense has recorded 3 or more sacks. Ole Miss scored 7 points in the first half, making last night's game the 21st of 22 consecutive games where opponents have been held to 7 or fewer points before the Million Dollar Band takes the field at intermission.

So the state of Alabama football is far from dire. Is there work to be done? Certainly, especially along the offensive line. Is there reason for panic? Absolutely not. At the same time, however, there is no reason whatsoever for complacency.

Here's how I grade the game:

Offense:         B-        Alabama earned 17 first downs [only 5 rushing] and 305 total offensive yards [125 rushing]. Eddie Lacy ran for 82 net yards on 19 carries and TJ Yeldon gained 38 yards on 10. Ole Miss was determined to stop Alabama's running game and for the most part it did so. The offense had the ball five times in the first half and scored on four of those drives [2 FG; 2 TD]. Thanks to excellent special teams play, and take-aways on defense, Alabama had 20 points on the scoreboard before it had an offensive drive of at least 40 yards.

On the night, the offense only had three long drives [68, 51, 69] but only scored a single TD while kicking 2 FGs.

AJ had a statistically very efficient night, completing 22 of 30 pass attempts with no interceptions and scoring 2 TDs, both to freshman Amari Cooper.

Cooper led all receivers with 84 yards on 8 catches. His two TDs were instant highlight reel material. The first was initially ruled incomplete, but on review the officials agreed with the fans watching the replay on the jumbo-trons; Cooper had possession of the ball and a foot down in bounds as he crossed the plane of the goal line. The second was a steal over the head of a defensive back who was in perfect position to put an end to AJ's consecutive-pass-attempts-without-an-interception streak.

Eddie Lacy caught 3 passes for 15 yards and Kevin Norwood added 20 yards on 2 receptions. Ten different receivers caught passes.

Although the second half only produced two FGs, the Tide dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter with the last two drives consuming 25 plays, 120 yards and 13:38 of game time.

The offense converted 11 of 18 possession downs and dominated total time of possession: 34:59 to 25:01.

Defense         B         Ole Miss earned 218 yards of total offense [80 rushing] and completed 19 of 33 pass attempts for 138 yards, however, three second quarter interceptions effectively put the game in the "Win" column.  The Grays had 11 offensive possessions resulting in 2 TDs, 6 punts and 3 picks. The defense held Ole Miss to 8 of 17 third down conversions but allowed Ole Miss to convert on 2 fourth down plays.

The Ole Miss scoring drives were both long [75, 70] and involved multiple plays [13, 16]. Coach Saban said after the game that the no-huddle proved to be a challenge for our defense.

CJ Mosley recorded 8.5 tackles [7 solo], Vinnie Sunseri had 5.5 stops [5 solo] and Trey Depriest was credited with 5 tackles [4 solo]. The Tide tackled Ole Miss ball carriers 8 times for lost yardage [5 sacks], broke up 8 passes and hurried the quarterback 6 times. Deion Belue, Dee Milliner and Robert Lester made interceptions.

Special Teams:

Kicking:          A+       Christion Jones returned an Ole Miss kick off 99 yards to erase the temporary scoring advantage the Rebs had achieved in the second quarter and Cade Foster averaged 41.2 net yards per kick with 7 touchbacks. The single Ole Miss kick return gained only 15 yards.

Punting:         A-        Cody Mandel punted for an average of only 37.7 yards; however, only one punt was returned. Dee Hart returned 2 punts for 22 yards.

Place Kicking:          A+       Jeremy Shelley was good on all four FG attempts [38, 38, 26, 24] and on each of three PATs.

Coaching:     B         The Tide was penalized twice and the participation report lists 50 players who saw action. DeAndrew White and Dee Hart are listed today has having suffered knee injuries requiring evaluation on Monday. Deion Belue is listed with a shoulder injury.

I had been saying it all week: "Alabama needs to be tested."

I even said it during Saturday night's game, and the typical response from people was: "OK, but not against Ole Miss!"

At least Coach Saban agreed with me; up to a point. Following the game, he told reporters: "You have to give Ole Miss a lot of credit. They played hard and with a lot of toughness. We had a lot of respect for their team coming into this, but nobody really listens to me until after the fact and then they say 'Yeah, you were right.' "

I know. It's hard to believe that nobody listens to what Coach Saban has to say. Here's something else he said: "We tell our players to do it right to start with, and prepare the right way." Whether or not fans or the media listen to Coach Saban, I expect the players do. And I expect that the lessons to be learned from the Ole Miss contest are going to be driven home over this week's open date.

On a final note: We had the opportunity to view pre-game warm-ups from the sidelines yesterday. Let me say this: these athletes are big, fast and scary. Even the pre-game hits the players exchange have an impressive kinetic energy. Moreover, Bryant Denny Stadium is loud down on the field, even during warm-ups; I can't imagine how loud it must get during the game.

The Commissioner

 

  

FAU Grades: The Report From The Tire Store

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Thanks for the grades, Commissioner.  We mostly agree, though it is hard to tease much out of a game like this one.  We do agree with the special team grades because quality of opponent doesn’t have much to do with whether you make 50+ yard field goals and drop your only punt deep in the opponent’s territory.  And we agree with a minus for the defense for not getting off the field on the last FAU drive.  Though to be fair, there were at least 5 or 6 guys out there who were attending their high school prom at the end of May.  And yes, our defense is a little softer with our third string nose tackle, but overall that was not a bad effort, not bad at all.  FAU earned a touchdown, but it was hard earned.   What was silly was the way they celebrated about it.

Further proof of the value of the S&H’s comments is that Alabama went out and dominated a team it should have.  Remember, these are supposedly the days of college football parity.  A B+ for 40 points and over 500 yards of offense and a whole quarter led by the apparent third string quarterback (I know, I know, but he came in third) is a mark that the Alabama football world is once again “spinning in greased grooves.”

Let’s not make any mistake here, FAU is a really poor football team.  The biggest player on their defense is about the size of our starting tight end.  We have discussions here from time to time about how hard it is to truly rate the best team in college football without head to head competition.  The other end of the list is equally challenging to compile, but it is fair to say that if you were voting for the bottom three teams in the FBS, FAU would have a spot on the ballot.  That said, they played current top ten Georgia to a tie in the first half just a week ago.

You knew it was coming and we hesitate to disappoint.  Folks, you probably couldn’t see it if you weren’t at the game, but we almost lost Coach Saban Saturday evening.  For most of the game he had been fussing at the officials.  By the fourth quarter, he was using a volume and posture that he would normally reserve for someone who fair caught a punt at our own one-yard line.  When we were flagged for “sideline violation” giving FAU a first a goal at the five, our coach very nearly spontaneously combusted right there near the 15 yard line towards the south end zone.  They could have put in some sort of historical marker: “September 22, 2012, on this spot Coach Nick Saban’s head exploded and his body burst into flames after a brain-dead official called a penalty…”

Admittedly, several coaches from both teams had spent a good bit of time on the field, occasionally as far out as the numbers.  Also, as we understand a rule change going back three or four years, officials no longer have to give the traditional “side line warning” before assessing a penalty.  However, we also know from watching what has been described to us as an “awful lot” of college football (and yes, the Oregon game did go pretty late if you were watching in a hotel room where someone was trying to sleep) that the custom has been even since the rule change to provide one warning before actually assessing a penalty.  Not Saturday evening.  Coach Scott Cochran has responsibility for making sure this rule is not violated.  He even takes the liberty of occasionally grabbing Coach Kirby Smart (a serial violator) by the belt and dragging him backwards off the field.  Heaven knows what he’ll resort to during the Mississippi game Saturday night – he’s a man who takes his responsibilities seriously.  My advice is the next time Coach Saban is over at your house to borrow your hedge clippers or to shoot pool or whatever, that you not mention this to him -- or if you do, remember the old “stop, drop and roll” rule.

And because you brought it up (otherwise, it’s kind of like riding a motor scooter -- the sort of thing we’d prefer not to admit we had been doing) the LSU Auburn game was a game that could turn you into a rugby fan.  Here’s an example, LSU had well over 300 yards of offense on the game, and scored 10 offensive points.  Yes, that is offensive.   The 12 -10 final sounds more like a church league softball game.  The API fans should get a partial refund on their ticket fees for sitting through that one.   Of course, LSU will get better next week against Towson State.  We think it is in Maryland. 

The Correspondent From The Tire Store