Well, you can't say the games are dull these days. I could puke up the usual spin after these games, but my throat's sore already. At some point, the leaders on the team have to step up and really take control in the 2nd half.
The Good
They finally trailed for a minute or two...
I think the true mark of this team will come when they get behind in the 2nd half or 4th quarter. If Saturday was any indication, they will respond quickly and get the lead back. The best part of falling behind was that it woke them up. The team looked like it was sleep walking through the 1st quarter a little bit. I'd chalk that up to bye week withdrawal.
Solid defensive stands
The FG and the stop on 4th and short were both nice defensive series where they would have caved in last year and gave it up. On the 4th and short, it was nice to see a linebacker (Hightower) slide to the ball and attack and not sit heeled and wait for him (Prince Hall comes to mind). When or if you get to see the replay, watch how he approaches the play and you'll want to send his HS coach a thank you card.
1st half passing
Wilson knew he would have to throw and throw often because Ole Miss dares you to. He took the dare and did a good job of spreading the wealth around to Walker, Jones, Maze, McCoy, and Stover (who got raped). He is a much better QB when you allow him to warm up to the speed of the game than he is when he tries to force the speed of the game on defenses. When he is looking to take what he can get, he is a much better QB than he is when he's going long two thirds of the game.
Mark Ingram's hustle
It won't show on the stat sheet, but Mark made several plays that kept the game going and moving in a positive direction. He does a real good job of keeping his shoulders low, his hips moving and that makes him hard to knock down on the first shot. It also means that he gets an extra 3 yards on average after the first hit. There were several times where those extra yards were the difference in punts or 1st down or 3rd and short or 3rd and don't screw up.
Linebacker play
Short of the long run Davis had, they did their part to contain Ole Miss and force them to be one dimensional. I really was pleased to see them continue to shut the run down and force most of the passing game to the outside. After Cody's injury, I worried that Ole Miss would pick at the scab and just wear out the middle, but they kept it shut. Some will balk, but the big hero up front after Cody's injury was Bobby Greenwood. He kept collapsing in and swatted passes, and had 5 tackles (which is like having 8 as a 4-3 end). It was a second straight solid performance from him.
The Bad
Electric Boogaloo and other stupid things
Sure it was Maze's first college TD, but striking a pose is a sign of immaturity. I would suggest acting like you have been there before because with a coach like Saban, you might not be back there again if you cost the team. That is the point of playing, team, or at least is should be. McCoy needs that lesson too, he was lucky that a team member was near him to cover him while he started to pose. McCoy will not be spared the rod though, he laid up on his route and Wilson's pass to him got picked off. Coffee's fumble will get put on the OL, but if you hold the ball right as soon as you get it, you don't fumble and he's got to get in the frame of mind that he has to protect it as soon as he touches it. It is the small things that keep haunting this team right now.
Offensive Line play
For all the posts and comments about "dominating" the only dominating I saw all day was the Bama OL getting its hat handed to it. The run game was pretty non-existent after the half, and that led to as much of the let down and woeful performance as anything. For all the accolades and praise, they just don't whip folks off the line when it has to happen. The right side of the line continues to have problems, as evidenced by a one legged DE whipping the RT like a mule every time he came out.
2nd half ineptness continues
I hate to break it to you folks, but the National Title dreams are just that if the team doesn't figure out when the 2nd half starts. I keep reading how do you make adjustments when you are dominating the opponent, well let me be the first to say that you don't "dominate" someone half the time, and also you have to make adjustments through the course of the game. That's what timeouts and television breaks and changes of possession are for. The program pays people to take pictures of each play and send them to the coaches, it is part of the game. As to why it continues, well it is partially coaching and play calling, but it is partly because there are juniors and seniors who like to sit on their laurels more than they want to finish the job. For the yeller and screamer crowd about depth, nobody runs 25 players on both sides of the ball in conference play. As best I can tell, they run 2 deep on the line and at linebacker when they need to, not to mention formation subs for the rest, so while depth is an issue, it isn't why they come out flat or make mental errors. That's just stupid excuse making gone wild.
The Ugly
Special teams errors again....
The fake FG and the 41 yard return were both mental mistakes that continue to keep teams in the game against Alabama. Woodall never picked up the carrier on the FG. That touchdown gave Ole Miss a ton of energy and gave them a glimmer of hope that if they didn't make it, would have crushed them. Some will blurt out something stupid like, the 41 yard return didn't score, and that is true, but it led to a score. It doesn't take a great offense to go 48 yards, even if you have to use a fake FG to do it.
Random Thoughts
It is always fun to read message boards, when there is a legal situation, we get to see 400 Matlocks and when there is an injury, we get to see 400 Gray's Anatomy doctors appear. Maybe if they all bend over, these 400 can tell you if you have a roid or not. Geez.
The BCS ratings will cause gas for many, but right now, I'd say the rankings are pretty close to what I would call the top 5. Texas has made its case over Bama for number 1. Penn St still hasn't played a team that makes me respect them, that will change this week, and I'd bet we won't see PSU after this week. PSU is very slow on defense and I won't be surprised if OSU doesn't win by 2 TD. For the UGA apologists, UGA is still overrated and the SEC schedule not to mention Tech will probably cure their complaints in time.
What did this game teach me?
Tennessee v. MSU
UT can muster up offense when it has to. I wasn't surprised they won, but was surprised by how much they won. Of course, the UT defense scored 14 points and capitalized on mistakes all night.
LSU v. USCar
For those wishing death to Miles, you'll have to wait a while. LSU is pretty good when it gets down to it and while they have weaknesses, it takes more than defense to beat them. It takes a 4 quarter offense too.
Vandy v. UGA
Vandy's scrappy, but UGA is too talented to be beaten by scrappy. UGA isn't talented enough to handle the physical play that LSU, UF, AU, GT all have in them. They're scrappy and talented for the most part. UGA still underachieves week in and out and someday the boosters will get tired of 10 wins and nothing to show for it.
Kansas v. Oklahoma
OU has 0 defense to speak of, but that makes them better than 75% of the Big 12 who are in the negative range for defense.
Buy/Sell/Hold
Alabama will finish the regular season undefeated
SELL. As much as they could and really should do it, I don't know that they can overcome themselves. Also, Saban's never done it and it usually comes back to a game where they get caught offguard or for every move the other staff is there countering (Auburn). If you believe in history and the law of averages, it isn't on the team's side.
Texas is the best team in the nation.
HOLD. I think Texas has a problem if they play a real defense, and this week's OSU game will be the best litmus test against a defense that fans can go by.
Nobody should question the 2nd half play, damn it.
SELL. If we aren't allowed to, 3 big websites and 3 large egos have to start refunding or reprice their service just a tad.
Saban made them cut the grass before the game.
Who gives a shit? Sorry, but my brain hurts reading that thread.
Julio Jones has lived up to expectations.
BUY. Now, the caveat is that I didn't go by other posters grand vision and am going on my thought on him. I didn't see him as Calvin Johnson or Crabtree level number or anything crazy like that, but I thought he would be the physical presence and the goal line go to man, and he's been that.
The corners are getting picked on because they don't look for the ball.
BUY. It reminds me a lot of Dubose era play where they told them to play the WR and not the ball. I could count on both hands Saturday the number of times the corner bit on a head move and lost containment. Jackson is more prone to it and that's why they are picking on him more. Arenas has more speed to close when he gets beat and does a better job of getting the WR off route and to the S to pick up.
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