The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – Alabama – INSIDE SLANT
The coaching staff felt one area where the Alabama Crimson Tide could improve over last year’s national championship team was in making explosive plays on offense — that is, pass plays of 20 yards or more and running plays of 10 yards or more.
After fulfilling the mandate during the first four games, Alabama stumbled a bit against Ole Miss on Sept. 29 with no play longer than 23 yards and just 305 total yards. So producing more big plays was on the agenda for Saturday’s trip to the Missouri Tigers.
Mission accomplished. Eddie Lacy ran 73 yards for a touchdown on the game’s second play and the Tide finished with 533 total yards in a 42-10 win that was perhaps easier than the final score indicated, so complete was the team’s domination.
“I felt going into the game that they are one of the best teams I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching,” Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said. “Time will tell as it goes on, but they’re a team that doesn’t really have a weakness.”
Especially in the first quarter and a half on Saturday. Alabama produced eight explosive plays — six on the ground — while building up a 27-0 lead before the game was suspended for 40 minutes after lightning was sighted within six miles of Faurot Field.
While the Tide ebbed a bit after that, losing two fumbles in a game for the first time this year and halting a couple of other promising drives with penalties, they still delivered the kind of performance that leaves no doubt that they’re the best until someone proves otherwise.
It might be a stretch to expect 500-plus yards every week from the offense, but if they continue to make the kind of explosive plays they did at Missouri, they won’t leave the coaches or the fans wanting for more.
“We had good intensity, good sense of urgency, right mental energy. We have been a very good team and this game was, in some ways, the epitome of that,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
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NCAAF Team Report – Alabama – NOTES, QUOTES
WHAT’S AHEAD: It’s a second straight SEC road game for the Tide as they meet the arch-rival Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. The defense will be tested against the best offense it will have played this season, but the offense could enjoy another big game as the Volunteers have allowed 37, 51 and 41 points in three SEC losses.
–When RB Eddie Lacy scored on a 73-yard run 45 seconds into Saturday’s win at the Missouri Tigers, it represented Alabama’s quickest score in five years. Terry Grant rushed 47 yards for a TD in the 2007 season opener against Western Carolina.
–Lacy and true freshman T.J. Yeldon combined for 321 rushing yards and five TDs at Missouri, the first time a duo of backs have scored two TDs apiece in the same game since Trent Richardson and Jalston Fowler did it last year at Ole Miss. That was also the last time two backs compiled more than 100 yards each in the same game.
–The Tide allowed just 31 yards in the first half to Missouri, the fewest they’ve yielded in a first half since permitting only 23 on Sept. 22 against Florida Atlantic. It’s the third time this season they’ve held an opponent under 50 yards in the opening 30 minutes.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Sophomore DE Jeoffrey Pagan is beginning to pick up more playing time, enabling the coaches to deepen their already-solid line rotation. The freakishly long-armed Pagan, who was headed for Urban Meyer’s Florida until Alabama flipped him on signing day two years ago, had two tackles, including one for an eight-yard loss.
LOOKING GOOD: Run blocking was outstanding all day, beginning with Lacy’s 73-yard TD run on the game’s second play. The Tide rushed for 362 yards and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt against a good front four that includes a couple of future NFL players. The defense dominated an injury-plagued offense, allowing only three yards rushing and 129 total yards. They continued their recent trend of pressuring the passer, recording three sacks and a bunch of hurries.
STILL NEEDS WORK: Some uncharacteristic mistakes kept Alabama from scoring even more points. It lost a pair of fumbles, including one inside the Missouri 15-yard line in the second quarter, and P Cody Mandell dropped a perfect snap that could have resulted in points late in the first half but didn’t. There were also seven penalties for 62 yards, almost twice the season average in both categories.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It was some tough sledding out there.” — Coach Nick Saban, on heavy rain that made throwing the ball problematic at times Saturday.
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NCAAF Team Report – Alabama – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–LB C.J. Mosley was all over the rainy field Saturday with 12 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry. His 51 tackles through six games are nearly twice as many as the second-leading tackler, LB Nico Johnson (26).
–WR Kenny Bell set up the Tide’s second TD with a 44-yard reception off a flea-flicker in the first quarter at Missouri. Bell finished the game with two catches for 46 yards and is averaging 20.4 yards on nine grabs this season.
–SS Vinnie Sunseri and FS HaHa Clinton-Dix played the role of opportunistic ball-hawks with tipped-ball interceptions to end drives. Sunseri also broke up a pass and nearly recorded a sack, while Clinton-Dix added a tackle.
ROSTER REPORT
–QB AJ McCarron limped off the field in the third quarter after being sacked, but returned for the next possession with a brace on his left knee. McCarron, who finished 16-of-21 for 171 yards, should be able to play next week at Tennessee.
–RB Eddie Lacy (bruised hand) left the game in the fourth quarter, but not before rolling for a career-high 177 yards and three TDs on just 18 carries. Lacy should be able to return for next week’s trip to Tennessee.
–WR Christion Jones (ankle) departed the game in the first half but should be fine for next week’s game. Jones caught two passes for 19 yards and ripped off a 30-yard punt return, narrowly avoiding serious injury when he was flipped head-over-heels at play’s end.
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