10/19 South Carolina Game
I’m having a little trouble starting this blog, because I have such mixed emotions about Saturday’s game against South Carolina. On one hand, we beat a good team 20-6, and once again our defense looked outstanding. On the other hand, our passing game looked really anemic, I mean, like a pre-Saban Alabama team anemic. On the other hand, our running game had flashes of brilliance, featuring a 240+ yard rushing performance by Mark Ingram. On the other hand, we committed about 45 (I’m just guessing; I lost count) penalties, most of which either killed our drive or called back a great return from Julio Jones. I ran out of hands some time ago, so I guess I should talk about the game.
The game couldn’t have started much better. On the second play of the game, Mark Barron picked off an absolutely horrific pass from Sergio Garcia and returned it for a TD. It’s hard to say that it was a great interception, because I don’t think Barron was within 10 yards of the receiver, but once the pass did inexplicably come his way and he made the catch, I was really impressed with his return. He didn’t do the standard thing where the person who made the pick runs into the nearest opposing player (I’m looking at you, Oklahoma), but he actually made the most of it, actually cutting back across the field to reach the end zone. The way we have been playing in the red zone lately, that one move might have been the difference in the game. And on a more general note, I think light bulb has really gone off in Mark Barron’s head. With his unbelievable physical talent, if he really does “get” Saban’s scheme, we’re really going to see something special from him in the next year or two.
The next 3 ½ quarters were pretty much us shooting ourselves in the foot and our defense looking dominant, giving up a few big plays, then coming through in the clutch when South Carolina got near the goal line. Yes, I realize Garcia missed a wide-open receiver on a short post pattern that would have certainly been a TD, but at least we took advantage of that error and stopped them after that play. Finally, we made a crucial stop near midfield with about 9 minutes left in the game, and they had to punt it back to us with us leading 13-6. After the return/penalty (I’m just grouping those two together now), we had the ball near our own 32 yard line, and then we saw something really special.
I can only guess the conversation between Saban and our OC Jim McElwain went something like this. “We can’t complete a pass to save our life. They know we can’t complete a pass to save our life. So let’s just snap it directly to Ingram and let him see what he can do.” Well, what he could do was carry the ball out of the Wildcat formation all the way down the field. Once we got to the 5-yard line, we went into the shotgun, where Ingram (surprise!) took the weakside pitch into the end zone to give us a 20-6 game, and all but clinch the victory. Ingram was so tired after that drive that I really didn’t think he would make it to the sideline without help. That was truly a man-sized effort, Mark!
One more player that I think deserves special recognition is Marquis Johnson, who had to fill in at cornerback from Javier Arenas, who missed the game with a mysterious rib injury. As you all know, Johnson has had his share of “issues” at cornerback, being burned for TDs and big gains on several occasions. Evidently, Spurrier knew this history, because he attacked Johnson over and over and over and over and over and over again, and Johnson came through every time. I’ll be honest; I was really nervous when I saw Arenas on the sideline and Johnson in his spot, and frankly I’m shocked that he played as well as he did. My apologies, Marquis. Congratulations on a phenomenal game!
I know that I sound spoiled complaining about this game. After all, we did just beat a legitimate Top 20 team by two touchdowns, and we ran the ball for almost 300 yards against one of the best defenses in the nation. It’s just that our goals are pretty high this year, or at least they should be, and whenever I see holes in our game that I feel will leave us vulnerable against the better teams, or more appropriately, the best teams, then I get concerned. In this game, we were aided by the fact that South Carolina really has a pretty dysfunctional offense. Had Garcia completed that pass to the wide-open receiver for the TD, who knows what would have happened? You know what? Tebow would have completed that pass. Colt McCoy would have completed that pass. Any QB for any of the top teams would have completed that pass. We have to expect that to happen, and when it does, we have to have an offense that can mitigate that damage by putting up points. Right now, I’m not sure we have that. Yes, we have great running backs, but hear me now and believe me later, Florida will shut down our running game if we can’t pass. I still think we will get that part of our game straightened out (after all, we still have one of the best WRs in the nation that apparently hasn’t started his season yet), but it needs to happen soon. The competition is only going to get stronger, and we have to be ready.
Next week we play Tennessee, and if we don’t play better than we did on Saturday, we could be in trouble. From a talent perspective, Tennessee is the most talented team that we have played so far. They have a big, fast, physical defense, and they are coached by the inventor of the “Tampa 2” defense, former Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. We could very well have a lot of trouble moving the ball against them. Their offense has had issues, but they are coming off of an off-week, and the week before, they absolutely pummeled Georgia. They appear to be peaking for this game, and you that they are gunning for us. I do think we’ll win, but I’m going to be very nervous leading up to this game.
That’s it for now. As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments. Until next time, Roll Tide, and beat the Vols!
Kenny
|
|