11/15/12 Texas A&M Game
This blog won’t be nearly as much fun to write as last week’s. A week after our stirring comeback victory over LSU in Death Valley, we laid a huge egg against Texas A&M, and after our comeback attempt fell short, we lost 29-24. I’ll go into the details of the game in a second, but let me start by reiterating something I’ve been saying all year. Can we please, for the love of all that is sacred and holy, please, please, PLEASE remove AJ McCarron from the Heisman talk once and for all? There, I got that off my chest.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not blaming this loss on AJ. Yes, a good college QB would have won this game, but there is plenty of blame to go around. Certainly, our defense didn’t have their most shining moment. We took the opening kickoff but went three and out after AJ missed a wide-open Amari Cooper on a third down that completely dictated the flow of the game from that point on. A&M took the punt, and hit the end zone a few minutes later without breaking a sweat. We were down 7-0 for the first time in a long time, and on our next possession, AJ threw his first interception of the season after he tried to get Kenny Bell decapitated. In the blink of an eye, we were down 20-0.
At that point, things were looking bleak, and our offense faced a must-score drive. After a “made it by an inch” fourth and four conversion, we finally cracked the scoreboard, and cut the lead to 20-7. We cut the lead to 20-14 right before halftime after a great drive, and things were looking better. I was concerned about A&M getting the ball after halftime, but our defense shot them down, and we took the ball with a chance to actually take the lead. We started that crucial “drive” with an Eddie Lacy 5-yard run, but 2 AJ incompletions later, and we had to punt again. Our defense then had their best stand of the day, sacking Johnny Football twice and forcing a punt from their own 11, but it was a good punt, and even though we had the ball around midfield, I was hoping for much better. (Note, Saban should have accepted the penalty and made them re-kick).
So then we started one of the most crucial drives of the game, at our own 48 yard line, down by only 6 (miraculously), and poised to take the lead. We were clearly determined to pound the ball, and did so all the way down to the A&M 11-yard line, where we faced third and 2. Unfortunately, A&M absolutely destroyed our O-line, and Yeldon got stuffed for no gain, and we were forced to kick a field goal, cutting the lead to 20-17. I focus on that drive, because that failure kind of forced us to play catch up for the rest of the game, which, as you know, didn’t work out for us this time.
We did have the ball at the end with a chance to win the game, or at least take the lead and set up a final defensive stand. AJ underthrew a wide-open Kenny Bell, but he did make the catch, setting up a first and goal from the 6, but AJ ate the ball on first down, Eddie got stuffed on second down, and AJ scrambled to the 2 on third. The fourth down play isn’t even worth discussing; it was a non-play from the start, and an offside penalty later, we were 9-1, and left with only a marginal chance to get back to the national championship game.
I know I’ve been very critical of AJ in my blogs, but I think my over-riding problem is that we’ve become so numb to poor QB play here at the Capstone that we get thrilled over absolutely anything. If you really think about it, AJ has started 23 games at Bama, and of all those games, we really only needed him to have a good game once, and that was this week. The first game against LSU last year, anything other than a horrific game would have won for us. He did play well in the national championship game, but in reality, we didn’t need a good game, just anything decent and we would have won with the way our defense was playing. In this year’s LSU game, yes, his last drive was scintillating, but his atrocious play leading up to that drive is what necessitated the miracle at the end. Against A&M, AJ didn’t have his worst day, but he had chance after chance after chance to win it, and he just couldn’t do it. I’m not calling for a change in the position, because heaven knows we have absolutely nobody behind him. I’m just saying that we would be untouchable if we had a real-life, good QB. Can you imagine how we’d be if the QBs from Saturday’s game were flipped?
OK, enough whining on my part. The season isn’t over; we still have a chance to meet UGA in the SECCG if we can beat Auburn, which we should be able to do. And if several other things fall our way, then it is remotely possible that we can get back to the big game. Don’t count on it though; it doesn’t feel like that kind of year. But let’s not worry about that; let’s just get it together, beat Auburn, and bring the SEC trophy back to Tuscaloosa.
Check back next week as I review the Western Carolina game. Until then, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Kenny
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