3 & Out: Alabama Is Still King, BYU’s Push To Prominence And Florida Has Named a Starter
By Zach Pugh
1st Down: Alabama is still king
Is there any coach that rivals Nick Saban? Is there any team capable of dethroning the SEC? What was Michigan thinking scheduling a team far superior?
I’ll admit, in no way did I think the Wolverines would get smacked around on national TV Saturday night. By half time, I was reminded of one of my favorite shows, Spartacus.
There is a point in the first season, “Blood and Sand”, where Solonius is sentenced to death and is to be executed by the bringer of rain, the slayer of Theokoles, Spartacus. Spartacus, who is a far superior fighter than Solonius, just toys with him to give the crowd a show and eventually slays him easily.
If you watched the Cowboy Classic, then you can see why the episode made it to the corridors of my brain. The Crimson Tide outmatched the Wolverines in every asset of the game.
The Tide out gained the Wolverines 431 to 269, but what really jumps off the box score is how badly Alabama outgained Michigan on the ground, 232 to 69. Alabama moved the ball at will and somehow complete domination doesn’t seem to summarize the game properly.
The maize and blue will have to figure out how to build towards positives to take from the 41-14 loss, but Alabama will just continue to go about their business in the same manner we’ve witnessed since Saban’s arrival.
A.J. McCarron could very well be the best quarterback in the SEC. He is in the perfect system that fits his abilities and looking at the last two games Bama has played, the conservative nature of the offense falls right into his strength.
Even when teams blitz, McCarron remains calm under pressure and still completes a good portion of throws. In his career, McCarron only has five interceptions on 397 attempts and during the last two games he has played under center (2012 BCS Championship against LSU & Saturday’s win over Michigan) he hasn’t thrown any interceptions.
The Tide can count on McCarron to manage the offense with mistake free quarterback play, but that’s not the only strength on offense.
The running game features four backs who share the load and with the performance from Saturday, all four look very dangerous running behind the best offensive line in the country. Freshman running back T.J. Yeldon became the first true freshman in Alabama history to run for 100 yards.
Each of the four backs could individually be the feature back on any program in the country, but since they realize Alabama has been king recently, I’m sure they won’t have issues as the season goes on sharing the wealth.
The defense had the task replacing six players that found their way to the NFL from last years’ unit, but Alabama has proved once again that they don’t rebuild, they simply reload.
Three different players, including true freshman linebacker Dillon Lee and junior C.J. Mosley, intercepted passes on Saturday and junior defensive back Dee Milliner showed why you can’t throw to his side of the field, as he had four pass breakups along with an interception.
The mindset of Alabama is a key to their success that goes beyond the talent they have on the field. After just one game, they have stirred up the talk about how they are now the favorites to win back-to-back BCS championships
”We made a great statement. But we’re not the defending champs,” Mosley said. ”That was last year’s team. That’s what coach put in our heads two days after the championship game.”
2nd Down: BYU & prominence
It’s always difficult when the season first kicks-off to make sense of everything you see on game day. A team may look unstoppable one week and the next week they’re taken down. It’s hard to make proper assessments until teams are tested in conference play and opposing teams know what to game plan for.
Having said that, what is there to take away from BYU’s 30-6 victory over Washington State last Thursday?
Last year, the Cougars’ defense was in the top 25 in terms of total defense and only allowed 316 yards a game. How do they add on that success? They build on last year by absolutely smothering the Wazzu receivers and only allowing two field goals with 224 yards in their 2012 opener.
Regardless of the competition, it’s an accomplishment for a defensive unit to hold an “air-raid” offense to just 224 yards and six points. The secondary was impressive on opening night and proved the words of head coach Bronco Mendenhall true when he claimed this secondary is the best he’s ever worked with athletically in his time with BYU.
The blue & white are loaded with experience as they have 19 seniors and 16 juniors. One of those seniors is quarterback, Riley Nelson. Nelson proved to have good accuracy while completing 25 of 36 attempts, with 285 yards and two touchdowns. Most of those numbers were accomplished without top receiver Cody Hoffman.
The schedule is a rough one for the Cougars as they have road games against Utah, Boise State, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. If the Cougars hope to make it to a BCS bowl game this year, the defense will have to step up in hostile environments and production in the red zone will need to improve.
As impressive as Riley commanded the offense, once the Cougars hit the red zone the production faltered. Four times the offense struggled to get a touchdown in the red zone, so they had to settle for field goals. While three points are better than none, the question must be raised; will that cut it against Boise State, Utah, Notre Dame…..you get the picture.
3rd Down: Florida finally names a starter
That wasn’t so hard now was it? I fully intended on ending this week’s piece by writing why the Gators need to name a starter and stop with the two quarterback nonsense. Head coach Will Muschamp finally did the right thing by naming Jeff Driskel the starter for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.
Muschamp said the deciding factor was Driskel’s mobility. The mobility is exactly why Driskel should be the starter, he is better for the offensive production. While the sophomore was strong through the air completing 10-of-16 passes, it was the success he had on roll out passes that sold me.
If the Gators plan on running the ball like they did against Bowling Green, then it would only make sense to have a mobile qb who can really execute on roll outs. A strong running game and roll out/play action passes is a perfect fit.
I have never liked the “strategy” of using two quarterbacks, even in a case like Driskel and Brissett, where each can bring something different to the offense.
Let’s use the 2012 Gators as an example. Muschamp wants to win games with a downhill running game and a strong defense. While Brissett is more of a pocket presence, Driskel is a danger on the ground as well as in the air. So it only makes sense to me to use the quarterback whose skill set fits the coaches desires. Especially if that quarterback has shown he gives the team the best chance of winning like Driskel has.
Establish stability at the quarterback position and let him develop, let him command the attack and develop a trust with his receivers. That’s how you get results on offense.