11/6 LSU Game
I should probably wait to write this blog since I’m still pretty raw over last night’s debacle against LSU. I thought that a game would never upset me as much as last year’s Auburn game did, but as of right now, I think this one tops it. The two games were somewhat similar in that we had chance after chance after chance to win them, but in both cases, we just couldn’t close the deal. When all was said and done, we lost 9-6 in overtime, but as you all know, the game really ended in regulation; once it went to OT, we never really stood a chance.
We often make fun of the so called “experts” for not knowing what they were talking about, but man, they absolutely nailed this one. Most of the experts (and I’m not counting myself, even though I said pretty much the same things in my preview blog) said that LSU had the advantage over us at cornerback, special teams, and the QB position. In the end, LSU beat us because 1) their All-American cornerback made a key interception, 2) their special teams were tremendous while ours were horrific, and 3) our QB is worse at playing QB than anyone else is at doing anything (expect perhaps our “long” kicker). As I watched the game, it was almost like I was watching a movie with a predefined script; I was just hoping so much that somehow we’d rewrite that script and pull it out.
We started the game on offense, and moved the ball fairly deep into LSU territory. However, in an ominous precursor of things to come, we pushed ourselves back to where Cade “Noodle Leg” Foster had to attempt a field goal. After his shank, our defense stood strong, forcing a punt. We then put together another strong drive, ending in another Foster shank. After our third drive ended in prime Foster shank range, Saban couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Foster’s spastic flailings again, so he sent out our “short” kicker to try a 49-yard FG, which was blocked (he had to kick it low because he had no chance of kicking it that distance without lowering the trajectory). On our next drive, we drove it much deeper into LSU territory, and we were able to use Shelley in his normal range, and he put it through to give us a short-lived 3-0 lead. LSU tied it up on a 19-yard FG as the half ended which was set up by a blown coverage, the only real mistake that our defense made all night. We did make a heroic goal line stand that forced them to kick the FG, however.
Actually “heroic” is a good word to describe the effort our defense had last night. The only points LSU scored in the second half was a FG after McCarron made yet another terrible throw after yet another terrible decision. Our only second half score was a FG set up by an interception by Mark Barron. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do everything, and at this level of college football, you simply can’t hide the fact that you don’t have a QB. Richardson had some solid runs, but when you’re going up against a defense that is stacking the line the way LSU was, you can’t run with enough consistency to sustain the drives. So we were able to move the ball fairly well at times, but ultimately all of our drives came down to the point where we would need a below average to average college-level QB to complete a short pass, but since we don’t have a QB at that level, none of our drives ended in the end zone.
Still, even after all of that, we still had several chances to win the game. If McCarron would have opened his eyes and seen Gibson all by himself for the TD, or if Maze would have thrown a pass instead of a pop fly, or if Williams wouldn’t have gotten overpowered by the LSU safety that’s half his size, or if Maze would have caught that punt, or if we were capable of huddling with less than 12 men, or if Chapman wouldn’t have needlessly drilled that guy in the back, or if we had a field goal kicker on the level of the kicker at Fordham or Grambling State (I just picked two random schools, pick anybody that you want – it still applies), we would have won. And you know what? It doesn’t matter at all, because none of those things happened.
So that’s it, and I don’t just mean this blog. All of Bama’s goals for this season are lost. We won’t win the national championship; we won’t win the SEC Championship; we won’t even win the SEC West and play in the SEC Championship game. And that’s a real shame, because I’m willing to state with confidence that we won’t see another defense like this again in our lifetime. They deserve so much better, but it’s a team game, and they unfortunately play on a team without a QB (or kicker). Hopefully they can keep their focus and finish the season strong.
As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Kenny
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