Alabama Football: Game 1 Is Satisfying, But Not Enough for the Tide

There is not much to learn from this win, with regard to winning potential for the 2010 Alabama squad. They were playing a team that finished last in the Western Athletic Conference, a team with a new head coach and only 59 scholarship players. Five of those players played both ways for the Spartans.

The San Jose State program has a long way to go, but Alabama is back in the position of being the gold standard that others can measure against and Alabama displayed that golden shine on Saturday.

Looking a little deeper into the win, beyond the statistics, and at the individual performances, there is much to be learned from the win. I only wish I had the opportunity to review the game film with the coaching staff, even to be a fly on the wall. I am sure there is much more than I cover in this review of week one.

A few thing that I can take away from this win are the following:

On Offense

Trent Richardson is now the complete package of power, strength, agility, vision, determination, and humility. He has a better understanding of his role in pass blocking, and his down field vision is vastly improved over what was exhibited in 2009.

On two separate occasions, Richardson (TR) show cut-back abilities everyone knew that he had but he rarely displayed. In 2009, he was primarily a north south runner who would rather run over than run around.

Against the Spartans, TR followed his blocks, allowed a defender to commit to the outside and then quickly cut inside and then headed to the north end zone, unimpeded.

If it is possible, Richardson has gotten faster. And Stronger. There were three plays that I saw Richardson continue to move the pile forward until he ended up out of bounds or the referees blew the whistle in order to stop play. He will not go down on his own. The yards after contact will pile up for this fine specimen as they did for Ingram in 2009.

Eddie Lacy will contribute in 2010. And it was better that he fumbled against SJSU and will get an ear-ful of correction between now and next week in preparation for Penn State. Apparently, Lacy made several mistakes on that single play when Saban described the event in the post-game press conference.

Lacy is very talented, can hit a hole in timely fashion and can get to the corner quickly and turn on a burst of speed when he hits the second line of defense. His 37 yard touchdown run was a text book gallop from the time he was handed the ball until he crossed the goal.

Eddie followed his blocks, properly anticipated the time the gap would open, then turned the corner as quickly as a finely tuned Maserati. His burst of speed as he accelerated to the end zone is a quick and fluid and the two that stand before him on the depth chart. Regarding speed and determination to get into the end zone, there is no drop off.

According to coach Saban, Lacy had a few mis-reads and missed assignments. I guess that's going to be addressed during the week. At least he will get 24 hours to enjoy his debut and accomplishments before he sits down to review what he did wrong. As a fan, I was more than satisfied by his contributions.

Lacy will have a little one-on-one session with the coach this week, and the door is gonna be closed. I would be willing to put money down, that if he loses the ball next week, it will not be because of his mistake, it will be due to a bone-jarring hit. And even in the case of a bone-jarring hit, my bet is that he doesn't lose the ball.

If Lacy doesn't get it done, Demetrius Goode will. Goode, with only limited playing time show the same type of grit and determination that is becoming to be the norm for the Alabama backfield. His production per carry matched that of TR.  The running backs combined for 257 net yards rushing on the day.

Julio Jones will drop a pass or two during 2010. He proved once again that hitting him in the hands does not guarantee a catch. But he also displayed the big play ability that we all had hoped he would develop as a college player.

But don't doubt yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, Julio has arrived.

The one handed grab in the end zone is what we had hoped to expect from this gifted receiver. Now that we know he can do it in a game, we will be expecting it against a more talented defenses. Maybe it's better if the QB doesn't hit him in the hands, that might be the lesson of the day. Six catches, 93 yards, one touchdown. A pretty good day at the office.

Darius Hanks is an excellent slot receiver and has great hands. He showed that once again on Saturday. Marquis Maze continues in his role to stretch the field and score quickly.

Earl Alexander will add a new dimension to the passing game. He is as big and nearly as agile as Julio. I love seeing this redshirt senior out of Phenix City get another chance to shine. I believe his role will expand as we are challenged by better and bigger defensive backs.

Brandon Gibson had a few catches as well. The wide receiver corps combine for just over 300 yards on the day.

The tight ends did not get as many chances to show their play-making abilities but that is primarily because the down field receivers were open and the quarterbacks made the correct reads on the plays. Dial and Smelley did have receptions on the day, keeping the defenses on notice.

If Alabama needs to call on this receiving corp to win a shoot out against the likes of the Arkansas Razorbacks, they are showing in not so subtle ways that they will be able to get it done. With McElroy connecting on 13 or 15 attempts and McCarron adding 9 of 15 attempts, efficiency has improved.

Alabama has played teams like SJSU in the past, but when did we have 334 yards passing on only 30 attempts? Not in recent history. Not with two quarterbacks sharing time. It's a new era for the Crimson Tide offense. And on defense, there were only a few noticeable breakdowns. Nothing that looked like a weakness that will be exploited because of deficiency. Mental errors can kill a team, especially in games like this because much is taken for granted and little respect heeded toward the opponent. There were few mental mistakes in the game.

On Defense

After the first defensive series, the Tide settled in and played as good as any defense in years past. While this was not the best competition they will see in 2010, it was a good test before game two.

Tackling was excellent, the opposition running backs when down quickly, and found very few holes to exploit during the 29 plus minutes, time of possession, that the Spartans controlled the ball. This defense yielded only 175 net yard in the entire game to the SJSU offense. A remarkable achievement for any defense, against any opponent.

Safety Robert Lester had an interception in his debut as a starter on defense and made few mental error in coverage and run support. He and his team mates are ready to handle the stiffer competition that will take the field on September 10th.

The Alabama linebackers were flying all over the field. Linebackers were making the largest number of tackles for the defense, as is expected when a defense is playing well. Cornerbacks and safeties were where they need to be during run support. This was not a stiff challenge but the individuals (three deep on the depth chart) played like they were expected to play and with exception to the first drive, played extremely well as a unit.

While Penn State will surely bring a much better offense into the game, this defense played well and showed the ability to adjust and fly to the ball. The only statistical blemish is that there was no sack recorded for the game by the Alabama defense. But a sack is only a statistic. It is not a measure of how well a team defended the pass or pressured the quarterback.

(Correction, there was one sack by safety, Robert Lester for a loss of 9 yards).

Holding the SJSU offense to only eight completions of 19 attempts for only 89 yards speaks volumes. This is a young but mentally mature defensive unit.

Weakness might get exposed next week but adjustments will be made and Penn State will not walk into Bryant-Denny with too much swagger. The PSU offense may be optimistic but when they get hit in the mouth by this defense, they will quickly become more cautious. Hesitation in their execution will be our friend.

And Special Teams

There were no breakdowns in special teams kick coverage or punt coverage on the day. The Alabama offense allowed for only three punts on the day.

Corey Mandel handled the punting responsibilities and averaged 40 yards on three kicks. His longest was a 52 yard kick with no return. In fact, Mandel had two punts for 52 yards in the first half, the second was received by fair catch. The muff came in the fourth quarter with just over seven minutes to play.

To hear Saban describe it, the punt on 4th and 14 from the San Jose 42 yard line was a mistake from the time of the snap to the time it left the punters foot. Mandel was attempting a pooch punt which was called to his weakest side and the ball went off the side of his foot.

Saban stated: "we've got to help him out and allow him to kick from his side of strength, to the right. The kick was called to his left side, his weaker side and he did what we have seen him do in practice to his weak side. We didn't do our part on that play. We can do better to help him perform to his potential."

Jeremy Shelley and Cade Foster were perfect on extra points. Both connected on two PAT. Foster was also perfect on field goals, two for two. The first made field goal of Foster's collegiate career was a 41 yarder as time expired in the first half; the second attempt, a 24 yard kick in the third quarter.

Summary

Overall, this was a very good debut performance for the Crimson Tide. Anticipation will continue to build until this team takes the field next week against the Paterno led, Nittany Lions. It's been a long time since Paterno has been to the sidelines at Alabama. He is always welcome as he will be next week.

There isn't another like JoePa. He exudes class, is known, respected and beloved by all in college football.

Both Saban and Paterno deserve this matchup. The Nittany Lions played very good in week one, as well. They too, are prepared for this early season clash.

A contest pitting one of the best of the 12 teams of the Big 10 against one of the best in the SEC.

Lets's get ready to rumble.