Alabama Football: Lessons Learned, Tapes Reviewed, Tide Rolls On to Ole Miss

A hostile stadium. An emotionally drained team. A veteran opponent with experienced coaches. A physical game. A lack of motivation. Players who are young and inexperienced. Playing the third leg of "Amen Corner" was just too much.

Nice excuses to explain away why the Tide was beaten when fans thought they should win. These can also explain a loss to an equally matched team or on the road, or a loss when hampered by injuries to key players or playmakers. But these excuses don't work for a champion.

The bottom line: Football is a game where toughness and execution of a winning game plan matter if you are built to be a champion. Teams often come out flat, but champions overcome that flaw quickly if they have the desire, the toughness, and a winning game plan.

Saban preaches toughness to his team, and he is right. USC was tougher last Saturday. The Gamecocks threw haymakers and didn't buckle when Alabama hit back. When SC held the line in the fourth quarter, Alabama players knew they weren't going to make them cower. South Carolina didn't quit. They won.

Though McElroy had a career-high in passing yards, it came because of a combination of poor game-planning and poor execution of the running game. Yet even in that particular moment of personal glory, there was still poor execution on his part or his numbers would have been greater.

He missed wide-open receivers on his middle and deep reads, he checked down on nearly every play, and on at least five occasions he held the ball too long. Twice he broke out of the pocket and ran toward defenders, looking squarely at them while he was scrambling. The two plays resulted in sacks for losses.

McElroy never once threw a ball to a deep receiver, covered one-on-one, to give his playmaker a chance to make a play. For some reason, he was hesitant. Maybe he was worried that he would turn the ball over or make a critical mistake. Hesitation is your worst enemy in a fast-paced game. It accentuates your uncertainty, exposing weaknesses in your thought process and allows the opponent to attack.

Make no mistake, Greg McElroy is a very good QB. He is a winner, but he has had the good fortune of being on teams in high school and college with good support personnel and great playmakers. But the point is, on a team like Alabama, no one player has to take control and win the game by himself. There is help at every position.

Alabama can and will bounce back from this loss but it will take humility, toughness, dedication and hard work. Focusing on their job and doing things right every play will allow them to get back to winning like they have for the prior 19 games. It takes depending on your teammate to make a play. Take a chance and give him the ball, have confidence in your preparation and skill sets.

On another level, coaching must improve during the game. Jim McElwain must be a better game-planner and trust in the plan prepared for the opponent. Running the ball only 17 times was poor deviation from the original plan.

Going away from the run is an option, but it doesn't explain why we never saw the "empty" formations (if we truly wanted to abandon the running game) that were flashed in earlier contests. This loss goes on the coaches, too.

In a tough matchup, it is common to have 20-25 running plays that go for little or no gain. But if you stick to the game plan of a balanced rushing and passing attack, the break-out run will eventually happen. And then things open up for the offense.

Gaining six yards on first down and passing on second and third is just not wise when you have the type of running game that Alabama has developed with Richardson and Ingram. Where was Lacy if they lacked confidence in the others? Why abandon the run?

Defensively, why didn't Kirby Smart have a double-team planned for Alshon Jeffery if the defense was getting burned repeatedly. Particularly if that receiver is one of the best in the college game, which he is. Jeffery scored twice on big pass plays then put the game out of reach with the one-handed catch and 45-yard scamper down the sidelines.

Alshon Jeffery is the best in the SEC. It is unwise to not double-team a player of such caliber. We expect a double-team on Julio, yet we don't double a receiver who is just as good or better!

No one else made a splash in the passing game, save one swing pass to Lattimore. There was opportunity to put him in double coverage and Alabama didn't do it at all. Shame on Kirby Smart.

We have known from Day One that the offense would have to score for this team to have success. For four games, we have been playing well on defense, but chinks were exposing weaknesses that Spurrier exploited with the right kind of talent. Garcia and Jeffery stepped up to the plate. Lattimore provided just enough punch from the running game to keep their attack balanced.

Two questions will be answered in the remainder of the season. Can Carolina sustain the kind of performance they displayed against the Crimson Tide and win the East division? And can Alabama return to the level of play that has allowed them to win 19 consecutive games?

This team and the coaching staff certainly have the ability to do everything discussed in this article and even more. They are at work, right now, preparing for the next game. The 24-hour rule is in effect. USC won the last game and that one is over. The tapes have been reviewed, hopefully, and adjustments in the plan are in effect and being taught on the practice field this week.

As fans, all we can do is watch. No need to make excuses. And there is no need to listen to or belch out smack talk. Smack talk is for losers or wanna-bes. It is not the mark of a fan base that has supported a championship team and knows what it takes to win.

Fans of champions know that their team has taken the best game from every opponent and succeeded. Success in a season-long campaign is often enhanced by taking a loss along the way. There are only a handful of undefeated champions. Fortunately, Alabama has had their share.

If Alabama is to finish as SEC West champion, it will be with a loss. But it is certainly an attainable goal. Once the first goal is achieved, other opportunities will be offered.

As this team prepares for a contest against Ole Miss, do your part and don't make excuses to opposition fans. Give credit to USC and move on. But know this, your team is championship caliber and they are preparing to respond to a mid-season defeat.

Show up on Saturday night or have some friends over for the game and support the Crimson Tide. Roll Tide.