Alabama Football: Grading the Team after the 41-0 Win over North Texas

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) How can Nick Saban be upset while running over North Texas on the way to a 41-0 rout?

Once you read the story, you'll see how the Tide will be graded out much in the same way that Saban will sit with the team and give them the same kind of grading procedure.

Some fans may think given the score, that the grading was done too harshly, but upon reflection, you may come to see what those who study football saw.

Offensive Line: A Solid B

The O-Line is beginning to show the improvement that we all knew would happen once the season got going.

The Tide allowed too many sacks against a very weak opponent, but some of that was due to quarterbacks not having the pocket presence to simply throw one to the sideline area.

The rushing numbers may get you to believe they were opening huge holes and they did at times, but North Texas suffered from poor tackling and that helped more than the offensive line.

To finish the development that is going on in this area, it's time to put Cyrus Kouandjio in the left tackle spot for good, let him start to gel even more from the mindset of a starter and put All-Star Barrett Jones back in his guard spot.

Then and only then will you see numbers that get better each week and end up with the desired results that Nick Saban had in mind when putting all these players together.

This week you can't give the line more than a solid B for the job that was done.

Receivers: An Average Day an Average Grade: C+

There was much to hope for with the return of Darius Hanks, but he was barely noticed in the receiving department with just two catches for 20 yards.

But did Nick Saban really want to have his team throwing the ball with a huge lead over such a doormat?

Of course not. That's just not Nick Saban.

Still, they didn't electrify the audience with the chances they did have.

There were balls that could have been caught that weren't, blocks that could have been made that were not, separation that should have been done that wasn't.

Only one receiver had a catch that went for over 30 yards all day.

Except for Richardson and Lacy, it was hard to find a man in the entire corp that could have scared an easily-intimidated opponent

This was just a C+ performance at best.

Running Backs: Finally Running to an A

Sometimes numbers just don't lie. Yes, this team gave the Alabama running backs less of a workout than their own scout team does, but still, when you make the plays and finish the runs you're doing all you can do.

If nothing else, this could give them the confidence they need that they really haven't earned so far this year.

With Arkansas up next in the schedule, that really needed to happen.

If you average over six yards a carry, you're doing your job as a running back. To look at these numbers, it's easy to see why they earned an A.

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Trent Richardson	11	167	15.2	3	71
Eddie Lacy	9	161	17.9	2	67
Jalston Fowler	3	20	6.7	0	9

This is what an A group of performers are supposed to look like

Quarterbacks: A B- Kind of Day from Both Quarterbacks

When McCarron went through the first quarter of the game, it was obvious why I have said all along he would be and should be the the signal caller that could and should lead Alabama back to a title game.

In that first quarter there was one incomplete pass and the rest was simply a true leader clicking off completion after completion, mixing the look to the defense and marching his team down the field.

Sims started the silly sack parade and McCarron followed with some of his own. Sacks against this team is a reflection on the quarterback not having the presence to simply read what is going on around him and adjusting or reacting quickly enough to prevent them.

McCarron clearly has ended this quarterback competition, even the most ardent Sims supporter now has to succumb to the fact that McCarron is simply more relaxed in the pocket, prone to less mistakes and most likely to lead the lead the team to greatness.

But please remember this, he could have not done so well last year. It took time in the system to get him to that position and Sims will someday lead this team and do so in a manner that could get them in title talk yet again.

As I said with the receivers, Saban is not the kind of coach that's going to be throwing bombs against teams like North Texas, it's just not his style.

So what caused the quarterbacks their B- score was the silly sacks and one fumble against a team that such things shouldn't have happened to.

Defensive Line: A Solid B+

When you hold a team, any team, to just 68 yards rushing all day long, you should have earned yourself an A.

When you tackle running backs seven times in the first half for no gain or a loss and only six carries that actually made yardage, then you should have earned your A.

So why not a A?

Where were the sacks?

Saban is upset with the lack of them and will point this out to this group of young men.

So far this year, the defense as a whole has 15 tackles for loss over three games. That's not so bad, but the total defense only has four sacks and only 1.5 of them come from the defensive line.

Backup Quinton Dial has the only one from the line. That has got to pick up.

So far there have been some bright spots in some areas. For the year Jesse Williams has one pass broken up and two quarterback hurries and that's tops for the line, but still woefully short of expectations.

Sorry boys, you had a good day, just not an "A" day and against this team, you should have earned one.

Linebackers: Join Your Defensive Linemen with a B+

Let me reinforce what I've just said about the defensive line. It should have been an "A" day but where were the sacks or interceptions or forced fumbles?

As solidly as the defense was on this day, it should have been spectacular.

C.J. Mosely is the only linebacker with a solo sack and he has one. No lineman or linebacker has forced a fumble all year. This isn't a team that is getting the job that Nick Saban wants done.

He wants them to make sacks, create turnovers and wreak havoc.

While they are proving to be a brick wall to run through, they still haven't done the other things that Saban wants.

These are the stats from the linebackers that Saban expects so much from.

Name              Quarterback Hurries     Fumbles Forced      Passes Broken Up    Sacks

Trey DePriest                 1

Dont'a Hightower             2

Nico Johnson                                                                                            1

C.J. Moseley                                                                                             2        1

Courtney Upshaw            3

Those stats don't scare any team on the schedule and that's why they're only a B+ unit.

Defensive Backs: A Shutdown Day Earned You a B+

Why not an A? They only had a shutdown day, allowed one pass completion of over 10 yards and for the whole day, they averaged just 3.3 yards a completion. That's about as good as it gets.

But they snagged no interceptions and didn't get a sack. (But why would Saban rub it in by sending a defensive back in a blitz against a team like North Texas?)

To really earn an A they needed a turnover of some kind, some icing on the cake, an exclamation mark on a great day otherwise.

Still, this was the kind of game they needed for their confidence level before facing pass-happy Arkansas and the meat of the SEC schedule.

I know I won't be popular when interviewing defensive backs for this, but I think Nick Saban will help convince them that I was right by not giving them an A.

Special Teams: A Mixed Bag Earns the Team a B-

On the upside, Cody Mandell delivered placing his only punt—a well pooched squibbler—that was downed at the four-yard line. While not for a ton of yardage, it was done as well as it could have been done.

On the downside, Shelley missed a very makeable field goal.

Kickoff coverage was done fairly well and they didn't allow a long return all day despite giving them several opportunities to do so.

Still, some fans are wondering why Foster isn't able to kick it deeper, and we still don't have that answer.

Overall special teams looked good, but field-goal miscues still continue to haunt the Tide and could cost them in a close game.

Overall Team Score : A Solid B

I know some fans will want to argue this grade, but it was easy to see the shortcomings that Nick Saban will point out to the team when they review the film together.

There was so much more they both could have and should have done with this team.

In a 41-0 blowout, yes you could argue that there wasn't much left on the table, but if you go by what they didn't do and some things they did do, you could be brought around to this side of the argument. 

No sacks, no forced turnovers, committing too many fumbles, taking too many sacks and a lack of explosive plays from the passing game all show this team still has a lot of maturing to do before they can truly be an elite team in the SEC, much less the country.

The good news for Tide fans however, is that they show the promise of being able to bridge that gap. When they do, that will be a fine team to watch.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)