Alabama Football: Grading Bama's Win over Ole MIss. Why Can't They Rate an A+?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) These linebackers seem to get better each and every week. They are seamless when substitutes are brought in, and the pressure simply continues on the opposing teams.

At least this week they allowed the starting quarterback to not only walk of the field, but to actually finish a game.

Courtney Upshaw should have to have a warning label sewn on his jersey to warn opposing players who may venture into his path.

Dont'a Hightower is solidifying himself as a first-round draft pick with his play, and there just are no blown assignments anywhere to be seen anymore.

Hightower calls the shifts and is now so comfortable and so confident in that role that it's like having Rolando McClain back on the field.

Ed Stinson had an especially good play, and the future of this corp will continue to be bright after Hightower and Upshaw leave for certain NFL careers.

Offensive Line: They Graded out an A

This was the finest day so far this season for the offensive line. Except for a single holding call against William Vlachos of all people, the offensive line opened holes at will and did not allow quarterback A.J. McCarron to be hurried or sacked all day.

This line never missed a beat when substitutes came in, and now would be the time for Coach Nick Saban to consider letting Cyrus Kouandjio spend a lot more time at left tackle and moving Barrett Jones back to his regular position at left guard.

Down-field blocking was present all day as some linemen got not only blocks at the line of scrimmage, but also down the field where their presence showed that that they didn't give up on any plays.

Receivers: You Have to Give Them an A

If there was a dropped ball, I must've missed it.

Not only did eight receivers get a catch, but many made good blocks down the field for the running backs as well.

It was nice to see Hanks getting back to being fully utilized after sitting out the first two games and coming back a little slowly.

He made some of the tough catches in traffic and in the middle and still managed to up his average for the game to 15.8 yards a catch.

This is exactly what Saban was hoping for when Julio Jones left, and now Hanks has shown he can make the tough catches in traffic and take up that slack that came with Jones' departure for the NFL.

Kenny Bell also had some more fine grabs, and Brandon Gibson came in to catch the lone TD pass and showed that he's ready for more playing time as well.

Running Backs: An A+ Day You Could Use as a Textbook Example for Other Runners

Everyone knew that Trent Richardson would have a breakout game against these lowly Rebels, but few expected Fowler to run wild also, and even less dreamed that fourth-string running back Blake Sims would leave the game with 74 yards himself and a hefty 14.8 yards per carry average.

Richardson ran at will, over, around and through the defense and ended the day with 183 yards and a mind-blowing 10.8 yards per carry average. He could have run for 400 yards himself had Saban not spread the wealth and called off the dogs.

Fowler, taking the place of a still gimpy Eddie Lacy, ran wild for 125 yards of his own including a mind-numbing 13.9 yard average himself.

Blake Sims came in to mop things up but became the third running back to carry the ball at least five times and still average of 10 yards a carry with his 74 yard and 14.8 yard per carry contribution.

I'd love to know if there's ever been another team to have three running backs who carried the ball at least five times in a game and all three average over 10 yards a carry.

The depth of the running attack is simply vicious at Alabama this year.

Eddie Lacy came in to test his turf toe and chipped in 22 yards of his own to bring the running back rushing yardage to over 400 yards.

Quarterback: A Ho Hum Day for a Quarterback but an A Earned

A.J. McCarron got his wings clipped by the running backs. The coaching staff had full expectations of AJ to continue working on his down field game, but the success of the running game grounded that idea.

Saban didn't want to appear to rubbing salt in the wound of a friend of his, Houston Nutt, and decided to let McCarron get his timing down further in practice than in the game.

McCarron's numbers reflect his wing clipping, 19-of-24 for 224 yards, but it was a flawless job. Three of his five incomplete passes  were intentional and earned a pat on the butt from Saban who has said that sometimes the smartest play a quarterback can make is knowing when to just throw it away and doing that.

Still McCarron was accurate, poised and showed great field generalship in directing the scoring drives. He checked off at the line several times and moved the chains with great regularity.

McCarron also met with an old friend and injured Ole Miss Rebel before the game and extended some great sportsmanship and kindness by giving him a hug and wishing him a great recovery.

McCarron is proving to be a class act all the way around.

Defensive Line: Another A+ Day, Could This Be the #1 D-Line in the Nation?

Sacks, hurries, dropped for loss and just being a brick wall. This line can and has done everything possible to simply dominate a line of scrimmage.

To punctuate that statement, they had a great goal line stand that should help them at some point down the road when the need to that again arises.

On this day, the starting three earned an A, as did the substitutes.

For the day, Ole Miss was held to just 28 yards total rushing, not even allowing a one yard per carry average overall.

That is just mind-numbing.

Linebackers: Another A+ Day for Every Single Linebacker

These linebackers seem to get better each and every week. They are seamless when substitutes are brought in and the pressure simply continues on the opposing teams.

At least this week they allowed the starting quarterback to not only walk of the field, but to actually finish a game.

Courtney Upshaw should have to have a warning label sewn on his jersey to warn opposing players who may venture into his path.

Dont'a Hightower is solidifying a first round draft pick with his play and there just are no blown assignments anywhere to be seen anymore.

Hightower calls the shifts and is now so comfortable and so confident in that role it's like having Rolando McClain back on the field.

Ed Stinson had an especially good play and the future of this corp will continue to be bright after Hightower and Upshaw leave for certain NFL careers.

Defensive Backs: These Backs Earn Another Minus After an Early Torching Again

Funny that one thing Nick Saban couldn't shake from all the great things that happened Saturday night in Oxford, Mississippi was yet another early game pass play that torched the secondary.

It perplexes Saban as well as some fans, how this group can play so well for 58 minutes and utterly blow two minutes.

Saban has always preached the mantra of FINISH!

Maybe he needs to begin to beat START in their heads as well.

Robert Lester snagged an errant Rebel pass and the whole Ole Miss team was able to scrap out only 54 yards after Nicholas Brassell's 59 yard early torching.

After that one pass, they held the Ole Miss receivers to a measly six yard average on their remaining nine receptions.

Punting Got a Solid B

Cody Mandell got one punt all day and it went for a respectable 44 yards, but more importantly, wasn't returned.

A day without a shank is a good day and though Ole Miss didn't allow for many punts from the Tide.

One good one punt beats three goods one and a bad one.

Kickoff and Punt Return Team: A B-

Maze and Hanks did an adequate job with the chances they were given.

Maze returned one kick off for 27 yards and Hanks one for 16

Two punt returns by the same men netted Maze a return of 12 and Hanks for four.

Nothing spectacular, nothing damaging.

Kickoffs and Placekicking: When Can We Be Consistent? D

Saban is pulling out his hair wondering why we can't pin opponents with two kickers who have powerful legs.

The reason could be many things, but Saban's reliance to have the special team coverage units filled with the young headhunters rather than the veteran stars could be the biggest reason.

They are young and eager to hit and lack discipline keeping their lane assignments and the special team coach isn't getting them any better as the season goes on.

This past Saturday was just another example of a totally mixed bag with no consistency and lots of big returns that could cost Alabama dearly in a big game with a closer opponent.

Last night Saban used Foster to kickoff in the first half and Shelley the second. It could be to try shake things up or maybe it was a hit Foster took late in the second quarter. Either way, it helped the Tide.

Starting field positions for the first half for Ole Miss was the 28, the 29, the Alabama 49 and the Alabama 38. That was an average starting position past the 42 yard line.

Perhaps those last two was the reason to let Shelley try.

In the second half the starting annual field positions were the 41, the 21, the 14, the 40 and the 33. That was a starting average field position of about the 30 yard line.

At least they stopped some of the more severe leaking in that department.

Shelley made his one field goal try and Foster missed his one try, but it was a 53 yard attempt.

Coaching: A Solid A

Except for the special teams unit, each coach seemed to have his players prepared for the game. If there was any problem, it was that the running game went so well that the passing game didn't have the opportunity to spread their wings.

Saban actually tried to hold the score down on his old friend, Houston Nutt, but he just couldn't help the second and third string players from just running wild.

Overall the coaches and team both deserved an A for this game and only the special teams kickoff play kept it from being a great night.

(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.)