Nick Saban and the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated FCS opponent Mercer 48-14 on Saturday.
Alabama didn’t completely overpower the Mercer Bears as most fans would have expected, but there is plenty to dissect on the Tide’s performance.
Nick Saban constantly emphasizes the phrase “consistency in performance”, if Saturday’s performance proved anything, its that Alabama has a way to go in that particular area.
Time to grade the Tide’s performance.
OFFENSE: B+
The Alabama offense wasn’t great on Saturday, but they weren’t bad either, just inconsistent. There were penalties, dropped passes, and other self-inflicted mistakes that kept the Tide from getting an A this week.
Alabama finished with 424 yards of total offense but was just 4/13 on third down. Not to take anything away from a resilient performance by the Mercer Bears defense, but Alabama should be better on third down against an FCS opponent.
I think it is important to note that Alabama is playing a lot of young and inexperienced players on offense and mistakes are part of that process.
DEFENSE: B+
This grade may surprise some of you since the Alabama defense did give up 14 points to the Mercer Bears, but those points came with mostly reserve defenders in the game.
Overall the defense played well against an offense that is tough to prepare for and defend.
In the first half, Alabama held the Mercer offense to 12 passing yards and 23 rushing yards. Then Will Anderson went out with a lower leg injury and the staff decided to start rotating in several young players. That is why I gave the Tide defense a B+ grade. I am not going to punish the defense for playing a lot of players against an inferior opponent.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-
Like you, it pained me to see Will Reichard’s streak of made field goal attempts come to an end on Saturday, but overall it was a solid day for the special teams unit.
Chris Braswell was able to block a punt attempt by the Mercer Bears and Jase McClellan was able to pick it up and carry it in the endzone for a touchdown.
We also saw freshman sensation JoJo Earle take over the punt return duties and he flashed his potential as a playmaking returner.
OVERALL: B+
Overall it wasn’t the type of performance coach Saban or the fans were looking for. Too many miscues and a lack of intensity made for a lackadaisical performance in terms of the Alabama standard. No need to panic, Alabama has a chance to reassert themselves next week as they travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators.
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