Initial Thoughts from Tennessee game

Sheesh.

-- I thought McElroy was going to get back in the groove this game and early on it looked like the passes to Julio were giving him that confidence. A few dropped passes, some great plays from the Tennessee secondary, and interesting/questionable play-calling kept the momentum from building.

-- Not getting a touchdown near the end of the second quarter hurt a lot. I'm ok with throwing to Julio in that area; he's got the advantage by far. But the drive was made on the back of Ingram and he didn't get the ball on second or third down.

-- The lack of a pass interference call was tough. I understand not making it due to Julio appearing to turn and not continue on his route. At the same time, a player is not allowed to hit another like that before contact with the ball is made. It's a moot point if Ingram gets the ball.

-- Lundquist and Danielson mentioned Saban's comments about this being the game that Hightower's absence might be seen the most. I'm sure that contributed; it seemed like the Vols had a lot more than 76 yards rushing.

-- Why is Dareus covering a tight end on that last pass play? Why does a lineman pick up a tight end in coverage? Where were the linebackers? What kind of coverage scheme was that?

-- It looked like one of the refs said something to McClain and Julio after the block about the ball still being alive, at which point McClain jumped on it. The ref may not of verbally said anything, but he definitely pointed in the direction of the ball and looked at a couple of players. How is that none of the Tennessee or Alabama players knew that a blocked field goal is still a live ball until somebody falls on it? I saw a YouTube clip this week of a high school team blocking a last second kick, only to have the other team pick up the ball and run it in for a touchdown, claiming the win. I was quite worried as the ball sat there untouched for what seemed like several seconds.

-- Bama needs this bye week. They're tired. The announcers mentioned McClain telling them that he didn't get his legs back until Thursday. A positive to take away is that eight games are finished and there are only four to go in the regular season. This break may be exquisitely timed, giving the team the rest needed to finish strong.

-- Crompton's passes were right on target and his pass protection was very good. Outside of Dareus' sack in the fourth quarter, the defensive line didn't get back to him as I thought they would. And when he had time, he placed the ball in some very tight windows for his receivers.

-- As the SEC Championship Game, the Sugar Bowl, and today's game showed, quick slants and screens are the best way to attack our defense. Kareem Jackson looked pretty bad on several plays, getting beat off the line.

-- I like Verne. I think he does a good job. But his mistakes seem to be getting more and more frequent. When introducing Alabama's offense, he didn't attempt to pronounce Vlachos' (/vlay hos/) name at all, just skipped right over it. He referred to "this Auburn team" in the fourth quarter when talking about Alabama. Danielson does a pretty good job covering for him, and I know there are a lot of things going on in a live telecast, but it seems like it's more than simple mistakes. It's similar to Corso on Gameday; he's really struggling and their broadcast today wasn't as sharp or hitting because they had to pause for Corso almost every time, losing rhythm and momentum. At one point, Fowler asked Corso about Arkansas/Ole Miss and Corso kept talking about Auburn/LSU; Herbstreit followed up with Auburn/LSU talk, as did Desmond, but Des finished his comments referencing Fowler's original question. Maybe Fowler jumped something and it was his mistake, but it seemed to me Corso was struggling. And I think Verne is as well.

-- Bama's got LSU at home, Mississippi State on the road, Chattanooga at home, and Auburn on the road. Having two weeks to scheme for LSU will be nice; that's going to be another really tough game that may come down to the final minute like today. Mississippi State's going to be a tough game too; they'll be pumped. They're giving Florida all they can at the time of this writing. Chattanooga should be a good game to fine-tune things for Auburn, but might serve as a trap game. And you never know about Alabama-Auburn. Their weaknesses seem to be a perfect match for our strengths, but it's a rivalry game and the Tide has struggled at Jordan-Hare.