Horrible first half for John Parker Wilson. Poor reads, poor throws, poor decisions. That’s two weeks in a row Wilson hasn’t looked sharp. The second half wasn’t much better.
Offensive line seemed to play well even with an injury, which disrupted the rotation in the second quarter. The line play is so much better than last season it is like night and day. The running game works because the line is creating lanes.
Nickson got jinxed. I praised him all week, and he missed some throws, and made bad decisions on a couple of others. How much the injury was a factor is anybody’s guess. Nickson just didn’t play well today. Hey, maybe I’ll be able to jinx every opponents quarterback by praising them. Did I mention how good Brandon Cox looked against K-State? His performance had Heisman written all over it. Can’t wait to see how that works.
Alabama specials teams looked really good to begin the game, but then we saw really serious problems—much of the damage was mitigated because of Vanderbilt penalties; however, there should be some sleepless nights for fans as big games against Arkansas and Georgia loom on the horizon.
Officiating is horrible these days. I know officials get a bad rap, but some of these calls (most of which hurt Vandy) are a sign of the times.
Official boxscore numbers tell the story:
Alabama 24 Vandy 10
J.P. Wilson 14-28 151-yards 1 interception
Terry Grant 23 rushes 168-yards 2 touchdowns
DJ hall 3 catches 67-yards
Alabama notched two sacks, according to the scorecard. However, there were elements of good pressure combined with plays where Vandy quarterbacks could’ve enjoyed a leisurely snack before throwing the ball.
Alabama was 5-14 in converting third downs. Vandy was 5-18 on third down conversions.
I’ll probably add some thoughts later. A win is a win.