by Chris Paschal
The final score of last Saturday’s Alabama-South Carolina game was a bit misleading. These headlines of “Alabama cruised to an easy victory over South Carolina” are a bit ridiculous. Ask Alabama fans. South Carolina gave Alabama a good game. One of my Alabama friends texted me “can’t believe y’all lost to North Carolina” after the game. Me neither, my man…
So what is the difference between Alabama and South Carolina. Why was the score 47-23 after a game where most people felt like South Carolina played well and gave the Crimson Tide a run for their money? Let’s break this down.
Alabama was faster in the one position battle that really dictated this game. Alabama’s wide receivers were faster than South Carolina’s defensive backs. The most telling play was the Henry Ruggs touchdown late in the first quarter. Ruggs, the fastest player on Alabama’s offense, took a slant reception for a 70 yard touchdown. Watch the tape. South Carolina cornerback, Israel Mukuama, couldn’t even stay in the same frame. He got beat that bad. Later in the game, Jaycee Horn was burned on a slant pattern. South Carolina wasn’t burned deep. That’s what was so remarkable. That’s how much faster Alabama was. They didn’t run by South Carolina defensive backs with double moves or blown coverages. They literally caught the football with defenders all around and just took off.
That being said, South Carolina matched Alabama equally at every other position battle. Freshman Ryan Hilinski had the performance of the decade at quarterback against a Nick Saban defense. The defensive line held their own in rush defense. The offensive line played beautifully, something that I appreciated after I was blasted for defending them after the North Carolina game. (I’m sure they put there best performance forward in an attempt to defend my reputation.) In fact, South Carolina out-rushed Alabama in this football game.
South Carolina matched Alabama at every position group except one. The Tide wide receivers crushed the Carolina defensive backs. That’s why this game felt closer than it looked. When you move the ball effectively against another team, and when you stop the other team’s rushing attack, you would assume that the score would be close. That’s why this game felt closer than it actually was.
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