Down and Out

TUSCALOOSA | It’s hard to say exactly when the death blow for both Saturday’s game, and the 2006 season, was delivered to the University of Alabama football team, but its effects were on full display at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Maybe it was the 51-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minutes of the first half.

Maybe it was the lingering effects of last month’s Arkansas loss.

Maybe it came before that.

Regardless, there wasn’t anyone on hand who didn’t know that Sylvester Croom has had the Crimson Tide in his sights since the moment he joined Mississippi State on Dec. 1, 2003, and after two failed attempts his team finally came through, 24-16.

“It was a real tough day,” coach Mike Shula was left saying after the demoralizing defeat.

That was the easy part. While Croom talked about faith and miracles in the visiting locker room, Shula’s soul-searching and second-guessing were just getting started.

“When you lose, you have to fix whatever it takes to win football games,” he said. “There are probably some things we’re not where we need to be, or thought we would be at this time. There are some things that we started out doing well, third-down conversions earlier in the game, pass-protection earlier in the season. Those are things we have to continue to look at — personnel, scheme-wise, all that.

“But that could change, just like that, if we go out and play well.”

Saturday would have been a good time to do so, as Alabama fell to 6-4, 2-4 SEC, and probably squandered away a chance to play in an upper-echelon bowl game.

While sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson took another beating, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes (19 of 39) and threw two interceptions compared to no touchdowns.

The running game mustered only 101 yards, 54 by senior Kenneth Darby, whose record chase in career rushing was essentially put out of its misery.

And again, the red zone proved to be the equivalent of a graveyard to the Tide, with no touchdowns out of four trips. It even had offensive coordinator Dave Rader wondering whether the young unit is becoming more nervous than aggressive inside the 20.

“Maybe we’ve crossed that line,” he said.

When Alabama came out and drove down to the 1, but had to settle for a field goal, Mississippi State quickly took the momentum. With sophomore quarterback Michael Henig making 5 of his 9 completions on MSU’s opening possession, the Bulldogs capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive on Tony Burks’ 25-yard crossing route for a touchdown.

Even then, before the end of the first quarter, UA coaches were looking for answers. On offense, junior tight tackle Chris Capps was pulled in favor of senior Kyle Tatum — but only for a series after he too struggled against junior end Titus Brown, a former Hillcrest High School standout. Defensively, coordinator Joe Kines started mixing in the 3-3-5 scheme, which quickly stalled a MSU drive in Tide territory, resulting in a field goal.

Subsequently, Kines rotated in freshman defensive tackles Lorenzo Washington and Brandon Deaderick, but it was sophomore end Bobby Greenwood who provided a key pressure, forcing Henig to throw a bad sideline pass that senior free safety Jeffrey Dukes intercepted and returned 24 yards for a touchdown and 10-10 score.

Only Mississippi State (3-7, 1-5) was able to do something that Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee couldn’t during their victories against Alabama — get a second offensive touchdown in the first half. Despite the Tide delivering some of its hardest hits, Henig completed a 41-yard pass to Jamayel Smith, and laced a 13-yard high throw between defenders to the sophomore receiver for the 17-10 lead.

“That was big-time in the game for us,” Henig said.

Unable to counter, the Tide put itself in a bigger hole. On second-and-7 at the Alabama 47, Darby lined up wide and Wilson tried to squeeze a pass to junior Will Oakley, but senior linebacker Quinton Culberson sat on the route, made the interception and returned it 51 yards for the stunning touchdown.

The turnover was the Tide’s first in 232 plays, and first interception in 104 passes.

“I tried to force it,” Wilson said. “It turned out to hurt us big time.”

Down 24-10, Alabama got the ball back with 2:41 remaining in the half, and again nearly drove the length of the field with Oakley drawing a pass-interference penalty in the end zone. It gave the Tide a first down at the 2 and just 2 seconds remaining.

Because thee points would still keep the Tide more than a touchdown down, Shula went for it only to see Wilson stopped inches short of the goal line by Culberson and sophomore linebacker Jamar Chaney.

“John Parker gave all that he could and slammed his body toward the end zone,” Rader said. “I just think that kind of epitomizes to me where we are. He’s right there on the line.”

Alabama cranked up the defensive intensity in the second half, but the game was already out of reach. For the second time sophomore cornerback Derek Pegues knocked away at the last second what could have been a touchdown catch by DJ Hall, and two Jamie Christensen field goals were all the Tide could muster.

“Nobody has come out and just beaten us. It’s always been close,” Hall said. “I’m just trying to throw close out the door and get a win. I hate losing. Sooner or later, we have to eliminate close and win, pure and simple.”

Alabama has two more chances in the regular season, against division rivals LSU and Auburn, followed by a bowl game. But in a much broader sense, the Tide’s direction is much less certain, especially offensively.

“When you look at the results and yardage, it is easy to say we haven’t improved,” Shula said. “We’re not getting as many big plays as we had all week. When we really move the ball well, we get big plays from guys.

“We are down and disappointed. We all know we could have played better today.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tusacloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.