Too many were getting all over Lane's play calling but I assumed he was playing to the package set that Jalen gives us......and we ended up in the 40's with a ton of yardage and clock time. I speculate that if we had Henry in the backfield that the Jalen/Barnett battle would have been closer. Having a mobile quarterback came at the perfect time. For instance we are all happy for Harris, but we had no idea for the first time in 7 years that we did not have 2 NFL caliber RB's that were proven coming into the season.
All of those runs and sweeps wore Ole Miss down by the first few minutes of the 3rd. They got some luck with that drive that seemed to take about 30 minutes (real time), with reviews, injuries, commercials, a timeout. They had more rest on that one drive than the entire first half.
The game plan to wear them down worked. The game plan to not put the longball in the hands of TF worked. We jabbed and rope a dopped them and wore them down. They could not stop Harris on the 2 most crucial drives of the game knowing he was going to get the ball.
I believe coach Saban will have less negative to say on this game than the first two combined. It was pressure packed, record audience, a TF at QB, and against a team that we just do not match up well against for some reason. Great game.
and it would appear so.