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The great (or terrible) thing about night games is that there's never time to address everything that happens as you work in the hectic post-game rush. But here are a few things that were notable in the Alabama-USC game in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night that needed a mention before the next game week begins.
First, emotional things happen in the game of football and on the sidelines. Alabama's current recruiting theme, after all, is "Savages." When savages get emotional, they tend not to settle their differences with an exchange of sternly worded emails.
Ronnie Harrison got emotional. It appeared that he started the game emotionally -- Harrison does chatter on the field at times -- then got more emotional after a particularly painful-looking personal foul inflicted upon teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick in the first half. The offending player, USC's Jabari Ruffin, was ejected, will be suspended for the first half of next week's USC game and will write a letter of apology. But that didn't cool Harrison's temperature.
Teammate Eddie Jackson helped get Harrison off the field before he also drew a penalty flag. On the sideline, Harrison had at least one verbal interchange with a USC player, then started arguing with the teammates, including Jackson and Deionte Thompson. By that point, television cameras were involved. That always raises the Defcon level on any potentially nuclear situation.
At that point, Reuben Foster -- the parliamentarian of this defensive debate in the same way that Hulk is parliamentarian of "The Avengers" -- stepped in. He undoubtedly said something to the effect of "please channel your feelings into more positive avenues" while also taking a firm grip on the front of Harrison's jerseys. Finally, it took a few words from Nick Saban to restore calm.
After the game, Harrison went on social media and confirmed that it was just a case of anger in the heat of the moment, the sort of thing that happens (usually out of camera shot) and not any sort of divisive issue.
"Sometimes we wanna win so bad, our heads clash," Harrison said via Twitter.
Speaking of the defense, the key moment of the game -- when it was still a game in the first half -- came with 2:44 in the first quarter. Alabama's freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts, had fumbled. USC had a 3-0 lead, excellent field position at its 48-yard line and what appeared to be a chance to grab momentum. But the Alabama defense said no -- a run was stuffed, Jonathan Allen sacked Max Browne on second down and a third-down pass by Browne (who was probably looking for Jonathan Allen) fell incomplete, leaving the Trojans further away than they had started. It took a couple of series before the offensive big plays started coming for Alabama, but the defense had imposed its will on the game. USC mustered nothing else offensively until Alabama's reserves were playing in the second half.
Lastly, with all eyes on the quarterbacks, the running back rotation was (as we said here last week) at least the equal in intrigue. Damian Harris got the start, apparently based on his ability to hit the home run play and his consistency in pass protection. One of the highlights of the game for a football purist was his sidestep move in the hole to set up his first long run. Once the USC defense wore down, Bo Scarbrough was a consistent pile-pusher, the sort of late-game hammer that Saban likes to use. Both freshman backs saw action. The pattern that Burton Burns, the running backs coach, employs against Western Kentucky should be fascinating.
CECIL HURT: In Texas, Tide brings its own heat
First, emotional things happen in the game of football and on the sidelines. Alabama's current recruiting theme, after all, is "Savages." When savages get emotional, they tend not to settle their differences with an exchange of sternly worded emails.
Ronnie Harrison got emotional. It appeared that he started the game emotionally -- Harrison does chatter on the field at times -- then got more emotional after a particularly painful-looking personal foul inflicted upon teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick in the first half. The offending player, USC's Jabari Ruffin, was ejected, will be suspended for the first half of next week's USC game and will write a letter of apology. But that didn't cool Harrison's temperature.
Teammate Eddie Jackson helped get Harrison off the field before he also drew a penalty flag. On the sideline, Harrison had at least one verbal interchange with a USC player, then started arguing with the teammates, including Jackson and Deionte Thompson. By that point, television cameras were involved. That always raises the Defcon level on any potentially nuclear situation.
At that point, Reuben Foster -- the parliamentarian of this defensive debate in the same way that Hulk is parliamentarian of "The Avengers" -- stepped in. He undoubtedly said something to the effect of "please channel your feelings into more positive avenues" while also taking a firm grip on the front of Harrison's jerseys. Finally, it took a few words from Nick Saban to restore calm.
After the game, Harrison went on social media and confirmed that it was just a case of anger in the heat of the moment, the sort of thing that happens (usually out of camera shot) and not any sort of divisive issue.
"Sometimes we wanna win so bad, our heads clash," Harrison said via Twitter.
Speaking of the defense, the key moment of the game -- when it was still a game in the first half -- came with 2:44 in the first quarter. Alabama's freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts, had fumbled. USC had a 3-0 lead, excellent field position at its 48-yard line and what appeared to be a chance to grab momentum. But the Alabama defense said no -- a run was stuffed, Jonathan Allen sacked Max Browne on second down and a third-down pass by Browne (who was probably looking for Jonathan Allen) fell incomplete, leaving the Trojans further away than they had started. It took a couple of series before the offensive big plays started coming for Alabama, but the defense had imposed its will on the game. USC mustered nothing else offensively until Alabama's reserves were playing in the second half.
Lastly, with all eyes on the quarterbacks, the running back rotation was (as we said here last week) at least the equal in intrigue. Damian Harris got the start, apparently based on his ability to hit the home run play and his consistency in pass protection. One of the highlights of the game for a football purist was his sidestep move in the hole to set up his first long run. Once the USC defense wore down, Bo Scarbrough was a consistent pile-pusher, the sort of late-game hammer that Saban likes to use. Both freshman backs saw action. The pattern that Burton Burns, the running backs coach, employs against Western Kentucky should be fascinating.
CECIL HURT: In Texas, Tide brings its own heat
