I'm pretty sure we would have still lost with Brantley in the 2nd Half . . . but throwing Driskel into that fire . . . no chance.
Brantley was a good passer at times but seemed to have deer-in-the-headlights attacks. Then again, if I was being rushed by SEC defenses, I'd probably just drop dead. LOL!
Here's hoping JB can return quicker than expected.
Looking back this one last time, and repeating some things I said in the Game Day Thread towards the end of the game, Brantley came out "throwing darts", threw the pass we always thought he could throw right at the top and threw it perfectly, completed it this time (the key: threw it to Debose instead of Thompson--although Thompson made some good, tough catches as the half went on, while Debose dropped a couple of key easy ones) for the early TD. He moved the team smartly down the field in our 2nd possession despite the absence of a running game, and SHOULD have had his second TD pass--THREE TIMES! First Rainey caught his an fell down with no one between him and the endzone, then 2 different receivers dropped clean passes in their hands for 6. On third down in the 3rd possession, he succumbed once again to his demons, short-arming it under pressure right into the arms of a surprised linebacker who ran it back for the gift TD. That put the offense in a funk for most of the 2nd qrtr., not getting anything going and putting an already-tired defense in a hole, 'til they gave up their first real touchdown of the season (not counting that push-off late one from KY), until finally seeming to snap out of it when Brantley got them going again right before the half--until that pair of fateful plays, the weird no-reason/no-fumble play, then the injury itself. Had our receivers come through for him maybe he doesn't have the brain-blank that goes with those periodic underthrows; even WITH that gift-TD, I think he puts it on target in the endzone again on that last drive of his had he not been injured--an injury that maybe doesn't happen if we're tied with Bama or LEADING 14-10 like we SHOULD have been at that point, instead of feeling like he HAD to make a play to get the touchdown back and keep us in the game. In other words, there were a number of "turning points", and STILL a chance to make it a game even having had them go against us--if only for the last one, the injury that took him out of the game entirely.
As it was, had we just got a fieldgoal to end the half, my feeling WOULD have been the suspicion that we had given away too many points in a close game already to pull it out, especially minus the ability to move the ball on the ground, and they're ability to do so. However, I would have ALSO had to admit that with JB's evident hot hand thus far and our (at least 'til then) ability to keep THEIR offense somewhat in check, with certain adjustments we might still be able too outscore them in the 2nd half and overtake them after all.
Of course, none of that was possible, so we'll never know for sure, but it is a mark of how well JB was playing when he had his "head on right" (I don't know if we've ever had a QB whose emotional state-of-mind has had such an immediately dramatic practical effect on his performance in the game) that even with all the checks on the negative side of the ledger by that point (ie. just before the injury), I wasn't the only one that harbored at least the possibility that he could still bring us back. It is also a classic "tragic turning point", in that this one chance arose for him, and then was snatched away.