Well, it has finally happened! The DuBose era has come to any end. Finally. Now, a new man takes over the controls at Alabama. A class act in Dennis Franchione.

Franchione heads out of Fort Worth, TX, to T-town after the Mobile, Alabama Bowl, to take on the biggest challenge of his life. This is a dream come true for Franchione. As soon as Bama made the offer, he bit. And with good reason - Bama only has one of the most tradition-rich football programs in America. Why wouldn't he. Now he can compete for National Championships, something that TCU likely would not provide.

Franchione understands the pressure at Alabama as well. He knows the people won't accept losing season after losing season. DuBose has already proven that. And as he comes to campus, I think he'll make some good changes.... kinda like replacing Clinton with say, well, a better President. DuBose just seems to have tarnished the good name of being an Alabama Crimson Tide Head Football Coach. And now there are also NCAA Investigations that are going on which could hinder the Tide if anything is found. Franchione doesn't care. He wants to take this program and take it to heights it hasn't seen since '92 - THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

Personally, I think he can take us there. He has some of the best talent in the country already on this Tide squad 2001. When he recruits, heck, he'll just be stock-piling what's already one of the most talent-rich teams in the country. As far as the assistant coaches, I don't know who will stay and who will go. We have a couple that should stay... most importantly Ronnie Cottrell. But that's for Franchione to decide. He knows more about his staff than I do. I just trust that he will make the best decisions for the benefit of the University of Alabama.

From what I understand Franchione took over the University of New Mexico and turned their team around into a winning one, and then he trucked on over to Fort Worth to take over a struggling TCU team that only won ONE game before he took over.... now he has produced 3 winning seasons in a row, including a 10-win season this year. This bodes well for Alabama. We're in need of a major pick-me-up right now. We need some stability. We need some class. We need organization. Franchione answers all of these questions. HE IS THE ANSWER.

As far as next year goes, we'll have to wait and see. There are some knowns and unknowns... We KNOW he can coach, but how will he fare in the Powerful SEC? Only time will tell. Bamafans don't hope for a rebuilding year. We don't even expect to have a sub-par year. We already have the talent. It's up to Franchione to make it work, and I believe he will.

Some may say he's not a good coach because he hasn't come from a big-time college/conference. That remains to be seen. Take Steve Spurrier for example - he coached Duke in the lowly ACC before he was hired on at Florida. Diamond in the rough? Perhaps. Spurrier turned out to be quite a gem for Florida. Franchione could be a diamond for sure. His coaching experience has spoken for itself and that's why Moore got who he did. Moore wanted someone with HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE. Why do you think Mickey Andrews didn't get the job? There you go.

As for the 'A' List and the 'B' List, everyone knows Mal wanted to get either Butch Davis, Tommy Bowden, or Frank Beamer. After all three got contract extentions, Mal went down the list to find a coach that is actually wanted all over the country. Arizona State came a-calling Franchione, but with no avail. Don't think so - Bama needs a head coach too, and I'd say Bama has a slight edge over ASU in football tradition and prestige. Franchione may have been on the 'B' List, but honestly, I think he was more in the middle of the pack on the 'A' List. I mean, what has he done wrong? Let me know when you find out.

That's about it for now. Just my opinions on the new Coach-to-be at the University of Alabama. Here's to hoping that we will never have to relive the 2000 season EVER again... and here's to Franchione winning his 324th game at the University of Alabama!

Your host,
The Bamadog

BAMA Gets Blanked by Auburn, 9-0 (3-8), (3-5)

It's over - this season is over. There were NO good points about the Iron Bowl unless you were an Auburn fan. We didn't move the ball, we couldn't complete passes, we couldn't run the ball. Wait - I was wrong, we DID play defense and we DID hold them to only 9 points. Hmm.... sounds like the D did their job after all. Oh yeah, it was the Offense yet one more/last time to finish the DuBose era.

I want to talk about the game, but there's nothing to talk about. Nothing went right. We barely totaled 100 yards of offense on the whole day. Yeah, that's bad. GRADE: F

'There's next year' as they always say....

BAMA Embarrassed by MSU , 7-29 (3-7), (3-4)

Time is ticking... and football season is about over thank goodness. You'd think with the pre-season #3 team, we'd be looking forward to a little more this football season, but no. We really do suck. And to top off the game with a chance to try and make it look respectable, we try and punch it in from the 1 yard line and in 4 downs, we lose yardage and come away with no points - well, that's pretty much how this season has gone. It really couldn't be any worse.

I called the game 35-10 MSU and dang if I wasn't almost on the money. We did miss a FG (which is rare this year), so I guess I know this team pretty well. We won't score (much) and the other team will. Period. Oh, you want me to rank or talk about the offense/defense/coaching? ok.

OFFENSE: Sucked. Regardless of how he does in the spring, Zow will not be the starter next year. He has gone downhill since Alexander left and he shows no signs of getting better. Hope he gets that degree cuz he won't be going anywhere after college. Oh, and don't count on Milons leaving next year unless his grades aren't in order (see Michael Vaughn). He poses no threat in the NFL. Our RB's are good, but with no OL (the so-called "Pancake Posse"), no one could run behind those guys, seriously. Why do you think we always ran BEHIND CHRIS SAMUELS last year? Because the other guys are the same guys that are playing this year. Nuff said. Anyway, we sucked hard. More end of the year analysis after the Iron Bowl - on who's going where and what will happen next year...... oh, and I'm not being mean either... GRADE: F

DEFENSE: Sucked. We couldn't stop anything. We couldn't tackle. We couldn't get to Madkin. Were we even playing out there? Yes, but again, it helps is the D has time to rest instead of seeing the offense go 3 and out almost every series. I'd be tired too, but it's still no excuse.... GRADE: F

SPECIAL TEAMS: Missed FG by Thomas is a rarity, but no one is perfect. Punt coverage was awesome. Kick return coverage was the same - average at best. Returns were average. It's no wonder they get..... GRADE: C

COACHING: Sucked. DuBose says he hasn't given up. Well, you can't tell that on the sideline. He just has that dumb look on his face all the time. He has no passion. I guess when you know you're on the out, why would ya, huh? This is clearly not Stubbs' offense. No wonder he is leaving. He's not getting paid to run DuBose's lame offense. Why did we hire him - to have one good season where we DID run his offense after we lost to La Tech? Pulease. What a waste of a good offensive minded coach. Next season, everyone goes except for Ivy Williams and Ronnie Cottrell. And they should stay coaching the positions they coach now (RB's and TE/Recruiting respectively). Everyone else, especially Charlie Harbison (2ndary coach) can take a hike. These guys need to learn how to play football. Most of these coaches just don't make the cut. Granted we're playing young guys because we have injuries, but hey - other coaches are doing the same thing and they are doing alright. Bamafans are tired of excuses. That's why the coaching change. Oh - easy grade for MSU... when you constantly do something that's not working for you and you still do it again and again and again and it still doesn't work, you have to wonder. Has anyone heard of a rollout or option play or MILONS AT QB when we have the ball on the 1 yard line? Granted, the closest distance between to points is a line, but when the OL doesn't even make a peephole for the RB to get thru, you have to try other options. Plus they shut us down once before when it was 4th and inches... you'd think we'd learn from our mistakes. I guess not - duh! GRADE: F

IRON BOWL PREVIEW: AU comes to town for the first time in recent football history. Unfortunately, they come to T-town at a time when Bama football is at an all-time low... yes, even worse than DuBose's first year with 4-7 as a final record. We will finish the season at 3-8. Yes, AU will beat us in Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday which sucks hard. But when you have a coach that doesn't seem motivated, the players feed off that and play like the coaches coach. No wonder we are losing so many games this year.

Leard will have a hay-day against the Tide since we have no 2ndary. Oh, Milo Lewis is gone after this year. What a huge loss (yeah, ok). We pretty much shut down Ronnie Daniels last year, but don't count on it this year. Look for a 100+ yard day for the all-american. Rudi Johnson will run all over the Tide. As a matter of fact, they will probably break even more records against this last DuBose team. Seems like everybody's breaking team records when they play the Tide this year. Why should this game be any different.

Ok - some people say "Throw away the record books on this one" & I'm one of those people. And even though you throw away records, stats, etc., we'll still lose. That's what's sad. Last time we were this bad and we played AU, it was in Awbun when we passed on 3rd down and had the fumble.... remember that? Well, it will be worse this year. We won't even have that chance to win. Zow is still QB and Stubbs is still running the offense out of the DuBose High Octane Offensive Playbook instead of the Stubbs Lame Running Plays That Don't Work Playbook. Go figure. :)

One last question before I leave this week's take - if Zow is playing so poorly late in the game and there's no chance of us winning (which was obvious really in the 3rd quarter), why in the heck don't you play Jonathon Richey?? Sure he may not score, but hey - is Zow doing any better. You never know. I do know that in Spurrier's offense, if his QB is playing terribly by the 1st quarter, he gets yanked and the other guy may do better. Is DuBose just trying to keep Zow as his friend and life-long buddy by still playing him? How freakin' lame. Put in Richey - It just can't get any worse. I promise - it can't. Actually, it will get worse for Bama as they fall to 3-8 on the season. People didn't think it could be worse in '97 when DuBose led us to a whopping 4-7....well you were wrong. Try this season.
BAMA 13 Auburn 38

BAMA Loses Streak in Baton Rouge, 28-30 (3-6), (3-3)

Since last week's take went so well and I'm about fed up with this season, I'll continue the same format as before. Here goes...

The offense was pathetic without Dustin McClintock. What will we look like next year when he's gone? Zow and the offense still don't actually try to do anything till the last quarter of the game. If they would put that kind of effort into the whole game, we'd be the #1 team in the country. I can't believe how they just don't have any killer instinct to put games away early.

The defense sayed on the field way too long except for maybe the 3rd quarter. Anyone can score on our D when the offense continually goes 3 and out every time.

Coaching question - When we KEPT on running behind right tackle EVERY SINGLE PLAY and it WORKED every single time... why didn't we just do the same thing on the very next drive. If they weren't stopping it, why get away from it. Because of that, we gave up the ball and then LSU scored to take the lead.... remember the fumble? That was when the game got away from us. Amazing what ONE turnover will do to a game & the outcome of a game, huh?

Neal Thomas is still Bama's MVP for the year. At least we have him going into next year. Let's just hope he doesn't get hurt between now and then.

Any word on if Zow is REALLY sucking, why we can't put Freddie Milons back at QB so we can have a scrambler back there and someone who might can make a play or two? If Zow is TOTALLY ineffective, what have we got to lose, especially since Milons plays a non-factor in the WR part of the game.

Defense played about as good as one could expect since we are hurting injury-wise. But still, giving up 30 points - you have to dig down deep, no matter what the offense is doing. Remember '92 when we had no offense? The D pulled us through. They need to start playing like that. Gee, what a concept. I know we don't have Curry, London, Copeland, Langham, and Teague, but man, it's just like they don't play as a unit back there. And they keep getting burned by the same plays time and time again... week in and week out. They don't seem to apply what they have learned in previous games in the present game. Why? Gotta be coaching or something.

Special teams did ok, but giving up too many yards on kickoffs. Thomas is place-kicking well.... though his kickoffs could be a bit better. I'm not gonna complain though - as long as he keeps putting up FG's when asked. Also, the special teams blocked an extra point attempt to keep Bama with the lead.... only for the offense to give it up on the very next drive.

I could say more, but I'm on a plane outbound for Atlanta and I'm almost there... so that's it. Enjoy this version of Bamadog's Take on the Game... it's been real.

BAMA/Mississippi State PREVIEW: Ok, I'll make time for the preview. Almost forgot about that. Easy - JUST WIN. MSU is #15 in the country and we are not. We are playing like a high school team. Can Central-Tuscaloosa join our league or better yet, can we join theirs? MSU will pound us into the ground, seriously. Their running game will pulverize us. They have a load of Bulls on the front line of their O and D lines. I doubt we'll get 2 sacks the whole game against them, they are that good.... plus we are hurting on the DL. Our only hope is that we get a little lucky. Miree should start this week if Galloway can't make it. Zow can't get hurt, but it's possible that he does get hurt since we're playing against a VERY aggressive Joe Lee Dunn defense. If we DO pull out a win somehow, it will be with the leg of Neal Thomas. But honestly, I don't see our D being able to stop them... not many other teams have - and we're just limping into this game. Too many injuries. Just to name a few that have killed us off and on during the season - Watts, Moorehead, Beard, Galloway, Hogan, Draper, G. Dixon, King, Milons, McClintock (discipline), T. Dixon. This could be a reason why our team hasn't played consistantly - no definite starting group each week. Somebody's always out hurt or something.

Anyway, back to the MSU game - it will be tough, and Bama CAN pull it out... but only if we have a GREAT game. MSU will be ready because a visit to the SEC Champion Game is at stake. Look for MSU to stick it to the Tide... though I hope I'm 500% wrong. Roll Tide anyway.....
BAMA 10 MSU 34

BAMA Loses Homecoming to UCF, 40-38 (3-5), (3-2)

It's one of those weeks when I REALLY REALLY REALLY dread writing about the game. I mean, what can you say? The story of the game was turnovers and penalties. I'll just make it a "potpourri" take on the game this week. No particular organization since that's what the Tide looks like these days, if ya knowutimean.

On offense, Zow was horrible. 4 interceptions turned into 2 TD's and 2 FG's for UCF. That's 20 points right there. Gee, just one of those back and we might win the game, who knows.

The one fumble didn't result in a UCF score. Imagine that. Rushing the football was there, but not spectacular. Galloway came on late, but this needs to happen a lot sooner.

Neal Thomas is kicking the fire out of the ball on kickoffs... but mostly on FG's and PAT's. He is a perfect 20 of 20 in his last kicking attempts.... 13 PAT's and 7 FG's. Question - and this could win the game for us last week. We get to the 35 yard line against UCF and DuBose and company opt to PUNT THE FREAKIN' FOOTBALL???????? Hello, McFly!!! Is anybody home???? It's only a 52 yard FG and the field was dry and ready to go for Thomas. Do they have THAT little faith in Thomas's leg? I mean, a FG and UCF is forced to go for a TD at the end of the game. Maybe they get it and maybe they don't.... but it sure as heck is harder to score a TD than a FG. Thomas should have tried to kick a FG there. Unless he was hurt or something (which he wasn't), that was a TERRRRRRIBLE CALL!

Speaking of coaching, is there ANY way possible to teach the defense to WATCH THE BALL before they jump offsides!!! How stupid is that???!!!! You don't jump to the offensive side of the ball until the ball is snapped. Such a SIMPLE rule, yet so HARD to comprehend. Why? And OL - the count is on 2, not 1. Don't move until the ball is snapped. And let's eliminate dumb freakin' late hits on the punter/kicker/out-of-bounder. Hello? This ain't rocket science. Is a football player's brain actually the size of a pellet? C'mon guys! Think! And let's make sure we have 11 men on the field so we don't have to waste yet ANOTHER timeout. Thanks.

The TE screen worked once for the 100th time in a row. TD this time to Shawn Draper. Look at him bumblin' and stumblin' down the sideline. That was a sight to see....

Um, the defense. What defense? Another week - another underclassman QB to drive up and down the field on us. Of course, I do realize that when the offense goes 3-and-out, it makes it very hard on the D to perform.... and then you have those turnovers by the offense (5). You have to wonder if it's really the D's fault at times. Plus we DID start Kecalf Bailey at cornerback. You KNOW we are hurtin' when you see #13 line up at corner. All the QB has to do is say, 'whoever is lined up on #13, the ball is coming to you!' And that's what happened... and so we got burned many a time over there. Was it that hard to figure out the weak link on the D?

And how many times do we touch the QB instead of bringing him down. We kinda pat them on the leg or arm and hope they fall down. Stop running past him and nail him between the numbers. It's time to tackle like MEN!

Did I mention the kicking game was great Saturday?

40 points is the 2nd most points given up in Bryant-Denny Stadium EVER. And it was to a non-conference school ON HOMECOMING. How does that happen? Oh, 40 points is the most points scored on Bama at homecoming. I knew there was a record in there somewhere. How lame. Do we have to play Tuscaloosa-Central to win a homecoming game? Bama has only won 2 of the last 4 homecoming games at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Oh, DuBose is finally out this week. Effective at the end of the season, DuBose's tenure at the University as Head Coach will be over. Now, just imagine Bama winning its next 4 games.... yeah, that would mean finishing up 3-0 and winning the conference title. That would put us in the Sugar Bowl (yes, a BCS Bowl). What do you do then? Yep - you still get rid of him. Because you've already said it. Personally, I'd a waited until after the LSU game to make the call, just to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, we are 3-5 -- one more loss and Bama definitely has a losing season and will not go to a Bowl. The last 2 games would be for fun basically. Of course you HAVE to beat Auburn regardless, huh, so that might still be a good game. So it all comes down to this weekend. Will Bama pull it out or have a losing season. Find out Saturday at 2:30 on CBS.

UCF has a winning record against the Tide. They are now 1-0 all time against Alabama. Sad. Oh, and Alabama is the FIRST SEC team UCF has EVER beaten. They have lost to 13 or so straight SEC Opponents in a row up till now. Great to be the first one they beat, huh? Yes, it's time for another head coach. You just don't lose to UCF AND USM AND UCLA in the same season. The last time we lost to all of our non-conference opponents was something like 1954. This is NOT Alabama football. And who do we start out with next year???? Yep - you guessed it - UCLA in Tuscaloosa.

What else??..... Oh yeah, Bailey (#13) is a senior this year. That's good news.

I'm trying to think of good things to say, but in all honesty, I can't think of much. I try to see the bright side and give credit where credit is due... but it realistically could be another 4-7 season or worse.... or may I say better. 4-7? Pretty bad when you start and end your head coaching career with the same record when it's 4-7. Shaun and Chris - we miss you guys, man. Without you, we would have had a losing season last year too.

I guess that's it. I'm kinda at a loss of words and really hope we can turn out 6-5 though that's pushing it. Here's to sending off DuBose with a winning season and another SEC Championship.... Cheers.

BAMA/LSU PREVIEW: Yeah, everyone knows that Bama hasn't lost in Baton Rouge since 1969. Well, 2 years ago, LSU was supposed to ream us good, and the hex took over and gave the Tide the victory in the waning moments of the game as Zow hit Quincy Carter twice on tipped passes to get the win. It was like magic! Now, does the Tide have what it takes to pull a rabbit out of its hat again? Based on what we've seen this year, no. But what do I know? I'm just the Bamadog. I'm right one minute and wrong the next. It's just an opinion and stuff. Nick Saban and his staff are heading in the right direction this year winning huge games over UT and Miss State, both games going to OT. They lost big to Florida though. But hey - you can't win 'em all, right?

Bama comes to LSU losing homecoming to UCF... but the week before, shallacked Ole Miss. Was Ole Miss really THAT BAD, or was Bama really THAT GOOD that day? Who knows. We do know that the team doesn't look very motivated. Maybe DuBose leaving the Tide will motivate them to send the coach off in a good way. Let's hope... but let's roll the dice and see what happens. If the Tide can cut back on turnovers and keep that "on-fire" QB from running up and down the field on us, we might pull it out. If we are constantly unorganized and play dumb on the DL and OL, then look for a long drawn-out game that looks like 30-6, Tigers. And and YOU BET the goal posts will come down if they beat the Tide. Not something we want to see as we pull into the home stretch where we REALLY need to win games. Can we do it? yes. Will we? I rolled snake eyes, so it doesn't look good for the Tide. Here's hoping I am TOTALLY WRONG going into the home stretch. ROLL TIDE!
BAMA 13 LSU 35

UT Easily Handles Bama... , 20-10 (3-4), (3-2)

BLAH. BLAH. That's the taste in my mouth after watching the game on Saturday afternoon after UT beat Alabama in Knoxville, 20-10 on national TV one more time. It's great that we are on TV all the time, but when you continually lose, it can't be good for recruiting... but then again, it might be good advertising for coaching positions. Who knows? I just know that we proved that last week was either a major fluke, or Ole Miss was really THAT bad. And what's even more astounding is that we still control our own destiny for the SEC West Championship. Everyone would have at least 2 losses if we win out, and wins over the rest of the teams on our schedule would result in us winning the head-to-head tie-breaker. So we're still not out of it. One more loss and we will be out of it... unless it's to UCF next weekend for homecoming. Wouldn't that suck if we lost that game. We could legitimately go to the SECC Game with a 6-5 record due to losing all 3 non-conference games and 2 SEC games. How screwed up would that be?

Well, let's hope we DO win next week and get our record back up to .500 and then take care of business down the stretch. Our biggest game will obviously be Miss. St. Can we beat them? Sure we can. Could we beat UT? Sure we can, but yesterday at the craps table, the coaches rolled snake eyes so that how we decided to play yesterday. We'll roll the dice again at homecoming and hopefully, we'll roll a 7 or something. Every week, I tell ya - you just don't know which Bama team is going to show up. I wonder why REAL teams like Nebraska, FSU, Florida, Virginia Tech, etc... why don't they have the same "it takes 5-6 games to figure out what we are doing" syndrome? Other teams start of the season playing like they are champions... why can't we? Since the talent seems to be there from what we've seen in the recruiting wars, it has to be the coaching. How many times do we have to hear DuBose say "it's my fault the team's not ready"? It's great he's putting the blame on himself, but why can he NOT have this team ready. If he is CONSTANTLY not having this team ready week-in and week-out, it's obvious that he's not the man for the job.

If my boss came up to me and I said that it's my fault that I don't have my project ready every week and it was due long ago, do you think I'd still be hanging around? Nope. In college, the norm is to take care of business after the season, and if DuBose isn't careful (and who knows - maybe it's already too late or in the making), he'll be gone at the end of the season. Only the people in the athletic office know for sure though.... but things don't look good. Without Shaun Alexander and Chris Samuels last year, I wonder how we would have done, ya know? Probably about the same as this year or worse. Anyway, let's talk....

OFFENSE: What offense? Oh we left that in Tuscaloosa last weekend against Ole Miss High School. What? We're in a high school league? Yeah, because that's how we play - like a bunch of high-schoolers. We finally got a dose of reality Saturday. The real Zow was back though I thought he'd play a lot better not having Watts to watch out for on the bench. Overthrowing passes, not getting rid of the football and taking sacks galore. There was no threat of a passing game, so UT stacked up the line against the run to hold Bama to a season low 44 yards or so. Pretty sad if you ask me. Zow, a Junior, vs a freshman in his first start... and in a huge rivalry game. The freshman outplayed the junior. But is that so surprising? Zow is clearly not the QB he was last year. He did throw his FIRST TD pass of the season, but also threw a couple more interceptions to pad his season total to 9 or 10 int's on the year.

BUT, we don't really have a choice anymore do we? Richey won't be coming into the game unless Zow gets hurt, so we have to deal with this for 4 more games. If we keep playing like this, it WILL ONLY be 4 more games - no SECC Game and no bowl if we keep this up. It just comes down to execution and we aren't doing it. Every blue moon, we might get a good passing play that picks up good yardage... but when you're not consistent at doing those things, nothing happens, which is what DID happen on Saturday.

The running game was pretty much non-existent. I can't even remember a game where we had only 40 some-odd yards rushing. I think we had maybe 8 yards of rushing in the 1st half. What is that about? I thought this was the team that led the SEC in rushing totals so far this year. It WAS. Not anymore. It comes down to the OL making holes for our RB's and the passing game has to be there to open up the running game. Neither happened, thus, UT shut us down on the ground. Carter had another decent game catching high and wide passes... nothing in stride of course. That would be too easy, huh? :) A.C. has proven that HE is the goto man on this offense, not Freddie Milons. Freddie has become an unknown in this offense. He's just the guy who catches passes at the line of scrimmage and gets 1-3 yards after the catch. Call it play calling, call it Milons. Call it what you want, but Milons is not really a threat anymore for some reason. Defenses should be watching A.C. more than anyone. Maybe if Milons lined up as QB a little more, maybe he could work some of his magic. I don't know - I'm just a spectator... the Bamadog. I would just hope that the coaches know best. I guess that's about it. I mean, you all saw the game. Were we not pathetic?

I'd have to say that the fumble at the 3 yard line had to really be the play that broke our own back. We were right there knockin' on the door. Miree helped get us down there and then he fumbled the ball. I know he's a freshman, but he's still got to wrap up the ball when it gets that close to the goal line. It's plays like that that McCorvey remembers... you think he'll get the ball next time in that situation? Maybe so, cuz now he knows how humiliating and how awful it feels to be so close and to be the one that might have cost us the game late in the 4th quarter. But know one knows what "would have happened". One thing's for sure - if we score, then we're only one score from tying or winning the game. Hopefully he'll learn from it. It's not a good feeling.... Overall, not so good. Only 10 measley points. UT's defense is good, but not THAT good. We should have scored more and been more disciplined on Offense. Everyone needs to improve. Running game was terrible... but I know we can do better in the last 4 games.Grade: D

DEFENSE: I think I know why the defense columns are so short in my takes on the game - I write so much on the offense I'm tired by the time I get to this point. heh, heh... Anyway, the defense had an ok game. Giving up 20 points ain't nothing to write home about, but we did shut them down late in the game to give our offense a chance to come back. But then again, did we REALLY expect them to be pass-happy at the end. They played smart, even though they played "not to lose." They knew Bama wouldn't score anymore points, so they just did what they could in running down the clock. They were up 2 scores, and we were having trouble putting the ball either in the end zone or thru the uprights... so they did what they had to do to win their first SEC game.

The D-line, man, I don't know HOW many times they are going to get to the QB and let him get away. It's like we never hardly wrap up the guy... and when we DO try and tackle him, we grab him, slide down to his ankle while he's still standing up and try to pull him down by his ankle.... in the meantime, he has about 2-3 more seconds before he actually falls down to get the pass away. Do we know HOW TO TACKLE??? YOU WRAP HIM UP, BABY!!!! No more of this panzy, wussy tackling. We're not playing other high schools. Heck, these players look as though they couldn't tackle my sister. Then on other plays, they look like they are playing in the NFL. Consistency - that's mainly what we lack... should I roll the dice again just for the defense.

Well, I can't complain a whole heckuva lot, but man, that freshman ate us up when he had the chance. We did stop the run, but we didn't stop the QB and make him hurry up his passes very much. In our game, Zow looked like the freshman. We have also got to stop jumping offsides. How many times are we going to give the other team FREE 1ST DOWNS???!!! One drive, we gave them 2 or 3 first downs just because we were so stupid that we couldn't wait till the ball was snapped before we moved. Then we "roughed" (bad call maybe) the kicker. Just stay away from the moron kicker! If you ain't gonna block it, then don't give them a chance or reason to call you on it. Duh, people. Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated? :) From what I've heard from other people who e-mail me, I'm not even the maddest fan out there. I'm mediocre actually.

The 2ndary had an ok game, but seem to be like wussies when we get blocked. It's like we have no muscle out there when WR's are blocking downfield. Maybe they can learn how to avoid blocks and make tackles here and there a bit better. On a good note, Tony Dixon had a great game. He stepped up and made some good tackles... and Kenny King played well, despite being slightly injured. I hope Spencer makes it to next week. We don't need to lose him for the season. We've lost too much already. I'm still in shock - can we get any worse? Actually we aren't that bad... but we aren't that good either. That must be why we are 3-4 and classified as a run-of-the-mill team these days.... :( Defense can still do better.... tackling can be better and more QB penetration resulting in more sacks.... Grade: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS: Special teams might actually be a good point. I mean, they aren't winning games for us, but they seem to provide a spark every now and then. Let's take a look at why - Neal Thomas. Period. :) Is he not the man this year? So far, he's my MVP on the year... but A.C. is catching up. I think they actually classified his FG as 49 yards, but during the telecast they said 50 yards. It barely squeaks over the crossbar... but it was good and that's all that matters... and he's the best thing that's happened to this team this year. I actually don't hold my breath anymore for XP's and FG's. I, like most people, are very confident in this guy. Great Job, Neal. Still perfect on the year on PAT's. He has also taken over the kickoff duties. He did pretty well, but we could still use a major leg (ie, Wild Thang, William Watts - remember him?). The more we can kickoff in the endzone the better, because we can't tackle very well on kickoffs. Punt returns are slightly different - we have actually tackled pretty good on punt coverages. Lane Bearden had a good game punting the ball... long one, short one, etc.... decent average. One that won't kill us. Overall, an average game with a long FG. Good job. Still need longer kickoffs and we'll be ok. Grade A-

COACHING: This is the part everyone seems to be talking about. "WHO IS CALLING THE PLAYS FOR THIS TEAM" everyone asks. Well, I've already addressed this in last week's take I believe, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much. Stubbs has GOT to be let loose like last year. He is obviously NOT running HIS offense. He's running DuBose's offense and that's the reason Stubbs will leave at the end of this year. He's pretty much made that public knowledge. Whether it's being the next Head Coach at BYU or just being somewhere as an offensive coordinator with someone who can appreciate the system he brings to the table. We sure did like the plan he had last year - why can't he be unleashed again?? Hmmm?? This is insane. Sooo much talent and we're not doing anything with it. It's time to make some changes. I don't know who stays or who goes, but there will be some changes at the end of this year. In my honest opinion, if we don't finish at least 6-5, look for DuBose to voluntarily resign. He was ready after that 0-21 loss to USM earlier in the season... he'll step down not because of Mal Moore or the fans, but because he knows he's just not the man for this job.

I like the Coach, but I really think he got the job based on popularity, not on his past. If you look at his past, he really did not qualify to be the Head Coach at the University of Alabama. That's my honest opinion and you can do with it what you want. DuBose thinks he is the cause for this crappy play of this team... if he still thinks that at the end of the year, he will step down on his own. If we win out, we will go to the SEC Championship Game again... if we win that one and then make it to the BCS, man, wouldn't that be a major wrench he throws in the mix? :)

What to do? Just get these players ready to play for homecoming, MSU, LSU, and AU and hope for the best. I'll bring my dice again for next week's game. I know it's UCF, but, well, this week, we rolled snake eyes. Next week, maybe we throw 'em again.... who knows. Man, we are nothing more than a crap-shoot. But Roll Tide anyway! GET THIS TEAM READY - we are all tired of excuses of why this team is not ready to play. FSU is always ready; Nebraska is alwasy ready; - what's stopping us??? We are a school with tradition. What happened to that??? Grade: C-

BAMA/UCF PREVIEW: Question is "Can Bama beat the UCF Knights"? Again, I reserve the right to roll my dice just before gametime, ok? Who shows up - Superman-Zow or Bizarro-Zow? Superman-Zow will throw good passes and bring Bama another win, if not a big win... Bizarro-Zow will squander and throw a few interceptions, only to see the defense of UCF run a couple back for TD's putting a stake (or sword) into the backs of the Crimson Tide.

And what will the coaches do? Will they figure out a way to get the ball in the best players' hands and drive the defense crazy? Maybe. Maybe not. Again, I save my dice. Can we have some discipline out there and cut back on the penalties? That seems to be something the coaches could help with Big-time. Last year, I stated what they could do to cut back on penalties. Everytime someone commits a "bonehead" penalty (offsides, false start, late hit on someone, personal foul/facemask, holding, illegal motion, 12 men on the field, etc.)... have them run laps around a full football field equivalent to the number on their jersey. If their number is less than 10, multiply it by 10. You do that a few times, and maybe you'll remember that in a game, huh? It's time to do something because there's just NO excuse for STUPID penalties. Pass interference, defensive holding, offensive interference, and judgement calls are ok... you sometimes can't help those,... I'm just talking about the stupid ones.

Hey all of that stuff could have gone under the coaching section - oh well. Back to the UCF game - they are a decent team, but since the departure of Dante Culpepper, this team isn't quite the same as they were. Bama "should" win this game... easily as a matter of fact (on paper). But players win games, not paper. UCF knows they are playing a very vulnerable team... so don't look for them to back down. The Knights are looking for the upset. Will Bama pull it out. I think for homecoming, they do. Besides, we are playing at home - a place where we seem to be playing well this year. I'll roll a lucky sevent this week and give the Tide the edge... but don't count the Knights out - we roll the dice on every play. :)
BAMA 27 UCF 17

BAMA Shallacks Ole Miss, 45-7 (3-3), (3-1)

Man - what a busy week! And yet another week when #3 falls in the polls. I tell you, I don't want to ever be #3 again. It's too easy to lose once you get there. Bama... Michigan... Florida... and now Kansas State. Who is next? Will it be Oklahoma next weekend against Nebraska? Anywho, that's another question for another day I guess. But what about Bama? Seems to me that we might actually be starting to click a little. We've beat 2 straight Top 25 teams (granted they were #23 and #25) and now we face the Tennessee Volunteers. And the last game against the Rebels wasn't just a win, it was a butt-whippin' if ya knowutimean.

Bama comes off the off-week and the previous week, the coaches reall got on the players and practically made practice like boot camp from what I heard. No more being soft and we'll come around crap. It was time to put up or shut up and the coaches did just that. We needed it too. We needed a big lead in order to get Jonathon Richey a few snaps at the end of the game... I mean, he's one significant injury from being the starting QB for this Tide team... and he's a non-scholarship player. Well, let's see what we did right and what we did wrong this week against Ole Miss....

OFFENSE: The offense rolled all day Saturday. It started out with Watts at the healm... then he went down with an ACL injury. I mean, what's new this year? Everyone seems to be tearing their ACL. STOP IT!! :) Anyway, like the coaches have said all year - having 2 great QB's is good, not bad... and now we see why. Watts gets hurt? No problem. We have Zow on the sideline. Yeah, he can play too. And that he did. Zow had probably the 2nd best outing he's had at Bama since he's been there. His best probably came in the Swamp last year. Remember that one? :) Anyway, Zow came in for the injured Watts and just lit everything up. Ahmaad Galloway and Miree pitched in and had a great solid day of rushing the football. Heck, even Draper got in the mix catching a couple of long passes. There was just nothing the offense couldn't do on Saturday. About the only miscue the offense made was the fade pass by Zow that was intercepted. Other than that, A-O.K. And the WR's, especially A.C. for the 2nd straight game, had great games. A.C. caught a career high in number of yards with 187 or something (I don't recall the exact stat). And Sam Collins, Jason McAddley, Derrick Woods, and Arvin Richard got in the mix too. Ya know, with Milons out, I think that might have actually improved our offense. Seems like when Milons is in the lineup, we try and force the ball to him even when he's covered. Now, our QB's are looking for other guys to get the ball to, and low and behold, we have guys open all over the field. Woods made 2 great catches in the game and looks to be a goto guy in the future. He's got good height and great hands. And you just can't say enough for Zow though. He comes into the game with no pressure on him and just delivers a great game. He now has a string of 12 straight passes without a drop. He can continue that streak going into the UT game this coming weekend. The old record was set by Jay Barker with 11 complete passes.

And like what most people already can figure out and something I saw when he came in the game, was that he no longer has to look over his shoulder (or look in front of him) for Watts to take over is he messes up. No longer the need to "press" anymore. Now he can be himself and just have fun and win games. He seems to play MUCH MUCH better when he's not pressured by Watts... Has anyone else noticed that?

I will say that Watts was outplaying him for a while, but if Zow can just stop overthrowing our WR's (he did great in the Ole Miss game), he'd be one of the best QB's in the country. He just got into a long stretch where he couldn't hit the big side of a barn. He was always throwing the ball out of bounds or throwing way too high. Hopefully now that he's settled down (hopefully), he can help us in the long haul the rest of the year.

And lastly, the OL. They did another great job Saturday. They opened up plenty of holes for the RB's to run thru and they protected Zow about as good as any line in the country. We're gonna need that against UT. Oh, and what about that play where Zow just decided to run it up the middle instead of spiking the ball? Well, that was just a good heads-up play. Good thing he made it to the end zone, huh? We'da been ok since we still had a timeout, but still a good heads up play. And another thing - we needed to score a lot - it enabled Richey to get in some snaps and lead Bama to another score on the night. If anything happens to Zow the rest of the year (knock on wood), he'll be the man. It's good to get him some "REAL" game experience in case something happens. Bamafans could finally sit back and relax for once in a looooooong time. For some reason, Bama just Ole Miss's number. I just hope we keep it....

Overall, great job... the best game Bama has had in the tenure of Mike DuBose... minus a couple of turnovers & a few too many penalties on the offensive line. :) Grade: A-

DEFENSE: Can you say domination?? That's exactly what the Bama 'D' did to the Ole Miss Rebels. Of course, the plan was to stop McAllister and they did that... though he was hurt... then they said, let's stick to the gameplan... now we have to stop Gunn. And they did just that. They were going to make Miller (QB) win the game for them. And they didn't come close. Romaro Miller threw 3 interceptions that helped let Bama stay in the lead and actually pile on more points. Of course, a couple of those were tipped passes, but they still count. The SEC's leading QB in passing efficiency was a marked man. Not much he could do against a determined Bama D Saturday night. Bama's front 4 were just reeking havock all over the place. And when the RB's finally got outside, there's Tony Dixon or Victor Ellis to stop a long gain and make it a short one. The 2ndary had a good game too, though they should have given up one more TD if Eli Manning could have connected on the long ball one time. But you can't stop them all... just stop MOST of them and you'll usually come out on top. Overall, a good job - let's cut back on penalties. Wait for the ball to be snapped before you jump, ok guys? Other than that, looked like the Bama of old. Again, let's carry this over to the UT game this weekend. Some of the younger guys really got some good playing time this week, including Antwan Odom who got to start in this first Bama game at DE. Grade: A

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Special teams unit was a great one against Ole Miss - probably the best game they've had all year. A blocked FG returned for a TD, 3 FG's, many an extra point... I mean what more could you ask for? And the guy who ran back the blocked FG was my favorite (grunt, grunt) player in Kecalf Bailey. :) He finally did something right - at least he wasn't playing in the 2ndary. heh, heh... But I did ask what more could you ask for, right? Well, we all want more kicks in the end zone. That's about the only thing we lack. When we have to go to Chris Kemp to land a "sky kick" to the 30, something is terribly wrong. DuBose has said that Neil Thomas the FG kicker will probably get kickoff duties this week.

Speaking of Neil Thomas, HOW ABOUT NEIL THOMAS, BABY!!! Is he the man this year, or what?? This guy looks to be just as good if not better than even Michael Proctor. He's got good form, height, distance, accuracy.... If it comes down to the wire, DuBose won't hesitate to call on Thomas. He's been dead-on all year long.

Bearden has done well on punts, but should be replaced at kicking the ball off.... look for Thomas to kickoff for the Bama/UT game. I think that's it. Great job, guys! Grade: A

COACHING: You had to know Bama was about to have a breakout game... it was just a matter of time before we actually played like we were the #3 team in the country. Even though the coaches don't like the fact that Watts got hurt, they can now end the QB battle and have Zow "be the Man" the rest of the way barring another injury. They musta done well these last 2 weeks in practice because this team came out posessed in every aspect of the game almost. It took them a quarter of football to finally get there, but when they did - BLAM! They socked it to 'em.

Kudos to the coaching staff for finally getting their crap together and making things work. And was it me or did we line up in the shotgun a whole heck-uv-a lot? Maybe we should try that the rest of the year. Ya know, I can't help but remember last year when we lost the La. Tech game and DuBose told Stubbs to "cut loose on the offense". Well, this year, the same thing has happened, only we didn't hear it verbally or in the news/internet. This was NO Bama offense that we've been lining up all year. If it had been, we'da seen more shotgun throughout the year. We looked like Kentucky out there, having only one running play - the Draw. I think Stubbs might have been let loose once again - it's evident in the play calling. We finally get movement out of the offense and Zow just about has a career night in passing completion percentage... though Ole Miss's thin 'D' did help us out a bit.

Maybe this game was a fluke. I choose not to think so. We've beaten 2 good teams 1) USC's only loss it to Bama 2) and Ole Miss was one of the favorites to win the SEC West. They now have 2 losses on the year, one of those from Bama. Bama now controls its own destiny in the West. We just have to beat Tennessee and everybody else for the most part. That loss to Arkansas really hurt us.... and we can't lose anymore to have a legitimate chance at winning the West. It's time for the coaches to keep on keepin' on. They did a great job without Milons, Watts, and Jones, Jr. Now with Milons back in the lineup (probable), we have even one more weapon. The goal is still the game... to win the West and win the SEC... thus taking us back to a BCS Bowl. If the coaches can just keep this team focused on the NEXT GAME and not the end of the season, and just let our guys have fun, we can do it. One thing - let's teach our guys how NOT to move before the snap of the ball... :) Game plan for next weekend - BEAT TENNESSEE. Grade: A

BAMA/TENNESSEE PREVIEW: THE 3RD SATURDAY IN OCTOBER. That has a nice ring to it, huh? And with the new SEC Schedule that will be coming out in a couple of years, we'll keep this long rivalry intact, rotating in 2 other East schools with UT permanently on the schedule. It was just the right thing to do. I'm gonna miss Vandy. :)

As for Saturday, this is a great chance for the Tide to end a LONG 5 year losing skid to the Vols. It all started with Peyton Manning and continued thru Tee Martin. Now they have A.J. Suggs and this other kid... and it's the other kid that will probably get the start against Bama. Heck, I can't remember his name. Anywho, they are both freshmen, so look for the Bama D to have a very hard pass rush. The main focus though will be on Travis Henry - one of the best running backs in the NCAA, in my opinion. He will be the key to the Vols winning the game, and the Bama Coaches know that. UT is 0-3 in the SEC and 2-3 overall... heck, they aren't even ranked. Strange, huh? UT could fall to 0-4 if they lose to the Tide... marks that would resemble Kentucky in recent years. The game is on ABC nationally at 2:30 Central time. I will be in Atlanta this weekend on business, so I'll find a TV or something.

Back to the game - this game will come down to who can run the football. I'd like to give Bama the nod, but it will be close. I think once the Bama coaching staff puts Brandon Miree in the game, he will punish the Vol defense a little more than Galloway can do. He's just a big ole Meanie! ha ha That will open up the passing game - and that leads right into the hands of Zow and Carter. If Carter and Zow resemble anything like they showed against Ole Miss, it could be a long day for UT. If Zow starts overthrowing WR's and starts getting picked off, it could be a long day for Bama. This Bama team is like playing craps (like I've always said)... you just never know which team is gonna show up. But once Bama starts pouring on the running game, it will wear down the UT Defense. Either Freshman QB is gonna throw some picks and the D will make them pay. Zow will have another great game, and Carter proves that he is now THE MAN on this offensive unit. Milons will be slowed by his injury so don't look for him to get the ball much. Watch for Shaun Draper - he will be the key in a couple of passing plays that make key 1st downs.

I wanna say it will be a close game - I mean, it usually is. UT blew us out one year in the 90's and we blew them out in '89. With UT having such a down year, I predict a Bama rout to be on. Granted, you can about treat this like the Iron Bowl and throw out the stat books because each team KNOWS how important this game is. This is Bama's 2nd biggest rivalry to Auburn, and some would say it IS the biggest because of the tradition behind the game. Whichever you choose, it's gonna be a good one. With Bama coming back after a disappointing start, and UT still down after being 0-3, it's just time for Bama to finally beat those guys. This is a series of streaks, and now, it's Bama's turn to start their own streak. The Tide wins defensively with the offense capitalizing on mistakes by the UT offense (let's hope, huh!)... Usually I try not to be biased, and with what I've seen this year from both teams I honestly think the score will be..............
BAMA 30 TENNESSEE 24

BAMA Beats Those Cocks! 27-17 (2-3), (2-1)

Man! What a game! Scoring, Defense, Special Teams, Turnovers... almost everything you wanted to see was here. Of course there's no way it could make that LSU/UT game though. Did y'all see that one? Bama/Florida in the swamp last year was the game of the year - this year, it could be the LSU/UT game.

Anyway, back to the game at hand, the Tide finally played a game it needed to win and won. If Bama had any chance at winning the west, it HAD to beat S. Carolina (and every SEC team left on the schedule). This will help the morale of our team bigtime, especially since USC was #23 in the country (though they could have been overrated so says Lou Holtz). It was a tight game - one that Bama could not put away until the very end of the game. Just when we thought we might have pulled away, USC comes down the field and scores more points. Since I had a job to do in B'ham the night before, I thought I might stay an extra day and see what was happening in T-town - lucky me, huh? Since I didn't have the benefit of seeing the game on TV and seeing many instant replays except for the jumbo tron, I'll try and do my best this week to put together something from what I saw "live" at Bryant-Denny Stadium. [Hey - the stewardess chick is finally coming around with drinks... yes, I'm on the plane going back to the Big D]... anywho, here's how I see things..... as usual....

OFFENSE: What a day for the offense. From what I gathered at the game and on ESPN later in the day, Zow came in because Watts was having hamstring problems. That's good. Don't want to make things worse. Zow comes in and has a decent showing. This was more of what we saw of Zow last year. I believe he threw for 150 some odd yards or something and had a rushing TD on that, well, yeah - you could call it a busted play, huh? ha ha

Listening to the radio after the game, he said that [again] he was thinking one thing and did the other. How many times is gonna do that. The thing is, is that he fooled EVERYONE... it was easy to see that we were running right and might have been stuffed, so since we thought we were going right and so did the D, well, no wonder he made it into the end zone. Maybe the coaches should actually "plan" on busted plays since our offense seems to be so easy to read, ya know?

But overall he did do ok, throwing one interception and definitely could have been picked of another couple of times.... how lucky were we? Ahmad Galloway had the biggest play of the day with his long run from scrimmage.... 64 or 74 yards I believe. The Red Sea parted, and he wouldn't look back. Great day for the running back(s)... with Miree getting a few looks as well. Going into the game, that was a major concern of mine - our running game against USC's defense. They were only giving up around 70-something ypg and we managed to get around 150 or so yards on the ground. Bare with me - I haven't read all the official stats, so I could be wrong on some of these numbers. Total yards on the day was 356 BAMA and 346 USC, so it was a very evenly matched game. Everything was pretty even except the score.

The rest of the offense did their part pretty well too... but standing in the spotlight on Saturday was A.C. Carter. He made 9 catching on the day for about 75 yards. Some of those catches were huge, converting quite a few 3rd down plays. Zow and Watts couldn't quite hit him in stride, but he came down with the ball a lot and made sure of the catch which is the main priority. GREAT JOB there A.C.! Way to step it up. And then there was Terry Jones Jr.'s one catch he gets per game on a throw-back screen that always seems to get great yardage... well, it did again Saturday, but with a major price - Terry Jones Jr. From what I hear, he's out for the season with a torn ACL. I mean, is that really anything new??? Seems like EVERYONE is getting their ACL torn these days, not just for Bama but other teams as well. Kenny King was figured to possibly have a stinger (let's hope). We'll know more by the time I finally get this published on the web, so just read the news. That's gonna hurt our offense though. He's been a huge playmaker this year and also that means that Draper will have to move back to TE on a permanent basis. I'm tired of seeing our players go down!! Somebody tell these guys to be more careful! :)

Lastly, on the offense front, we did a GREAT job at protecting the QB against USC. NO SACKS were given up by the Tide OL. In a stat were the Alabama Crimson Tide was rock bottom of the SEC in QB sacks, we didn't give up a one Saturday. Great job there guys - and good for Zow not staying in the pocket quite as long, though he still scared me at times. As far as Zow goes though, he finally came out a little more confident than usual. Of course, everytime he throws the ball, I feel like it's going to be picked off... JUST BECAUSE. Don't ask why, but I just do. But he did get it done when he had to and that's all anyone asks.

I was talking to people after the game while we were watching the LSU/UT game and I was saying how if we could merge Zow and Watts together to make one QB, we would have a monster... With Zow's crispness and zip on the ball, and Watt's ability to scramble and make things happen, and both of their experience combined, paired with an offense run COMPLETELY by Charie Stubbs, man, what a QB & offense we would have! Could the answer in a few years spell "B-r-o-d-i-e C-r-o-y-l-e"? We'll see. In the meantime, we'll deal with who we have and make good things happen. Hopefully, we are starting to find our "identity" and will start coming together as one... because it's time to start winning football games the way we're supposed to. Anywho, good offensive gameplan, we burned the clock when we needed (except for one drive), we stuck with it, the running game was good, and the passing game improved enough to knock off the #23 ranked team in the country. And no sacks. We gave up a couple of int's... that could improve. On the day, not too bad, but we still need improvement in getting the ball to Milons and the other WR's for more threats come Bama/OM, Bama/UT, etc... you get the picture. GRADE: B

DEFENSE: The Bama D played almost as good as they could. But I tell you what - they are a bunch of LUCKY guys out there. How many times were we just burnt toast and USC just failed to execute??? Everyone knows about the halfback pass they missed, and another time they threw to a guy who was wide open on the right side of the field with one of our guys 10 yards behind him and another guy 10 yards in front of him... COVERING NO ONE!! What are these guys doing???? Do they think that the TURF can actually catch the ball for completions? It just seems like we can't cover squat these days. How many times are we going to give up 3rd and long and give up big gains on deep passing plays. The coaches know they have a problem here, but seems to me that either they are doing nothing about it, or the players are so ignorant, they don't remembe what to do on gameday. Something's gotta give here.

Maybe it's because our DB's are 4 foot 5 and their WR's are 6 foot 10? That's what it seems like. There were 2-3 times during the game when our guys EVEN SAW THE BALL COMING and were just waiting on the ball to get there to make a play. What do they do? Jump up and miss the football somehow is what they do. It's like they are trying to pick it off but mis-judge the ball or something. Here's the deal - the main thing is to make sure they DON'T catch the ball - and if you pick it off in the process, then that's your bonus. We have to stop giving up so many big plays even when we have it played correctly. I don't know HOW we keep screwing this up.

Then there's Milo. Hmmmm... what do you say about this guy. Cocky and then he gets burnt. He makes 2 crucial int's on the day, but then gets burnt on a decently thrown ball in the end zone because he let his guy get past him. How many times do we have to get burnt before we finally start playing like other teams with good 2ndaries? We have 9 starters back on D and all theh 2ndary is back. What's up????

Spencer is probably our best DB at this point. He also came down with an int and he can tackle with the best of 'em. Him and Tony Dixon played well. And do I REALLY need to say anything more about Kecalf Bailey (#13)????? Thank goodness this guy is graduating this year.

The DL and LBs did a very good job at stopping the run and forced USC to air it out most of the game. We held their running game to under 100 yards easily. We also recovered a fumble by USC. Overall, 4 turnovers recovered by the Tide if I'm not mistaken. And what gets me is that they do so well there, but give up the big plays, then they come around and make a big stop on 1st and 2nd down, then next they give up a 3rd down and long, and then they have 10 men on the field and have to call timeout TWICE. It's like we're rolling the dice every down. You never know what's gonna happen. If we can find some GOOD consistency, our D would be so dominating. But until it happens, we'll remain mediocre at best. Oh, and Jarret Johnson has GOT to tie up the guy he's tackling. He plays hard, but you must learn the fundamentals of tackling. Too many yards after contact are given up. This must stop...

Overall, tackling IS getting better, but must still improve if we are to play with the upcoming big boys of the SEC, or we're gonna be in trouble big-time. 2ndary must play better though we did intercept 3 passes... coverage is the main point there. LB's are getting better swarming to the ball... and the DL is playing hurt, but ok. We need more penetration on the blitz packages. I hope I'm finding good with the bad in my take... it's just mixed because like I said earlier - our defense is like rolling the dice... or you could say our defense is like a box of chocolates... yep! You never know what you're gonna get, huh? Overall, nice job, but giving up big plays for points has got to stop, along with 2 wasted timeouts. Turnovers helped out though... GRADE: B-

SPECIAL TEAMS: One name - Neil Thomas. Is he the man or what? I think we finally have a FG kicker for the rest of the year AND NEXT YEAR!! WOO HOO!!! It's about time, huh? He has been a very big plus for this team this year. I'm so glad he was invited to play in the preseason workouts before school started. It's one of the bright spots on this team. So far, he's perfect on the year in PAT's (12 for 12) and 4 of 6 on FG's including two 50+ yarders. If he keeps it up, we might have to kick a 53 yarder in the waning seconds of the Iron Bowl to win the game.... ring any bells?

Bearden continues to punt the ball very well too. This will give Matthew Sanders a year extra of eligibility since he will now more than likely be redshirted. Now if we can just get Bearden to start kicking the ball into the end zone a lot more. I'm tired of these short kickoffs and giving up major field position. I think that's what been hurting us a lot this year - the opponents starting around theh 30-35 or more yard line.

Another thing that I don't think our coaches learned from playing Va. Tech in the dreaded Music City Bowl is that we should play more of our experienced players on special teams. Seems like we are playing more freshmen and sophomores just to give them playing time or something. If we're not gonna kick it deep into the end zone, we don't need to have these more unexperienced guys playing on special teams. Shantua Ray seems to be the leader of the special teams unit making it to the ball before everyone else on almost every play, especially on punts.

As for Freddie, not much doing as he remains a shadow on this Alabama team. Any given play, he could break one to go the distance, but just hasn't found anything since his first PR of the season against UCLA (TD). He'll come around... I just hope it's sooner than later. Overall, a good game and they didn't cost the game for us... and actually helped our team win with 6 points (2 Thomas FG's). Without them, USC is a TD from winning the game. Good job guys... especially Neal, baby! We just need better tackling on kickoffs... GRADE: A-

COACHING: Coaching - well, hmmm.... what can you say? They got the win, but they still aren't putting teams away early enough to start playing some of the younger guys in less stressful situations. I'm still trying to figure out where all this so called "talent" in the last 4 recruiting classes has gone. Do we not know how to coach and play this talent? Something is terribly wrong.

As for play-calling, they say Stubbs is calling the plays.... well, is he? Only the coaches know what's really going on - it's just strange how last year, we KNEW Stubbs was calling HIS own plays from HIS own playbook. This year, I don't think everyone is quite so sure, ya know? But they got the win this week and that's what matters. Now it's time to make sure we have our OL and TE's set before we play Ole Miss next week. We have to put together the perfect combination to fill in for the injured Terry Jones, Jr. More than likely, Draper will move out to TE. Honestly, I think he should stay at LT where he has played very well... but that's for the coaches to decide.

The other thing I have questions about is the special teams - which I have addressed previously. Why are we not playing more experienced players on Special Teams? We have got to learn to tackle more solidly on kickoffs. Punt returns seem to be ok since Bearden is doing a good job there, but Bearden is having difficulties kicking the ball into the endzone these days and we need solid tackling so the other team doesn't constantly start at the 40 yard line or better. You'd think we'd learn by now. Fix that, and let's get the actual offensive PLAYS downpat and we'll be ok. Our offense just looks SOOOO easy to read. I watch the way we line up and who is in the lineup and 3 times out of 5 (or something to that effect), I know what we're gonna run. If we would line up in almost the same formation every down, there's no telling where we're gonna go with the ball. I don't mean line up in the "I" every single play, but it seems like we only have 2-3 plays out of each formation - and when you look at WHO is in the play, it's not hard to figure out if it's a run or a pass. That's what hurting us. Maybe we can fix that.

Worst call of the game (to me) was not going after points on the 4th and 2 in the 2nd quarter I believe. Why we don't put points on the board after our running game has not been doing anything is beyond me. We probably hadn't gained even 2.5 yards per carry and we run the ball on 4th and 2??? Terrible call. What a way to make a major "downer" for the team. Go all that way and come down with no points. Sure, if we get the 1st down, we continue the drive. But what if we get stopped again? You get a FG (same result). Our offense just wasn't clicking too good in this game and to NOT take points when you are that close seemed pretty dumb. But I'm not a coach, so what do I know? :)

Overall, we did ok. We beat the "#23" team in the country. A little overrated USC - Yes. But then so were we at #3 at the UCLA game. We got the win and it wasn't pretty. But as Gene Stallings always said - "I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss anyday. If you don't like it, then you've got the wrong man at HC". It WAS ugly... but a VERY much needed win for the Tide. We seriously need more offense on this team and it starts with the coaching staff.... let's get it done by next weekend.... ROLL TIDE! Still too predictable, poor defense substitutions, didn't get points when we needed 'em... Grade: C

BAMA/OLE MISS PREVIEW

:Ole Miss comes to T-town this weekend and the Tide should be up for the task. The Tide has had a good 2 weeks of practice, including 3 very intense practices last week. The Tide will be without Freddie Milons this week and possibly Kenny King & Marcus Spencer. At this point, King and Spencer are probable, but may not be at 100% at gametime. Milons is questionable at best and Watts may or may not be ready by gametime. The starting QB for Saturday's game will be announced at gametime. Zow looks to be in the lead at this point, but both QB's will play.

As for the game, the Tide looks to stop Heisman hopeful Deuce McAllister, Ole Miss's versatile RB who is to Ole Miss as Alexander was to Alabama last year. Bama has a 12 game winning streak against the Rebels and McAllister wants to change that in his last year. Romaro Miller leads the SEC in passing efficiency, so the 2ndary for the Tide better watch out. It should be another down-to-the-wire game for the Tide... but then what's new there?

Also, every team in the SEC West now has at least one loss, so the West is wide open. LSU has 2 losses... and on a bright note, UT is 0-3 in their SEC Games, so for Bamafans, it COULD be worse... at least 2 of our losses were against good out-of-conference teams... at least now, we still have a shot at winning the West.

Overall, look for Bama to get the ball to WR Antonio Carter, Bama's new "playmaker" in the absence of Freddie Milons. Triandos Luke, Bama's new True Freshman star, hopes to get a bit more in the mix this week as well. We'll see what happens.... Here's to the Tide winning Saturday and bringing our record up to the .500 level, if ya knowutimean... ROLL TIDE! Do I think we can win? Yes. Do I think we can lose? Yes. This Bama team is still a crap-shoot... lemme roll the dice... hmmmm - a 5 came up. It's a sign - the same result as our 5th game of the season ... a winner against South Carolina, so I'll go by the dice this week and go with the Tide in a VERY close game that may be won by a FG...
BAMA 17 OLE MISS 14

Hogs Squeal Past BAMA , 28-21 (1-3), (1-1)

For the first time all year, the Tide seemed to have played a decent game on both sides of the ball... but just not quite good enough to win. When you mix in turnovers, a couple of bad calls, and a defense that couldn't stop a late 80-yard scoring drive... well, you know the result. I'll try and talk about the game this week, but keep in mind that when I saw the game, I was in a sports bar with practically no volume during the entire game. I have to go by what I saw, not what they announcers had to say.... Man, this is grueling... :(

OFFENSE: The offense, as everyone saw, actually had a decent game, but still didn't put up the points that Charlie Stubbs and Mike DuBose want to see. 21 mere points was all we could muster up. In the old days, you'd think that 21 points would be enough to win, but not nowadays. Not the way our defense seems to be playing.

Well, Tyler Watts got his 2nd start and is 0-2 on the year as the starter. People seem to already be calling on Brodie Croyle... when will it ever end? People will never be satisfied with the starter. Remember Barker? He was one of the best QB's in Bama history, but he never really got any respect until the end of his Sr. year. Well, Watts is still growing up and is still the best option for this offense. As most may know (and also the coaches), he does tend to pull the ball down a little early if no one is open, but for the most part, he usually makes things happen. If I'm not mistaken, he is the 3rd leading rusher on the team. We just have to stand by whichever QB starts/plays and hope we can pull out a win. The Arkansas game marked the 1st time Zow did not play in a game in his Bama career (not due to injury) since taking over 2 years ago. It "appears" that Watts is the man now and he will get yet another start against the Gamecocks.

Back to the Arkansas game - I'm getting sidetracked.... But Watts did ok, but we still need to get more of the passing game involved. Milons is still but a shadow and A.C. is right behind him. McAddley caught the 1st passing TD of the season which was good... let's see more of that. What a pretty route!

At TB, Miree seems to be making a move, pounding out 96 yards on the ground with 2 TD's. Don't block and ask Galloway what happens... RIDE THE PINE, BABY! Look for Galloway to do better come the next game. As for the OL, they did ok, but we still need even more protection for the QB. We have to get out passing game going and it all starts there on the OL. If we don't want Watts to run, then we've got to start blocking better. A problem we have is injuries on the front line... it's causing a lot of shuffling around up front. If we can get a solid starting 5 with a healthy Draper at LT, we should be ok. I'm ready to see another long run by our TB's... time for the OL to open the Red Sea if ya knowutimean...

McClintock had the costly fumble in the game - might have cost us the game - but it's a team effort. If we just stop an Arkansas drive or score another TD, we win. McClintock normally has good hands... look for more good hands in the games to come. That had to be a fluke play on his part.... he'll be back strong. Other than that, that's all I have. A mediocre performance though we did lead most of the offensive categories... but the score is the main one, huh? Get more points, cut the turnovers, and get the WR's involved more... GRADE: C

DEFENSE: the Bama D. It sure doesn't look like the D's of old does it? Every year, people say "this year's D will look like the '92 defense". People need to get over that. We will almost surely never have a defense THAT good again. I mean, really - think about it - leading THE NATION in EVERY defensive category at the end of the season? We had I think 7 guys on the ALL-Defensive team that year. That is unheard of... and that's why we won the national championship that year. Now, it's Y2K. Our defense is mediocre. We have a lot of returning starters, but for some reason we just aren't functioning as ONE. We have a lot of playmakers, but not team-players. We have got to figure out some way to get this group playing together and get some leadership out there. Tony Dixon seems to be starting to take a small role in that, but he is soft spoken. It's time to play like Bama defenses of old...

As for the Hogs game, we did about all we could do at times... but we just couldn't finish 'em off. Granted, the 1st 3rd-down play on the last drive had 12 men on the field (so says DuBose) and then 4th down got a VERY LATE flag for holding???? It still shouldn't matter. If you don't get yourself in that position, then you don't have to worry about the outcome as much. Still, we had 2 more 3 down opportunities to stop them and came up short... then they burned us. Now I can relate to how teams felt that had to play Jay Barker down the stretch, remember?

Anywho, the DL has got to get more pressure up front. Losing Kendal Moorehead really hurt us, but he will be back next year. In the meantime, Johnson, King, and Smith have to get the Turbo-chargers going. If we don't get more pressure up front, our 2ndary is gonna be toast, period. It's gut-check time. Time to be THE MAN. In the Hogs game, no one was really the man... we were just out there playing & not trying to make things happen... GRADE: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS: Good game though we missed a FG. It was wet - we can't make 'em all... but that might have won the game for us. Freddie is still a shadow - maybe that can be his new name - "THE SHADOW". :) Beardon was MVP kicking well... and special teams coverage was decent. Blocking 3 kicks was GREAT - punt block, FG block, and PAT blocked. That's 4 points we cut off right there. We even kicked the ball into the endzone didn't we? Anywho, a decent showing, but we need that FG. We'll get it right next week. GRADE: B

COACHING: I don't know what it is about these coaches. I seem to recall that we have had 3-4 straight TOP 5-10 recruiting classes and we are still playing freshmen and sophmores. What happened to all the guys from 3-4 years ago??? Other teams don't usually have to have "wake-up calls" - why do we have to have one (or three) every year?? FSU starts out their first game and looks like they have been playing together for years. We show up and look SOOO out of sinc. WHY IS THAT? It has GOT to be coaching, and it all comes to down to one guy - Mike DuBose, period. He has said it all week long that it comes down to him and the buck stops there. He has even said that he would resign at the end of the season because he is not fulfilling his duties as a head coach in having this team prepared. Mal Moore waved it off and said get back out there and win some games. Good move. Don't need to lose a HC this early in the season. For all we know, Arkansas could lose 2 conference games, Bama could win the rest of theirs and finish 10-3 on the year. In all likelihood, it won't, but it could happen. As I've told many people, losing Samuels and Alexander was like losing 5 people, and for some reason, the production we got from the rest of the bunch last year aren't producing much at all this year (see Zow, Milons, A.C., etc...) Every now and then someone makes a good play, but it needs to be much more consistent.

What we need is 11 people that's gonna do their job and try and score every time we get the ball. Does that sound familiar?? (Coach Bryant) Anyway, for some reason, this team has yet to gel and it's the coach's job to get them to. They almost did against Arkansas, but clearly something is missing.

Another thing people are talking about right now is the play-calling. Some say that DuBose is giving Stubbs only a select few plays to choose from. If that's the case, then Stubbs can't run HIS offense. He's running an offense that's not his. Last year at this time, DuBose's job was on the line and he told Stubbs to "let er rip" basically and look what happened. If it's true about Stubbs being limited, then I say let him loose again. We can't go on like this and that's for sure. I mean, honestly, how can Stubbs possibly be calling his offense when we run the ball 2 or 3 times the number of times we pass the ball. Stubbs came from BYU and passing was the game there... he wants to also have a balanced attack, but there's no way in heck that he is calling more running plays than passing plays by a 3:1 margin. Granted in the Vandy game and in the Arkansas game, the ground game was there... but I just don't know why we can't get guys open and make the connection. Something just ain't right if ya knowutimean.

These aren't just opinions - they are facts. And it's hard to understand why certain things are happening in the land of T-town. Calloway is now in the press box with Stubbs - don't know why. Stubbs did just fine last year by himself... it's gotta be something! Things just don't add up.

Back to the Arkansas game, they did an ok job - they stuck with the gameplan, but it just didn't pan out. We only scored 21 points. And right now, our offense is scoring on average about 17 points. With the way our defense is playing, it's no wonder that we are 1-3 seriously. The O must step up and the D must step up. Special teams has been a little better than normal, but no real heroics. At least they are not losing games for us like they have in the past (except for the KO fumble against USM - but we couldn't even score once there). The coaches need to get this team back on track and it all starts with DuBose. He just needs to give them a "Bear" speech. :)

Ya know, I know they take the players to the "Bear" Bryant Museum, but those boys need to watch that video again. I watched it today when I got into town and I was getting chills watching the plays of the past and the dedication of the players and the willingness to just put it all on the line. Players now just seem to be a bit soft and it's time to harden 'em up. They need to go watch that film again.... those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about. Just go out there an play ball. I'll hop off the ole soapbox, but that's the problem - coaching. We HAVE the talent... it's just time to get it to work for us, knowutimean? Let's do it! Oh, good gameplan, but something missing... another loss, another week of talking about the coach leaving (which ain't gonna happen unless it's at the end of the season - we AIN'T AUBURN!!). GRADE: C+

BAMA/USC PREVIEW: This game marks the 1st road trip for the Gamecocks this year. They are undefeated at 4-0 and #23 in the country winning all of their games so far at home. It's time for the country to see that the Tide is back. Time to show what it means to be a member of the Crimson Tide Football Team. Time to show what TRADITION is all about. Time to Kick some butt! Time to BEAT THOSE COCKS!!! :)

Anyway, the game is set to begin at 2:00 pm at Bryant-Denny Stadium. This will be the first game on campus this season. Hopefully, scheduling will be done a bit better in the future to get some of the few couple of games on campus. There's no place like home. Bama comes of a bitter loss to the Hogs 21-28 due to an 80-yard drive to put a stake in the heart of the Crimson Tide who remains unranked at the time. This week, the Tide can take a step forward in getting some momentum as the meat of the schedule comes upon us. Ole Miss and UT are the next 2 foes so it doesn't get any easier.

The series between USC and Alabama has been a short one, just 9 games. Alabama is undefeated in the series as the 2 teams played 7 games prior to South Carolina joining the SEC in 1992. Alabama is 6-0 in T-town, 2-0 in Columbia and 1-0 in Montgomery. The Tide has out-scored South Caroina 259-33 and has posted 5 shut-outs in the series.

At 1-3, Alabama is off to its worst start since 1990 when the Tide was 1-3 in Gene Stallings's first season. The 18-yard TD pass from Tyler Watts to Jason McAddley against the Hogs was the Tide's 1st passing TD of the season. Redshirt freshman TB Brandon Miree had 2 TDs and 96 yards rushing against the Hogs. The Tide has a 180-27-3 record at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Saturday's game with USC is a sellout, marking the 48th consecutive game, dating back to Nov 15, 1986.

INSIDE THE #'s
1 - fewest number of wins by Tide sincee opening season 1-3 in 1990
2 - rushing TDs by Brandon Miree in last week's loss to Arkansas
3 - number of kicks blocked by Tide last week against Arkansas. Alabama blocked a punt, FG, and PAT.
69 - yards rushing on 14 carries last week by QB Tyler Watts.
108 - yards rushing by the last alabama QB to rush for over 100 yards in a game (Ken Coley vs LSU, 1981)
180 - all-time wins in Bryant-Denny Stadium by the Tide

In conclusion, it will be a close one. Very close... but until the Tide shows they can come together as a team and pull one out of the hat, we're still average... the same team we've been all season. Maybe last year was the fluke and this year is how we really are? Saturday, the boys will let us know. 1-3 is bad, but 1-4... with the meat of the schedule coming up --- that don't sound too good, huh? It's a close one, and the "Bear" will help out on some home field advantage calls from the refs for once... but too much Cock for Bama to hold. Here's to 100,000% hoping I'm wrong... I wasn't wrong last week with the outcome (W/L)... I'm hoping... just hoping I'm sooooo wrong and we send Lou Holtz packing his bags with a loss.
BAMA 20 USC 21

USM Blanks BAMA Hard , 21-0 (1-2), (1-0)

I cannot dignify this game with a take. It was so terrible, it's not really worth my time. I'd name some good points in the game, but there really weren't any. D did ok at points, but overall, a big fat Grade: F..... That's it. Sorry. You all saw the game.

BAMA/ARKANSAS PREVIEW - It's not looking good for the visiting team this week. Bama is struggling to do anything, have yet to find any cohesion, and play calling seems to be terrible. OL is not blocking at all, and Freddie Milons has been taken totally out of the gameplan. Bama is undefeated in SEC play, but all that will change this weekend. Here's to hoping I'm completely wrong.
BAMA 10 ARKANSAS 35

BAMA Finishes Off Vandy Late, 28-10 (1-1), (1-0)

Man - what a game. Looked like another rerun of the UCLA game, only this time we MIGHT win. Well, we did win and thank you very much Ahmaad Galloway and Tyler Watts for such a decent showing. The 'D' had it's good times and so did Special teams... but it seemed almost extinct till the 4th quarter started.... here's what I saw:

OFFENSE - the offense was a tad more balance this week, though we still didn't really throw the ball that much. Nothing actually came together until Tyler Watts came into the game permanently. Ahmaad had hit awesome 79-yard scamper for a TD while Zow was in the game, but Zow just could not get anything going. He was "pressing" as the coaches say. He looked more like John David Phillips from a couple of years ago. He just couldn't do ANYTHING right. Maybe it was just one of those days... or was it? For the 2nd straight week he has not performed well... and the 4 fumbled snaps in the 1st half didn't help him much. He just was not in rythym at all. In come Watts for the 2nd week in a row to try and rally the troops.... and he does. Rallies them to the point of having a monster 4th quarter to put the game away.

Granted, Watts didn't pass the ball that much... he seemed to not be able to hit the side of a barn either, except for that ONE pretty in-stride pass to Sam Collins up the middle. Stubbs: "Well, let's use what they're giving us"... so they used a good bit of the option and it actually worked pretty good at times. Watts scored on a keeper in the 4th. Brandon Miree and Galloway just pounded and pounded on the Vandy defense till they just couldn't do no more. It was finally Bama football as we pretty much know it, ya know?

Now as most of you know, Stubbs does NOT want to just run the ball. It's still time to balance it out a LOT more and air it out at times because that's when you get Mr. Excitement Freddie Milons in the game. He didn't do much... he had less than 10 yards of total offense in the game. Special teams didn't help him much either... a quiet day - at least for now.

And as for the offensive line, they did a pretty good job. I think it was a great move putting Ellington back on the right side and making Draper the Left Tackle. That might have been the best move the coaches have made so far (besides making the obvious choices - Ahmaad and Tyler to pick up the team). He did a great job though improvement will be looked for by the coaches. Honestly, this is what Tyler has waited his whole life for - not getting the starting job as the default guy (Zow is hurt), but by earning it. The coaches made it clear after the Vandy game that Tyler Watts would start the next game and Zow would be "1A". Don't look for Watts to look back - he's only looking forward. He now knows that the QB starting job is HIS TO LOSE. Zow had his chance and lost it - it was his to lose as well... and he gave it away. Watts will now make the best of things and barring some fumbles/int's against S. Miss, he should do pretty well. He's definitely not the ACE that people think he is yet, but he does seem to be the best we have in the stable right now. He will get his chance to be 2-0 against the Eagles as he started against USM last year too when Zow was hurt.

Anyway, the offense is really unpredictable at this point. With the new QB and our RB situation solid with Galloway starting and solidifying his job and Miree being a very capable backup... and Watts getting things done, who knows how this offense will take the field next week. As for Vandy, it was very lame till the 4th quarter. Blame it on Zow; blame it on the OL; blame it on whoever. It just stunk. We got a boost in the 4th and the D played great.... and it was a Bama win, bottom line. Overall performance, we still are almost average until we show otherwise... Grade: C-

DEFENSE - the defense had it's hands full all day long... well, at least till the 4th quarter when they pretty much shut things down. They actually tackled pretty well on the day, but still need to get to the outside much quicker than they are. Too many teams are running outside on us and that shouldn't happen with the team speed that Alabama has on D. Victor Ellis for the 2nd week in a row, seemed to be everywhere. Rasheed made some good tackles and the goal line stance was a thing of beauty. Of course, Vandy will say he made it across. I'd love to say he made it, but I can't. I didn't have the up-close view and college doesn't go by instant replay. Bama has had their share of bad calls in the past, so IF THEY WERE BAD CALLS, then maybe next time, my friends. I know it just has to cross the plane, but if you just punch it in and make it obvious, then there's no question. If you can't move it but 1 foot in 4 plays, then you don't deserve to score. That would have made the score 14-10 Vandy with a huge momentum swing in Vandy's favor. But who knows??? What if Curtis Brown REALLY caught that pass in the back of Auburn's end zone a few years back?? It cost us the game, but we still could have made plays in other parts of the game. It's just part of the game and we all have to live with it.

As for the 2ndary, they seem to just be there instead of making themselves a "presence" on the field. It's like the offenses don't even respect our 2ndary and with good reason. Seems like we don't cover squat most of the time. It's time to get our heads turned around AND/OR get our hands up to keep those tall WR's from burning us. We just need more practice or better coaching... but too many guys are getting WIDE open. It's time to shut that part down!

Unfortunately, I had to leave with about 8 minutes left in the game so I missed the 2 safeties. Dog it! But I hear Vandy wasn't pleased with those calls either - well, at least one of them when they said they saw a WR in the area of the pass. I can't comment since I didn't see it. Sorry. In any case, heckuva punt by Bearden to get it down to the 1, huh? Decent outing - held a lame team to 10 points overall and allowed them to NEVER lead in the game with the goal line stance. Good job... now it's time for some turnovers, big hits, and not giving up the big play. It helps when the offense actually stays on the field for a while, huh? Grade: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS - For the 2nd straight week, special teams seem to be helping the Tide. The best thing is that returns don't really go bad with Freddie Milons returning kicks/punts. But even the other guys are getting it done. Bearden did a little better kicking off this week and he also did a great job punting the ball. Most people thought that Matt Sanders (True Freshman punter) would get the job, but Bearden has stepped it up and stayed consistent in both games played so far. Right now, it's his job to lose. He's doing ok - just need more kickoffs in the endzone.

Placekicking has been outstanding for a change. Neal Thomas is just what the doctor ordered for this team. What a pick-me-up! A 50-yard field goal! Since when do the coaches have THAT kind of faith in a Bama kicker?? Ha ha It's been a while. I think the last long FG was Pflugner at Arkansas a couple of years ago - a 53 yarder. Haven't seen to many here lately. He's been perfect on the year. Great job guys!! Keep it up - this is a true bright spot on the team...

Tackling on special teams kickoffs - can still improve bigtime. But longer kickoffs will help the problem even more. Get better there and we'll be ok. Great job! Grade: A-

COACHING - Well, the coaching staff finally has possibly a solid starting lineup that "seems" to work for now. We'll see how they play next weekend when they get a whole game in. Watts is now the starter after 2 weeks of rallying the team in the end; Draper has found a new home at LT and Ellington has moved back to RT, a better fitted position for the big man; and Galloway will start his 2nd game as the clear-cut #1 starter for the Tide this year, barring crazy fumbles or injuries. We'll now have a game where we put it all together and see what we can do with it. It was a good move to make Watts the starter - not because I'm a Watts supporter (I'm a "best man for the job guy"), but because he has earned it. Auburn last year, SEC championship he played well (and better), Michigan (same), UCLA 2000 he tried to rally the troops but couldn't finish the job... and now Vandy. It's now HIS time. Time to show that HE IS THE MAN. Or will he press as Zow has done? Only time will tell. If Watts starts slipping up, look for Zow to come back in. I just want Bama to win and I want the best guy in there to get us there. Does that make sense?

As for the defense, the coaches will still stress fundamentals in tackling this week and getting to the football quickly, especially on the outside sweep plays. But I tell ya - the play calling was kinda lacking this past game. I know we couldn't complete a pass to save our lives so the coaches did what they could to win (just give Galloway/Miree the ball), but now it's time to polish things up at practice this week. With our athletes, there's no reason why we can't run up at least 500 yards or more each week on offense. McAddley, Milons, A.C., Collins, Galloway, Watts/Zow, Miree, Jones Jr.... I mean, WE HAVE SOOOOO MANY WEAPONS - YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE YOU PICK and make it happen. Let's get these guys the ball and we'll playing in the Orange Bowl, period (yes, even with one loss we would be there guaranteed!). Take that to the bank. You heard it here. Now let's see what the coaches can do now... Grade: B-

BAMA/So. Miss PREVIEW - Bama's 1st ranked team. Sure they are #25, but they are ranked and are current Conference USA Champions. Not a big deal, but you try losing to them. Stallings did in his 1st year with the Tide when Bret Favre was QB. Now, the focus, as last year, will be on Nix, USM's quick RB. He didn't do much damage to us last year, so he'll be looking to get a little revenge. With Bama's D settling down a bit, look for Nix to score, but hopefully not more than once. Our DB's will continue to get burned a couple/few times. Until they stop getting burned, why say they won't? :)

It should be a tight game since most of the USM players are Bama/AU/MSU/UMiss rejects. Ok, they're not "rejects" per say, but they are mostly players who didn't plan on going to USM. They want to beat the big boys. Every year, it's the same thing - they beat who they are supposed to beat and lose to the mack-daddies (Nebraska, Bama, FSU, TA&M, etc.) I just hope that this year is no different. With Tyler leading the way and looking to solidify his position even more... and with his running ability and Ahmaad running like he can... and of course another breakout game waiting for Mr. Milons, the Tide wins, but in it's very close fashion. Man, I hate these close games, ... but a win is a win.

Bama's D comes on late and the offense stays on the field just a little too long for the Golden Eagles. Expect a tight one until we put it away in the 4th... I wish for a 42-6 score, but man, it just never happens... the crystal ball says... ROLL TIDE!
BAMA 31 So. Miss 20

UCLA Stuns Bama , 35-24 (0-1), (0-0)

Well, we went, we saw, we came back pissed off. The Tide had let us down as we baked in the California sun that day. It was hot, and UCLA just kept coming and coming and coming. There was practically nothing that we could do to win this game. Just when we thought we were back in it, BAM. TD UCLA.

Anyway, welcome to this first edition of Bamadog's Take on the Game 2000. It is here where you'll find my opinion of every game of the year. Hopefully, I'll have these things written up by Wed of each week of not sooner. Since this is not my real job, you'll have to bare with me as I travel a lot and will try my best to get my take on here ASAP (and after I see the game on TV for when I go to the games). I just finished watching the game on TV, as grueling as it was, and it didn't seem as bad the second time. Maybe because I already knew the outcome. But there were some things that I was just flat out amazed by - by how bad we actually played defense and how we couldn't keep any offensive drive on the field. I'll skip the bull and get down to the nitty gritty. Let's take a look at the offense on Saturday...

OFFENSE - The offense (as I have stated before) was quite offensive to look at. I've never really been so ashamed to see an Alabama team line up on offense. And this is the year of the "supposedly" Bama awesome offense. We have a slew of WR's and 3 "capable" running backs though it looks like Galloway is the man now, and our OL is supposed to be the "Pancake Posse"... and both QB's returning. Something had to give for us to lose on Saturday... and quite honestly, it was the play of the QB's and the RB's. Probably more the QB's than anything else. Andrew Zow had probably the worst day of his career and Tyler Watts didn't fare much better when he came in - though he at least is a running threat.

Based on what I saw last year and so far, this year, my prediction may come true again. I've been telling EVERYONE that Watts is the more sound QB of the 2. Sure Zow has the stronger arm and is "more of a leader" to the guys... but if you don't have accuracy on your throws, our WR's (especially Milons) will not even have a chance to make a play. My prediction again this year is that Watts will overtake Zow during the season just like he did last year. He didn't get to start at the end of last year, but he did prove that he was better by the time AU game a rolling. But then Zow had a great spring and fall... just good enough that Watts was always right behind him. Well, it's GAMETIME now. Zow lit up Florida last year in the Swamp and had some good games. But he doesn't seem to be getting better. To me, he has plateau'd off and Watts knows it. You heard it here - Watts will get the start sometime this season because Zow is not a major threat, in my opinion... at least without accuracy on his throws. If he can start connecting with the WR's and stop throwing the ball out of bounds on outs and bombs, then he'll be the man. But I don't see it happening unless some major changes are made in his throwing technique. He throws with the lower part of his arm (from the elbow down)... that's why a lot of balls are overthrown. He should use his whole arm (like a baseball pitcher) and he passes, I think, would be much more accurate. But hey - I'm just an observer, not the coach. Maybe there's something I don't see...

In any case, Watts didn't fare too much better in his passes Saturday. Too many out of bound throws by both guys. No one really impressed me - yet at least Watts can scramble. My biggest hangup with Watts is that he doesn't get the ball out to the WR's fast enough. The ball just seems to float to the WR's at times when it needs to get there in a hurry. One of these times is the 3 WR stack to Freddie. Freddie's just sitting there waiting for the ball to get there while in the meantime, the D is able to start inching their way to Freddie way before the ball gets there, which means more chance of a pickoff or a short game. Put some "oomfpt" on the ball, Tyler! If you can do that, then you'll be a TON more in the QB race.

Let's see - I rambled on and on about the QB's a good bit, huh? Maybe THAT was the problem Saturday, huh?

As for the RB's, Bo's demotion on Monday was predicted. He (like Bama on Saturday) was over-rated. He was the main man behind Alexander last year, but that doesn't mean this year that someone else can't be just as good if not better. Well, even in the Spring, Galloway stepped it up because he wants to be THE MAN this year. So far, he has done just that. He seems to gave decent vision, good hands, and good speed. Unless he gets hurt, look for Galloway to start the rest of the games this year. His numbers weren't impressive, but enough to get him the starting job. Fumbling didn't help Bo either. Miree should be the #2 guy, but again, he's got to get rid of those stone hands. He's gonna be a good one, but I'm not so sure that now is his time yet. If Beard is 100%, Miree will more than likely move to #3 RB, but all 3 will definitely see action in the games to come.

The WR's did about average. Had a few dropped passes, but overall did a decent job. The problem is that they were never given the chance to even catch the ball on the sideline passes (short and long passes). Everything was thrown out of bounds. Not gonna win that way. Our biggest pickup was with a WR - ON A RUNNING PLAY. Jason McAddley on the reverse was the biggest offensive play of the day if I'm not mistaken. And Terry Jones Jr got the biggest pass play of the day. When we DID make plays at WR/TE, they were good - usually resulting in a 1st down. Other times... well, you saw the game. The one freak accident was the Milons fumble. That doesn't usually happen and that's why no one was really upset at him. He's already given us a special teams TD. He's Mr. Playmaker - now we just have to figure out a way to get him the ball. One thing I don't understand is why when we DID have 3rd and short (and 4th and 1 at the end of the game) why we didn't line up Milons at QB??? That would be the perfect time. Have they not practiced that? It doesn't matter. Put him in the shotgun and it doesn't matter if you've practiced it or not. Bad call on the coaches for not having better use of Milons in do or die situations.

The OL did an ok job on the day, but still need to get better. The pocket seemed to collapse just a bit too often for me. We were unable to utilyze the TE much due to our lack of blocking. I know Samuels is gone, but how could it possibly THAT much worse than last year - leadership. That's it. And it's time for someone to step up to the mic. 10 offensive points ain't gonna cut it in this league. Time for changes... GRADE: D

DEFENSE - the D looked like the D's we faced all last year. But then again, UCLA's offense did to our D what we did to everyone else as well. Just have a ball control offense, and you'll wear down the D to practically nothing. That's what happened Saturday. Looks like we just ran outta gas at times. Actually, to me, it just came down to fundamentals of playing defense - and MORE IMPORTANTLY KNOWING HOW TO TACKLE! Saturday, we couldn't tackle ourselves out of a wet paper bag. We were just horrible. Milo couldn't cover squat, we get burnt on the deep ball too much, and the DL wasn't stopping the run at the line of scrimmage. We would make contact (mostly Jarret Johnson) at the line, but wouldn't bring down the runner. We have GOT to wrap up these guys or our LB's & 2ndary is going to get real tired quick.

I don't know how many times I saw a guy "dive" at a runner and all they did was step to the side and watch them fly by. What's that all about? STAND YOUR GROUND and wrap up the runner - go THRU the runner. When you tackle a runner, you don't tackle him from the side - you go THRU HIM. That comes down to fundamentals, something that the coaching staff will definitely go over with the D this week. Count on it. Too many missed assignments. Victor Ellis made a ton of tackles (and some good ones at that), but for him to be a complete player, he's got to make good decisions. He was caught out of position many a time on Saturday when he shouldn't have been. He's the one that has to stop that crap up the middle, but sometimes couldn't. Again that comes down to the DL as well. That's where it all begins. Kenny Smith was the only DL-man that really caught my eye... but with all the ball control and offensive production of UCLA, that was even hidden pretty well. I honestly didn't think we could stop them after they had gone up 21-7. It was like we were a high school team that didn't know the basics of playing defense.

NOW, it's time to regroup (just as the offense). Learn how to tackle, learn how to cover a WR, and time to get out the JUGGS machine so we can see how to catch a ball for an interception (see Reggie Myles great int). Spencer - you shoulda had a couple. Let's catch the ball buddy!

Right now, it looks like the leaders on the D are Reggie Myles, Saleem Rasheed, and Kenny Smith. They are the only ones leading by example. But it's only one game. Maybe it was just #3 preseason ranking jitters. We'll find out in the weeks to come. Let's hope we don't make this the norm though. Vandy will play us tough once again. We BETTER be ready. 35 points with a RB getting almost 200 yards on us? Don't expect a good look from me or anyone else - GRADE: D

SPECIAL TEAMS - Who'da thunk that Bama Special Teams would actually be the highlight of the day? Usually either the O or the D has a good game, but Saturday, the special teams got the spotlight. They started out the game with an incredible punt return for a TD by Freddie Milons. That's the way you start out a game. Neal Thomas nailed all 3 extra points and his 38 yd FG. He was perfect on the day. Punting was solid at about 42 yards per punt. There were no returns of any punts on the day by UCLA due to the good hang time by Bearden punting the football. The only concern we really had was the short kickoffs by Bearden. I don't know if it was planned or not, but we have got to kick the ball in the end zone like we did the first kick. Kicking to the 15-20 yard line give up major field position and when you can't tackle, that doesn't spell success. If we can just kick that ball deep, we'll be ok. If we keep up the great returns by Freddie/Richard on PR/KR, and Thomas keeps kicking the ball well, Special teams might actually be a good point for Bama this year. Next test is Vandy. Bad tackling needs to improve - other than that, ok. GRADE - B+

COACHING - who knows if coaching had much to do with why we lost or not. Looks like the players just didn't connect on offense and couldn't tackle on defense. 3 turnovers will kill any team trying to come back from being behind. If you look at why we lost here are the main 3 reasons: (1) QB's overthrowing WR's (2) Poor tackling on defense (I call it poor arm-tackling) (3) 3 turnovers in the 2nd half - that was the real killer in the end. How can coaching fix these problems? Well, it can't, at least not until the next week which is now - where they can go over these simple fundamentals.

My main concern is why they left Zow in there as long as they did after he was so unproductive. And the other thing is why they brought in Bo after Galloway had done so well beforehand. How many fumbles does it take before you don't come back in the game? 2 for Bo. And they were costly. The other came from Milons - a shock, really. You might not see that the rest of the season. Anyway, the coaching staff has already named Galloway the starter with Miree right behind him. Look for more action at the RB this week and a more ball-controlled offense. If Zow can't make the connection, Watts will come in a replace him. The WR's are basically doing their job - we've just got to get the ball to them. Hopefully, the coaches will address that in practice this week (of course they will!). Also, Ellis Johnson and Lance Thompson will get after the defense for not tackling like they should. Milo tackled like crap... thus his demotion on Monday. This guy was supposed to be an All-American in JUCO. Well, looks like even the "best" can be replaced... so can anyone else on the team.

Honestly, it's time for someone to step up and BE THE MAN and BE A LEADER BY EXAMPLE. That's what we had last year with Alexander, Samuels, and Griffin. Who will it be this year? Kenny Smith? I say even Freddie should be a leader. Being a Junior doesn't make you "not eligible" to be a leader. Look at Michael Vick as a freshman last year. He was a leader in his first year. We should make no excuses. It's time for someone to step it up and BE THE MAN.

My motto for this team: BE THE MAN? WHY NOT ME?

Right now, it's do or die time. No more excuses for anything. It's time to win and it's time to play sound football the way Bama should play football. We have too much talent to just sit back and think being ranked will win football games for us.

Here's the scenario - we lost - we're 0-1. No big deal, but now it's time to run the table. We are still unscathed in the SEC race. We can still go to a BCS bowl or even perhaps the Orange Bowl if we finish at 11-1 after the SEC Championship. The season is not over unless we play another game like we played Saturday. It's time to look ahead and not dwell on Saturday... just learn from it. Remember La Tech last year and how BAD we played that game??? Everyone thought we would have another losing season based on ONE GAME. Well folks, UCLA was one NON-CONFERENCE GAME. It's over and now it's time to move on. We can either turn over the rest of the season or make something great happen. It's up to us, the players, and the coaches. The coaches will do their jobs in getting the players ready. It's our turn to be there for the team like we were in California and cheer on the Tide (not boo them). Be at every game you can and show them your support. Now is the time for the REAL BAMA FOOTBALL TEAM to show up. It's Bama/Vandy.... next. It's time to show that Bama is really back!

BAMA/VANDY PREVIEW - Yes, it's the Vandy team that always plays us tough. Why Bama every year and not anyone else? I don't know. Ok, so they did give Florida a good run last year. But anyway, they always play us tough. Something brings out the best of them when they play Alabama. More trick plays, more effort, and they want to beat Bama on the road. Don't know if it will happen this year. If Bama plays like they did last weekend, it might be a long day for Tide fans. But don't look for that. Look for a solid running game with Galloway/Miree 1-2 punch. And Zow can't have a worse day than before, so look for better things there. Watts will play - it's just a matter of when. There's no reason why Watts SHOULDN'T play. The defense hopefully will know how to tackle this weekend. We can only hope. Zolman (Vandy's QB) will have a decent game against Bama. He runs the ball well too, so look for the option a little. The Bama D will be tested believe it or not.

I think the team rebounds mainly because it IS Vanderbilt and they find a way to lose to Bama practically every year. I don't think they've beaten the Tide since 1985 or so? Well, let's not make this the year that they do it again. If they do, THEN we might have to be thinking losing season. :) You just can't lose to Vanerbilt, period. Do you know what a laughing stock Bama would be if we lost to Vandy??? Reigning SEC Champions lose to mighty Vandy! NO WAY, JOSE!! Bama wins in it's usual winning fashion. Milons will be the difference maker on special teams and Thomas gets the job done at PK. Close as usual, but don't look for a ton of offense.
BAMA 27 VANDY 20