What a way to end the season. 4-9. 1-5 in the last 6 games. Who woulda thunk it? Bama truly WAS in the bottom of the SEC this year almost with Mississippi State. The only consolation, if you call it one, is that we played the 2nd hardest schedule in the country with a staff that was put together in less then 2 months, and an offense that was as basic NFL if there ever was one. Throw in the injuries, Daniels leaving the team, and the inability to close games in the 4th quarter, and you get what we got - a 4-9 season. Everyone is considering this a "free pass" for Shula. It's almost like we're accepting a 4-9 season. I guess there's nothing you can really do BUT accept it, but it's definitely still not "acceptable". Anyway, let's take a look at the Hawaii game and move on to Hoops season...

OFFENSE - Same-o, same-o, same-o. Only difference in this game is that we scored 1st and had a 14-point lead in the 1st quarter. The "same-o" part is where we are having to scrounge up 2 scores in the last 5 minutes of the game to make the score look respectable since we let them score 37 points in the middle there. We get these long periods of no confidence and we just clam up on offense. Whether it be at the beginning or the middle or the end, we do it at some point - just long enough to give the opposition the lead, and then get so far behind that we're always hoping for a score and a successful onsides kick. When did THAT ever become a part of Alabama Football Tradition?? What happened to the days where we were kneeling on the last drive to burn the clock? Obviously, those days might be over.

Shaud did have a decent game... but take out his 50+ yard run, and he had about 50 yards the rest of the game... which still isn't bad, but could have been better against HAWAII. The problem is that our offensive line has no continuity right now. We lost 2 starters and don't have any rotation on the line. Hawaii just got the big "mo" and kept it after we did our intial scoring. Our WR's are all seniors with the exception of Prothro, and the seniors are the ones that aren't doing what it takes to win games. I'll give Fletcher some credit - he has come through in a few games, but seems like everytime we need a "playmaker", no one wants to BE THE MAN. Prothro seems to want to be that guy next year from what he has shown me so far. He had another decent game. His only problem is that he's short - he's 5'8". Not really the height you want a guy to be for the fade route. But he finds other ways to get the ball - plus he has a lot of speed which is a huge plus.

Last, the play of Brodie Croyle. I know the guy is playing hurt, but there comes a time when if you're playing hurt enough that you start huring the team. Fact is, is that a wounded Brodie is still better than anything else on the sideline (Sorry Spence, but it's true)... so we just have to deal with it. Two interceptions and a Shaud Williams fumble pretty much cost us the game. See Joe Kines??? Turnovers DO matter... not just 3-and-outs, you mook. Tell the head coach turnovers don't matter for us. Bullcrap. It TOTALLY turns the game around and shift momentum the other way, especially if you can get a score off of it... like Hawaii did. Take away the 3 turnovers and Bama wins the game hands down. But that's the way the ball bounces.... you don't win, turning the ball over 3 times. GOOD teams take care of the ball, and we showed what NOT to do if you want to win. Thus, we lost. It's just a matter of mere fundamentals. Take care of the football and you put yourself in a much better position to win football games. Why do you think OU and NIU (not to mention others) beat us? They didn't turn the ball over at all. We had chances to win those games, but we lost because WE turned the ball over and they didn't. That's the difference between having a 4-9 season and an 8-5 or 9-4 season. Turnovers.... and PENALTIES. Any player from now on that commits a personal foul should run around the practice field come Sunday afternoon the number of times that's on his jersey. They'll all wish they were number 1 then. Imagine a player wearing #20 jersey and he gets a late hit out of bounds or on the QB... don't you think 20 laps around the practice field will get them thinking about what they need to do next time they decide to be stupid? I think so. That's where it comes down to coaching. They need to get in these guys' heads that personal foul calls are NOT accepted and are idiotic. It doesn't take ANYTHING to lay off a hit a split-second and they do it anyway. Moronic if you ask me. That also could have cost us more points, but thanks to a blocked punt, it didn't.

Overall on the day, just a bag of bolts. 14 quick points and then we think the game's over. We go to sleep. Oh, the game lasts 60 minutes? Duh. Playing 10 minutes won't win you football games... just like it hasn't done all year. Play the whole game and show some pride when you play football for the University of Alabama. I see no grit anymore. If we would show the heart we have in the 4th quarter when we are coming back and making the score look respectable, then we might be winning more games as well. Where's that "want" to win in the rest of the game? That's why we lost yet another game.
GRADE: D

DEFENSE - The defense is playing lights out thanks to terrible play by Timmy Chang. Then in comes a QB that actually is able to complete passes, Whieldon. Bam Bam Bam. Tie game all of a sudden and the Tide defense looks like deer in the headlights for some reason. HELLO????? This is Hawaii... not Bama offense of 1989. Sure they have a good offense, but they change QB's and all of a sudden you're all scared. What the crap? Sliced and diced for 4 TDs and one rushing TD by the backup QB. Who are you again??? Vanderbilt? That's how you played. We did get one turnover that didn't do much with. Wow.

Problem here is depth. Sanctions are really killing our depth on defense, not to mention injuries all year long. What can you do? If you don't have capable backups or if there's a dropoff in talent, what do you do? You let the other team score. And that's what we did. With no rotation in the 2ndary, it's about impossible to keep them fresh, especially when the offense isn't sustaining drives.

Also, you can debate the call all you want about Cochran going out of bounds - whether he was pushed by Peprah or not... who cares? No camera angle ESPN showed was good enough to show if he was pushed or not... but odds are, he was slightly nudged by Peprah though I could be wrong, but that's what it appeared. Not a huge push, but maybe a nudge... either way, we still didn't perform on offense.

Next, the TD catch the guy cradled in his arms - the replay camera did have ONE angle in which you could see the ball hit the turf - it was the angle from the back of the end zone from above - it was very clear he didn't catch the ball... there's your 6 points and the possibility of a closer game and momentum back on the Tide's side. Regardless though, you have to accept it and it's in the books: 29-37. Another opponent that racked up over 30 points. And you really expect the Tide to win a game when the opponent scores over 30? We can barely score 20 let alone 40 to get the win. That's why we lost... we just gave up too many points for our offense to outscore - and isn't THAT what determines the outcome of the game - who can score the most points. Penalties and big plays - just another chapter for this year's beliguered defense.
GRADE: D

SPECIAL TEAMS - The bright spot is that we scored on special teams with a blocked FG by Anthony Madison and also got a record-breaking #4 blocked punt of the year by Chris James. The bad thing is that we missed yet another field goal (as predicted) by Brian Bostick. Brian, I hate to tell you, but stick with Electrical Engineering. I've been there, and it pays good too. We need a FG kicker next year. We need one that will be consistently good, not inconsistent or consistently spiratic. Kicking FG's this year has been a crap shoot. Missing chipshop FGs, missing PATs, bad return tackling on kickoffs, you name it. Punting by Bo Freelend has been about the only bright spot of the year in terms of improvement, though he did freak out a bit in Hawaii and decided to pass the ball instead of kicking it even though he had fumbled the snap. No one was around - he'll learn from that. It's just a mixed bucket of bolts here. They were average at best, but the score on Special teams keeps this unit from getting a worse grade. Much improvement needed here next year.
GRADE: C

OVERALL - Overall, we started out strong and then we put our head in the sand the rest of the game... that is, until we tried to do the usual 2-score comeback in waning minutes of the game. Sorry, but I'm not putting my eggs in that basket. It's pretty obvious. We had some decent weapons this year and didn't utilize them like we should have. I know I'm not a coach and I don't need you telling me to lay off the team and get a life or whatever. Nobody said you had to read this. You can't please everyone all the time, so get over it you whiny-butts that tell me I'm full of crap. I call it like I see it - I try not to be biased. I've watched enough football to know what I'm talking about.

So do better next year... in the next few days, I'll put up my 2004 preview and maybe things will look brighter - we'll see. Until then, Roll Tide!
GRADE: D+

BAMA 23 - AUBURN 28

Ok, I'm a LOT late on getting my take on the game this week. It's been a busy week as I have had to help pack for Mobile, AL, for Thanksgiving weekend with the family. I'm in Mobile now - ate some turkey, dressing, the usual stuff... now I have to write up what happened last Saturday, PLUS my prediction on the Hawaii game. Crap. Too much to do, people! Let's get this overwith...

OFFENSE - The offense was the basic 2003 Alabama offense. Nothing in the 1st half, then a rabid come-from-behind try-to-win game but come-up-short type of output. Nothing really new. It's the story of Bama's year quite honestly. What can you do? Just do better the next week... and make some major improvements for the next year - the main thing being some diverse running plays. I say it again - make the defenses wonder where the ball is and that will always help. I haven't seen much of that this year. I see toss left, toss right, run up the middle, & a simple play-action. Nothing is built around it. Nothing we run can possibly catch defense off guard honestly. That's why we're so easy to defend. Saturday was no different. We just couldn't muster up anything for the 2nd week in a row. We couldn't run - we couldn't pass. Then the 2nd half came along and AU was already thinking of the Peach Bowl, so it made the game close - not close enough to really scare Auburn too much. Shaud more than likely won't break the school rushing record thanks to these lousy offensive performances. The least we could have done for the guy is get him in position to do better. Instead, it's simple run left, run right... etc. I kinda feel sorry for Shaud, but I wish him luck at the next level - at least he BETTER be playing at the next level. He's a really good runner in my opinion.

We also need to get the TE's involved more. I know we're down to barebones minimum, but these are scholarship players. If they can't run plays just because Cavan and Johnson are hurt, then what are they doing on the field?? It's VERY hard to win games when you limit the number of weapons you have. We got out of the game what we put into it - not much... good effort though in the 2nd half, but for the most part, it was over after the 1st play AU ran from scrimmage. Good luck in Hawaii...
GRADE: D

DEFENSE - The defense couldn't beat their way out of a wet paper bag. They just sucked like a ho, let me tell ya. One play, 80 yards, TD Auburn. Next drive - pass the bomb - TD Auburn. Bang bang. How do you expect the self esteem of the players to be good when you get done playing 2-3 snaps on defense and the other team just runs it down your throat and already has almost 200 yards of offense?? Get ready for more of the same next week. Crap. Something has to be done here - whether it's coaching, or players, SOMETHING has to be done. I keep thinking maybe we should try to get Torbush back as defensive coordinator. Just a thought. He did so well the last 2 years overall... but then again, he went to TA&M this past season and couldn't stop a dang thing. I think if he came back, the players would rally around him and possibly be as good as they were last year, regardless of how crappy TA&M is doing. I mean, after all, it IS Texas A&M. ha ha ha ha

So anyway, there's no excuse for our defense Saturday. The first play went for 80 yards around the end. Sorry. You have fresh legs, and you let that happen... then the long bomb on the next drive. Sorry again. Inexcusable. Sure they are kids, but they KNOW how to play the freakin' game. It's not like this is tee-ball or something. This is one step from the PROs. We need to start playing like it. We're Alabama. Let's start playing like ALABAMA. Credit some good stops in the AU end zone to the defense though. We did hold them at times, but the hole was alreayd too deep for our offense to dig our way out of. Bad start again kills the Tide.
GRADE: C

SPECIAL TEAMS - The obvious bright spot was Brandon Brooks and his return to open the 2nd half. Everything else was "Alabama" of 2003. Another missed FG. Not so good coverage teams on punts... sheesh. Is it time for another special teams coach for next year? Something has to change next year... SOMETHING.
GRADE: C

OVERALL - Overall, the Tide seems to be getting worse this year, rather than better. Hopefully, the Tide can at least send out the seniors this year with a win in Hawaii. We've done nothing for them them year except give them wins over USF, Kentucky, Southern Miss, and Mississippi State. Pulease. How lame. Sure we had some close games against OU, Ark, and UT... and that were just that - close but no cigar. It's still a big fat L in the w/l bracket - something this team won't be very proud of when they leave. Let's get a 'W' next week, OK? No more of this crap EVER. Shula, let's get it together and make this team hard to defend. It's just to easy for anyone to stop us right now. High schools could give us a run - and that ain't what we're about. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: C-

BAMA 3 - #3 LSU 27

For those of you who want to read up on my take on the LSU massacre, well, sorry to disappoint you this week, but I don't want to relive the pain of that crappy day. We haven't been dominated like that since the last time LSU came to T-town... heck, last time, at least we made it slightly interesting. Saturday, Hillcrest High School could have given us a run for the money. I DID predict a beating, but dang if I thought it would be THAT BIG of a beating.

Every position gets an F. Those are my grades for the whole team. There just wasn't a bright spot anywhere. Offense was anemic, defense just rolled over, special teams (as I predicted) would miss a FG, punting was less than average...and for some reason, the coaching staff didn't seem to make any apparent changes at halftime to get this team on the right track.

"Let's just continue what we were doing in the 1st half since it worked so well"

What a bunch of crap us Bamafans had to watch on Saturday. No adjustments at any point in the game. The ONLY thing good that came of this game is the fact that we kicked a FG for either (1) Spite - screw you and your shutout. We got you last year! ha ha or (2) Shula didn't want to send out this senior class WITH a shutout. Either way, he avoided the shutout, and that counts for something. You just NEVER want to say you were shut out... not that that matters in the final outcome of the game...... a big fat 'L' for Bama.

That's it. If Auburn is as bad as this game (it better not be), man, oh man... there are going to be some people looking for other jobs... actually, that should probably happen regardless, but we'll see.

Keep the faith Bama Nation. We'll get this thing put back together soon enough...

BAMA 38 - MISSISSIPPI ST. 0

Finally - the most complete game of the year for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Not really much to complain about this week, as the bye week, and the weak opponent provided a great spark for the Tide to start the end of the season with a bang. Two years ago, Bama was 3-5 in Fran's first year... and we went on to win our last 4 games to finish 7-5 including an Independence Bowl win over Seneca Wallace and the Iowa St. Cyclones. This year, we're in a similar situation. We're 4-6, need to win 3 more games to give Shula a winning season in his first year at the Capstone. Beating #3 next week will likely be the toughest opponent on the schedule, so if we can do that, things will look good going into Iron Bowl week. For now, let's take a look, quickly, at the game that's will hopefully start a good end of the season for Alabama...

OFFENSE - The offense was clicking on all cylinders Saturday. It was totally opposite of what has happened all year - we actually got off to a fast start. 4 1/2 minutes into the game, Bama was up 14-0. We never really looked back. The 3rd play of the game is all Bama would even need to wax the Bulldogs 38-0, upping Bama's record to 4-6 overall.

Zach Fletcher would be the WR of the game as he caught only 2 passes, both for TD's and 118 yards. Impressive... though, to me, it's amazing how no one caught him as he ran 86 yards down the field. Is it just me, or does it seem like it's just jogging out there when he's running full blast? Dude ain't got any speed, but he made it happen Saturday. Other guys getting points on the board were Prothro (1st of season) and Castille, who ran for a TD. He's finally getting a few more snaps at RB... and enjoying it too, as he played HB in High School.

But the only miscue on the day was a pass that was intercepted by Miss. St. That one turnover didn't cost the Tide at all, as the defense shut out State. Great day on the ground as Williams ran for 89 and Hudson ran for 79. Talk about keeping the legs fresh - that will help in the long-run. We also got to see some new starters on the OL - Danny Martz and Atlas Herrion. They did a good job filling in for Britt and Alexander. Donald Clarke and Greg McLain got all the work at TE since Cavan went down, and Johnston was hurt. Anywho, great work on the day on offense, though I did hate to see Tre Luke's streak come to an end. Luke had had a 16-game streak in which he had caught a pass. That didn't happen Saturday though. He'll just have to make up for it in the LSU game, right? Great game, guys.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The defense was stifling Saturday. Miss. St.'s Connor would have one rush of 24 yards - the most yards by another RB was only 9 yards. Talk about d-o-m-i-n-a-t-i-o-n. After sacks, MSU had 24 total yards on the ground. MSU would end up with 128 thru the air, giving Bama its most complete defensive performance on the year. The Tide also got 2 picks off of Kevin Fant, one of which set up the 2nd TD on the day for Bama. Charlie Peprah dove for the pick and snagged it just before it hit the ground. Great play.

The DL and LB's were constantly in Fant's face all day, and they took him down 4 times, and hurried him countless others. Good to see Derrick Pope back in full swing as the end of the season nears. We're going to need him and fast. He's our best run-stopper and it showed on Saturday. Seems like almost every game where opponents run on us, Pope was hurt. When he's in, and healthy, they don't do jack squat. Thanks for being back Pope. I have missed you, Big Man. Last, we got the season's only shutout so far. Good to see the big goose egg out there for once. Southern Miss got 3 on us, but this will really help the confidence of our defense. So many teams have really stuck it to us lately, and we really came out and played hard. You really can't complain about anything we did Saturday on defense. MSU or any team for that matter, is going to get yards... but the bottom line is points - and Mississippi State didn't get any. ROLL TIDE
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Bostick, Bostick, Bostick. (shaking my head). ha ha One missed FG is really the only thing we didn't do well Saturday. But I've almost come accustomed to that fact. Seems like you miss the 1st or 2nd FG or PAT... then out of the blue, you make the 48 and 53 yarders. I'm really confused. You miss a 39 yarder, then make a 38 yarder with ease and lots of leftover room to spare. Maybe the key is to go ahead and THINK that you've already missed one on the day - so that all the others will go thru the uprights. I'm not mad, but dang - can we not go one game (well, I think you have gone just one game) with all FG's going thru the uprights? Granted, at times, the hold is bad, but more times than not - it's either low and blocked, or it's wide right or left - you pick. Just keep working on it. We'll need EVERY POINT AND MORE next weekend against LSU. Work hard - don't miss anymore. They ALL matter now.

Also, on the day, little 5-foot-4 Brandon Brooks got to return some punts. Brooks is a redshirt Sophomore, and Coach finally put someone in there besides Shaud. Sure Shaud gives you that security you always want, but it's good to have another guy out there that's dependable. He did well, returning a couple of punts for 18 and 29 yards. Nothing extremely big, but he didn't do anything that hurt us. Besides, I'm FOR someone besides Shaud being in there unless the game is on the line. Shaud is our MAIN GUY, and putting a guy in there returning punts is the easiest way to get someone hurt. Those defensive guys are coming at 100 mph ready to nail someone in the chest/stomach - you name it - they are wanting to hit the returner and hit them hard. Who wouldn't want to make Sportscenter, right? So I agree with keeping him in at RB only.

The other part that needs a little more work is the return tackling team. MSU got a couple of long run-backs we can't afford to let teams like LSU and Auburn get in a game. Work out the kinks there and we'll be ok. Good job special teams - work on getting better - and quickly.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, the team did really great. You can't complain about much... a missed FG here... long runbacks by MSU on kickoffs... but MOST OF ALL, what needs to be addressed this week are the penalties. Bama had 9 penalties against MSU Saturday which is sort of uncharacteristic of this year's Tide team. But what was so vexing was the fact that Bama couldn't control stupid calls, especially personal fouls. How freakin' lame do you have to be to hit a guy when he's clearly out of bounds? WR Prothro got one after an MSU interception. Regardless, our guys need to know that this isn't acceptable and will dealt with accordingly. Late hits on the QB, blocks in the back, and late hits out of bounds are the stupidest things a football player can do... along with off-sides on defense. Watch the ball. See Ray Lewis on Sunday Night Football this week - he was mic'd up and he was telling the guys prior to the 4rd and short snap that they were going to try to get them to jump offsides. What happened - one of the Ravens jumped, and the other team got a 1st down. Ray got in his face and told him a few times "Watch the ball - watch the ball - just watch the ball -nothing else." Need I say more? Just watch the dang ball. If the ball hasn't moved, then neither do you. If the guy is out of bounds, DON'T TOUCH HIM. Don't you think Bua from UGA could take back that hit he put on UF a couple of weeks ago. It probably cost them a win, and a spot in the SEC Championship game. You just have to use your head when it comes to that stuff. It's really simple. We can't be stupid. Let the OTHER TEAM shoot themselves in the foot, not us. Other than that, we did ok, and we got the much-needed win, not to mention a shutout for the defense. It's been a long time coming. Keep up the good work, and let's not look back... Roll Tide
GRADE: A

BAMA 43 - #22 TENNESSEE 51 (5-OT)

Did I take long enough to write this? Well, it won't be much because I'm still too pissed off to talk about it. 1st and 2 and you can't get a first down to win the game. That's it.

OFFENSE - The offense, for some reason, came alive in the overtime period. Why didn't we do that in regulation??? We scored 23 points in the OT. 20 points in regulation. What's wrong with that??? Anyway, we executed at times... and at most other times, we didn't. Talk about a game of ups and downs. One minute it looks like we're done for... then the next minute it looked like it was a sure win... say with a 1st and 2 and a couple of minutes left in the game. We end up punting (how, I don't know - sheesh).... and we get them at 4th and 19. Ok, all you have to do is keep them from getting 19 yards and we win yet again. We failed. The offense really disappointed me even while gaining a ton of yardage, mostly it seems from the OT periods. Shaud had a good game, but if you need 2 yards, put a big man in there. Shaud's a fly-weight. We need a big back - that's where Beard probably would have come in handy... Or Darby for that matter. Overall on offense, an average Bama day this year. Just short ONCE AGAIN to come up on the short end of the stick. Sorry, but the fade pass, even though it worked in a previous overtime, was a sorry call. Odds are, you don't get that completion - but we decided to go for the long pass anyway instead of getting at least 2 yards on a quick slant and keeping the game alive. Why why why???? I definitely have to question the play-calling by Brodie there. No way the coaches would call a play like that... and I believe they said they didn't, not that it was not obvious. Duh. Good effort, but we have to make better decisions and dig a whole lot deeper if you want to really win the game. We didn't want it as bad at UT, I hate to say. Else, you'd pound it out like you've never done before. Period.
GRADE: C

DEFENSE - The defense actually did ok until the last 2 minutes of the game... then in OT. We get them in 4th and 19 after we couldn't convert a 3rd down and short, and they complete the pass and tie the game to go into OT. When you snooze, you lose - isn't that how the saying goes? Why we're playing up on the WR's is beyond me. They can't get a 1st down 5 yards off the ball, people. OT, we just shut down. Both teams we scoring like mad... only UT didn't go after a low-percentage TD pass. That's the difference. Again, we came up short as usual this year.
GRADE: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams could have won the game with a FG in OT, plus if memory serves me correct, didn't we MUFF yet another kick during regulation? Sideways hold and muffed kick. Great. Just another example of why I have kept on harping about the kicking game. Find a holder. Find a kicker. Make sure they can work together. Give them a scholarship if they are good. If they don't deserve a scholarship because they're not good, then they don't need to be holding or kicking. Find someone to do the job right. I've NEVER seen THIS many problems with kicking chip-shot FG's and PAT's at Bama in my entire life. What's different this year? They have been doing this for years. This isn't coaching - it must be the talent we have. It's just horrible, and it's cost us about 3, maybe 4 games this year because we can't get the FG kicking together. We should miss 1 PAT in a full season at most. Fix it, please??? No excuses.

Freelend is still doing well, and he's the only bright spot (somehow) for the special teams unit. We're just going downhill it seems like...
GRADE: C

OVERALL - Overall, we played an average game - as we have the entire season practically. A win sure would cure a lot of hurt for the players and the fans. This one was big - and yet another weekend where we had plenty of shares of chances to win the game... both in regulation and in OT. We just didn't do it. Shula seemed to have the team pretty prepared, but for some reason, the stick was again short this week. Pressure situations really "do in" the Tide for some reason. When we HAVE to make a play, we usually don't. When we don't have to, we do. Not all the time, but most of the time. We have got to learn how to close games - that's basically it. Once we master that, we'll have it made. Depth is really killing this team as well. Injuries aren't helping either. Just get better. You have to find a way. Once again, I say, we just didn't reach down deep enough to get a sure win against UT. Now THEY have the streak at 1. Let's break it next year, ok?
GRADE: C

BAMA 28 - OLE MISS 43

The 1st quarter. That's what did in the Tide against Ole Miss, not to mention 3 devestating turnovers which led to 16 Ole Miss points. Bama shot theirselves in the foot a few too many times and again started out the game slow as molasses. Let's see where we messed up this week, and what went right this go-around...

OFFENSE - The offense began like it did in the Georgia game 2 weeks ago - stagnant. Southern Miss wasn't much better last week, but it was more understandable with Avalos at the helm and Bama having no passing game. This week, it was either a 3-and-out, or an interception that led to Ole Miss points, namely, TD's. Brodie's first pass of the game ended up getting picked off, and it was only a sign of more bad things to come. Remember the OU game? Same thing - not how you want to start the game - with Ole Miss basically getting the ball first in both halves.

Brodie actually had a good game except for the DEADLY 2 interceptions. Dre Fulgham made the catch of the day as the ball was caught inside the 5 with his fingertips - incredible. He also spread the ball around well, so the Ole Miss DB's weren't able to focus on one guy... which is really the way it's been all year since we don't have a go-to guy. Croyle would spread it around to 9 receivers on the day for around 250 yards & 2 TD's. The picks are the difference though, and with time, he'll get better. We just have to remember that he's hurt, plus this is his first real year to start for the Tide. He still has 2 more years for the Tide in which he'll get better and better. Manning wasn't always this good either. He came back to beat the Tide 2 years ago, but until this year, he really hasn't been that spectacular. This is his coming-out year... I can't wait until Brodie becomes the QB we all hoped he would be when he joined the Tide. We just have a tough time coming from behind in the 4th quarter. It's always a mistake here or a mistake there. If it's not Brodie throwing an interception, it's a rare Shaud Williams fumble. We find a way to always come up just a hair short. Call it bad luck - call it coaching - call it ... well, Football. It's the way the ball bounces on any given Saturday. We just need to come up with the long end of the stick in the future instead of the short end. We seem to be on that end way too much lately, having lost the 4 of 5 games. It almost feels like 1997 (4-7 Dumbose year), but unlike that year, this team has more promise. We're more of a team and have the tools to win - we just have to do it.

Anyway, you saw the game, so you know our problem: turnovers. We give them away but don't get (m)any in return. Give Ole Miss credit - they did what Georgia and OU did - they protected the football. And they showed why they are the #2 offensive team IN THE COUNTRY. They burned us on the ground for over 216 yards which was 100 more yards than what Bama got. They would end up with about 450 yards on the day with Manning making a few long bombs to put the Tide away. OM's running backs just ate up small chunks at a time with no RB getting over 100 yards.. instead they dished it around with RB's getting 81, 79, 39 yards and more from others. We couldn't stop anybody. I could have run for Ole Miss today. They just couldn't stop Ole Miss, period...

So back to Bama's offense (got off on a tangent)... other good news was the play of Tyrone Prothro. He got some playing time and caught 3 passes for 29 yards. He could be our go-to guy next year when everyone else leaves. He looked pretty good in his first outing. Other than the slow start and lack of a diverse offense, AND 3 turnovers, Bama played ok. What does that leave that we did right? We threw 2 TD passes and ate up some passing yardage in between. We have to get better on offense. We're just too predictable/vanilla. Maybe not vanilla... but we seem to have a hard time getting big running plays. How about a fake toss play to one side then pass to the TE on the other side - there's just so many things we could do, but don't. Just very plain and easy to defend. It's no wonder we're getting stopped so much. Clean up the turnovers, Bama. That's really our biggest problem. We lost the time-of-possession as well... we need ball control, which means it starts on the OL with the running game. That has to improve for Bama to start winning again. Turnovers cost the Tide the game today. You don't win most of the time when you turnover the ball 3 times and don't get any in return. It completely covers up most of the good stuff we did on offense... Slow starts have to stop as well. We're digging too big a hole at the beginning of games.
GRADE: D

DEFENSE - Bama's defense was practically non-existent. Ole Miss would run for 216 yards and throw for 230 more. Talk about a balanced Ole Miss offense. Having 2 dimensions really helps a team, huh? We couldn't shut down either one, plus we only got one sack in the game, which is about what Ole Miss is giving up on a per-game basis. Ole Miss RB's would never get stood up at the line - instead they would drag about 5 defennders 5 more yards en route to an 8 yard gain and a 1st down. We (again) just ran out of gas this week. Again, depth is a problem, and there's not much we can do about it. Our guys are tired - thus the reason why we DESPERATELY need the offense to win the time of possession stat of the game. Playing most of the game doesn't help our defense.... though we gave up 24 points at the beginning of the game when our guys were the freshest. Strange. Is it coaching? Is it fundamentals? Is Ole Miss really that good. Obviously so. Look what they have done previously, and look what they did today. We'll know if they are the real deal by season's end. They at least have a shot at winning the SEC West for the 1st time since the SEC went into divisions in 1992. Ole Miss is the ONLY SEC West team NOT to have won the West, so if they're going to do it, this is the year.

So back to the defense... they played as good as possible, but just had no answer to the Ole Miss scoring machine. In the air and on the ground - we just couldn't stop them. About the only really good thing Bama did on the day (since we only had one sack, few QB pressures, poor tackling, 1,000,000 yards given up, and not-so-great coverage in the 2ndary) was have a 3-play goal line stance. Ole Miss would have the ball on the 1 yard line, and Bama would stuff them 3 times in a row, putting up a wall that the Ole Miss RB's just couldn't crush through. It was MOST impressive. If only we had won, Daniel Moore would be getting another painting put together. Ole Miss would settle for a chip-shot FG.

So on the day, Bama did nothing to really stop Ole Miss. 43 points pretty much says it all, with 24 of those coming in the first 15 minutes of the game. That was the back-breaker quarter. Slow start again for the defense. We just can't play this poorly and win. We have to tackle much better, force more turnovers, and play sound football, especially in the 2ndary. Against Ole Miss, we just didn't do jack squat. Period.
GRADE: F

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special Teams still have a salt and pepper flavor. Good one minute and not-so-good the next. Freelend put up some monster numbers, setting Bama punting records for a single game by punting for an average of 52.4 yards per punt (minimum 5 punts). He really crushed the ball, but as usual, I'm very scared with him back there taking his time punting the ball. Seems like Ole Miss would get very clost to blocking one of his punts on any given snap. Instead, we blocked ok, and Freelend cranked out some beauties....

Speaking of blocked punts, Chris James pulled off his 3rd blocked punt of the year - did this guy come from Virginia Tech or something? LOL He has now tied a single season record for the most blocked kicks in a season with 3, and he still has 5 games left to play this year. The record could be his by the end of the year if we continue to exploit other teams' punting units. This guy is fast. Can this guy play DB or SS/FS as well? If so, we need it on defense.

Bostick would cash in on all of his.... well, all but 1 of his FG tries. Again, something would go wrong with a snap (or something - we just find things to go wrong) and Bostick's kick went about as high as the grass was high. The poorly handled snap was the cause for the bad kick - not Bostick's fault this time. A fluke? Maybe. Fix it. Just something else we're doing to shoot ourselves in the foot with.

Last, our kick return coverage is getting worse for some reason. This comes down to coaching and getting players in position to make plays. We're not in position too many times. This needs to be fixed pronto. So an ok day, but maybe the good outweighed the bad this time, but not by much. Improvement still needed, but you can't complain when your special teams get you a TD for the 2nd (or setup for a TD) 2 weeks in-a-row.
GRADE: B-

OVERALL - Overall, Bama seemed to be non-existent. The offense would sputter and the wrong times and penalties kept coming up and all the wrong times. The defense didn't show up even when fresh at the beginning of the game. Ole Miss just called the right plays for the defense we were in. But you still have to stop them, and we didn't. The coaches seem to be keeping the team focused, but something is still lacking. I think the biggest thing we're missing is a leader on defense. Someone who is just IN YOUR FACE awesome on defense. They don't seem to have an attitude. They're not mad enough. These guys need to get the adrenaline pumping more or something. Tiring out is probably not even our biggest problem. We made some of the best plays of the game in the 2nd half including the goal line stance. We're just getting out-played by opposing offenses. This is where the coaches need to step in and fix things. Hopefully they will soon. UT is next, and it's not going to be a great picnic if we play like this again.

Also, Bama would give up a safety to end the game's scoring. Brodie would just fumble the shotgun snap. It was a fluke, but it cost us 2 more points. Just something else that a "senior" Brodie probably wouldn't do, not to mention a healthy one. It's probably just a lack of concentration. You have to catch the ball before you do anything else.

That's about it. A below average game for the Tide results in a big win for Ole Miss. Tennesse, LSU, and Auburn are still on the schedule, so getting 6 wins is going to be ultimately tough from here on out. Throw in a Miss. State team that wants to send Jackie out with a bang (wonder if that will happen), and pass-happy Hawaii, and it looks bleak that Bama will get 6 wins. Somehow, someway - we NEED to get another SEC win other than Miss. St. I say start next week - but we'll see what happens. Remember, "any given Saturday".

Last, coaches (as I have said before) just need to make our offense a little less predictable. Add some flash - add something the defense hasn't seen - add something that's going to turn some heads - add something that will put Bama in the driver's seat - add something that's going to keep the defense guessing because right now, they don't guess much at all. That's our problem. Make them guess more. Maybe we'll see more of the guessing game next year - who knows? Our biggest problems were turnovers and no defense. Correct those and Bama wins a huge game.
OVERALL: C-

BAMA 17 - SOUTHERN MISS 3

Nice win, Bama. Run it. Run it... and keep on running it. Southern Miss KNEW what we were going to do and they still didn't stop us. I guess that IS what we do best... Now imagine Mike Price being the Head Coach... "ok guys, we can run the football as well as anyone, but this is a passing offense, so THAT is what we're going to do." The score could have been 3-31 Southern Miss for all we know. In any case, I liked the game plan - we didn't put the game on Avalos's arm - instead we put it on the veteran offensive line and our fine running backs. We didn't need to pass - we just needed to get the win with our 3rd string QB, and that's what we did. It wasn't about the numbers - it was about the 'W'. And now we're 3-4 instead of 2-5. Big difference. Let's take a look at a rather boring game... a win, nonetheless...

OFFENSE - What is there to say? We passed the ball a whopping 7 times the entire game, and only completed 3 passes. 3 WR's caught a pass each. The rest of the day was spent with Avalos giving the ball to Williams and Hudson. Shaud ran it 28 times, and Hudson ran it 18 times. It's so crazy. We would finish the day with the fewest yards passing... dare I say, in Alabama history?? I'm not sure, but it has to be close - 12 yards close. We only passed for 18 yards in the Sugar Bowl in 1993 - that's the last time I remember Bama passing for such few yards. But hey, Shula said we were going to run the ball. Bower said we'd run the ball... yet, even after putting 8-9 guys in the box, Bama still found a way. We got little by little... imagine what would have happened HAD Bama had a passing attack or the threat of one. Play-action... TD Bama. Who knows. It could have been a huge blowout otherwise. All in all, Bama had a gameplan and we stuck with it. Smash it down their throats. That's what we did. Shaud had another good game, and another long run. I'm going to miss him next year. Losing this guy is like losing Shaun Alexander. We didn't put up great numbers, but I didn't expect us to, and neither should have anyone else. 3rd string QB just did his part and put the ball in the playmakers' hands. He thew one pick, but it didn't hurt us in the end. Good job, Tide. Way to get a much needed win & way to just stick with the gameplan and play virtually mistake-free football. Bama only committed 2 penalties the entire game.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The defense did their job on the day. Basically it was a battle of whose defense was better. Both teams were playing with inexperienced QB's and both teams were a little banged up. Bama would come out of the game with no major injuries thank goodness. And the defense only allowed 3 points in the entire game. If we can't score more than 3 points, we definitely don't deserve to win. But we scored 17 and that's enough for me. Defense shut them down, but gave way to some 3rd downs... but the bottom line is that they kept Southern Miss out of the end zone & only got ONE field goal. We had a bend but don't break attitude. Give them yards all you want - just don't let them get 6. We did that. And considering the injuries we have, we didn't do too badly. Ryans also had another great game... This guy knows how to tackle and swarm to the ball. Glad we have him a few more years. Roll Tide.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams actually played a heckuva game finally... the only setback (could have been) was the kickoff return for a touchdown. Thanks to a USM penalty, it was nullified and USM wouldn't come close after that. Also, thanks to USM muffing the catch on a couple of punts, Bama was able to get pressure on the punter to cause a lot of problems. We ended up converting both "blocks" into points. That would seal the deal for Bama on the day. Freelend would punt the ball better than any other game this year, but still needs to get the ball off quicker. Bostic didn't miss ANYTHING this week. All PATs are intact this week. And special teams tackling was good as well... except for the last kickoff return for "false" TD. That could have stung had it counted, but it didn't. Solid performance overall. They were the difference in the game with the 2 USM punt plays... Should we name this game "Punt, USM, Punt"?? :) Keep it up. Oh, and last but certainly not least, kudos to Kyle Robinson for cranking the ball into the endzone on 2 of his kickoffs. It's about time we nailed them deep to keep them from returning a kick for good yardage. Nice. Do it again next week!
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, we did what we had to do without making a big spectacle out of it. We didn't impress anyone. We just went out and won the game by running the ball straight at Southern Miss. There wasn't much else to it really. Croyle sat out the entire game - wise move, Shula. No real reason at all to put him in this week. Next week will be a different story, that's for sure. But as for this week - it was a below average excitement-of-a-game... but we got the job done and now we're 3-4 instead of 2-5. Doesn't that just look a lot mo' better? I'll take it over a loss anyday. Way to hang, Bama... way to hang...
OVERALL: A

BAMA 23 - #11 GEORGIA 37

Not much really to say this week other than, I hope the rest of the season is a lot better than this game. With the status of our top 2 QB's, things don't look good for Bama... but who knows... we'll see what happens, right?

OFFENSE - The offense in this game was pretty much non-existent, especially in the first half. What did we have - something like 30 yards or some crap? Pennington just didn't get it done in this game... and Bama's rushing game was pretty much gone as well. Give the credit to Georgia - they shut us down. Period. We could do nothing right on offense OR defense, mostly in the 1st half. The 2nd half, we held Georgia scoreless, but it was probably more of them thinking ahead to next week's game against UT rather than us really "shutting them down". They still won by a good margin - 14 points.

The biggest thing in the news right now is whether or not Brodie should have played when the score was 37-10, 30-3, or whatever. At that point, I was even yelling - put in Brodie! But only if he's ok enough to play. I don't know the extent of the injury - only the coaches know that. But then again, if he's not starting, he's probably not well enough to play, period. But I would say that regardless, if Shula had waited until Pennington got hurt to put Brodie in, he probably would have done so... so either way, Brodie would have likely played, and don't say Bama can't come back from being down big. Bama got it done in other ways - special teams and defense. Without Brodie at the helm, it was very unlikely Bama would come back from that deficit, but that was the ONLY way we COULD have come back. Obviously, there's probably a 99% chance that Avalos couldn't do it - heck, he has NO playing experience, and only got about 5 snaps at practice all week behind Pennington.

Anyway, as it turned out, it was probably not a good idea to put Brodie in the game, especially when there's so much more football to be played, and this season won't even count - well, Shula is thinking in the "now". He doesn't want to worry about the future as much as he does the present - Bamafans don't want to wait on the future - we want to win now. If we would have kept losing and lost 63-13, then people would have asked why he didn't put in Brodie sooner. He'll always get ambushed with "what if's". So everyone bashing him can get down and well, you know....

Give the guy a break. He's doing what he thought was right at the time. He may treat things differently next time he's put in this situation, and he might not. He knows the players better than we do... and we should let him make the call. Let's just hope Brodie is good to go in at least a few weeks when UT comes to T-town. If he's not ready for Ole Miss, then dog-gone - let the other QB's play. If we finish the season strong, then great. We'll end on a high note.... but if he's not healthy, oh my - let's not go there. Avalos is the 3rd stringer - a redshirt freshman, and he's not highly touted like Chris Leak of Florida. He's a scholarship QB with no real experience up until now. He's very shaky, but maybe a week full of practice might help him out. Couldn't hurt, right?

So given the fact that our top 2 QB's were out, and Herrion got hurt, and our offense is just beaten up, I can't give a really bad grade. They obviously deserve an F, but not with the main starters on the sideline. We just have to give ourselves a chance to win the game - 3-and-outs don't help your defense, and it doesn't help your score. We have to be consistent at moving the ball... Just find a way to get it done.
GRADE: C-

DEFENSE - After a bzillion 3-and-outs, what more can you expect? The starters are having to play pretty much the entire game... and some of the starters are 2nd-team players. Garth got his first start in place of Pope, and the DL didn't get a rest the entire day... along with most of the other guys. The defenes just couldn't hang with the fresh legs of the UGA offense... yet in the end of the game, they found a way to at least put another TD on the board and still get 3 picks on the day, 2 by Charles Jones. They played as good as one could expect - we just need healthy players. We have too many hurt people, period. Seems like we barely have enough people to play the game anyway. A few freshmen are having to play; something we'd rather not do, so we can redshirt as many people as possible for the upcoming dreaded 2 years. But for not giving up, and doing everything possible to win, I have to give them props. They did a decent job, but you still can't take away the fact that at the beginning of the game, Georgia still marched up the field on us multiple times. We have to do better... where we find this extra 'umph', I don't know. But we have to find it somewhere. We're just beat up right now - too many injuries. We could have definitely used an off week this week... and we sure didn't need all the players dropping like flies this past weekend... we're down to starting almost all 2nd teamers it seems like. Heck, Pope was the 2nd string and he's not 100% (Daniels was #1 at the beginning of the season)... now Garth is getting some playing time. That's how bad it is right now... yet at least we're still making some plays here and there, but mainly in the 2nd half of the game. 37 points in one half is uncalled for... gotta do better, but we came alive a little in the 2nd to narrow the margin and hold UGA scoreless the last 30:00. We just need healthy bodies or we're not going to stop anybody.
GRADE: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams always leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth. For the 3rd time this year, Bostick missed a PAT. Do I need to say anything else? Yet he makes a long FG. I just don't get it. Explain to me how he misses 3 PAT's in 6 games. Michael Proctor missed either his first or second PAT attempt in college as a freshman... then made the rest in his college career. Doyle good... Neil Thomas... good. Need I say more? Why do we constantly miss PAT's???? Sheeh.

Then on the other side of the ball, UGA gave us a gift - nothing that Bama really caused - by fumbling a punt. Garth picked up the ball and ran it in to make the deficit 14 points. Could have been 13, but we know what happened after the TD...

Then, to really give UGA the most momentum of the night, Ramzee Robinson fumbled the kickoff only to see UGA score once again off the turnover. Not good.... then Bo Freelend took his nice little time punting the football AGAIN (see NIU game) taking 3 or 4 freakin' steps to punt the stupid ball. Do the coaches think we have enough time for coffee back there while we're punting? I have punted before, and I know that if you have your feet set, you only have to take 2 steps and BOOM - it's gone. Now obviously, the blocker (I can't remember the blocker's name off hand - was it Garth?? I don't remember.) let the closest man in to the ball and blocked the outter guy - stupid too. That didn't help Freelend either. But dang - if you just get the ball off, you won't have to worry about the block anyway. Crap - can we not kick the ball quicker from now on????????

Basically, our lack of thinking just comes down to fundamentals. And we either don't have them, or the coaches don't give a crap about teaching them. It's VERY SIMPLE techniques on how to play the game. Have the coaches even showed guys how to hold a football when running with it? I was watching Robinson return the kick and the stupid ball wasn't even held properly. You should have your index finger and thumb on one side of the ball and the rest of your fingers on the other side of the ball to 'lock' it in place. That thing was just flying all over the place. And when you get tackled or start to get tackled, you SECURE THE FOOTBALL. Put both hands on the ball, pull it next to your body - don't let those morons take the ball from you. Shaud had a fumble on offense as well, but that's a rarity. He knows what he did, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't fumble the rest of the year on offense. He corrects mistakes.... the rest of the guys need to do the same.

Anyway, like I said, it's a bittersweet special teams unit. You got the good and the bad - they come up even after it balances out... but the blocked punt for TD and the fumbled kickoff return gave them 14 points right there - the difference in the game.... then throw in a missed PAT - heck, Bama had their chance to win right there. It was that close - only the score didn't reflect it because THOSE PLAYS DO COUNT. And were they huge......
GRADE: C-

OVERALL - Overall, this should have been an F grade. But given that our team is playing with injured folk, and young guns, what more can you expect. UGA had more talent, more guys, more fresh legs, more college head coaching experience, more guys who have won an SEC Championship, and an All-American or 2 on defense. Georgia just had the better team. Plain and simple. They'll make a run at the SEC Championship, that's for sure. But again, we can't linger on last week. It's time to move on to Southern Miss. Hopefully, the coaches and players have learned from their mistakes, and we can start winning games again. Just get better - healthwise, and playing-wise. We can't be like this for much longer or it will be 1997 all over again... let's not repeat history, people. Let's win at least 6 games and get Mike Shula that bonus he was promised. Roll Tide!
GRADE: C-

BAMA 31 - #9 ARKANSAS 34 (2OT)

What a whacked-out game Saturday. First the low, then a high, then an extreme high, then a gasp, then an oh no, then a extreme low of lows... That pretty much sums it up. Highs and lows, and a finish that would normally exemplify anything BUT Alabama football. Let's take a look at this heartwrenching loss...

OFFENSE - The offense against the Hogs was a little spiratic Saturday. Bama started out slow as usual and hasn't scored on the opening drive in all 5 games this year. This MUST improve. Arkansas, on the other hand, came out on a tear with their first drive, scoring on a QB run by Matt Jones - didn't I tell them to watch out for this guy? He's fast as a gazelle. But once the hogs got their first TD, they would get another one until late in the 3rd quarter, so the Bama defense did their job in the first half, forcing (well maybe not actually FORCING) 2 missed FG's by Arkansas. Bama's offense seemed to be up and down, but took care of the ball for the most part in the 1st half. Shaud was have an "ok" game, and the WR's had some dropped balls. Fletcher dropped one on the first drive that hit him in the worst place possible - right in the numbers.. Sheesh. Gotta have those, big guy. I've seen you catch harder balls than that before - you HAVE to catch the easy ones - be a playmaker.

Later on in the 1st half, Brodie was coming along and then got nailed on a run to the right side. In comes Spencer Pennington. Everyone was expecting a run or a QB sneak - I know I was. Then BAM. 1st down - Nice throw, Spence. Then BAM again. Nice 12 yards and a 1st down, Spence. Dang - I tell you one thing - the cameras of CBS were right on Pennington's face, and man, if he didn't look like he was a starter. He looked determined, and more importantly, IN CONTROL. Check it out again sometime - he didn't look nervous or rattled in the least. But then he threw a couple of incomplete passes, wisely throwing the ball out of bounds since no one was open. Thanks to the hogs for a roughing the passer call... to help set up a 48-yd FG to end the half. It was a nice change of pace to end the half on - the hogs had outrun us, outplayed us, but the score was tied at 10-10.

Welcome wonderful 3rd quarter: Brodie played with a seperated shoulder the rest of the game and would complete 2 TD passes to Dre Fulgham, sending Bryant-Denny into a frenzy. Later, Shaud Williams would commit "deja vu" once again running right up the gut for 80 yards and a TD. Talk about FREAKY. So Bama's up 31-10, with about 7 minutes left in only the 3rd quarter, and that would be ALL the points Bama would score for the rest of the day. You'd think that would be enough, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, Bama would need just one more point before regulation to end the game with a win. Instead, the unthinkable happened, and Bama threw its first interception in the 2nd overtime to almost certainly seal the deal for the hogs to win the game.

Good day - we scored 31, 21 of those in the 3rd quarter. Bama can be explosive, which I didn't think was very possible. But even though we were up by 21, we had our chances in the 4th quarter, when the hogs started coming back - to EXTEND the lead - and we didn't get it done. We sort of sat on the ball, and didn't execute... and on a day when we needed just a little more from our offense, we just couldn't muster enough of it up. But not a bad day - we just need to play for 4 quarters, not 2 1/2. We sat back and watched the last 1.5 quarters of the game... and that helped do Bama in.
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - Bama's defense played a game of halves as well... well, we played for 3.5 quarters as well. The last quarter and a half, we just shut down... no, shut ourselves down, not Arkansas. We'd hold the hogs to 10 points up until about 7 minutes of the 3rd quarter, came up with some awesome picks and then let them run all over us in the 4th. At this point, obviously, the injuries are piling up, and the depth isn't what we would like... but isn't that what the NCAA wanted to happen? It's almost as bad as getting the death penalty - which we'll really start feeling next year.

So on a day when the offense pretty much came through for us - got us a 21-pt freakin' lead... 31-10, the Bama defense just got complacent and thought the game was over. Well, if history serves me correct, the hogs NEVER quit until the clock hits 00:00. I will give them that - they never quit in any game, regardless of the score. But anyway, we just got man-handled and they took it to OT. The hogs had nearly 300 yards of rushing yards. I honestly can't remember the last time a defense ran over us like that.

So we head to OT, and well, you know the story - we play SO GREAT - we stop Matt Jones, we force a wounded duck into the end zone and then celebrate like we have won the game. Sorry, THAT IS NOT ALABAMA FOOTBALL. Those guys can get excited, and that's great, but it's not like we're taking the FG posts down for making a stop. We still had to score - you could have knocked the pass down the result would have been the same since it was 4th down.

Honestly, I didn't think a flag should have been thrown - they were excited, but it sux to have a REF help cause the outcome of the game - it's not UNSPORTSMANLIKE to celebrate with your teammates - they piled on HIM. I guess with all that hype, they just got too excited and stayed out there too long. From what I heard, once ref told them to get up, and they started getting up, but the back judge threw the flag before they could do so. I think it's sad to see that. That would force Bama to start on the 40 instead of the 25, and that could have been the difference, as Bama had to try a 38-yd FG attempt when it easly could have been a chip-shot from 23. It's just so frustrating, and let's hope the coaches get in the players' minds that when you make a play, hip-hip-hoo-rah, then get your butt back to the sideline and finish the rest. Getting that penalty is as bad as getting a stupid personal foul, roughing the passer or something - it just should NEVER happen - just like Bama never taking down the FG posts when we win a game - that's what OTHER teams do, not us. Bama should always expect themselves to win.

That being said, they played a good 2.5 quarters, then just rolled over on their backs. We HAVE to play the whole game - lately, we've finished strong, but Saturday, we finished early. 21-point lead? It's in the bag - Not so fast my friend. Next time, don't assume anything unless we're up by 21 with 1 minute left in the game. 31 points should have been enough for this defense to win. It's sad to see this happen... just gotta finish the game strong and don't sit back waiting to see what's going to happen. You gave up 34 points and had the biggest penalty of the game in OT. No excuses.
GRADE:C-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams did ok except for the final FG attempt in OT1. Bostic hit an incredible 48-ydr to end the 1st half, but would miss a 38 yarder in OT1. Isn't it weird how in every game, he ALWAYS makes a longer field goal than the one he always misses. He misses a FG in every game - we just don't know which one. Granted, his missed FG would have been likely 15 yds closer to the goalposts had the defense not overcelebrated... just get better Bostic. You hit your PAT's at least, so I won't bash you too hard. Miss one of those, and well, you know the story - we would have lost by 1 point with it again being your fault. Good job, but dang - why couldn't you have hit BOTH of the FG's - you could been the hero for the 1st time in your career. Looks like a long an prosperous life in the field of engineering, Brian. Just get better - we're going to need you down the stretch - somewhere, someday - you'll get the game-winner.

Coverage was good on the day on kickoffs and punts, but Freelend needs to just crank the crap out of that ball on punts. He's only kicking it about 35 yards per punt. Hard to believe we don't have a guy that can kick further... in any case, he hasn't lost the game for us, and he's been consistent - sort of. :) Get better - we'll need you this Saturday.
GRADE: B

OVERALL - Overall, the team just seemed to give up. In overtime they came alive and came up with a huge stop, but shot themselves in the foot with the ending interception. In OT2, Brodie threw his first interception of the game, which ended up being the costliest. The hogs would run up the field on their possessions and kick a chip-shot FG to win it 34-31. Remember, the score was 31-10 with 7:00 left in the 3rd quarter. You have to ask - how can a team let another team come back from such a large deficit over such a short period of time... well, that's how you do it. Watch our game.

In the future, keep with the gameplan. You think you're running up the score, but in this day and age, almost any comeback is possible. You can never be too far ahead. We should have stuck with our guns, but we didn't - we rolled over and let the hogs get out of Tuscaloosa with a win, and Bama with yet another loss to another top 10 team in Bryant-Denny. Bama is now 2-3 and things only get harder in the upcoming weeks. The honeymoon is over - it's time to REALLY play some football if we expect to have a winning season. Let's get to it, Tide. Dig down deep. You're going to have to... or it will be a looooong season.
GRADE: B-

#21 BAMA 16 - N. ILLINOIS 19

Well, a frustrating night is finally over and words can't express my feelings right now other than - I'm so freaking pissed off at missed extra points. This is TWO TIMES - count 'em - TWO TIMES - that Brian Bostick has cost us a game. Last year against Georgia, he botched an extra point which forced us to go for 2 at the end of the game, only to NOT convert, and we lost by 2. This week, Bostick botched yet another "freebie" extra point (not to mention the chip shot last week against UK) and this time, again, it was the difference in the game. We lose a point, and NIU runs it back for 2, making the difference in the game 3 points - the difference between going into OT or coming out with a big fat ole loss against some Husky-dogsled team. Dang, I'm so pissed I can't stand it right now - mind you, the game just ended about an hour ago, so I'm still reeling.....

OFFENSE - The offense is doing exactly what I said it would do - be simple and easy to stop. We have NO trickery. No option game. No fakes. No end around. No WR end around options. No real misdirection. No NOTHING. What we do have is Shaud up the middle. Shaud right. Shaud left. Brodie drop back pass. Brodie drop back pass. Brodie drop back pass. Brodie drop back pass. Do you get where I'm going with this? We're just so easy to stop. We have NO element of surprise AT ALL. In the NFL, this is normal. In college, you need more than that. You just do. Shaud can only do so much and before you know it, he's shut down too. Take away the 54-yd TD run, and he didn't have much of anything. Brodie hit some big passes, and that's great... show me some points. I don't care about the stupid yards/stats. I want what wins games. I want points. Everyone wants some points. Stick the ball in the dang endzone and put these little pansie teams in their place. We're ALA-FREAKIN'-BAMA, people. We played like we didn't give a rat's butt... no passion... no umpht... just nothing but going through the motion, seriously. There was no excitement except for Shaud's run which gave us a little bit of what we now know was false hope. It was inevitable. Bama couldn't move the ball on an NIU DEFENSE and stick it in the end zone. We BARELY did better than what we did against OU. 16 points. Is NIU's defense REALLY that good or are we just too predictable. Or do we just get lucky when we complete passes. We'll complete a few, but heck if we take it down the field with dominance. It's like we're just hoping to get a first down, which is really sad.

Anyway, the absence of Justin Smiley didn't help us out. NIU's blitz kept coming and coming, and for some reason, we couldn't do anything about it. You'd think we'd have a backup plan in case they brought everybody. Bring a TE/RB/WR in the open where the rushers are or something. I don't know. Have a backup plan. It's like their DL was in the back field for most of the game for some reason. Are they really that good? Or is our OL that bad all of a sudden? Or are we (hello again) too predictable with no element of surprise. I like Shula as a coach, but he really has to adjust to the college game and all the different options you can do with the ball. NFL is pretty much straight up. In college, it's so diverse, and he's just not taking advantage of that. And that's going to kill us. Not only does it hurt the offense, but it hurts the defense since they don't see "other things" other than NFL pro-style offense.

I'm probably just too pissed off to be writing this, but I can't sleep not getting this crap off my chest. What else? Shaud did have a decent game. Almost 100 yards rushing, and he was the leading receiver on the night. All I can think about is next year, we are totally screwed unless we get some un-freakin'-believable talent to come to Alabama. No Shaud, and 5 WR's will be gone. A small hope is that A.C. might be back, and Cornelius Wortham too, if they take a redshirt season (Carter would have to get his approved by the NCAA since he has already taken a medical redshirt season). That's beside the point though, but it's something that I just think about from time to time. If we're playing this poorly with 5 seniors, imagine how we'll play without them..... oh no....

So the offense did the same thing as last week, only we didn't score as many points but got more yards in the air. Great. Look what it gets us. WR's need to get open more and make some bigger plays. Basically what I'm saying is that we need a go-to guy... we don't have one. Brodie needs to keep on keepin' on. He had a good game - threw for almost 300 yards and a TD and most importantly didn't throw a pick. Shaud is still the man and MVP of the team. The offensive line is questionable. With Smiley in there, would that make a difference? Enough of a difference? Possibly, but we'll never know. I say, get him back in there... hurry up and heal that foot! Anyone have some herbs to sprinkle on that thing?? Magic pixi dust? Anything - just get our banged-up Tide off the sidelines and onto the field. Bottom line - put more points on the board. 3 weeks in a row doesn't cut it, and won't cut it next week either - or the week after - or the week after - get my drift? The meat of the schedule is coming up and we are hoping to win instead of expecting to win now. Not the mentality we need to be having at this point in the year. Good game, but points, points, points, points - get 'em. They win games. Get all you can. Yards are great - oooooh fun. I have a lot of yards. But we lost. Not good enough, Tide. Got to punch it in the end zone. Don't make me bust a cap up your... well, you know... get it done, Tide. We need you now more than ever.
GRADE: C

DEFENSE - The defense must be feeling the aftereffects (still) of the Bama/OU game. They couldn't stop much of anything. We did get to the NIU QB a few times for a loss of 38 yards, which will improve the rushing stats for Bama. Michael "The Burner" Turner gained a whopping 156 yards on the day and looked like he could do it any day of the year. There was no stopping him. The thing is, is that if we run those exact same plays, our guy doesn't do as well. Something is up with our blocking schemes or something - or they are playing better on defense than we are... it's just messed up.

So NIU marches up and down the field on us a few times - pins us deep for most of the game on punts - plays with passion and runs all over us. Then to put the stake in Bama's heart, they hit the long bomb (we always get burned - every game - today was no different - just a matter of time) with Bama in double-coverage, and the guy makes the grab and trots into the end zone untouched practically. All we had to do was lift an arm or something. Turn around. Wave your hands in the air. Anything. Just don't do NOTHING and let him catch it. Burn. Tide was down 10 at that point and it looked like there was no hope left for the Tide... and there wasn't really.

Overall on D, I'd say we played a good enough game to win, but the offense just didn't do enough to make it happen. And for the 3rd game in a row, Bama failed to get a turnover. No fumble recoveries. No int's. Joe Kines doesn't care - 3-and-outs are just as good. What??? How long have you been a coach. That's what great defenses do, you freakin' MOOK. They create turnovers. They strip the ball - they get picks. Do you honestly think that OU would have beaten Bama had they not gotten those 2 int's against Croyle. No way, man. OU does without some points and it's a much closer game, one the Tide might have ended up winning. Turnovers mean YOU DON'T GET THE BALL ON YOUR DADGUM 20-YD LINE from a punt - instead, you either (A) score on the turnover or (B) you get the ball RIGHT THERE - not 40 yards down the field. That's what did us in tonight. Bad field position. Turnovers change the face of the game. Turnovers get the crowd into it. Turnovers get the offense pumped up. Turnovers are FREAKING HUGE!!!!! It totally stops the other team in their tracks and also gives the offense of their team less confidence for the next drive. That's football. We need to get more turnovers if we expect to stay in games this season. Our tackling has been better than average, and the DL is getting pressure on the QB's, but in the end, those QB's can complete passes despite a rush... and RB's can break tackles... but if you don't get a turnover and the latter happens, they'll just drive it down your throat. Yeah, turnovers are huge - and we need to start getting some. Props to the offense though - they took care of the ball the 2nd straight game - no turnovers by Alabama again. But I guess just give it to NIU - they did what we did - they took care of the ball and didn't give us a chance. They made us earn every little bit we got.

Anyway, that's it. The D gave up a good number of yards on the day and 17 points. 2 came on <grrrrrrrrr!!!> special teams physically challenged teams. You can't ask for much more. That's our average. 17 ppg. We always give that up. If we score 20, we'll win most games based on that. We scored only 16. Check. Mate. Get turnovers.
GRADE: B-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Oooooooooooo. It's like I don't wanna get started because I'll never finish. I stated my case at the top of this take, before the offense section. Need I say more about the dang kicking game??? Yes. Ok. Then I'll say more. Here's my solution. Put Kyle Robinson in the game to kick PAT's. I don't think he has missed one in his career at Bama - maybe one, but that would be all. Bostic has missed chip shots and PAT's more than any kicker I can think of. 2 PAT's in 2 games have cost us the game - UGA and NIU. The runback for 2 points and 1-pt miss was the difference in the game. 19-16. How important is it that we get a kicker that can get the ball up on EVERY try. EVERY POINT is crucial - yes, even 1 point after a TD. In our case, we got the double-whammy with the return, which is in turn like NIU getting a FG. They stop our 1-pt and get 2 themselves, not even having to drive their offense down the field. I guess that in essence is like a turnover - they took full advantage and took it to the house for 2.

So seriously consider Kyle Robinson to kick PAT's. He's good for it. Bostic, for some reason, seems to kick the long ball pretty well - why can't he pretend the FG posts are farter away on PAT's?? Something has to be done. Period. The kicking game is screwing us yet again.

The punting game is a little better, but don't get too excited. Bo Freelend averaged 33 yards per punt, compared to NIU's kicker with 46 yards per punt. That's a 13 yard difference, people. That's HUGE. Get another punter. Do something. We can't kick the ball 33 freakin' yards on average. Period. It's that simple. What kind of field position are we giving the other team? Not too bad of a field position if you ask me. We punt on our 30. They field at their 40 and run it back 10. They're on the 50. Big difference huh? They're kicker punts on the 30, and we're backed up to the 30 with a 5-yd return... We start on the 35 or 30 because their punter not only kicks it deep, but high - high enough that we have almost no shot at a return. Where do you want to start a drive - the 50-yd line or the 35? Heck, 50 sounds good... move it 15 yards, and they're basically in FG range. How convenient. And all that because we can only punt the ball 33 yards and line drive it at that.

Ok, maybe I'm being a little rough here. I know all the punts aren't like that, but sheesh - did it seem like it to everyone else that we were always deep in our territory after a punt. Ok, penalties didn't help. 8 penalties for that matter. What happened to discipline this week? Crap. Could we shoot ourselves in the foot anymore? Ok, yes (See Fran-coached Bama teams last year), but it still ain't helping us this year. Holding, blocks in the back, etc. Stupid stuff. Let's get fundamentals, guys.

So back to special teams. Kick the ball in the end zone. I hear that Shula WANTS the kickers to kick the ball short because he wants the KR to return the ball so we can try and get them pinned back behind the 20. Sorry. If that REALLY is the case, that's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Kick it deep, and they start at the 20. Period. No if's and's or butts. Yeah, we could pin them at the 15 - not much less than that, which is 5 measley yards back. But let's take a look at the wonderful alternative - (1) KR could return the ball to the 35, 40, 50 and have great starting field position or (2) take it to the house. More often that not, we kick it to the 5-10 yard line and they get to the 20 EASILY... they usually get more - heading out to the 25 or 30. NIU made it to the 36 once I believe. Sorry. Kick it in the endzone. THAT is how you secure your place on the 20 and force the other team to go 80 yards. Big deal if they start on the 15. More often than not, you're going to get the short end of the stick if you don't kick it deep... unless your us running the ball back. We got the ball at the 5 once (I believe), and Ramzee Robinson might have made it back to the 20 or less. Unbelievable. Could it be the kicker? Yes. Difference is, is that he kicked it high and to the 5. Height is the key, and we still don't really do that well with it.

One more gripe. Screw the no-halo rule. Honestly, it makes the ruling on the field easier to make for the officials, but the players are going to get nailed and get hurt. They are sitting ducks. Yeah, they can call a fair catch and everything is ok. Still, it's dangerous as already seen by hard hits on Sportscenter on ESPN. Some guys are really getting jacked up on PR's. The NFL has a 2-yd rule. The NCAA just got rid of the 3-yd rule. I say bring it back. Too many people are running down the field smacking their lips with no halo this year... and the Punt Returner is like a piece of meat just hanging there ready to be smacked. And the last thing we need is for Shaud to get hurt returning punts. So anyway, get another player to kick PAT's. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 2 games have been lost by missed PAT's by one kicker. It's time for a change, people. Yeah, we could have made plays here and there... but for a "freebie" play where points are almost inevitable, you take FULL advantage and get the points when they are right there in front of you... It's just that simple. Hit the PAT and it's a whole new ballgame. That's it. It cost us the game. End of Story.
GRADE: D

OVERALL - Bama played a hard game. Again, dominating the stat book, but this time coming out with a loss because we can't punch it in the end zone, and we can't kick PAT's. That's all there is to it. The defense did pretty well, had some shotty tackling at times, but only allowed 17 points. That leaves the rest on the shoulders of the offense. If we can't score 17, we don't deserve to win - unless both D's are playing the best game of their life - then a 14-10 game is understandable. But Bama/NIU. Sorry. I don't buy it. Bring on some offense that's going to get us in the end zone. What we have ain't cutting it. The proof is on the scoreboard.

Come back next week with a vengence. The Hogs are 3-0 and beat the snot out of Texas. I saw that game. Play like this the rest of the year.. no enthusiasm, no getting pumped up, no true Alabama football grit.. no nothing, and that's what our season will end up being. Make some changes coach. Something's wrong - we just need to get the kinks out and get this machine rolling... into the endzone, that is. Good luck next week - we'll need it if we play like this again...
GRADE: C

BAMA 27 - KENTUCKY 17

Who's the man? Who's the man? Who's the man? Can you say Shaud Williams, people? For the 3rd week in a row, Shaud Williams has dazzled, then dazzled some more. You can't stop him - he's like Michael Jordan, at least so far. 174 yards against a Kentucky defense, and he saved a lot of that for the 2nd half as he punched it in the endzone for Bama 2 times Saturday. Brodie was looking a little better, the defense was solid, and special teams did pretty well too. Let's take a look at the Bama win against the UK Wild, Tamed-Kats...

OFFENSE - The offense finally got off to a good start, statistically. We moved up the field the first drive of the game, and though I said we would score on the first drive in my week's prediction, we came up a little short - we 'shoulda' scored. A lame-duck kick by Bostic cost us 3 points. Lots of yards, but no points. The next few drives stalled, but we finally punched it in with Shaud Williams. He found a hole and went in practically untouched. The offensive line, McClain and the WR's are doing a great job blocking this year for our all-star running back. Because of his hard work, Shaud currently leads the race for the Heisman (according to the voters) at voteheisman.com. You can vote for Shaud about every day or every other day via the link on the front page of my site. Once your IP address resets itself, you can vote again.... then again when it resets itself after that. Usually an IP address resets itself every 24-48 hours depending on your ISP.

So enough with the internet 101 lesson. So the last drive in the 2nd quarter, and Bama drives once again, but dang it if Brodie throws it right to the linebacker of UK. Again, 70-80 yards of offense on the drive with nothing to show for it. Points is the key. Turnovers can kill you. See OU and now UK. Without those turnovers, Bama gets 3 to 7 more points added to the score and even more momentum going in at the half. Instead, UK is only down by 3 - though looking at the stats at that time, you'da thunk the score was 24-0.

2nd Half: We drive and punt once I believe, but come away with another FG and 2 TD's. Bostic missed a chip-shot in the 1st half, but then nails a 40+ yarder in the 2nd. Go figure. With the exception of his first kick, most of his kicks are getting some serious height on them, but they are barely squeeking in the posts (they almost hit the posts). He's pretty consistent, so I can't complain, but he still scares me.

Anyway, the offense on the day did a pretty good job - almost 500 yards and 27 points. Tally in the missed FG and the int before the half, and we would have 37 points, one away from my prediction of 38. I was pretty dead on this week if we were counting "what-if's". Tre Luke, Zack Fletcher and Brandon Greer all had good games, and Greer had the catch of the game, converting a 4th down and 6 in the 4th quarter. The very next play, Shaud would take it in for 6. Huge play - one that took a lot of guts, but was really the only call to make. Too far away for a FG, but too far in for a punt. Good call coach - and great throw, Brodie.

I guess my only suggestion to the offense, besides SCORE MORE POINTS, would be to try a bit more of misdirection. We did that a time or 2, but a fake toss sweep to the right/left, then hit the TE on the other side, usually yields big yardage. The other thing would be to add a bit of option in the game. Stick an option play in there about 4-5 times a game, and see what it gets you. Last year, we got a lot off the option... but I'm just not so sure that Shula really has that in his gameplan. Maybe he's saving it for "the play" we need for a certain opponent. Since Brodie was here last year, he still has option experience though they didn't run it much. Shaud ran with it a ton last year, so he's good. I just feel that some of the "ingenius" plays in college football aren't being used on our squad - trickery, well, maybe not that, but safe plays that can get you big yardage in college football. Plays that aren't run much in the NFL. I think Shula is using the pro-style because that's what he's used to, but I think next year, he'll probably look at other options to attack if not later this season. Most of what we see from the Tide, though it has worked ok, is simple draw plays, handoffs, and drop-back passes. Nothing that can really make a defense wonder where the ball is (ie. misdirection).

There's one play in particular that UK used on us, that we used last year - the draw from the shotgun with the RB headed one way and the QB headed in the other, with both sides carrying a blocker - so you don't know at first who has the ball and before you know it, BAM - 5-10 yards are gained. But hey, as long as Bama wins games, all I'll do is suggest.... I think that would just add a new dimension to our already potent offense. I just believe it can be even better...

So anyway, good day - as you all have read everywhere - lot of yards, but few points to show for them... at least 10-14 more points should have been scored, WR's did well, and Brodie came through when he had to (4th down play), and Shaud was just incredible. The turnover hurt us and that's one of the few things that went wrong for the Tide. Clean it up and be ready for next week. Roll Tide.
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - Wow! The defense came to play again didn't they. 6 total yards of offense in the 1st quarter for UK. The 2nd quarter, they gave up a TD. Overall, they gave up the average 17 points they always give up and not a point more. The most crucial point in the game, the D came up with the stop - 3rd and about 2 inches. For some whacked-out reason, J-Load called off an apparent QB sneak and called option with Bama stacking up the middle, and it backfired. FG. The UK offense would put a late TD on the board, but by then it was too late. The damage was already done.

One thing people have mentioned is the lack of turnovers. The coaches know this, but in their minds, 3-and-out is basically like a turnover. Well, maybe so, but nothing makes MO even stronger than a turnover. You get the ball right there without a punt and it gives the special teams unit a break as well. No need tiring out those guys too. But the TO's will come eventually. They started out slow last year too, but before you knew it - BOOM - Fumble recovery here, and an int there... they will come. The defensive line is also playing well. Not a lot of sacks, but when you have mobile QB's and they throw the ball away before you can get to them, what can you do? You can knock down passes, hurry the QB, and just stuff the lane so the RB has nowhere to go. Bama did all that, and that's why UK didn't even amass 30 yards of rushing offense. Overall, only 195 or so yards were gained by UK. You can't really ask for too much more. They kept Kentucky out of the end zone just long enough so they couldn't take a lead over the Tide. Good game guys - keep up the good work, and Pope, keep on keepin' on. Dude, you are a hoss and I'm glad you're on our side. Pope can hit. Brodie thanks that yellow jersey each and every week at practice.... Roll Tide.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - The special teams actually did a pretty good job on the day. Nothing out of the ordinary except for a missed Field Goal by Bostic. He squibbed the first one, but made the 2nd one - which was a 40+ yarder. Iron out those wrinkles, bud. We need all those points.

Tackling on special teams was good as well. Abney didn't take one back to the house though he did have a couple of good returns. One was due to a penalty on Bama which forced us to kickoff from the 20 instead of the 35. And one time, he had a great return, then Bama got a personal foul called which game them really good field position to set up UK's last scoring drive. THAT was the only real problem we had on the day. It was just a stupid penalty.

Last, I know Shaud is "the man", but I just hope we're not over-using him on punt returns. I guess he knows what he can handle though... just my observations. He is used a lot because he makes plays... but then what is the alternative - Tri Luke? He's probably the 2nd guy, but at least Shaud plays smart - he just seemed to have a little fumblitis out there Saturday, muffing 2 punts - only one of which counted since one was re-punted due to an inadvertant whistle. Esle that would have been UK's ball. But overall on special teams, not a bad day. Freelend got off some really good high punts, and tackling was good.

One question though - Is Aul hurt? Robinson came in to kick for him in the 2nd half. Didn't hear anything, so maybe it was just a strategic thing. Either way, we're still not kicking it deep into the endzone, which is what we need to be doing.
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, a nice gameplan by the coaches and good play by the players. They came to play and they didn't get down when UK scored at the end. Just get an onsides kick and end it. We could have scored at the end too.

Speaking of scoring, the coaches (and everyone) knows Bama played lights out on paper, stats, etc.... but points are what matters. You can have 50 yards in a game, but if your defense returns 5 passes for TD's, then you have 35 points and an almost sure win... instead, Bama had a ton of yards and not many points to show for it, mainly in the 1st half. We missed a FG on the first drive and threw an int right before halftime. The FG - what can you do - just improve. The int - you can improve there, but it just needs to get better and more consistent. I'm sure Brodie knows this - he's his biggest critic, like most QB's. We're not telling him he or the coaching staff doesn't already know, at least you would think that. He has taken a little fire off some of his balls and they are falling in there nicely. Now it's time to read the coverage a little better. There were just a few times when a ball coulda/shoulda been intercepted and wasn't... and one was - and it cost us at least 3 points probably. This is where misdirection comes into play, which I've already hounded on. Get the defense wondering. They don't wonder enough. They know if it's a run or a pass... now let's get them guessing on which way we're running and who has the ball. Add that dimension and Bama won't be stopped. Add that to a really potent defense, and Bama could run the table.

So great game - great attitude, and Shaud Williams, keep up the good work. Dude, you are a hoss and one of THE smartest football players I think I have ever seen play at Bama. You hit the hole, you know when to turn on the jets, you hang on to the ball, you receive out of the backfield, and you just have a great sense of "the game" of football. Keep it up, don't wear yourself out, stay healthy, and you'll take the Tide to new heights this year. We need you the entire way so be safe, bro. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A-

BAMA 13 - #1 OKLAHOMA 20

Dang. So close, yet so far away. Penalties, mistakes, and just a slight bit of non-execution on the Tide's part gave us a 13-20 loss on Saturday to the #1 team in the country. The 2nd week of play opened our eyes a little bit to see exactly how good our Crimson Tide really is. Fact is, is that we can hang with anyone in the country. We are still - ALABAMA - one of the big boys. Bama's effort didn't go unnoticed Saturday as we even moved up one notch in the AP poll after the loss. People see that our defense is for real and our offense has the potential to do something really great if we stop shooting ourselves in the foot. One 4th down play (fake punt) that we stop, or as I said AT the game - what are you doing???? - don't block it - you got the stop, just let them kick the ball and drive it down their throats! We had the big MO at that point... then we got a little greedy... and Bob Stoops put us in our place 1 play later for a TD. Anyway, it was a great game - I was there, and I tell you - those 3 plays prior to OU's fake punt was THE LOUDEST I have EVER heard Bryant-Denny stadium in the 13 years I have been attending Bama football games. You couldn't tell on TV - you had to be there. It was literally deafening. I applaud all of the Tide fans for staying in the game and giving us as much of a home-field advantage as we could possibly have. Here here.... Let's get on with it......

OFFENSE - The offense started out just like the previous week. Slow start, strong finish though this week, it wasn't strong enough. The biggest defender against Alabama seemed to be stupid mistakes. We had quite a few mental errors that kept OU in the game - false starts & holding to be specific. Brodie started out slow, throwing an int to start the game. Not what you have in mind on the first offensive play of the game. But the defense held... and hold they did - countless times. But Alabama wouldn't give up the entire game. Shula came back for us in the 2nd half and got Shaud going - got the TE's going a little more, and we started completing passes to the WR's. Granted one or 2 of those long bombs from Brodie to Fletcher were called out-of-bounds. Big 12 officials need to open their eyes a little more. One was an easy call and they blew it. You can see down the sideline with ease. Hopefully this week, Bama will work a little harder in practice to keep from making those little mental mistakes. Overall, I think we did some good things - Shaud was his normal awesome self, Brodie finally made some good runs when nothing was open - though he probably should have run a couple more times instead of throwing the ball 5 yards in front of him - Shaud can still block, right? :)

What else - Dre Fulgham - you have to catch that ball in the middle of the field my friend. Hit you right in the numbers. We needed that play bad. TE's played well, and the OL didn't have such a bad day. They held back the front 4 for most of the game - enough for Brodie to make some plays even though he still did get sacked a bit. My biggest complaint is that we need to complete the long ball more - and I say this as "COMPLETING" the long ball. Catching a ball out-of-bounds isn't a completion. We need to work on that - don't make the official question if we were in or out - see OU's QB White. He completed passed well in bounds so there was no question. We need to do that more - give us a chance to make a play. Balls thrown out of bounds do us no good, especially when the guy is wide open.

Speaking of wide open - towards the end of the game, Lance Taylor was wide open on a post route, and Brodie overthrew him. Those have to be there. But hey - this is Brodie's first REAL year to start and he's still learning - though post routes are a part of ANY coach's offensive plays. He just has to hit those.

I look at it this way though - Brodie is only a sophomore. You have to expect some mistakes.... I honestly can't wait until Brodie's senior year (no he WON'T be going pro, especially with no experienced WR's to throw to next year & the lack of players on scholarship). He'll be making those passes then. Look at ANY QB - take Jay Barker for instance. His Sophomore year and heck, part of his junior year, he wasn't very good. He completed what he had to, but made mistakes like anyone else... but then come his senior year, look what he did to Georgia and Miss. St. There is NOTHING that substitute for experience. Period. Once Brodie gets comfortable in this offense and matures over time, he'll be one of the premiere QB's in the country. Now we just need to WR's to step it up in his time at the Capstone. All 5 WR's this year are seniors and will be gone after this season.

So for the OU game, we fought hard, but too many mistakes on offense (yeah, part of it was caused by OU's good defense) and lack of basic fundamentals caused us to come up just short of what we wanted to accomplish. Can't start out slow against a good team - gotta play the WHOLE game.
GRADE: B-

DEFENSE - The defense played as good a game as a defense can possibly play. We gave up 3 big plays to OU's offense, but that's going to happen. The bottom line is that we stopped them twice deep in Bama territory to hold them to 2 FG's, and only allowed OU to get 7 points in the 2nd half of the game. 7 points. If that doesn't say - "offense, we're doing what we can", then I don't know what does. The defense got it done Saturday. They did the most important thing - keep it close enough for Bama to win. We didn't get any int's, no sacks, no fumble recoveries, but we held OU to only 2 TD's and 2 FG's. It could have been much worse if not for the great plays and hard hits by the defense. Pope was everywhere, and the 2ndary was making some very hard hits on the day - Madison and Harper had 2 such hits. The thing that kept OU in the game was they made NO mistakes that our defense could capitalize on. None. That's the ONLY way OU was able to beat Bama. Mistake-free football. Sure they had a few penalties here and there, but the key was no turnovers. But we did stop them more times than not.

So watch out teams on Bama's schedule. You know what the Bama D can do. We can play with the best of them. We have only allowed one rushing TD on the year. OU had to go over the top because they couldn't even run on us. Only about 75 yards on the day for OU. If we keep this up, the Tide will win at least 10 games this year. The offense just has to do their part - and THAT'S what we need to start happening next week - starting in the 1ST QUARTER. Great job Defense. Give us that effort the rest of the year and we'll be one of the top defenses in the country once again... No turnovers (credit OU for taking care of the football), but solid play and hard hitting, almost penalty-free too...
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams, as usual, can stir up mixed emotions. Brian Bostick hit 2 FG bombs at 44 and 36 yards. Anything over 35 is a bomb in my opinion. He even got the ball up high on the kick so it wouldn't get blocked. He also hit his only PAT which was good. It did hook hard though after it passed thru... thank goodness that wasn't a FG try.

Special teams coverage was more than excellent. Thurman Ward made 2 tackles on kickoffs and punt coverage couldn't have been better. Now PUNTING the ball could have been better at times - say a pooch punt that went 13 yards. Shula said he'll be looking for someone else to pooch punt this week if Bo Freeland can't do it better than he did Saturday. Not a problem there.

Kickoffs - Aul did well. Didn't kick it to the 20 yard line.

And the play that really overshadows everything else is the fake punt we didn't cover. At that point in the game, Bama has the big 'Mo' on their side. We didn't need any risky plays - we were about to get the ball back. Just because you block one punt doesn't mean you're going to block them all. Also, it was said that they ran an all-out block to see if OU fixed their punt blocking schemes... WHY? If they did, then either (1) you won't get the block you're looking for or (2) they run a fake and burn you or (3) you get the block because their coaching staff overlooked the fact that you blocked the last one. You tell me? #3 is out - OU is too smart for that. Stoops isn't going to NOT fix something. So that leaves 2 options - get burned or get the ball back. Unlike the NFL, colleges tend to fake punts a bit more - something Shula probably wasn't used to. It burned him, and THIS was THE biggest play of the game - the turning point if you will. Not only did it take the wind out of the defense's sails, but it hushed the crowd - got the fans out of it - pissed everyone off. Just not a good decision honestly. Even when they were lining up, I was yelling at the top of my lungs - YOU HAVE 2 GUYS ON THE OUTSIDE AND ONE IS UNCOVERED - DON'T YOU GET OFF YOUR MAN... NO NO NO NO NO DON'T LEAVE THEM UNCOVERED (hike)(pass)(1st down) - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I TOLD YOU TO COVER THE FLAT - I KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO BURN US, DANG IT!!!!!!!!. I saw it coming before it even happened. Strange huh? If everyone else in the stadium would have been absolutely quiet for just those 5 seconds, coach Shula would have heard me (heck, the players too), and they would have been ready for the fake - but no, the fans had to yell. :) or should I say :(

So anyway, that was it - that was the back-breaker for the game - the turning point at which the Tide wouldn't recover. The very next play, OU caught Bama's D off guard and hit a 47-yd TD pass right up the middle on a double post pattern. Senior QB White hit him in stride right in the chest. This is where being a college coach for some number of years pays off. Stoops 1, Shula 0. Be aware of fakes in college, Shula, especially with upcoming teams such as Kentucky and Auburn. They are the worst.

Anyway, other than that one play, special teams did ok, but it's amazing how ONE play can do the most damage and totally overshadow everything else. We'll be more mindful of this in the future I'm sure... we'll get 'em next time.
GRADE: B

OVERALL - The big picture shows a team with a lot of heart (just like last year) and a lot of grit and determination to win a football game. They never gave up. They played until the end. They hit hard, and they played as well as OU only without the turnovers. One other thing that would have given us at least a chance at one more shot to win was the offsides at the end of the game. As it stood, OU would have had to punt the ball if we had held them on 3rd down, but since Bama jumped offsides, the 15 seconds we would have had were wasted on the next play since the clock kept running after the penalty. It might not have affected the score, but you never know in college football. And it got us again. We just have to start playing a little smarter. We're doing well, but we need to work on discipline a bit more. Like Britt said after the game - we're our own worst enemy. They shot theirselves in the foot too many times - things we could control, but weren't thinking. Hopefully, the coaches will look at this and get it corrected. More than anything we need to protect the football more. Remove the turnovers OU got from Bama (2 interceptions), and Bama is so in that game it's not even funny. Give us the completed pass to Fletcher and it's possibly another 3 or 7 points the Tide gets along the way. Only a few plays decide the football game, and OU came up with them. Bama didn't. That's the difference in the game. The Tide hung tough - give them credit - they were playing #1 and could have easily come out with a win if not for mental mistakes... good game guys - we just have to keep getting better and not start out future games in the 3rd quarter. Game starts in Q1 at 15:00.
GRADE: B

Bamadog: 2-0 in Game Predictions

BAMA 40 - USF 17

One game down, 12 to go. Shula is now 1-0 at the Capstone, a much needed win to get one under the new coach's best, especially with #1 Oklahoma coming to town next week. The game started out with everyone in the Bama Nation thinking "We hired Shula because...??"... and ended with everyone thinking "Oh yeah... That's why..." Well, needless to say, we have a good coach, and he'll get better as time goes along. Of course, I can't believe we actually put up 40 points in the season opener, especially only having a month to put the new offense together. Forget spring training - lay out at the beach and enjoy yourself. We don't need no stinking spring training! ha ha

Ok, that's probably a stretch if you play a full schedule of cupcakes, but that ain't so this year. This year, the Tide is playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country. It's just too bad we can't factor that into our own BCS rating this year. Anyway, let's get down to business so I can get to bed... it's late and I have to go to T-town this week for the big game....

OFFENSE - The offense played bad then good.. .then good some more, then finished the game playing good... or should I say "well" instead of "good"? This ain't no English test so I'll write like a want, dang it. The game started out slooooooooow on offense. Call it butterflies, call it indecision, call it 1st-game jitters, call it what you want. They stayed in a funk until 1:30 minutes left in the 1st half, then decided it was time to play. But in all honesty, the offense really started clicking before that. The drive in which Ray Hudson fumbled the ball, we were moving pretty well at that point... but of course the fumble changed things around and USF put up another 7 points. So we got the ball back later and finally did something with it.

Once USF got their 17 points, that was it. Bama decided it's time to play ALABAMA FOOTBALL. And that they did. Shaud Williams was freakin' incredible. Running, catching, and punt returning. The guy does it all - he's smart, he's quick, he's probably the most complete football player on the team. That goes with practice AND at the real game. He's always giving 110% and nothing less.

So anyway, as everyone already knows, it was basically the tale of 2 halves + 1:32. We came alive on a Croyle bomb to Fletcher and we didn't look back. The Tide basically churned out about 350 yards off offense in a little over 2 quarters. Ok, so we weren't playing Oklahoma, but for a first game, I don't think you'll hear many in Tide country complaining. If we can keep that kind of continuity going throughout the season, the team could easily win 9-10 games or more. But if that 1st half team comes to play, watch out. Much tougher tests await the Tide in the upcoming weeks... but for now, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They came to play, even though it was late, and I'll take that over a loss any day. 40 points isn't anything to cry over. 40 points. Bama rarely scores that much ever, especially in the first game after a new coach takes over (DuBose did it - how, I don't know - oh yeah, it was Houston). Slow start, strong finish, 2 fumbles, 1 lost, but no interceptions make it an ok day. Tack on no OL line penalties and you have a decent outing...
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - The defense played the same as the offense. 1/2 game of nothing, and then a 1/2 game of something. Pretty much the same thing. Thank goodness for Charlie Peprah's interception for a TD - that really kept the fans in it I think. If not for that, USF would have had a lead going in at the half... but Bama still would have come back. We just wore them down.

But as for the defense, they played pretty well. Overall, they allowed USF only 53 net yards rushing while giving up 204 in the air. Not a bad day... but don't hang your hat on this game. The big one is coming up next Saturday. The defense will really see what they're made of then. But really, just a good solid day - seems like we allow an average of around 17 ppg anyway, so just score in the 20's and we'll be ok. This time, we score double 20, AND cover the spread. That doesn't happen often, but the D kept the Bama O on the field as USF had a tough time getting anything going in the 2nd half. The defense only allowed one TD on the day where a turnover wasn't involved. Not bad. But unfortunately, the TO's DO count... so 17 points still isn't bad. I expect Bama to always score in the 20's or above... so I can live with it. Good game - overall good stats, int for TD, lots of pressure on the QB, but still only one sack. But still a good game that started in the 3rd quarter... We can't afford to start playing that late in the future.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams is just a bag of mixed nuts as everyone knows. Punt return for TD, PAT's all good except for one, missed long FG, made long FG, ok kick coverage, but not great, decent kickoffs though they need to be longer. The usual. The Brian Bostick missed PAT really concerns me the most. At the time, we were up by 13 and should have been 14 with the PAT and Bostick failed to kick it through the uprights. Last time this happened, UGA won because it forced us to go for a 2-pt conversion and it failed. Instead of OT, Georgia won the game by 2. This COULD HAVE bitten us in the butt, but we were lucky this time. There is no excuse to missing PAT's. If Bostick tries FG's, then fine - but that's 2 PAT's he's missed in 2 years. Last I checked, Kyle Robinson hasn't missed even one PAT. Let's give credit where credit is due and let my boy Kyle kick the PAT's. Plus, his balls get up quicker than Bostick's. I don't know what happened between last year and this year, but in my opionion, when Bostick kicks the ball, I almost would rather flip a coin - that's how uneasy I am at the kicking position. Can we get a good FG kicker next year??? This is like one of the most important players on the team - they are usually the highest scoring player on the team. FG's and PAT's are crucial - and if we miss much more, it's going to cost us another game - mark my word. I'm done. Ok game - just clean it up.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, I'll take it. Just like any other Bamafan would. A 'W' is a 'W', and that's that. But from here on out, there are no more USF's on the schedule. UK, USM, and NIU are on the schedule, but they're not pushovers. Keep the offensive machine running. Keep it balanced like Saturday. We had a great mix of the pass and run... yards were practically even as well. Good rhythm is the key for this team. Keep it in rhythm and we'll be ok.

One thing I'd like to praise the Tide on is the lack of penalties. 4 penalties. Is this the same Tide team that lined up last year? This is the opener. Where were the mistakes penalty-wise?? Sure we didn't play until the 2nd half, but dang - I couldn't believe how clean we played. Maybe all of the pass-blocking schemes that Price set up in Spring actually paid off. It's been said that (obviously) our line can already run block, but now they are "complete players" on the OL because now they can pass block. Looks like it showed Saturday, as I don't think one holding penalty was called the entire game on Alabama. No offsides on Alabama either. Brodie got one that brought an 80-yd TD back, personal foul, and a couple of minors (delay of game on special teams and something else)... I was impressed. I don't know if it was Price or Shula, but I'm sure the entire Bama Nation is hip-hip-hooraying for the minimal penalty day Bama had. Keep it up - see how it doesn't bite you in the butt when you don't cheat?

Other notes of interest - the WR's did pretty well, but I must say that Brodie has got to understand that he doesn't have to drill a hole through the WR's chest every time he throws the ball. There were times when he had some finesse on the ball - see pass to Tim Castille in the 4th I believe - just a small pass/lob, and we got big yards. He just seems to "zing" it in there most of the time when the WR only needs it to get there and be catchable. Granted, I will say that the ball is going to fast that no defensive player hardly has a chance to pick it off either, but dog - we have to catch it too. Timing was a lot off at the beginning of the game too, but that tended to get a lot better as the game went along and Brodie got settled in.

Speaking of settled in - Croyle almost became part of the turf on that TD-saving tackle. Good thing for Bama it wasn't anything serious.

Well, that's about it. Don't have a ton to say this week other than congratulations. More scrutiny will surely come in the weeks to come, so I'll save it for then. The Tide will get better, people, but don't expect a 40-pt game next week against the Sooners. They are a completely different breed of football players - they'll actually last the entire game. Good job, Shula - good job Bama - It was good to get a win and get one knick in our belt for the season opener. Roll Tide! I should grade both halves, huh? Missed points, key penalty on Brodie, turnover, bad start, but good finish, good teamwork, great attitude in coming back, and some of the freshmen got to play along with Spencer Pennington at the end - that's what you want.
OVERALL GRADE: B

Bamadog: 1-0 in Game Predictions