#4 BAMA 17 - #7 UTAH 31

Sorry for the delay folks, but I wanted to see how the whole season panned out before writing my final thoughts on this game and the season. But as I watched the game last night between UF and OU, I'm not sure Alabama would have fared much better against OU than we did against Utah. Of course, anything could happen with a PRESENT Andre Smith and non-injured Mike Johnson and an OL that was intact, but the best 2 teams were definitely out on the field for the BCS Championship. We had our shot but were beat by the 2008 National Champion.

But back to our game, I just want to say that had it made a difference or not, I still would have liked to see our MAIN team with Andre Smith out there, taking on Utah. Instead, we had the same line we had against Tulane, and it killed us, especially after Johnson went down early in the game. It forced 3 guys (2 of which are backups) to play out of position and really HOSE up where Alabama thrived the most - IN THE TRENCHES. For those injuries to happen to this particular team - that was really the worst possible spot for an injury besides Julio Jones. You can't grind it out if you don't have your main grinders on the line. That's where Alabama failed the most.

OFFENSE - On offense, Bama really didn't show much of anything. The game was barely in doubt with who would win. Bama would cut the lead, but Utah never relinquished it's hold on the game. The OL couldn't pass block, couldn't run block... pretty much couldn't do jack squat with the events before and during the game. That's where that quality depth comes in... and that's what Alabama's trying to build back up for the upcoming seasons. They will really have to step things up next year as 3-4 guys won't be there.

As for the skilled positions, it was really nothing new. We ran as well as we could given the circumstances, and Julio Jones is still the only guy that can catch the ball besides the TEs. Someone - SERIOUSLY - SOMEONE has to step up next year and help Julio out. It's ridiculous that our best WR is a true freshman and that none of the upper classmen WRs really stepped up this season. There were some great catches here and there, but nothing solid. Heck, Smelley came in during midseason and still did better than some of the other WRs. Oh, and yeah - Smelley is also a true freshman. Hopefully, this next recruiting class gives us something better to work with because we need some hands out there in the field. Even though the best OL in the country didn't play, everyone else needed to still be ready if you're a championship team. They weren't. And Bama didn't even lose pretty... it was ugly. Too many sacks allowed, dropped balls, and turnovers.
GRADE: D

DEFENSE - The defense got burned a few more times just like the Florida game, but in this game, the offense didn't do anything to help out. We didn't dominate the time of possession because we couldn't convert 3rd downs, and we couldn't score much of anything either because JP Wilson was constantly on his back and looking at long yardage afterwards. The defense was tired and we honestly had no answer for yet another mobile QB. Maybe we should get one of those next year - oh yeah, we DO have one in Starr Jackson. We'll see how that pans out next year with him and McElroy duking it out. Bottom line is that we let them score 31 points. With a dismantled OL, we can't score that. We'll need to find a way to do better in the future to stop this type of offense because that's what college football is leaning to right now. Just gotta do better.
GRADE: C+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams was a mixed bag but wasn't the cause of the meltdown. Tiffin missed 2 40+ FG attempts but Javier Arenas returned a punt for a TD. Tiffin did hit a 52-yarder on his opening attempt however. But that 6 points could have helped make the difference late in terms of momentum and the "hope" of still being able to win the game. But anyway, punting was fine, and kickoffs were fine... the 2 missed FGs hurt the most though. But you still can't fault special teams too much - they put up 11 of the 17 points Bama got in the Sugar Bowl (FG, punt return for TD, 2 PATs).
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, Bama showed more than anything that it still has depth problems - something Saban has to work out over time. After all, he wasn't given much in terms of raw talent when Shula left... except for Andre Smith of course. Coffee was a pleasant surprise this year though, and hopefully he builds on that for next year's team. But in this game, we just couldn't sustain drives and keep the game in reach. We got close at 21-17, but soon gave that up in the 3rd quarter as Utah matched our 3rd quarter TD. The bottom line is that Alabama needs more offensive explosion at the QB and WR positions. Our OL and RBs and TEs did their job for pretty much the whole season. John Parker Wilson did improve from last year to this year, but still wasn't as consistent as we would have hoped - credit that also to the lack of talent at the WR position. Maybe we would have thrown it more. Who knows. One thing is certain: Any WR coming out of HS KNOWS he can play as a true freshman if he just does his job. Hopefully that will get in some more talent next year to help on the other side of Jones - because we sure need it.

Great season overall though, Alabama. Like I have told many people, if you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would be 12-1 heading in the bowl game, I would have taken that quicker than a crawfish running from a Cajun. Most people, including myself, had Alabama losing at least 3 games. Who knew that by season's end, Alabama would be ranked #1 in the COUNTRY for 5 straight weeks before losing to eventual national champ Florida, and then see a number of our guys get post-season awards and named All-American, Saban getting all of these "Coach of the Year" awards, and also play in the SEC Championship game. Throw in the fact that Auburn went 5-7, we dismantled them 36-0 in Bryant-Denny, and we also dismantled UT who ended up being one of the worst teams in the conference... and well, it was a pretty good year overall. We ended the season at #6. Not bad for Saban's 2nd year - and people, it's only going to get better from here talentwise. Now we just have to get better and do it again next year - only UF HAS got to lose!! ROLL TIDE!!
GRADE: C

#1 BAMA 20 - #2 FLORIDA 31

It's been a rough few days here in the Big D after the Florida loss. On the plus-side, at least I don't have to listen to all these Texas fans telling me they're playing for the National Championship, because they're in the Fiesta Bowl. What a downer. Anyway, let's take a quick looksee at the dagger we got in the SEC Championship game...

OFFENSE - Bama's offense didn't do tooooo badly except in the 2nd and 4th quarters. We needed more points and didn't get them, especially in the 4th quarter. All of a sudden, the line couldn't block, guys couldn't catch or get open, and Wilson couldn't hit the big side of a barn. It was a crazy game where either team really could have won. Given another chance, who knows - maybe Bama wins one. Hard to tell.... Coffee did a great job, and so did Bama's Superman - Julio Jones. The long pass that set up the first score of the game was huge. The guy is a beast, plain and simple. Once we get a QB that can get him the ball consistently AND find some other WRs that want to play, we should be ok. But he's the only guy at WR that has really played at the level we need. No wonder we run the ball so much - as if we didn't already know that.

But the bottom line is, people wanted to see how Alabama did against a really good team - and so did I. Neither team had REALLY played a good team all year quite honestly. The SEC ended up being a bust for the most part, so this was it. Could Bama play from behind? Could that great defense match up with a great offense? Could the #1 team in the country PROVE that yes, it was #1 and deserved a chance to play for the National Championship? On THIS day, the answer was no unfortunately. JP Wilson did ok, but the offense as a whole just didn't ge the job done. 9 times out of 10, you're not going to beat one of the hottest and best offenses in the country scoring 20 points of your own. I said they wouldn't blow us out and score 50 - well I was right on that... and the game was actually closer than the 11-point win.... it was back and forth for most of the game - the offense just didn't produce when it needed to. Florida's defense was still no joke - but that's what being #1 is about... and playing for the National Championship. You have to prove you're the best on that day, and it didn't happen. Next year Tide. This was just the building blocks for a future championship, and it was done with mostly underclassmen. We just have to find more 'game' in the passing game for us to make it to the next level... or to stay on top.
GRADE: C+

DEFENSE - The defense gave up 31 points (no pick-6's thank goodness), but quite honestly, against a team like this, you KNOW they were going to put up big plays, and you knew they had the capability to put up 40+. The defense needed stops to keep our lame-duck offense on the field, but we didn't get them. But we need to realize who we were playing - one of THE best offenses in the country playing football right now. Throw in the fact that Tebow is freaking Superman and it's even more difficult. We couldn't rely on the fact that we were going to get 4 interceptions from LSU's Lee. We just had to stop them point blank, which proved difficult once they made adjustments in the 2nd half (4th quarter). We just couldn't hang.

For the most part though, the defense did their job. High-powered Florida was held to 17 1st-half points where a few people thought it would be a total blowout. Then we held them scoreless in the 3rd quarter as Bama actually retook the lead. But that was it. That was all the defense could muster as was the offense. We just didn't finish. UF scored 14 points in the 4th quarter to ice the game and lock in their spot in the national championship game. Again, we're doing most of this with underclassmen - and young ones at that. Fear this defense in the future, opponents. We just have to avoid giving up the big plays as we did most of the year - this game, we gave up 3 big ones.
GRADE: B-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams did their job pretty well. This is the one unit except FG kicking that actually improved from start to finish during the year. Tiffin did hit his 2 FGs to end the year on a positive note, but he was up and down some there starting midseason. PJ did pretty well, and all the coverage teams did their part to keep us in the game. Javier almost took one back to the house on a punt as well. I will say that the BIG mistake was Javey stepping out of bounds on the kickoff return. That was a huge turning point that cost us. It hurt momentum but in my opionion it didn't cost us the game. We still didn't execute on offense regardless... but still a huge game-changing moment that we could have done without. Our problem is really on offense, and hopefully that'll get fixed next year.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - For this game, Florida deserved to win. Why? They scored 31 on our defense even without their top playmaker Percy Harvin. If he had been in the game, maybe they score more. Tebow just loaded the team on his back and took charge. He didn't win the Heisman for nothing - and he's not "Tim Tebow" for nothing. Whether he does anything at the pro level, who knows - but at the college level, he's the real deal. He just can't be stopped (except by Ole Miss on 4th down). Even 2 of their defensive linemen were hurt and they still got pressure on JP from time to time. At least we know what we need to work on in the future. And next year, we'll make a better showing against Florida for sure - yeah, you heard it here - Bama/UF in the championship game next year too. I don't see anyone else in the conference standing up.
So kudos to Alabama for being 12-1 heading into the bowl game. And like I've said to everyone, if you had told me Alabama would be 12-1 to end the season, meaning we'd definitely be in the SEC Championship game with that record, I would have taken it - who knew that loss would be IN the SECC Game. But again, I'd take it anyway. We're 1-2 years ahead of schedule, and Alabama even made it to consensus #1 in the country before falling to Florida. Do you realize that Alabama stayed at #1 longer than any other team this year? We passed the test for the most part. We just had one tough hurdle to climb at the end and we failed to make it over. But keep the faith Bamafans. This was an overachieving team. NO ONE expected this. Saban has already risen this program from the near-dead and taken to places we haven't seen since 1980 (#1 regular season ranking) and 1999 (SECC Game). But why is it that we always have to play the freaking gators in the championship??? Sheesh. We'll be back... and we'll bring even more toughness and intensity to the Sugar Bowl. Now it's time to regroup and end the season right. But for this game, we made it here unexpectedly and gave it everything we had. This could be one of Saban's weakest teams yet (besides last year), and look what we did. It only gets better from here Bamafans... we ARE back, regardless of what happened on Saturday. ROLL TIDE!!
GRADE: B

#1 BAMA 36 - AUBURN 0

What an Iron Bowl!! Talk about a backyard woodshed beating and a half... WOW! 36-0 shellacking of the Auburn Tiglets. I don't think I've seen such a game of TOTAL DOMINATION since we manhandled Clemson earlier this year. And this game was even better getting the shutout and then yelling Rammer Jammer 6 times in a row. Un-freaking-believable. All I have to say is, is that it will be a long time until Auburn has any kind of streak like they just got. Stupid probation and bullcrap is over and the future is here. The future is now. The future came earlier than expected and the Tide shows no signs of slowing down. Let's take a look at the Iron Bowl...

OFFENSE - Bama's offense really played pretty well in this game. We rolled up a total of 412 yards of offense against a team people thought would actually give us trouble. Thing is, Auburn didn't pose any more of a threat than Arkansas State did. This is the team that scored 3 points against Mississippi State. This team lost 7 games this year, so go ahead Auburn - hold up those 7 fingers - you earned it with THAT loss.

But John Parker Wilson did what he had to do to win the game. He didn't throw an interception though one of them SHOULD have been picked off very easily. He threw a TD pass to Stover on an ad lib play, and did what he had to do to win the game. He's definitely not the flashiest of QBs, but he's getting the job done this year with McElwain as his Offensive Coordinator. I'm definitely impressed with his growth this year.

The RBs also did a fantastic job with the help of those bulls up front on the offensive line. I could have run the ball with blocks like that. Coffee again rushed for nearly 150 yards and and TD while Ingram just kept doing his thing getting 65 yards and a TD, not to mention a huge gainer on a screen pass to convert a 3rd down play. This guy is going to be a real force in the upcoming years, that's for sure. And the OL is really putting up some great performances. JP is getting more time in the pocket, and the RBs are having all kinds of room in getting the ball up the field.

At WR, we didn't have a lot of action because the running game was going so well. But Julio again had some impressive catches though he only had a modest 36 yards total. The biggest gainer of the day was only 39 yards for Stover's TD catch. Everyone else just caught one ball as well. That's the thing - JPW tends to spread the wealth... with the exception of 1 or 2 games, no one WR really gets more than 5 passes, so you better make the most of it when you do get one.

Last, you gotta love the last 3 minutes of the game when McElroy converted a 3rd down for a TD to Marquise Maze. That pass was a thing of beauuuuty. It's that Texas breed of QB you see all around the Big 12 Conference these days. Keep in mind people, that this guy backed up Chase Daniel (QB at Missouri) for 2 years as a sophomore and junior. He finally got to be the starter his Senior year at Southlake HS and he actually ended up breaking single season records that Chase had broken the year before. This guy is the real deal - and if you don't believe me, ask Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach who had him committed to Tech until Shula lured him away after the 2005 Cotton Bowl (after we beat TT). Tech doesn't go after crap QBs... so I'm anxious to see how he does next season when he and Star Jackson compete for the starter's spot. He just has a lot of touch on the football... and once he gets a lot of reps next year, hopefully some good things will happen for the Tide.

As for this game, you gotta love 5 offensive TDs. Let's hope we can keep this up for next week because we might just need that many to beat the Gators in the SEC Championship game. We sputtered a bit in the 1st half, but came alive in the 2nd half. Definitely could have used more than 10 points at halftime though.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The Bama defense was freaking SWARMING all day long. SHUT OUT. Auburn got SHUT OUT, SHUT DOWN, and just mauled by the Tide defensive unit. The DL was stuffing the run, the LBs were hard-hitting, and the CBs wouldn't allow much of anything for the whole game. Even the last 2 minutes were just amazing. Bama could do no wrong, period. 3 turnovers recovered also put the icing on the cake. It's just that they're finally getting it. Guys are wrapping up and hitting their gaps. We're getting to the QB and hitting people where it hurts. Man, I love to watch this defense play. Cody is a beast, McClain just knocks everybody out, L.Davis got in some good tackles, Hightower is a battering ram, Rashad Johnson is a ball hawk, and Jackson is Speedy Gonzalez. These guys were just well-prepared and as Bamafans, we couldn't have asked for anything more than this beatdown in Bryant-Denny Stadium. My Christmas present has been delivered. Thank you, Alabama!
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Who knew that a timeout prior to the 1st half ending would seal a shutout by game's end? What a call. Saban, you so devious. :) I love it.... and why not. Teams have done it to us as well. Freeze that kicker. It just happened to work out, that's all. It wasn't even much of a block. Bobby Greenwood's helmet/head just got in the way of the ball. ha ha Low kick... but hey, that's not our problem. We've suffered enough, so I ain't feelin' sorry for nobody. No way. The rest of the special teams did pretty well. Fitzgerald had one shank which he got some serious chewing out for, but other than that, everyone did a great job. Tiffin DID miss a PAT though (what's up with that??)... but he made a FG while the kickoff coverage units and punt units tackled as well as they could have all year. They just swarmed to the ball and made them pay. Great job here as well... hopefully we don't miss a PAT next week - UF knows how that can come back and bite you in the butt. But good job anyway.
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, one of the most dominant games if not THE most dominant game of the year - and it couldn't have happened to a better team than Auburn. Hold up those 7 fingers now. No bowl for you my friend. Man, Tuberville is a cocky prick. :) What coach goes around even before the game holding up 7 fingers??? He deserved what he got and so did the AU Nation. It was just about time that the pendulum has swung the other way. The Tide coaches did a great job at getting this team prepared and it showed. Mistakes were minimal especially on defense. The offense just chugged right along and everyone did their job. 36-0. 36-0. 36-0. Dude. This was a BIG win. And FINALLY, I can enjoy these next 364 days in peace now that I know the universe if finally back in order. Great game - just keep it up one more week guys... one more week to get us to the BCS Championship game. Keep It Up! ROLL TIDE!! 36-0. 'Nuff said.
GRADE: A

#1 BAMA 31 - MISSISSIPPI STATE 7

The Revenge Tour Continues........ 3-0 now on Bama's 4-game quest to avenge last year's losses in November. Only one game remains, and that's Auburn in 2 weeks. As for Mississippi State, Bama had their hands full early on offense, but special teams bailed us out until we took control in the 2nd half. It's time to start playing an entire game again. Though the game was dominated by Alabama, one couldn't help but feel uneasy during the entire 1st half.

OFFENSE - Bama's offense had a tale of 2 halves yet again. The 1st half was quite dismal only gaining about 110 yards of total offense while MSU gained around 130. That is NOT how the #1 team in America's offense is supposed to play against a 3-6 team. Period. It just looks like our OL isn't pass-blocking very well, and lately, the run-blocking isn't much better for some reason. There aren't as many holes - but maybe that's because these guys match up better than other teams. They got some big men like LSU (and soon to be Auburn). Either way, it's time to start dominating again and make a statement - and NOT wait until the 2nd half to do so.

At QB, Wilson seems to still be managing the game ok though he did fumble twice - lucky we got it back actually. He also only completed 10 of 17 passes. Are you kidding me? We completed a total of 10 whole passes??? Dang - we have GOT to get better because soon, we won't be playing chopped liver. At RB, Ingram and Coffee had an average day totaling around 150 yards between them... but they only mustered up 50 yards on the ground in the entire 1st half. Bama's a team that has tried to start off strong and fast, but the last few games, we have actually done the opposite and finished stronger in the 2nd half. Not sure I like that recipe, but I guess you add it all up to get the final outcome. At WR, we had some dropped passes, epecially a nice deep one by McCoy. Even Julio joined in on a drop or 2. But my main man Smelley got 2 big catches in the game, one of which was a huge one right up the gut for 37 yards. Then then caught one on the last drive from McElroy to keep a drive alive on a sweet out pass. This guy is going to be VERY good for us in the future and I can't wait to see how much more we utilize him in the future once Nick Walker is gone. He's got serious Jay Novacek capabilities if you ask me. Great hands, great routes, and can block pretty well too. He's just a smart overall player.

Last as I mentioned, McElroy got in the game which is a good sign. He was only there to hand the ball off unless we had a 3rd down - and on 3rd down, he went 2-for-2. Great job there in still executing the offense and playing keep-away in the waning minutes of the game. Of course, he's from Texas, so he's going to do well, right? That's where all the good QBs seem to be from these days. It'll be interesting next year to see how he and Starr Jackson compete at that spot. But back to the offense in this game - it was stagnant, then it flourished (on the ground)... and a couple of decent pass plays put us in business on the final scoring drive. But overall, it just needs improvement if we're going to finish out this season on a positive note. We're going to have to open it up more and more than anyone, the WRs are going to have to step up and make plays... and JPW and OL are going to have to get some continuity going in the backfield. Too much scrambling going on, which leads to ints and/or fumbles by the QB. We have 2 weeks - let's fix it, aight? We put up 32 points, but not all by the offense. We got 3 offensive TDs, one of which was set up by Special teams. Ok. But against 3-6 MSU, 2 real offensive TDs is still not enough to dominate your opponent. But I can still deal. ROLL TIDE.
GRADE: B-

DEFENSE - Bama's defense played LIGHTS OUT. PERIOD. Dixon was finally held in check by the Alabama defense to the tune of 26 yards. MSU would get 35 rushing total on the day and a grand total of only about 160 yards in the game overall. You REALLY can't ask for much more except for Sharrif to turn around or get his hands up on the TD pass play MSU scored on. Other than that, they kept Bama in the game and forced MSU to constantly have to throw the ball to play catch-up for the entire 2nd half. Of course, special teams helped the defense out as they got pinned deep a few times, but still. They gave up 7 points total and under 200 total yards. You can't ask for much more. EXCEPT - stupid penalties. That was my main cause for concern on some defensive plays. Late hits and hands to the face... c'mon people. Cody - let's go. Let's not turn into stupid freakin Georgia and shoot ourselves in the foot. You make a good 3rd down play and stop the MSU offense, then you just GIVE it right back to them. Let's NOT BE STUPID. I KNOW Saban doesn't teach that crap, so let's screw our heads on straight, aight? Dang that crap pisses me off. :)

As for the rest of the defensive play, McClain is just playing like a madman. Dude stood up Dixon inside the 5 yard line and didn't blink. The corners are locking down the WRs though their guys DID drop quite a few balls out there. Call it lucky from time to time I guess... but the bottom line is that MSU just couldn't move the ball but a few times... I do wish, however, that we would tackle the QB a lot better when we push him out of the pocket. Too many times, we HAVE him right there in our grasp and he slithers away. It happened 2-3 times against MSU, and one of the most frustrating ones was Greenwood missing back on their own 5 yard line. Of course, they would punt and Javey would take it the distance, but you don't know that during the course of the game. We tend to constantly run past the QB each time we see a sack coming. Over-agression instead of focus could be the problem - who knows. I just want to take care of business so they don't get easy cheap throws after we "had" him, yanno? So good job overall D. It's mostly picky things to complain about, but honestly, we couldn't have done much better. Just get your discipline back and we'll be ok. The offense definitely needs more improvement at this stage of the game.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Bam Bam Bam. Bout time you guys showed up. MVP is for the entire special teams unit. Javier Arenas had 2 awesome punt returns, one for 46 yards getting down to the 3 yard line and another for 80 yards for a score. That give Javey 5 punt returns for TD in his career surpassing 4 that David Palmer previously held. And he didn't fumble either. Way to go Javey! You got us 6 more points.

Tiffin went 3-for-3 on FGs to rebound after last week's crap-o-la game. He also hit all of his PATs, giving him 12 points of the 32 on the night. Great job in coming back strong Leigh.

Punt-block for a safety by Kareem Jackson got us 2 points. You don't see it often but to start out the game all intense in the punter's face and all, that really helps get the crowd in it which they were the entire 1st half and most of the 3rd quarter. Great job and a great call on the punt corner rush.

Besides Javey though, PJ Fitzgerald is really playing some of his best football of his career right now. 2 punts inside the 5, with some help by Rashad Johnson who is also playing lights-out on special teams, is just what Saban ordered up for this game. It kept MSU on their heels and allowed Bama to really get aggressive on the goal line. Field position was huge there and it played a huge part in Bama keeping it close in the 1st half while the offense was taking a break. So great job - keep this up and we definitely have a shot anytime, anywhere. So on the day, special teams accounted for 20 of the 32 points. Now you see what I mean about the offense needing to step it up?
GRADE: A+

OVERALL - Basically a good overall win that Bama actually put away in the 2nd half of the game. 12-7 at the half, then Bama pulled off 20 more unanswered points to seal the deal. Plus the defense pitched a 2nd-half shutout, holding MSU to about 40 total yards in the complete 2nd half. There was just no room for MSU to go, either in the air or on the ground. We just shut them down. I'm sure that halftime speech was something else (similar to the LSU game, I'm guessing?) because the team just came out and dominated. We could have used another TD or two instead of FGs, but we still got points and didn't miss out on any. Saban had a great gameplan, but let's face it - MSU was just overmatched. There is a reason they are 3-7 now. They lost to Auburn 3-2 as well, remember? This was NOT a great offensive team, but for them to still be in it at halftime WAS a disappointment though. Surely things will get addressed soon on offense because that is really the ONLY phase of the game that needs the most help. Defense is always there. Special teams is a crap shoot. But offensively, we're going backwards instead of forwards in my opinion. Let's get back to starting strong, and then finish strong like we have done as of late. THEN I will be happy, along with Saban and the rest of the Bama Nation. In any case, great win for the Revenge Train, and now we only have one more game left to take care of before the "Play-In Game" for the BCS National Championship. Let's get it on, Bama. Time to play our BEST FOOTBALL - NOW. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A-

#1 BAMA 27 - #15 LSU 21 (OT)

Wow - what an insane game... but a good one for Alabama as we improved to 10-0 on the year and secured our spot in the SEC Championship Game. It's been too long, people, but we're finally back. LSU and Auburn can just sit back and ask themselves what could have been after they were picked 1 and 2 to finish atop the SEC West this year. No can-do. Bama arrived a year early and doesn't look to be relinquishing power anytime soon. Let's take a look at Saban's reunion to Tiger Stadium. It was rowdy, but all the Saban hype was mostly just media and pregame. Once the game started, LSU fans didn't really care about Saban anymore - they just wanted their QB to throw to their guys. Oh well....

OFFENSE - Bama's offense started out the game pretty well, marching up the field almost at will. The only mistake was Earl Alexander's lack of ball control going into the endzone which Saban talked about after the game. He liked the grittiness by Alexander, but you still have to execute and protect the football. Nice try, but a couple inches short of getting the TD. Hopefully, something the team can still build on in the future. The rest of the game was pretty stagnant until the defense did something to give the offense good field position and push the ball into the endzone. We did tend to open up the offense a bit more, mainly due to what LSU was giving us. But even after all the 8-man fronts, Coffee still managed to get ~125 yards and a score.

At WR, Julio Jones is just a beast. He did have a couple of drops, but when you compare what he DID do, I can dig it. That mirror-image Crabtree-esce catch in OT was crazy, and he ended up having close to 125 yards in the air as well. Throw in the fact that he drug defenders about 20 extra yards on the night and wow. Now if only we had upperclassmen that could play 75% of what Julio does. We might actually be dangerous.

The OL played well too. The left side of the line is just crazy. As for the lame holding call on Smitty, are you serious?? That was absurd, ESPECIALLY after they showed in slow motion previously in the game a HUMONGOUS hold on the guy blocking Terrence Cody. Did you see that crap??? The guy had both sides of Cody's jersey and all idiot Gary Danielson could say was "nice block". Whatever - that guy's a freaking moron.

Anyway, it was a sporatic night on offense, but enough to get the job done. JP's interception was lame. Maze got out of position on that one... and JP got lucky on a few others that coulda/shoulda/woulda got picked. I was impressed though with the play-calling to end the game in regulation. You couldn't have ideally scripted it ANY better with the timeouts and LSU's lack of timeouts, placement on the field for the potential game-winning FG... and time left on the clock. Ugh... I had a bad feeling at that point, but thankfully, it just made it more memorable. The offense overcame being down in the game, which was something they really needed since it hadn't happened all year. Now we just need to continue to get better and win the next 2 games so we'll be ready to execute against Florida in the SEC Championship Game. I can live with this... but still needs work here and there, especially the WRs besides Jones.
GRADE: B-

DEFENSE - The defense gave up a lot of rushing yards... but in return they gave us 7 points on a Rashad Johnson pick-6 and 3 more interceptions which really changed the face of the game for Alabama. The defense was swarming all night. Now if LSU had any quality of a QB, they might have beaten us. But that's now how we prepared. We prepared for Lee - and it paid off. But again, it's a good thing sometimes, when a team does well like that - as long as you win the game. It gives you PLENTY of things you can work on for the next time. Plus LSU just matched up well against us. The scoring drive by LSU in the 4th quarter was the real letdown though as they just rushed the ball time after time and we just never were able to stop them. I guess they figured Lee might eventually pass bad, but he didn't. He actually hit a few long ones. Either way, LSU scored 21 points, but we scored enough on offense to win the game.

As for individuals that played well, McClain had another great game tackling and also got an interception. Johnson was Mr. Everywhere picking the ball of 3 times, one for a TD and the other HUGE in OT to keep LSU from even getting a scoring chance. That was just a big as the score in my book. Cody looked solid for the most part... and the defense as a whole swarmed and tackled well, especially when LSU went to the Wildcat formation. They were definitely ready for that crap. The option only got us a couple of times, but that was it. But in the end, turnovers were the name of the game... and we got enough to turn the Tide. Let's keep getting better and not let up. Still got 2 more big games to go before UF.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special Teams was great in every area except for FG kicking and Javier's one fumble on the kickoff. That really changed the face of the game when LSU got the ball back after their 1st TD. Javey has to understand that he was at the end of the road there... you can't slow up and not protect your back side. I'm sure the coaches got on him about that in practice this week... but other than that, he had some other good returns, not to mention a great one at the end of regulation. He set the offense up in a very good spot to start the last drive. It's just too bad Tiffin had another bad game.. ala Arkansas 2006. I'm not sure what's going on in his head, but he HAS to make a 29-yd FG right up the middle to win the game. It's just 10 yards deeper tan a PAT... the same kick even would go thru... but he didn't get the ball up for some reason... lucky for Bama, OT played out in our favor. If Bama loses that game in OT, man, I can't even begin to say how bad Tiffin would have felt. And talk about pressure in upcoming games too... wow. Not a place I'd want to be in, that's for sure.

I do want to give kudos to PJ Fitzgerald who had probably one of his best games in his Alabama career. He had some serious long punts with limited returns. Must have had a great week in practice because it showed. Great job there... but between the fumble (for TD) and 6 points left on the field by Tiffin, man, that's a toughie. GOT to IMPROVE or it will eventually cost us the game.
GRADE: C-

OVERALL - Overall, the outcome of the game was a win which got Alabama back into the SEC Championship game - the first time since 1999. Secondly, Alabama retained its spot as the #1 team in the country according to the polls and BCS Standings. As long as Alabama keeps winning, we'll be right there contending for the National Title. Saban and the crew came up with a great gameplan (not the Bama turnovers, duh) to slow down LSU a little and get Lee to make mistakes by confusing him. Bama did just that and came out a close winner. It was a sloppy game by both sides, but in the end, Bama persevered being down for some of the time and just didn't give up. We knew we had the better team - it was just a matter of executing. Saban lit a fire under those guys at halftime. LSU didn't get but about 50 yards rushing in the 2nd half after torching us for 150 in the 1st half. They only got 7 points after the break as well - which is all the defense needed to do. Too close for my blood, but hopefully the team can continue to learn and still get better. The Tide moves to 10-0, and also Saban doesn't have to worry and deal with Miles getting the best of him for the 2nd straight year. Of all years, this is NOT a year we needed to lose to LSU. We had to keep the train rolling to 10-0, and that's what we did. Bama has definitely arrived a year early - only time will tell if the dream actually comes true in a few weeks from now. Keep ROLLING!!!
GRADE: B

#2 BAMA 35 - ARKANSAS STATE 0

The November curse has been broken, people. Not only that, but with actually winning in November, Bama had a shot to move up to #1 - AND DID. Now we won't have to wonder "What If..." because now we know. Win games in November and reap the benefits. We also have (and keep) momentum on our side as the last 3 regular season games approach, which is what the Tide really needs for this stretch run. Though NO ONE honestly expected the Tide to be 9-0 right now, it would be devestating to lose any of these 3 games before the SEC Championship Game, mainly because these last 3 games "could" help determine whether or not Bama gets into a BCS bowl or not - not to mention the National Championship Game itself. But as for homecoming, Bama took care of business, and though it wasn't too pretty at times, they got the 35-0 shutout - something they would need with the upset of Texas by Texas Tech Saturday Night. A close win against the Red Wolves may have kept the Tide at #2 in the BCS... but a decent score with shutout is just what the Dr. ordered.

OFFENSE - The offense actually did a good job moving the ball during the game. The biggest problem still remains the long ball pass by JPW. He has hit 3-4 passes all season that have been considered "deep" balls, but he still lacks the consistency to hit the WR in stride (or in arms length, or without it getting batted down). The other thing is pocket presence. I was watching Graham Herrell the other night (QB for Texas Tech), and that guy just stands in the pocket and makes plays left and right. Granted, their OL is a GREAT pass-blocking line and they are huge, BUT our guys offer good blocking at times too... and then JP freaks out, rolls out of the pocket INTO THE RUSH whereas if he stays IN the pocket (not all the time, but some of the time), he'd actually have more time to throw and make better throws (or from having to throw out-of-bounds). These are things that need to get fixed because both LSU and Auburn are going to bring the house on blitz calls... that's THE way they have rattled us the last few years, and we can't seem to shake it very well.

The other thing is that we left points on the field in the first half. The interception at the end of the 1st quarter is NOT what Saban called up. So the score remained at 7-0...then the defense got us a TD giving us a 14-0 lead at halftime, only 7 points of which were by the offense. So it's clear we're doing some things right, but the things we're doing wrong are keeping points off the board, and that's the biggest problem right now.

As for the WRs and RBs, those guys continue to do good work for the most part. I know we're not a wild, pass-happy Texas Tech team, but we should still have ways of getting open. They run routes, we run routes, but somehow they have guys open a ton more that us. Go figure that out. Coffee had a great game then had to come out due to a small shoulder injury, but Ingram came in and just pulverized the defense for his first 100+ yard game and 2 TDs. He's one of my favorite players on offense, and I believe he has more great things in store for us in the latter part of the season. He also made some VERY nice blocks keeping JPW from landing on his back late in the game. It gave our QB that extra 1-2 seconds to get the ball out and make a completion - the biggest, the pass to Hanks to keep a drive alive I believe in the 4th quarter. I like what I've been seeing... I just hope these guys continue to hang on to the football because defenses are obviously trying to pull that ball loose... but so far so good - even Coffee seems to be doing better at the fumblitis. Keep it up Tide - let's just keep the points coming, especially this coming weekend.
GRADE: B

DEFENSE - What can you say when your defense pitches a shutout and gives you a 7-point bonus. They basically said, "Offense, no need to score - we'll allow them nothing and spot you 7." The Bama defense held the Red Wolves to nearly 250 yards below their usual offensive average for the game. They got no points. And there was constant pressure on the QB. There were a couple of lapses on missed assignments, but nothing we couldn't recover from. The Red Wolves couldn't put enough of those plays together to do any significant damage. Even without Cody in the middle, our guys swarmed and shut them down on offense. Rashad Johnson got his first Pick-6 as well, so I'm sure he was very happy about that. Looks like he's got his hands back now after dropping a few balls earlier in the season. Keep it up Rashad! Hightower and McClain also made some huge hits and are showing why they are some of the best in the SEC this year. They're playing smart too - assignment football- and it paid off one time when the Red Wolves called a QB option keeper and McClain stayed with his man (the QB) and kept him from getting any yardage (he lost yards even). If he doesn't stick with his man, the QB gets big yardage. So it's definitely apparent that Saban has these guys playing at a high level and playing smart for the most part. The personal fouls - let other teams do that crap. We just need to keep our heads on straight and keep on keepin on. Great job defense. Let's let that play roll into Baton Rouge and we'll be ok.
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - With the exception of the missed FG, the special teams unit did a great job. We had good punts, Tiffin actually kicked a touchback, he made all of his PATs, and tackling on both kickoffs and punts have been good as well. That last kickoff by the Tide - wow, did Mark Barron put a lick on that guy or what? That's how he was hitting in the first 2-3 games of the season. I like it - I love it - I want to see more of it, Mark!! Bone-crushing hits - that's where it's at, Baby. Great job guys... just don't leave those points off the board. And maybe Javier is saving his best for the next 3 games - I hope so... he's been pretty quiet lately.
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, it was a great win. We broke the November streak of losses. We beat that deadly Sun Belt conference!! Maybe now we can move forward from that LA-Monroe loss of last year. Hopefully those things are a thing of the past for a long time. But it was a game that really wasn't flashy and no really big plays except for 3rd downs keeping drives alive. It's hard to believe the Red Wolves actually had a 4-minute advantage in the time of possession. Seems like we had the ball forever. While we had the ball, it was all small chunks of yarage and a couple of medium runs for TDs as well. Julio had some good catching and Smelley had his one catch on the day. Maybe the next game, we'll see Smelley in the end zone. Heck, even McCall caught a pass which is pretty rare. Offensively though, we just need to get better in the passing game. We have way too many incomplete passes. I know a lot of that has to do with the experience at WR, but it just has to happen. You can have the best defense in the country, but if other team still scores, you have to find a way to match it especially if coming from behind. We're just lucky we haven't had to do that this year because I'm not so sure we could get it done. I guess we'll (possibly) find out next weekened. But overall, the team played well. We scored 35 - they scored nil. You can't lose too many games with a score like that. We even covered the 24.5-point spread. Wow. We sure did make it interesting in that first half though... but great job getting that TD on the first drive of the 2nd half. I think that really took the air out of the Red Wolves. Keep mo on our side... we'll need it for these last 3 games. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A

#2 BAMA 29 - TENNESSEE 9

Alabama is really on a roll right now. For the first time all year, we finally played a complete game though there are still areas that could use work. But in this game, we actually scored in the 2nd half and held UT to only 6 points in the 3rd/4th quarters, and those coming on some very suspect passing interference calls. Let's take a look at this 2nd-year-in-a-row win against the pesky vols of Tennessee...

OFFENSE - The offense was pretty solid for the whole night. It was like I was watching an old timey Gene Stalling game. JP missed a few passes, but also hit some big ones as well. Julio was the big star catching 6 passes for 103 yards. One of the big turning points on offense was when Bama got backed up by a holding call, then came back with back-to-back passes: 1 to Oakley and 1 to Smelley. Both of these guys have caught one pass each for the entire season (maybe Oakley has a couple more?), but what guts to go to two unknowns to get a huge 1st down to keep the drive alive - a TD drive at that. Smelley has played big so far in the 2 games he has played. 3-star prospect? I think not. This guy is a gem. Great hands, great route running, and great blocking (see Roy Upchurch runs). The Bama OL again played tough and generally gave JPW enough time to get the ball down the field. In the backfield, Upchurch is impressing me more and more. He has good vision, is making good cuts at the line, and has a great burst of speed on the outside. I'm glad to see him blossom here lately. Coffee was good as usual, and then Ingram just kind of showed up. I think with the other guys having the hot hand, Ingram had to ride the pine for most of the night... not to mention his near-fumble.

I know one thing though - we need to keep from getting wallopped by defenses. UT had 3 big hits on our offensive guys... one on Maze that spun him into the next week, Upchurch flipped... and Coffee got hit as well I believe. But that Maze hit was pretty brutle. I'm glad he got up from that. Berry can lay the wood down, that's for sure.

Anyway, the offense just kept plugging away all the way to the end of the game. We scored every quarter, we dominated the line, and even though the score was close early, the game was never really in doubt with UT's offense never really getting in sync. It's always a good thing when your BACKUPS get to play in the UT game... Seeing McElroy in the game in the 4th quarter was interesting... when you do that against Tennessee, you know you have done a very good job. Keep it up, offense.
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - The defense played absolutely LIGHTS OUT. It was the best game of the year so far for the defense in my opinion. Of course, it's not like the UT we played was the University of Texas either... but nonetheless, we laid the wood to the UT offense. I don't think I have ever seen Saban jump up and down and overjoyed like I saw him at the UT game after that big 4th down stop. Wow - incredible.

Then throw in the 2 times the Special team screwed the defense and they had to start inside their own 10, and UT only came up with 3 total points out of that? Wow. These guys were prepared... of course, some Tennessee penalties helped, but that's how it goes when you have to cheat in order to try to win. UT's offense was just not disciplined, period. Stupid mistakes all night long - the stupid mistakes Bama used to make when Shula was head coach. Looks like most of that is getting fixed. But the DL was played great... the LBs, especially Hightower played great... and the 2ndary, with Johnson getting that big stop up the middle and Arenas with the corner blitz in the 3rd quarter. There were too many good plays to name them all - but it was definitely a total team effort in this waxing of the Vols. I like what I saw - let's keep it going. We'll need that same intensity for the next 4 weeks to keep the Tide rolling.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams had 2 costly mistakes... well, NEARLY COSTLY as it turned out. The fumble by Arenas gave the Vols 3 points to tie the game... and the blocked punt gave UT another chance to get points, but they failed to capitalize. Too bad for them. But those are game-changing plays that could have easily gone the other way. We have to make sure that crap doesn't happen again. If they correct THAT the way they corrected the kickoff coverage team, we should be ok. Did you see that kickoff coverage Saturday??? Wow. It was like we fielded a completely different team on kickoffs. UT's returners got pummelled coming up the field.

As for the FG unit, great job. Tiffin and company stayed on track and got the Tide 9 early points that helped keep the momentum swinging in our favor. We need to be careful though... some of these kicks are getting awful close to being blocked and taken for TDs going back the other way. Let's solidify that blocking on the outside a big better, or we could be seeing the other team score some gimmies in the near future. It's a mixed bag, but the defense took care of business on the special teams' miscues. Just keep getting better.
GRADE: B-

OVERALL - Overall, Bama needed this win badly - mainly to get a full 2-game lead over the LSU tigers who lost to Georgia Saturday. The fate of Bama rests soley on our play (as it would have anyway)... but now at least we have a game to play with, should the Tide faulter. Anyway, not haven beaten UT twice in a row since the early 90's is great to see again. It's about freakin time. I'm so sick of orange I could puke. The only orange team left to beat is Florida and Texas... and it could very well happen if all the ducks fall where they should. We'll see what happens... as for now, good game Bama. We may have sealed the fate of Fulmer after all - even after all that NCAA crap. Adios, Phat Phil!!
GRADE: A

#2 BAMA 24 - OLE MISS 20

This game was truly hard to watch... Again Bama faltered in the 2nd half, but held on just enough to pull out the win. As long as we keep winning, we should be ok. We're just playing with fire right now... and eventually, we're going to get burned.

OFFENSE - The offense did pretty well in the 1st half, but we need to score more points to keep teams from coming back in the 2nd half. Coffee did well, but Ingram continued to improve as well. He looked like a battering ram out there. Julio was his normal great self, and Maze/McCoy both made great in-stride catches from JPW which was strange. Normally our WRs have to dive or fall down to make a catch like that. Maybe JP is turning it around. Time will tell... NOW is when he needs to really show us what he's got. The 2nd half was horrible. Talk about looking like a High School team. Let's get our head out of our butt please.
GRADE: C

DEFENSE - The defense is what really kept us in this game. Sure we gave up points in the 2nd half, but dang - our offense wasn't doing jack - and again they were getting a little tired. Throw out Mount Cody with his injury and that didn't help either. Hopefully that guy will be back in time for the LSU game because we REALLY need him in the middle. The dude is a beast. Great interceptions as well by the Big D. Now we need to turn that into points.... but good job anyway. Without the good D, Bama loses.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams missed a FG but kickoff and punt coverage was better than last week. I was seeing a lot more good hits which is good. Now it's time to make a big play. Someone. Teams are kicking away from Javier, so we need to find other ways to make things happen. Tiffin seems a little shakey - hopefully that shakes off soon too.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, a good result - a WIN. And we can still learn from our mistakes. Hopefully Saban can find out what's wrong with our team in the 2nd half and get the GOOD consistency going from here on out. This crap ain't gonna fly when we play UT, LSU, and AU. Time to be a man out there and play the WHOLE 60 mins and stop getting full of ourselves. And if we can just take care of business looking ugly OR good, we'll be playing in Miami for the National Championship. But for now, let's just win this one and go from there. Keep rollin' Tide....
GRADE: B-

#2 BAMA 17 - KENTUCKY 14

What a game. We actually held on to win the game as #2. The game really was never in doubt, but definitely gave UK hope even until the last minute of the game. Lucky for us the onsides kick went out of bounds. But in any case, a good win, and a whopping game for Glen Coffee and the running game. Let's take a quick look.

OFFENSE - Offense had too many miscues but didn't lack effort. We moved the ball for most of the game (minus 3rd quarter) on the ground. Long gainers that we DID get were called back by penalties, and ticky tack ones at that. Very questionable penalties in this game definitely. But the holding calls were the worst. We have to do better at executing (does that sound like Saban??). JP still can't throw a deep ball, and now we've added fumbles to our gameplan for some reason. From time to time, a helmet can hit the ball to cause it to squirt out of the RB hands - that happened to Coffee on Saturday once... but the other time, he just lost focus after a really great run. Lucky for Bama it went out of bounds after UK apparently jumped on it. One other thing is that not ONLY did UK have it go out of bounds, but we were extremely lucky that it didn't go in and out of the end zone or it would have been a touchback... and thus we don't get that FG to ice the game. We definitely got a couple of breaks there.

But other than the fumbles, Bama's running game was solid. Coffee ended up with 218 by himself. On the flip side, JP looked horrible out there missing passes left and right, and also throwing an easy pick on yet another fade route to Julio. He was lucky anther time that the defender had stone hands and dropped it. Sometimes you need a little luck. Let's hope we didn't use all of ours up in this one game.

The OL played good most of the time, but the holding calls definitely need to be worked out. The arm strain on big Andre could have aided in that... but in any case, we need to execute to keep these sloppy things from happening. Seems like everytime we got a big play, it got called back. Penalties, missed passes, fumbles that led Bama to no points, too many hurries/sacks, and only ONE offensive TD. We won the game and did enough, thanks to the defense, but things DEFINITELY need to improve in the passing game more than anything else... or we won't find ourselves at #2 anymore. No excuses. Just execute.
GRADE: C-

DEFENSE - The defense actually did as well as you could have wanted except for brain farts which led to UK touchdowns, especially the last one. We have to start sniffing out these stupid screen passes though. How come we always get burned with that crap??? Dang it. But the run defense was stellar - and then we also scored a TD. You can't ask too much more than that. If not for the defensive TD, maybe the game is closer - and who knows if Bama wins or not. Thing is, is that that fumble DOES count, and that's all that matters. Good pressure for most of the game too. We just can't sit on it in the 2nd half. And the offense could do the defense a favor and if you're going to go 3-and-out on multiple drives, don't use them up all in a row. Defenses get tired... we have to sustain intensity... but I'm happy with what they did overall. UK only got 14 points. If we can't score more than 14, something's wrong with us. Good job.
GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special Teams has blown for the last 2 games now. Botched PATs, missed FGs, gunners getting in the way of our own return man & causing a "fumble" recovery by UK... what the crap? Did we just have a giant brain fart in the middle of the season? Kickoff and punt coverage was actually good - now it's time to do well what we did at the beginning of the season in the other areas - sound brain activity when punting, and MAKING FGs. Tiffin got lucky on the missed PAT as UK was offsides on the kick. But his lack of focus really scared the crap out of me. Hopefully the week off will help. But anyway, ST's didn't do anything to help us win... but they everything they could to help us lose. NOT good. 6 points left on the field and a turnover that got Kentucky back in the game when we had them 14-0. Gotta do better, people.
GRADE: F

OVERALL - Overall, the bottom line is a WIN. 2-3 weeks from now, no one will care that the score was only 17-14 if we just take care of business. It's just all fresh right now, that's all people talk about. NO team can run the table and just blow out everybody. Every team will have a close call from time to time - the bottom line is to make sure you win the game. And the real kicker is this: If Bama wins the rest of their games by ONLY 1 POINT in each game, we'll still be in the BCS national championship game. Why? Because USC and Ohio State, the only 2 teams that have the shortcut route to the championship due to no conference title game ARE OUT of contention as long as we keep winning. And being in the SEC with those 2 teams out, an undefeated Bama team that barely wins every game will still be there in the end for all the marbles (so will LSU or Vandy, should that happen). Penn State is really the only other team that has a shot since they are in the Big 10 as well... but #1/#2 have already gone down - and here we stand with #1 OU who plays Texas this weekend... and then they still have to play again in the Big 12 Championship game later on as well. It's a tough road for both teams, so if anyone can run the table, they'll be there in the end.

But back to our game, we played well enough to win the game, that's for sure. Looking at the stat sheet, you'd think we would have won by 30 points.... look how much turnovers hurt... and leaving points on the field via Special Teams. We just have to do better at executing and take care of the ball. Play action has been working great, but the problem is completing those passes. Defenses bite because we ARE so successful at running the ball - now we just need a freaking QB to get our WRs the ball on a consistent basis. I'm ready for JP to step it up. He should be the leader, but he's not playing like it every game. He's just so sporatic. I'm just ready for consistency at being GOOD.

Well, that's all I have for now. I don't want to go off on a tangent here on JP. He's done good things and bad, and he's what we have the rest of the year, barring injury. Just get better. And hopefully this bye week will help the team focus a little more on this 2nd half of the season. We have a TOUGH Ole Miss team coming into Bryant-Denny in a couple of weeks, and they will be hungry for a win. We don't need to get complacent. Rest, relax, and let's get in some good practice the rest of this short week, and then focus next week and let's start the 2nd half as well as we started the 1st half. THIS is when it matters most. I think Saban will do enough to keep the team grounded and keep the wins coming. Get some rest, Bama. Who would have thunk we'd be 6-0 right now??? I don't think anyone (except those REALLY rose-colored glasses wearing people). ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: B-

#8 BAMA 41 - #3 GEORGIA 30

Ok, if you're not a believer in Alabama football NOW, then you live in a cave. I was one of the ones that has been skeptical about how good this team really is, mainly because we have become accustomed to losing leads and rarely finishing games. After Saturday night, I'm a believer, and NOW we can say it - BAMA IS BACK. Period. Don't get me wrong - Bama will NOT win every game for the next 2-4 years by any means. Eventually, EVERYONE loses, and heck, it could happen as early as next week, but at least now, we know what this team is capable of, and we know this team will only get better over time with all this new/raw talent maturing right in front of our eyes. Man, I'm still in shock. You saw the game... but let's take a quick look....

OFFENSE - In the first half, Bama was simply unstoppable. And when they did get stopped in the 1st drive with Coffee's fumble, Georgia bailed them out with a roughing-the-passer penalty. Bama would later score on that drive... and every drive in the 1st half to lead 31-0 at the half. Now in the 3rd quarter, Bama got very sloppy - something Saban didn't care for, but was happy it happened - it let's him know what to work on, which is good. In the 4th quarter, when we finally got the ball, we were able to put another 10 points on the board with the FG by Tiffin the biggest points of the 2nd half since it made the game a 3-score game once again for Georgia.

When things clicked, they clicked well. Wilson seems to be getting better and better at his reads...and his passes are getting better as well - even that freaking fade route to Julio Jones to end the 1st half. Who knew Wilson could even complete a fade route without throwing it out of the endzone??? I don't know if he's done that in the last year even. He usually put it so NO ONE can catch it. Maybe things are slowly changing in T-Town. The RBs played well too. Coffee is getting better and better at breaking tackles, and Ingram is just doing what he does best - bust thru the line and score. Add in Upchurch who has been doing very well in the receiving category and we have a 3-headed monster to deal with. Did you see that move Upchurch made in the open field... dude tackled nothing but air. ha ha Sweeet.

In the end, it's really a difference of 2 halves of football, though the offense wasn't too much at fault for the 3rd quarter. They still put up 41 points in the game, and didn't punt at all in the 1st half, putting the game away basically at halftime. We see the little things to work on, but on offense, this is a well-oiled machine right now. As week 1, the OL are a bunch of beasts. Wow... Keep it up. And keep in mind this was the #3 team (and SEC team, not ACC team) in the country in their own back yard. This was a QUALITY win for Bama and we really made them look like an inferior opponent - something Saban wants to do every game.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The defense played lights out, overall. Again, the 2nd half was played like Saban wanted, even though Georgia scored 30 points. Some of those points were due to Special Teams miscues (fumbled punt by Arenas, UGA punt return for TD, on-sides kick recovery). Those things normally don't happen, so let's keep in mind that if we play Bama football, the score wouldn't have been as close as it was. But Bama had a big enough lead built up in the 1st half that we were afforded that luxury...also with the offense putting 10 more "icing" points on the cake to put it out of reach.

But yeah, UGA got back in the game the 2nd half... we just wanted to make sure they didn't get the big play and get back in too quickly. If they were going to score, it was going to be on shorter gains that help eat up the clock... and that's exactly what happened. When push came to shove, Bama got the job done. But when you get a HUGE lead as Bama did, you change a little of your philosophy in order to keep the game managable. But I'm sure Saban will look at it this week in practice and work on it a bit more to keep teams a little more in check late in the game. I honestly wasn't worried about a serious comeback even after Georgia came within 2 scores. Then Tiffin his that last FG and it was a done deal at that point. We did a decent job at forcing pressure on Stafford, we picked off one pass, and got a weird fumble off of Green in the 1st half.... it's all plays the defense forces, and that's exactly what the plan was. Now Saban just has to keep the intensity up for next week in the 2nd half because we know we come out on fire in the 1st half.
GRADE: B

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams were actually pretty active Saturday, and there was a mixed bag of goodies to partake in. We had to kickoff the ball a TON due to all of the scoring Bama did... we kicked a couple of FGs, and we did ok on kickoff returns. That was the good. On the flip side, Bama struggled in kickoff coverage, punt coverage, on-sides kick, punt-catching, and punt-blocking. Too many breakdowns in the game for my taste. All I could see was the punt-bama-punt game vs Auburn way back in the day... but thank goodness, they only got a piece of one punt and it didn't go backwards. But we had enough problems there that it could have been worse. I know Saban will be breaking down the video this week, so I look for a huge improvement this coming weekend. Javier rarely fumbles a punt, and how the crap did we let them block one? Then UGA returned a punt for TD after we had been doing a good job on punt coverage all year. It's kickoff returns that we've been struggling with (and we had problems there too). I will say that there was a block in the back the officials missed, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Other than 6 points Tiffin gave us, it wasn't a good day for Special teams.
GRADE: D+

OVERALL - Overall, there was more good than bad. The first half really did in the bulldogs... they dug a hole too big to get out of. Bama, with that huge offensive line, just demoralized the team and the crowd. It truly was a funeral those fans had to attend. And I can say this - those jerseys probably won't get pulled out again for at least 10-20 years. Having a blackout doesn't win you the game like most people in Georgia thought. The black jersey doesn't have magical powers - all it does is make you look stupid if you lose like you did. If there were no blackout for this game, it would have just been a back-yard beat-down woodshed beating... Instead, all the headlines are UGA got blacked out. Either way is fine with me though. I'm just glad I'm on the Crimson side.

I will say that I hope UGA doesn't win the SEC East should Bama somehow win the West... the rematch is usually never a good thing though Alabama did it in 1999 against UF with no problem. It's like - we already beat these guys - why do we have to play them again?? I'd honestly like to see UF should Bama make it that far. I'm ready for our team to knock out Tim Tebow. :) ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A-

#9 BAMA 49 - ARKANSAS 14

Another incredible dominating game by the Crimson Tide Saturday. The game atmosphere was electric to start the game even though there were still PLENTY of empty seats in Razorback stadium. The fans were pumped, and you couldn't have asked for better weather to play a football game. The Bamadog was in the upper deck on the east side near the goal line... but as the 3rd quarter approached, it was easy to find some 50-yd line seats to occupy. :) The worst part of the trip was driving back... right out of Fayetteville, some idiot had a wreck and kept the entire interstate from moving for about 15-20 minutes. It's not hard folks - no traffic lights going South and you still can't drive??? Dang, people. Anyway, here's this week's take on the game...

OFFENSE - Bama's offense was dominant. Period. We pretty much rushed the ball at will... and on each of the scoring plays (offense and defense), Bama averaged 49 yards per score. Crazy. Add on top of that that Bama didn't even ATTEMPT, yes ATTEMPT, a Field Goal - I have to wonder what's gotten into this team??? We usually settle for FGs left and right. On Saturday, we'd have none of that as Bama decided to put up 49 points all in the TD variety. At least Tiffin didn't have to worry about missing FGs this time around, right? Just PATs.

Anyway, the Bama RBs were simply awesome. They just wouldn't go down. Coffee had a career game of 162 yards including 2 long TD runs; Upchurch had a 62-yd TD; and Ingram scored on the goal line, extending his streak to 4 TDs this season. The guy is just a touchdown machine. Bama ended up with 328 yards rushing for the day and an astounding 9.4 average per rush. WOW. Bama would only run 50 plays, but having BIG plays really skews those numbers, as does the Time of Possession (Hogs led 35min to 25min).

The main thing that really needed improvement for Bama's offense is the passing game. Even though the ground game was superb, Alabama still only managed 74 yards with JPW only completing 6 of 14 attempts. THAT is the part that needs improvement. A few of those were throw-aways, so these 8 misses are really nit-picky... but there will come a time when we need those throws to be there - he's just got to try and get better in that area. he had one pass down the middle that was just out of the outstretched arms of a WR.... he has no real threat for the deep ball still. Then McElroy comes in and tries to get a his throw on, and he gives the Hogs an early Christmas present in the form of an interception - which they would take down for a late 4th quarter score. All in all, a good offensive game in which we really didn't need a lot of passing plays to win... so we did just that - RAN THE BALL. The offense hasn't really faced any serious adversity this season in which they HAD to rely on the passing game - next week, they might have to. Time to polish it up, Bama... but as for the Hogs, I'm happy with the offensive output, even the backups.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - What can you say when your defense ties the total point total of the opposing team?? Well, it happened Saturday as Bama returned 2 interceptions for TDs, the first time in Bama history it had ever been done. And both were mirror images of each other... Javier took it one way for 63 yards, juking a last-ditch effort by the Hogs' QB... then in the 2nd quarter, he did the same thing, only to the other side, and to Justin Woodall who took it 70 yards, also juking Casey Dick out of his shoes on his way to another Pick-6. What a way to deflate the Arkansas team as a whole. There was just no looking back for the Hogs after that.

Just before halftime, Bama would tackle a WR just before he got into the endzone. Who knew how big that stop would be as the Hogs had the ball on the 1 yard line with 1st and Goal. Bama stood tall and Arkansas lost yardage in 2 plays...then Dick would throw the ball at the feet of a WR... and on 4th down, Chapman and Cody clogged up the middle to stop the Hogs from scoring a crucial TD just before halftime.

If that wasn't enough of Bama riding a serious high going into the locker room, Arkansas gets the ball first in the 3rd quarter, and the first play, Casey Dick throws an interception. Bama would score again on that turnover to extend the lead even more. Talk about deflating a balloon. THEN, the play of the day on defense had to be Chris Rogers' interception in the 4th quarter. He made an incredible 1-handed grab to haul in the 4th pick of the day. It's good to see all this depth on Bama's defense now, and it's only going to get better.

The biggest improvement Bama REALLY needs to make is our passing defense and defending against screen plays. I don't know HOW many times we bite on the screen pass and go for the QB sack when it's very obvious what is being setup. We have to learn to identify those things better or we're going to keep getting burned by them. 3rd down has also got to get better. You have to stop 3rd down plays to get off the field. That was a big reason (not to mention short scoring drives by the offense) why the defense was so winded Saturday - we couldn't stop Arkansas on 3rd down. If we don't work on that, Georgia could pick us apart next week. But for now, I'm more than satisfied with Bama's defensive prowess on Saturday. 2 scores and a goal line stand... then enough big hits to make you hurt in the stands - they just need to WRAP UP and stop trying to tackle with a simple hit. I'm sure Saban will get on them this week for crappy tackling.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - The only bad points were the Javier fumble (which he got back) and the Arkansas kick return teams slicing and dicing Bama's return unit, as have everyone else we have played. I don't know why this year's kickoff team is so poor at tackling when they acceled last year in this area. Whatever it is, we need to shape up because we're giving up WAY too much on kick returns this year. An area that DID improve Saturday was PJ Fitzgerald's punting. He averaged 45 yds per punt... a place he needs to stay. Previously, he was usually getting around the high 30's... so good job there. Arkansas never really kicked to Arenas, so he didn't have much of an opportunity to make any big returns. But when he did get the ball, everyone was just holding their breath.
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, the gameplan was solid. Rush the ball, rush the ball, and rush the ball. Pick-6, pick-6, goal-line-stand. Bama did just that... and the Bama defense still hasn't allowed a rushing TD in 20 quarters. And they are now only allowing just over 50 yards per game on the ground. Now if we can just get that pass defense shapened up a bit more, we'll be in a good spot.

As for me and the trip, it was a good trek to Fayetteville on Saturday. The weather was nice... the fans were nice, and before gametime, I stopped over by the AT&T bus thing where they had some XBOX 360's set up along with big screen TVs showing ESPN's College Gameday... and me and this Arkansas guy decided to play a quarter of NCAA Football 09. Well, I was Bama and I got the ball first and punted. He got the ball 2nd and Bama intercepted a 3rd down play but didn't take it back to the house. Instead, I only got about 5 yards on the return. Bama would rumble down the field with Julio Jones catching a big pass up the middle. Then Tiffin would come in near the 10 yard line to make it 3-0 with only a couple minutes remaining in the quarter. He would get down the field as I BENT but didn't break. He got greedy and went for the win on 4th down while on the 5 yard line of Bama. Incomplete - Bama (and the Bamadog) would beat the Hogs in the 1-quarter game 3-0. Good story, eh? I need to go to more games more often, I'll tell you that. The next game for the Bamadog will likely be the Homecoming game against who else - another Arkansas team - Arkansas State. Sheesh. I didn't even think about that until now. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A

#11 BAMA 41 - WESTERN KENTUCKY 7

It was finally a game Bamafans could practically sit back and relax, and ENJOY the game for once - instead of stressing out to the last second. This might be the last game like that this year though as the SEC schedule starts up next weekend at Arkansas. But this was a good game to get the Tide back on track and get the players' minds focused on the weeks ahead. It was a pretty self-explanatory game, but here's some quick thoughts...

OFFENSE - The offense pretty much did what it wanted, when it wanted. The score could have been much worse had Coach Saban and the Tide really exerted themselves in the 2nd half. JP Wilson was making good throws minus a few long overthrows (nothing new there) and he also threw a pick, which was entirely his fault. It should have been picked off by the tip guy, but instead, it tipped up and the 2nd guy caught it. Unfortunately for the Tide, WKU would score on that turnover with their next drive.

Mark Ingram and Coffee ran wild, and the OL looked to be back where they need to be, even with David Ross starting at LG. But having Andre Smith in there really proved to be vital in keeping Bama's rushing game alive. Dude is a beast on the OL. It was also good to see Terry Grant score and get some good yards. He's Bama's MIA running back that showed so much promise last year but got hurt at the end of the season. But now since Ingram (the bruiser) has been playing so well, Grant's playing time has dwindled down a bit.

At WR, most of the guys stepped up and made some good catches... along with another great catch by Marquise Maze. That guy finds a way to make a great catch in every game. Then on the route that he dropped the ball (it was thrown slightly behind him), he comes back with the same route and JP hit him in stride to get the first down. It just looks like the guys are getting more and more confidence, and that will go a long way this year. As soon as the WKU Hilltoppers got their only TD of the day, Bama went down the field and scored on the next possession. I like what I saw even though it was against much lesser competition. I look for more good play in the weeks to come. Great game. ~560 yards of total offense. If not for the turnover, it might have been a perfect day for the Bama offense. Heck, we didn't even punt one time. But I'll definitely take what they gave us.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The Bama defense finally gave up their 1st TD of the season though it was off an Alabama offensive turnover. The only thing I couldn't figure out is why Rashad Johnson pushed him toward the goal line instead of out of bounds. That didn't make much sense to me...but oh well. That's all they would get thanks to a brusing defense that really kept WKU in check all day long. They only allowed a net gain of 42 yards on the ground which is their season average so far... and 116 thru the air. They forced 7 punts by the WKU offense, and if not for them punting it out of bounds, the score might have been bigger. The big stat is obviously 3rd downs... where we limited them to 3 of 12. That was huge in getting their offense off the field.

I liked the pressure Bama put on their QB all day, but I do wish we had a little more push by the front four - kinda how LSU and AU put on Bama the last couple of years. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like when we played those guys the last 2 years, it was 1-2 seconds and the DL was in JP's face. It takes us about 4-5 seconds to get back there... but maybe it's the blitz packages they used. I just want to get to the QB and force bad throws... but I also know that Saban doesn't want to get burned by screen passes - which Bama always gets suckered into and burned on. I guess I can live with it. I just want a little more push... other than that, they played a great game, especially the 2ndary which knocked down a few passes just before the WR was going to catch it. Keep it up and get ready to slaughter some hog next weekend.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams did ok, but we still need to limit what they get on kickoff returns. We WILL get burned soon if we keep playing like we have been playing. We're just giving up too many return yards for some reason. We'll have a few good tackles but then a long one which a regular SEC team might return and change the momentum of the game. So definitely work on that.

Tiffin did well on kickoffs and went 2-for-3 with FGs. He made a 22 and 25-yarder but missed the 47-yarder before halftime. Bama's punt/kick returns were very good when we were actually able to make a return as WKU figured out the best way to keep Arenas from burning them - kick it out of bounds. Work on kick coverage, but other than that, they did well.
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, it was a good win - and a comfortable win. It didn't come down to the last second, and Saban and company really got their minds straight in that every week, you play with a high level of intensity and don't ever back down. We still need to be that team no one wants to play (see USC). I don't think anyone in America really wants to play those guys. And right now, teams play Bama and think they have a shot at winning... they go into the USC game thinking they are going to get creamed because they are relentless and they show up almost every week and take care of business. That's the way we need to be - and Saturday, that's pretty much what Bama was able to do. The gameplan was great as we just beat them down quarter by quarter for close to 560 yards of total offense, with most of that coming on the ground. It was also good to see the 2nd-teamers get some snaps... more importantly, it was good to see Starr Jackson stay on the bench because he really needs to redshirt this year. So great game guys. Good preparation. Good job, period. Now bring that same game to Arkansas next weekend. I'll be there for that one... don't let me down. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A

#13 BAMA 20 - TULANE 3

What a crazy and uneventful game on offense. It seemed like our best play was for Tulane to punt the ball - THEN we might have a chance to score. The offense was pretty dreary at best, so hopefully things shape up this week in practice. Maybe the team got too full of themselves this week after the Clemson game - who knows.... but hopefully this is a good wakeup call. Maybe we still are a year away from where we need to be... it looked like last year's team all over again. UGH!

OFFENSE - Everyone has read about it. It's nothing new. There was NO offense in Bama's game vs Tulane except for the one scoring drive in the 3rd quarter. 73 total passing yards, 4 sacks given up, 1 TD, not to mention the total of 172 yards to Tulane's 318. It was a total opposite game than what happened just one week prior, and against a better Clemson team. It's definitely a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde type of team. You honestly NEVER know what you're going to get. With teams like USC (who deservedly belong in the #1 spot) who expect to win, and win big, THAT is how you want your team to be. Right now, no team in America would be favored to beat the Trojans right now - not even Georgia. Bama needs to shape up on offense, period. Sure the OL was shifted around, but good teams find a way to manage and still be productive. The rules didn't change. You just block a different direction. If you can't do that, then you don't need to be playing. Now, our team WILL be better with its main starters where they are supposed to be, but c'mon - give me a break. I'm tired of the excuses. ZERO net rushing yards in the 1st half for Bama??? Are you kidding me??? Those are the questions Clemson was asking after they played us, and now we're having to ask that of ourselves? What the crap? Throw in JP's worst day passing of his Alabama (and High School) career of 73 yards, and you have a team that needs a LOT of improvement if we're going to compete in this league. 11 first downs and 3-of-11 on 3rd downs won't get it done either.

The only bright spot was the consistent running of true freshman Mark Ingram. In my eyes, he should be the starter. He and Coffee normally split the load anyway, but I say reward the guy that's getting the job done until he doesn't get the job done. Plus Coffee had a fumble that definitely should have been hung onto... Ingram has shown nothing but positive things since he's played. I can't wait to see more of him. He IS a beast.

Last, what happened to the WRs and TEs? I know Tulane was showing a lot of pressure packages and the OL wasn't blocking, but if that's the case, then someone's open everytime and we're not seeing him. Gotta find the open man, JP. How else are we going to win the game if we consistently (not the good kind) keep going 3 and out? Our defense was winded bigtime. We were just lucky we weren't playing Arkansas or Georgia yet or the outcome definitely would have been a loss. We had the ball 4 minutes in the 1st quarter and overall, we looked like Clemson out there on offense. Nothing happened. Must get better, or we're no better or worse than last year's 7-6 team.
GRADE: D

DEFENSE - The defense did all they could do, given the fact that they were on the field for 2/3 of the gameclock (see Clemson last week). The only difference is that Tulane didn't have quite enough firepower to knock us over. They did squander a couple of FGs which would have made it closer though. But overall, Bama held their ground. 318 yards is nothing to be proud of, but when you look at the Bama offense allowing that time of possession to happen, you can understand that at times. It was just one of those bend-but-don't-break defenses on Saturday. We gave up yards, but not points. They have yet to allow an opponent to score an offensive TD which is good - hopefully they can keep it up. Rolando McClain was all over the place... now if we can just get Rashaad Johnson's good hands back from last season, we'll be aight.
GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS - What would we have done without the Special Teams unit Saturday??? Pulled another LA-Monroe perhaps? Maybe. Thankfully, it IS part of the game, and those plays DO count in the end result. You can't discount them. Just ask Virginia Tech. Javier Arenas pulled off the best punt-returning display Alabama has ever seen, returning punts for a total of 180+ yards including an 88-yd punt return for TD. That really got the game going for the Tide. The next Tulane punt, Arenas wouldn't get the chance to make a return because Upchurch blocked the punt with Rogers taking it in for the score. Unfortunately, by that time, Tiffin was out for the count as he got clocked on an earlier kickoff return by Tulane, so true freshman Corey Smith came in to waste a redshirt season since he did nothing to actually contribute to the game. He missed his only PAT, he missed a FG that banged off the upright, and he flubbed a kickoff out of bounds. It's not how you invision your first outing in a Crimson Tide uniform...and now his first season is done. Hopefully he improves, being a scholarship player and all.

Now kickoff and punt return coverage was less than average at best.... we still need to contain kickoffs better. If not for a penalty, Tulane would have had great field position early in the game. Instead, offsides was called and we covered the next kick. Still needs work in this area. But S.Teams overall won us the game - and gave us the most exciting play to watch - Javy returning another punt for TD, now tying David Palmer with 4 in his career. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: B+

OVERALL - Overall, we flip-flopped from the week before. We became Clemson, only we happened to win the game. Though we did have a turnover, at least Wilson didn't throw an interception, meaning his choices are slightly better so far this year, though his sack total appears to be similar to last year. It's good that he spread the wealth a little this last game, but we're just not completing enough passes in general. Maze caught 4 balls for a mere 22 yards while everyone else on the stat sheet only caught 1 pass each. 73 total yards through the air - not good, especially against a C-USA team that was less than average last year.

Now something I have mentioned regarding time of possession and number of plays run, but something NO ONE seems to take into consideration. When you return a punt for a TD AND when you block a punt for a TD... well, that in itself automatically limits your offensive play time (play clock) AND the number of offensive plays you run because you score with another unit... after the TD, you give it right back to them, meaning they will get more yards, and even though you scored, your defense is still a little winded. They didn't have a lot of time to rest for 2 of those quick scores in the 1st quarter - so TOP is a bit deceptive in the first half. Tulane had 82 plays to Bama's 49. At minimum, Bama would get 8 more plays and Tulane would have 8 less plays, brining that number to 74 Tulane and Bama 57. That's still a pretty big margin, but again, 8 plays is MINIMAL. I don't think we'd have both drives go 3-and-out, so as you can see those numbers end up being in the 60's for both teams if Bama makes 3-4 more plays on offense if not for the special teams TDs. So don't fret, Bama. We just scored in other ways.

So now, we just have to work at keeping our intensity high on defense even when we're tired. The offense still have no excuses. They were WELL-RESTED thanks to the special teams units and defense not exactly putting them away early. THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE MUCH BETTER. Hopefully, they have figured that out this week in practice. It doesn't matter what Vegas says the spread is - that's just for gambling. People need to understand that just because Vegas say Bama is favored by 30 points, doesn't mean they have to win by 30 points to be legit... it's for stupid gambling purposes only. A win is a win - period. Everything else in how you win is just 'style points'... and unfortunately, college football requires style points in the polls. When it comes down to 3 teams being undefeated, then YES, how you win and who you play are vital in determining who will play for the national championship. Just ask that school down the road....

Good Game, Bama. You got the win... and that's the most important thing. Being 1-1 right now would suck hard, so winning still by 2 TDs I am content with. 2-0 and ranked #11 is better than being 1-1 and unranked. So let's keep it in perspective, Tidefans. We all want to blow people out, but it just won't happen every week. So we won by 14 and not the Vegas 30. So what? If we win the rest of our games, I have a feeling everything will honestly take care of itself with Bama playing one of the hardest schedules in the country. Next game is Western Kentucky, and we need to treat them like they are the #1 team in the country.... because they are the ONLY team right now that is standing in the way of a 3-0 season. Nothing else matters this week. Practice Hard, and let's get down to business...
GRADE: B-

#24 BAMA 34 - #9 CLEMSON 10

Wow! What a way to start the season, Crimson Tide. All this spring/summer, everyone's been talking about how Bama's going to have to play a perfect game to even have a chance at beating Clemson. Well, now we know why Saban kept everyone out of practices this fall... so we wouldn't see that Mark Ingram was the horse of this 2008 class, at least in game 1. And that Cody was a true beast in the middle. Unbelievable game.... oh, and my birthday wish came true. Thanks, Coach. :)

OFFENSE - What a complete display of domination. Period. Rush up the middle, rush left, rush up the middle, right right, 1st down here, 1st down there. It's like I'm watching the 1992 team all over again. Did Coach Stallings e-mail Nick the gameplan this week?? Wow. Who knew that one of the most amazing stats of the game would be on offense where we manhandled the game clock for 41:13 with a beast of a running game. Not only that, but Bama was 11-for-17 on 3rd downs and 6-for-6 in the red zone, and 25 1st downs to 11 for Clemson. What gives??? Did McElwain give the offense a ton of red bull that afternoon?? Every single quarter, the Tide DOMINATED the clock: (1st) 10:02 to 4:58 | (2nd) 11:28 to 3:32 | (3rd) 10:49 to 4:11 | (4th) 8:54 to 6:06. It's no wonder Clemson's defense gave up and wore out... they played for 2/3 of the game while Bama's defense was well rested the entire time... I mean, when your defense only plays an average of 4-5 mins in a 20-min quarter, your guys are FRESH. Something you just won't see anywhere is that you can credit the OFFENSE for allowing the defense to play so well - they were well-rested thanks to that serious ball-control offense Saturday.

Anyway, that's just the TEAM stuff. Playerwise, John Parker Wilson started off bad missing his first 2 attempts - at that point I was thinking to myself "here we go again - same ole JP as last year", but then he settled down and made his reads as he was supposed to - most going to the TE Nick Walker who had a career game.

The running game was not like Navy Saturday; no, we didn't run for 500 yards, but we did it in a way that just tore down Clemson emotionally. Converting so many 3rd downs can really depress the crap out of your defense, and Bama's offense did just that. Throw in the fact that Mark Ingram appears to be one of the Tide's main RBs this year as a true freshman and you have to get your hopes up a little - maybe another Moreno (UGA) could be in the making. Guys like this just show up and know how to play the game, and Ingram looks like one of those guys. He just ran over people.

The WRs/TEs did well too, especially Walker who even stood in WR formations as a WR. This totally reminds me of Witten (Dallas Cowboys) and Antonio Gates (S.Diego Chargers) and it's a HUGE weapon. He's a big threat that can get open and has soft hands. Hopefully we utilize our TEs all season because they are a serious force to be reckoned with. Julio and McCoy also got a few passes thrown their way with Jones getting the lone WR TD of the day off a busted coverage. You can tell he's going to do some serious harm to other teams based on his one screen pass that was thrown his way. It didn't look like he would get much, then BOOM. Right up the sideline with serious momentum - he kinda reminds me of Terrell Owens and Michael Irvin with his size, power, and hands. He even made a huge 3rd down catch that was reviewed/confirmed to keep a drive alive late in the game. I can't wait to see more of this guy.

Then there's the OL. They truly were beasts up front... and what did I say in my prediction (besides Clemson winning the game)? It would all start in the trenches... it did, and Bama dug a trench and buried the Clemson DL inside. There was no contest as Bama wouldn't even get a negative rushing play until 52 mins into the game when the reserves were in. Crazy. Throw in the fact that Wilson didn't throw an interception and was not sacked even once.... well, that just doesn't happen with Bama QBs as of late, against quality opponents - but it did Saturday. 34 points against a proven defense in 2007 which returned most of its starters. You can't get much better than that. We didn't give them a chance to score because we played Keep-Away. Let's keep it up. Oh, and the only thing I would have LIKED to see was that catch Maze made up the middle that was negated by a 'lean' by the center. That would have made ESPN's #1 play of the day for sure. What a spectacular catch. Hopefully we can work on some of those long balls, because in the SEC, we won't be able to dink and dunk it the whole game... but in this case, it's what the D gave us. And we ate it up. Eliminate the mental mistakes for penalties and you get a perfect score, but I can live with this. :)
OFFENSE: A

DEFENSE - You couldn't have asked for ANYTHING better on defense. We gave up 3 points on defense. If you can't score more than 3, you got a problem. Ok, so special teams' points count too, but you get my drift. We shut them down. 20 yards is ALL that Spiller and Davis managed to get on the ground. Throw in 20 yards of sacks (yes, we're doing our best to replace Gilberry) and the total as everyone has heard, was ZERO yards on the ground. Funny thing I read yesterday was that the RB that fumbled on his first carry was promised the 1st carry of the season when he signed with Clemson in 2008... well, welcome to D-I football Sonny. We thank you for the fumble, and we thank Reamer for ripping it out. How selfish is THAT?? The fact that a freshman would actually have the audacity to ask for something he hasn't earned yet, and then on top of that, lose the ball when you give it to him. That really helped suck the wind out of Clemson's sails, not that I'm complaining. But crap - what the heck was Bowden thinking???

So anyway, we only gave up one serious play - a 47-yard pass up the middle. Everything else was pretty much contained. We pressured the QB the whole game with the basic 4-man rush and didn't let them get any other big-gainers, except the one that was called back due to penalty. Hightower recovered a fumble, McClain got the tipped pass up in the air for Marquise to pick off, and Rashad almost had 2 other passes picked off... I was actually surprised he missed both of them as one of them was almost identical to the one he picked off in the LSU game last year.

Also great was the fact that we only had one questionable penalty on defense by Jackson. We didn't make stupid personal fouls and offsides like we have in the past, and that's what helps keep opponents' drives alive. I'm definitely impressed with the discipline of this defensive team. We shot all the gaps and for the most part tackled soundly. I'm impressed. 3 points. 0 net yards rushing. You guys on defense, as I mentioned before, can thank the offense for not being so winded in this game. You only had to play for 40-some-odd plays for the whole game. At 5-10 seconds per play (as Saban like to say actual playing time), that was a mere 6 minutes you had to execute. Now take a breather.
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - The up-side: Tiffin smacked that ball 54 yards on one FG (3rd longest in Bama history) and went 4-for-5 total... the down-side, we gave up a kickoff-for-TD on the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, which could have changed the momentum of the game. Lucky for us, the Tide held strong and shoved the ball back in the endzone 2 drives later to extend the lead again. Fitzgerald, I thought would have a better game, but his 37-yd average didn't harm us too bad. Just work at it. Punt coverage was only slightly better as I held my breath everytime Spiller would touch the ball after the kickoff return. I'm sure Saban will work on that this week. We don't need to allow a team to score THAT easily right after we score - in this case, it spot them a FREE 7 points to start the 3rd quarter when you worked so hard in the 1st half to keep them out of the end zone. Since we didn't punt much, it was mostly work for our kickoff coverage and FG units which had 5 tries for Tiffin. Tiffin did well, and Arenas did well with the punt returns he did get... but coverage definitely needs to get better. That was the only real downside of the game for Alabama, but it was also a side that helped put the game away early and keep Bama perfect in redzone offense. 12 points is still good to get from special teams. I can dig it.
GRADE: B-

OVERALL - The gameplan was perfect. Execution was near-flawless with the exception of the special teams TD. JP didn't have to have the game riding on his shoulders, and the Bama D only played for 1/3 of the game. With a running game like that, we can definitely build off of that and get better for teams down the road in the SEC. Clemson is hurting. I said before that Clemson could play in the SEC, but now I'm not so sure. They just seemed beat for most of the game - very dejected look coming from their bench. Offensively, they couldn't get anything going, thanks to Bama's disciplined defense... and up front in the trenches, Bama's OL just manhandled Clemson's DL and LBs. Even Bama's RBs made huge blocks at the line to protect JPW.

This Bama team is finally 'getting it', which is what Saban has been trying to do since he got here. This is the first step in becoming "THAT team that nobody wants to play." Can YOU dig it? I can. Keep up the good work, Bama. ROLL TIDE!!
GRADE: A