#1 BAMA 37 - #2 TEXAS 21

Ok, the wait if OVER. I have waited a week to REALLY absorb everything that IS ALABAMA CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL here in the state of Texas. I rewatched the game last night while recording all the pregame hype, the game itself, and the postgame celebration and trophy presentations so I can put it on a nice menu-type DVD for myself. I can't wait to finish the project. It will likely be a few days with all the encoding of video - but well worth it.

Since the game has ended, SO much has happened and obviously all the talk about "what if..." scenarios. Tubby has taken the job at Texas Tech due to Mike Leach's firing (great, now Tubby is my neck of the woods), Texas fans keep pondering what would happen if Colt McCoy wouldn't have gotten hurt, I get to wear BAMA shirts with more pride than ever living here in Dallas, TX... and the latest and greatest - Lane Kiffin takes the USC job leaving Tennessee football high and dry. Unfreaking-believable. Now that I have had a whole week to let everything absorb into my being, here goes...

OFFENSE - Bama's offense was 50/50. Great running game, no passing game. Of course, a TON of that was dictated on the score of the game. Saban made it a defensive match for most of the contest since McCoy got knocked out in the 1st drive of the game for Texas. But as for Bama, the running game ran wild. That 49-yard run by Richardson really did in the Texas defense and skewed their rushing defense numbers right off the bat. It says a lot when your 2nd string RB comes in and rips off a long TD run like that... and I think it totally deflated the Texas defense at that point though they would regain some of their composure later on. Ingram and Richardson each had over 100 yards and 2 TDs each. That says it all. Nothing more on offense really happened other than me screaming at McElroy to throw the football, especially in the 1st half when he took all those sacks from just standing there in the pocket. Throw it away for Pete's sake or something. After so much time, you just HAVE to do something - RUN, throw it away... just don't take 5-10 yard losses. You have to have a mental clock in your head (like Colt, right? ha ha)... 1 one-thousand, 2 one-thousane... once you get to 5, it's time to get the heck out of there because the OL can only hold back DL for so long. Of course, our WRs weren't really helping a whole lot not getting open - credit the Texas defense for that. They had a great plan and it really disturbed the passing game all night long. So it's not all on GMac... thank goodness for the running game, right? It totally reminded me of a more dominant 1992 offensive performance like we had against Miami. In that game, Barker had 4 complete passes for 18 yards and no TDs. GMac had only 2 more completions than Barker and had a whopping 58 yards. The problem is that he was sacked 5 times. Alabama ended up putting up more numbers in the running game this year than in 1992, but the outcome was the same - a National Title, Alabama's 13th. Strangely enough, Bama had 3 "turnovers" and none were caused by the offense. I don't think I have ever seen that before in such a game of this magnitude. So good job there. If we had had the passing game going, this game would have really gotten out of control quickly - lucky for Texas, we got the big lead and didn't have to throw the ball around a lot (or maybe it's lucky for us)... but Ingram and Richardson got the job done even with Ingram suffering serious cramps in the 2nd half. Also, it was made known that GMac played with injured ribs in the 2nd half. If so, good job not letting anyone know because you didn't look hurt at all. Strong running game, weak passing game, no turnovers by the offense, and we had 2 backs break the 100-yd mark. Not great in all aspects, but something I can more than live with. GRADE: B

DEFENSE - Let me just say it here - DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. Alabama forced 5 turnovers, scored a TD, and had a huge goal line stand, while stopping another drive early to hold Texas to 2 FGs. For the most part, Shipley was Texas' only option at WR. No one else made any real huge plays, so credit Alabama for shutting down Texas' WRs. That was their bread and butter. With practically no running game, Texas really didn't have much of a chance. Even though Texas had the ball with 3 minutes to go in the game and down 3 points, it was still a long shot to win. They were deep in their own territory and they still had to move up an entire field against the best defense in the country. What happened? The Defense - because defense wins championships, remember? Eventually, they would make another play, and they did. The one and only sack of the night was a HUGE one. Gilbert would fumble off the massive hit by Anders and Upshaw would recover on the 3 yard line setting up the icing TD by Ingram a few plays later. If Texas' vaunted rushing defense had been as good as advertised, they would have been able to shut down Alabama and possibly win the game. It's not like our passing game was flying all over the place, right? So credit the Alabama defense for making plays when we needed them, and playing smashmouth football the entire game. Desmond Howard was right in his pregame analysis. He said Alabama's defense would make a play at the end of the game that would be the difference - and it pretty much happened. Even though Bama wasn't trailing, it iced the game for Bama to seal the win. Good call, Desmond. In my quick take (on my predictions page) I listed Dareus as my 1st half MVP... he maintained that status by game's end as his 2 plays were the differences in the game... 1. knocking McCoy out with his big hit, and 2. the interception for TD just before halftime which REALLY put the Longhorns in a jam starting in the 2nd half. So in the end, the Bama defense stepped up and won the game for Bama while the offense was very stagnant for nearly 1/2 the game. They gave up 21 points, but their big plays outnumbered the points given up. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but it was REALLY great to see a Bama walk-on, Tyrone King (#20), get an interception there at the end of the game. He's a senior that didn't get a ton of playing time during the year, but because Bama dominated late in the game, he was able to get in there and get an interception in the National Championship. Good for him in his last game as an Alabama player... that's the way you go out, Tyrone. Great job. I say it again - DEFENSE WINS CHAMMPIONSHIPS... and Alabama has the best defense in the country... and WON the National Championship for 2009. ROLL TIDE! GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - As usual, special teams were really a mixed bag. I feel for 2 people though on special teams. Javier Arenas came within 10 yards of breaking the all-time NCAA record for punt return yards. Dang if he didn't get stuck there. Late in the game, he had a returnable punt in my opinion, that he fair caught (for the team's sake).... I do wish he could have had a couple more chances to return a kick or two, but Texas' kicker did a good job at angle-punting early on, so Arenas didn't get a chance to showcase his punt return talent. On the flip side, P.J. Fitzgerald did an AMAZING job at punting. Not once did he allow Shipley to return even one punt on the night. He had great hangtime and length to his kicks. The Alabama gunners were able to get down the field quickly, so Shipley couldn't showcase his talent at all. That in itself was very big for Alabama since it didn't allow for any change in field position. P.J.'s only bad play was the short pass to Kirkpatrick early on with the fake punt play. UT brought the outside guy in and on the punt rush, but they had dropped one of the inside guys that ended up covering Kirkpatrick, so credit Texas for that - else Bama would have gotten a huge gainer on that. Tiffin had an semi off-night as well. He hit 4 of 5 of his PATs, and went 1 for 2 on FGs though his one miss was from 52 yards and barely wide left. My problem with this game was that on 2 of his PATs, one was just really screwed up and the other one he barely got. Maybe it was nerves, but it sucks that his last kick as an Alabama player was a missed PAT. Not exactly how a Groza finalist wants to end his career at college I'm sure. And even though he broke most of the kicking records at Alabama, he never really had a defining moment like his Dad other than the Arkansas debacle a few years back. It's a shame really, but I guess what happens happens. Next year, Cade Foster will come in and replace Tiffin. Hopefully, Cade can keep up the good overall work Tiffin did while here at Bama. Having seen him in person here in the Dallas area, he's a good kid and should do well at Alabama. The other part of special teams that had problems was the kickoff return team which aided in 2 more Alabama turnovers (3 total including PJ's fake punt interception). Texas had a good plan not to kick to Arenas on kickoffs - he never touched the ball. The problem is that Alabama wasn't really ready for the pooch kick. The first one lost actually hit the grass before Julio was banged out of the way for the Texas recovery. The other turnover was really a fluke. Texas got really lucky when the line drive kick hit Smelly right in the facemask and bounced backwards. Heck, Smelly hardly had time to react because of the speed of the knuckleball football headed right at him. Texas was gunning for a hard squib kick but it hit Smelly instead. The rest is history. Lucky break for Texas there, but we recovered after that and only allowed 2 FGs in the 1st half after those crazy turnovers. So as usual, a mixed bag. They put our defense in difficult situations, but having the #1 defense in the country, we got the job done anyway. Good thing. Odd chain of events by special teams - stuff that hadn't happened all year, - strange that they would all happen in one game. But the biggest killer was Fitzgerald's punting. That was without a doubt the best part of Bama's special teams play in the championship game. But missed PAT and turnovers still count unfortunately. GRADE: C+

OVERALL - Overall, Bama did what it had to do to win the game. It DEFINITELY wasn't pretty at times while at other times, it looked as though nothing would be able to stop us. Saban had to make adjustments to Texas' speed sweeps and we saw that adjustment later on when dude ran across the backfield and was eaten up by the D-Line. He also had to adjust somewhat to McCoy being out of the game. Sure Texas had to go conservative early on, but it's not something we planned on - stopping a running game that was barely used all year. And what running game they DID have was mostly in Colt McCoy. So it was definitely an adjustment there. The biggest areas of the game were definitely the defense early and the goal line stance. The guys that were key parts to keeping Texas out of the end zone? The first sweep to the right had Texas' RB nearly getting into the end zone, but big Mark Barron put the hit on to stop him at the 1 yard line. HUGE play. Then Texas would have a motion penalty, and us a personal foul with gave Texas another 1st and Goal at the 3. They got back to the 1 yard line, then on 2nd down, the mackdaddy play that stuffed Texas from getting into the end zone... you know who it was to put the hit on Texas?? Probably not - It was MARCEL DAREUS. That was a play most people don't even realize he made because the initial hit was by Cody I believe. But Dareus actually stopped him in his tracks. Next play would have UT throw an incomplete pass and settle for 3. I mean, how big was that? 2 early turnovers that limited one of the high-scoring teams in the country to 2 FGs, keeping Bama in the game with only one TD. Texas wouldn't score again till late in the game. Clearly, the Alabama defense deserves the overall MVP. But definitely credit Alabama's running game. When nothing else was working, Ingram and Richardson got the job done. But without the defense, it could have gotten out of hand early, not to mention the fact that the D scored themselves just before halftime which took most of the air out of the Longhorns. GRADE: B+

As for me, living in Dallas, TX, it's great to go out and listen to all the excuses these guys have for losing the game to us. "If McCoy hadn't gotten hurt..." How many freaking times am I going to hear that line??? You can make up anything you want about "what if" because every team has them. What if Nebraska hadn't kicked the ball out of bounds in the Big 12 championship and THEN proceed to horsecollar a guy while making a tackle - YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THIS GAME, YA MORON! So let's get over it already. We lost Hightower early in the season. McElroy played hurt late...Ingram was clearly in pain in the 2nd half of the game. McCoy doesn't play defense. You had the "top-rated" run defense in the country - go back it up. McCoy didn't tackle anyone, even when playing. Sam Bradford didn't play against you this year because he was injured - I guess that game should have an asterisk beside it too - it's tainted, right? ha ha You guys are a joke. This is football. They hit, and they hit hard. It's part of the game JUST LIKE LAST YEAR when Alabama had 3 offensive linemen playing out of position due to Andre Smith not playing, then Johnson getting hurt DURING the game. Guys shifted from position to position during the game - positions they hadn't played before... but all people can talk about is that Utah beat Alabama last year. No one wants to bring up the reason why. Yeah, you lose the freaking OUTLAND TROPHY WINNER, a Left Tackle, in a game and yeah, you're going to lose a lot of experience on your OL. Our backups should have been more prepared - JUST LIKE GILBERT. Any given moment, a guy can go down, and it's up to your 2nd and 3rd string guys to step up and make something of their opportunity. If Ingram goes down, the game isn't tainted. You just have to have a backup plan. So enough with the "If Colt McCoy have had played..." bullcrap. Yeah, I KNOW the game would have taken a different turn because he obviously wouldn't have made the same decisions as Gilbert... the final score would have been different too - but in no way does anyone, including myself, know what the score would have been had Colt played. That's just football.

One last note before I end this thing... 2 years ago, I said Alabama would be back THIS year. Last year was just freaky - we arrived a little early then got mashed up a bit to end the season. But I said it time and time again way back when - 2009 WILL be when Alabama plays for a National Championship... and low and behold, I was right - we freaking DID IT!! We did it BAMA! Called it. :)

So that's it for the 2009 season. Alabama went 14-0 and is the 3rd team in NCAA history to do so (Boise State also went 14-0 this year). Coach Saban will have a statue of himself put up soon - hopefully by A-Day. The coaching carousel will continue as assistants come and go (Willis is already headed to Texas Tech), but one thing is certain - BAMA IS BACK, and Saban will keep the A-Train moving into next season where Bama will likely start out the preseason #1 team in the country. Eventually, you HAVE to lose, but for now, let's just enjoy this undefeated season and buy a new Sports Illustrated with Bama on the cover yet again. Last, if you need anything related to the ALABAMA CHAMPIONSHIP, Visit my Alabama Fan Shop. There's a TON of stuff there for every Bama fan. I'll post more later in the year, but for now - it's been a pleasure this football season. Thanks to everyone who has helped make BAMADOG.COM one of the best personal sports sites on the internet. ROLL TIDE!!

#2 BAMA 32 - #1 FLORIDA 13

First of all, let me apologize for not picking Alabama to win the game on Friday. :) All I do is call it like I see it. With all things being equal, Tebow was the difference. The problem with that is, everything besides Tebow wasn't equal. The difference was the game plan and the Bama defense. We were clearly superior to Florida in those regards. Tebow was unable to do anything for most of the night only scoring ONE touchdown for the entire game. Heck, at game's end, I got to thinking about what the score SHOULD have been... it was 32-13. Tiffin missed an extra point forcing Saban to go for 2 later in the game in which we also missed, which caused us to be 2 points down had we just hit both extra points... the hypothetical score? 34-13. Where and when does that score sound familiar??? Hmmm... could it be the Bama vs Miami National Championship game from the 1992 season?? Oh yeah, you know it. It's clearly a sign, people. Bama is destined to go all the way this year, and only Texas stands in our way. Before we get into all that BCS hoopla, let's look at the dominating win over Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

OFFENSE - Wow. The most complete game of the season, and we saved it for Florida, thank goodness. Let's hope we have one more of those in the tank when Texas comes calling. Ingram and Richardson were just beasts out there. McElroy is playing with a ton of confidence, and the WRs are making it nearly impossible to double-cover Julio Jones. Then throw in Colin Peek, and there is just no stopping this offense right now. Florida's defense stopped us from time to time, but in general, we mashed them into the ground for most of the game. I mean, seriously - 40 minutes of possession?? That's unheard of. That really is total domination - nearly as good as the Iron Bowl of 2008 when we dominated Auburn 36-0. Ingram broke the all-time rushing record at Alabama, had a huge gainer on a screen play that set up a TD, and the rest of the gang just played like THIS was the National Title game. I can definitely see how Saban would give the whole offense the MVP award. Though there were certain players that stepped up and had a big game, it took all of them to make it happen. The sheer determination of this offense just would not be denied. Hats off to those guys. With the exception of a couple of drives having to settle for FGs, this was about as good as it could get - ESPECIALLY against the reigning SEC/NCAA Champions AND current #1 team in the country. Yeah, you can bet it's no wonder the Tide is the unanimous #1 now going into the BCS Championship... we earned every bit of it. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A+

DEFENSE - Florida has been rolling as of late. But against who? Nobodys. The ONLY ranked team they played all season was LSU, and they barely escaped that one. They WERE the #1 defense in the land, but not anymore. Bama proved that we had more of a legitimate Heisman contender and also proved our defense was by far better than the ex-champs. It was just a thing of beauty. Bama really needed that +1 in turnover margin to make a statement and we got it late in the game with a Javier Arenas pick-off in the end zone. Seeing Urban Meyer's reaction when it happened was just priceless. Then Tim Tebow slammed both his hands on his helmet in a "That was so Stupid, stupid, stupid!" way. He knew once it left his hand that it wasn't going to get over the head of Arenas. McClain, Johnson, Reamer, Cody, Woodall - EVERYONE - played a part in dismantling the Gators on Saturday. It wasn't a 1992 Alabama defense, but it sure was close. I mean, this Florida team only scored ONE freaking touchdown, people. 2 FGs. 13 mere points. Yeah, that even surprised me. I figured that for sure this game would be close and in the 20's possibly. Bama would have nothing of the sort. We came mentally and physically prepared, motivated, and like Saban said, and sense that we would just not be denied. It was a thing of beauty again. Loved every minute of it... and yes, God does love Alabama, not just the Gators. Good luck in the Sugar Bowl against a nobody just like we had to deal with last year. Bama definitely earned it on defense in this one. Great game, guys!
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams did everything it needed to do to win... and then some. We consistently played well on kickoff coverage which was my worst concern of the game. Arenas didn't get much on punt returns due to the height of UF's punts. But he did some serious damage on kickoff returns... something I'll definitely miss in the upcoming years. Great job there. Then there's Tiffin who was great as usual hitting both of his FGs, one of which was a 48-yarder. He even kicked off against the #1 team in the country 7 times. Who knew we'd score that many time (+1 for the post-halftime kickoff). Keep in mind people, that this was FLORIDA, the team that won the championship last year, and had its entire 2-deep on defense returning... and ex-Heisman trohpy winner... and #1 throughout most of this season. This was just an old-fashioned back yard beatdown. Special teams contributed just as much in this one as the offense and defense. It was a complete game for the most part. Awesome!
GRADE: A+

OVERALL - What can I say? Bama had a complete game, and save it for the Florida Gators. What a great time to unleash THE POWER within, right? Tebow and the Gators really had no chance when you look back at the game. They came within 12-10 early on, but wow, did Bama storm back or what? It was like we just would NOT be denied in any phase of the game. UF was simply out-played, out-coached, and out-witted as a whole - yeah, and game of survival (or Survivor). Bama held Florida to ZERO points in the second half. You better believe that last year's game weighed heavily on this defense's mind (and the offense). It was revenge time, and we took care of it handily. No bad calls by the ref... no excuses. They just got BEAT. Period. Let's enjoy this one and as we head out to Pasadena, know that we CAN do it again - we just have to keep our heads in the game and execute one more time. 'Nuff said. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!
GRADE: A+

#2 BAMA 26 - AUBURN 21

What an insane Iron Bowl game! This was definitely the biggest scare Alabama has had all season, including the Tennessee game. Bama trailed by the most this season against Auburn (14 points). The Tide only trailed by 5 to LSU earlier in the season. It was a crazy game in which Mark Ingram wasn't his normal self, and the defense got way behind early by not playing sound, and then special teams wasn't ready for the onsides kick AU threw at them. These are the type of "trick plays" teams like Alabama has to be ready for because the other team honestly has nothing to lose by trying them - so you have to be ready for anything.... and we weren't.

Now after the game was settled in at 14-0, Alabama finally got down to business and tied it up by halftime and nearly took the lead with a Tiffin FG attempt, but the FG missed, and 14-14 was the halftime score. Bama then took over in the 2nd half defensively, but Alabama's offense also sputtered, only getting 2 FGs in the 3rd. THEN, THE DRIVE. 79 Yards of methodically moving down the field and scoring the game-winner. Definitely a stressful game there at the end, but in the end, the good guys won.... Let's take a quick look at each phase of the game.

OFFENSE - As I said, the offense in the 1st quarter didn't do anything. Throw in the fact that we were missing a complete drive due to an on-sides kick, and we didn't really have much of a chance to get going early. But in the 2nd quarter, Alabama DID get some offense going and totally switched the momentum going into halftime. After halftime, we sputtered some more and had to settle for 2 FGs by Tiffin... that nearly bit us in the butt as we were trailing by 1 point as the end of the 4th quarter was winding down. But somehow, Alabama dug deep and put together a long 7-minute drive to keep moving the sticks. 3rd downs were key and Bama converted. Julio Jones also made his presence known by catching 4 of McElroy's passes in that drive. It was all on GMac's shoulders at that point. We couldn't say "Don't lose the game for us"... now it was time for GMac to "Win the game for us." And he did. What a great timeout before that last play too... we hadn't run the ball very well the whole game, and it was 3rd and 4. No way do we get 4 yards on that play. So what happens? We put in Cody to fool AU's defense into thinking we were definitely running the ball. The rest is history - Upchurch came in for that play, got open and caught a dart by GMac. That was NOT an easy throw to catch, and the window was actually very small, so kudos to GMac and Upchurch for executing the play 100%. Otherwise, Bama settles for a FG attempt and then AU has a chance to win the game with a FG instead of a TD. So great call to end the drive with a TD. But if you have to grade the offense on the day, they didn't do very well. If you grade the last drive, then you give them an A+. A win is a win, and every play counted, and I'm grateful more than anyone for the win. This was no warm-up game for Bama (for the SECC)... this was a come-from-behind win where we had to dig deep - maybe we can use that in an upcoming game this year - we shall see... As far as problems go, one of my biggest beefs right now is how long McElroy is holding the ball in the pocket. He's holding it 1-2 seconds longer than he needs to, especially with the pass rush teams are throwing at Alabama right now. We're very lucky he didn't fumble the ball on Friday. Then there are times when he needs to run it instead of taking the sack too... He's just forcing it too much. Consider it another stepping stone/learning experience for him. He'll need it next week against Florida. But for this game, we did just enough to extend the streak at 2 games and keep Alabama undefeated in the regular season for the 2nd straight year. Good job there...
GRADE: B-

DEFENSE - The defense was swarming after Auburn got up 14 points early. But then in the 2nd half, they gave up the long TD pass to give the Tigers the lead again. I'm not sure, but I think the CB fell down on the route - not too common with this team. But once this group settled down, they did very well. We still need to work on tackling a little better... too many times these runners keep slipping out of tackles and falling forward for the easy extra 1-2 yards or more. They gave up plenty more yards than anyone would have guessed, but that's what big plays do - it's a big pile of yards at one time. This game and the next 2 are games we really could have used Hightower. But we still got the job done with Reamer and Anders. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of a pass rush early on, but I guess early on, nothing was working for anyone on the Bama sidelines. We did win the turnover battle, and that was a HUGE key in the game. How big has Mark Barron been this year? He's finally showing why he was one of the best recruits coming out of Mobile a couple of years ago... he's definitely been huge in stepping up where Rashad Johnson left last year. Good game guys - but we just have to be careful not to let teams get the big early lead like this... one more TD by Auburn, and we likely would have been toast. Start strong - finish strong! UF is next, and we have no room for error.
GRADE: B

SPECIAL TEAMS - Hey, we didn't allow a return for TD. Gotta like that, right? Tiffin went 2 for 3 on FGs and broke the FG record (most FGs in a career at Bama). He was previously tied with Phillip Doyle. Then there's Javier Arenas and his punt returns. Outstanding, at least when AU actually kicked to him. I will miss him next year for sure. These guys helped give us a chance to win with 6 points in FGs and good field position on kickoffs and punt returns. No complaints here. Yeah, Tiffin missed a long FG, but he has hit way more than he has missed this year... and has a great chance at winning the Lou Groza award. He has been as good or better than his dad... he'll be missed next year as well. Oh, and props to Fitzgerald for some booming punts... one went into the end zone which I wasn't happy about, but when does he kick the ball 55 yards?? Oh well. Great job guys.
GRADE: A

OVERALL - Overall, we got the job done. One of the most important plays of the game was the last offensive play for Alabama as that "play change" changed the outcome of the game. FG to TD. Credit Saban for keeping the guys into the game and not giving up. It wasn't a Utah beating like last year's Sugar Bowl... this time, we fought back and won a game having to come from behind a double-digit margin. This will only help us in the future. I hope it doesn't come down to this again, but it was definitely a learning experience for this team as they haven't really trailed a team all year, not had they been pushed that far either, except for UT. We did all this without any kind of running game too. AU pretty much sold out on the run and was determined NOT to let Ingram get anything. The problem with that is that you leave a lot of holes in the passing game. And McElroy passed the test thank goodness. Betting on GMac earlier in the season might have been shaky, but he was forced into this one and came through. Yeah, you can ask any Bama fan and they'll say "I knew we'd do it"... I beg to differ. This was too close for ANY Bama fan. And yes, you WERE scared for a moment. :) Early, I wasn't scared because I knew we had a lot of time left in the game, but there at the end, we HAD to score, and that part was nerve-racking, especially on 3rd downs. Dang... those are games you hate to have to go through, but if you win, they're the most memorable. This one will be remembered for a long, long time. "The Drive." Yeah, THE DRIVE will be remembered for another 365 days. Next year, AU comes to T-Town in a game we'll hopefully not make as close. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: B-

BAMA 45 - UT-CHATTANOOGA 0

No sense in breaking down this one honestly. It was like playing a high school.

OFFENSE - A (scored at will with #1 offense, Ingram moved into 2nd place in Bama season rushing)

DEFENSE - A (held Mocs to less than 100 total yards and shutout)

SPECIAL TEAMS - A (Arenas even scored and Tiffin tied the FG record)

OVERALL - A. What did you expect? 2nd offense/defense was in starting the 2nd half and they still held the Mocs scoreless. Everyone contributed, everyone seemed to score, and lots of guys got some much-needed playing time. This was a much-needed rest for the starters for the early-week Iron Bowl coming up.

#3 BAMA 31 - MISSISSIPPI STATE 3

This was about as close as a complete game as you could want, minus special teams kick coverage. For most of the game, Alabama did their part in dominating the Mississippi State Bulldogs. It was as expected, but it just had to be executed correctly. Credit MSU for stepping out of bounds on that one long kickoff, but Bama helped him. If not for the pursuit of the kick returner, he would have strut his stuff into the end zone. Fortunately for us, he didn't keep his wits about him when he was tight-roping the sideline. In any case, it likely wouldn't have made a difference, but it definitely looked better than Florida's 29-19 win over the Bulldogs earlier in the season. Now let's just keep things rolling...

OFFENSE - The offense pretty much did what they wanted in this one. Julio was left uncovered for his big TD grab. Mark Ingram was a beast in the 2nd half as usual, and Greg McElroy got back on track (even more) by throwing TDs and getting some decent yards on his resume'. Darius Hanks made a fantastic grab for that 1st TD. Great throw there by GMac for sure. Also, the OL blocked pretty good for the most part, and we dominated the time of possession yet again. Offensive penalties were vacant for the game, and that was a great sign as well... finally some discipline, and in a very loud cowbell environment on top of that. Great job guy.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - The defense made 3 unbelievable interceptions, 2 of which were made by #4, Mark Barron. And Marquise Johnson is really making a name for himself as a CB as well. The guy has now proven that you just don't try and pick on him as of late. He has done an outstanding job defending the other teams' best WRs in the last few games. Great job, Marquise. And as usual, the guys in the middle, Cody and McClain are continuing to do well in stuffing the running game. The SEC's 2nd-best RB was held to under 100 yards yet again... I beleive that stretches the streak to 30(?) games now in holding an individual to less than 100 yards in a game. That's just crazy when you think about it. That means Tebow, Dixon, McCluster, and a slew of others have failed to get to the century mark against Bama in the last few years. Keep up the good work and just continue to get better. I do think we need to be more aware of getting burned when we send in the nickelback to blitz... it always leaves a WR open, and 99% of the time, they hit that guy. Maybe we can disguise it better? I still like what I see - 3 points on the scoreboard... keep it up.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams have actually been very good lately, but Saturday we got exposed again. Let's hope this isn't a new trend we'll start up to end the season. The kick and punt teams are still doing very well... Tiffin/Fitzgerald are guys we can pretty much depend on each week. The problem that's easing its way back into the mix is the kickoff coverage. I know Saban will look into it again this week because we really had some guys out of position in this game - things we can't do again against the upcoming opponents, or it could spell trouble. Arenas did look great on kickoffs as usual... I'm not so sure he's going to break Wes Welker's NCAA record for punt return yards anymore though... teams keep kicking away from him, so there's not much he can do. Tiffin only needs one more FG to tie the record for # of FGs in a career... I thought for sure he'd get 2 against MSU, but he only got 1. Maybe he'll get 1-2 next week. I'd say he'll definitely get it sometime by season's end. He's really doing a great job in this his senior year. Now let's just improve on kickoff coverage and tackle these guys, aight?
GRADE: C

OVERALL - Overall, we beat State by 28 points. You can't really ask for more than that on the road in the SEC. Sure, the kickoff coverage teams sucked like the Big Orange in Knoxville, but hey - the defense did its job and held true. Only points allowed on the night - I can live with that pretty much any given week. If you can't score more than 3, something's wrong. With the win, Bama improved to 10-0 and continues its record for the team with the most 10-win seasons in the NCAA. It also upped the AP voters' ranking from #3 to #2 this week... so we have basically solidified our spot as the #2 team in the country behind the Gators - and we all know what happens on December 5. Keep it up, and clean up the tackling on special teams... we'll be aight.
GRADE: A-

#3 BAMA 24 - #9 LSU 15

Hello Atlanta!! It's finally official. What people have been speculating all season long has finally become a reality. Alabama will face Florida in the SEC Championship game. If both teams can remain undefeated, it will definitely be the semi-final game to get into the BCS National Championship game in Pasadena. Even with a loss, it's still possible for that one-loss SEC team to win the SECC Game and get to the BCS Championship given the teams below Bama/UF/TX. But for now, Alabama celebrates a 2nd-year-in-a-row win over Les Miles and LSU. It was a hard-hitting game with Alabama knocking LSU's starting QB and RB out of the game in the 2nd half. Also, 4th quarter dominance was needed by the Tide to keep Alabama undefeated on the year and to become the SEC West champs. Let's take a quick look.....

OFFENSE - Bama's offense put up 450 yards on the LSU defense. Seriously? What happened there? Did we eat our Wheaties or something? Well, the big run by Julio Jones really helped pad that number, but they all count. Ingram had another monster game against a ranked opponent, solidifying his name near the top of most Heisman lists. Greg McElroy finally got out of his funk and completed a couple of TD throws and an interception. He definitely should have had one more to Julio but no can-do; he just let him a little too much. But all-in-all, it was good to see the offense "well" again... the only exception was Colin Peek, who tried to go, but couldn't finish. He's still got a little more rehabbing to do apparently. But Smelly did a pretty good job in his absence. And yes, we finally put the ball into the end zone. It took a while, but it finally happened. And we couldn't have won the game without some TDs. Maybe now, we can get the train back on the tracks and keep the train moving. I like what I saw, but we still need to work on the long ball. GMac missed a few easy (of course, we SAY IT'S EASY, right?) passes in the game, but hopefully his confidence is starting to get better, and he'll be able to complete the easier passes in the upcoming games. We need GMac to up his game here at the end of the season. Without him, we definitely won't be able to compete against Florida or anyone else for that matter. We still need to execute. So 24 points this go-around against one of the better defenses in the country... and 450 yards. I can definitly live with that... what I can't live with is the slow starts... my heart's about to explode trailing in games like this. Let's get the ball rolling a lot earlier next time. Other than that, good game.
GRADE: B+

DEFENSE - The Bama defense played another solid game. Not dominant in the whole game, but dominant when it had to be, especially in the 4th quarter where we held LSU scoreless. We continually got pressure on Jordan Jefferson and didn't allow LSU to get more than one score ahead of us...that was key. On the blitz, LSU only completed one pass all day - great job there.... then on top of that, the hard hits they were dishing out took out their QB and RB. Once that happened, they were done. The rest is history. Keep working - there's still always room for improvement.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Congrats to Leigh Tiffin who is now the All-time Alabama scoring leader. Who'da thunk it after such a miserable game against the Hogs a few years ago? He is also 2 FGs shy of tying the all-time FGs made by Phillip Doyle. He'll almost certainly tie or break that record next week in Starkville. Arenas had a good game returning kickoffs, but he is still trying to get more punt return yards as they have come at a premium lately. Everyone keeps punting away from him or punting it sky-high so he has to fair-catch most of them. In any case, we're doing a great job in the return game. We're also tackling a little better than earlier in the season - let's hope we keep that up. Keep up the good work Leigh - keep punching those balls thru the uprights... we've needed every one of those kicks this year to remain undefeated.
GRADE: A

OVERALL - We beat the #9 team in the country. We beat a heated rival. We beat Les Miles. We won the freaking SEC West. We remained undefeated and keep our hopes alive for an SEC Title and possibly a National Title. It wasn't pretty early on, but in the end (4th Q), we manhandled the Tigers to take home a very nice victory. What more do you want? :) ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A

#1 BAMA 12 - TENNESSEE 10

Since when did Gene Stallings early 90's team show up in 2009??? We're reverting back to *gasp!* *oh no!!* *whew!!* *fast-breathing* emotions of the 1991 and 1992 seasons. Crap. Could this game have been any freaking closer? UGH.... I can't be all made - I mean, we DID WIN, and that's really ALL that matters in this day and age. In a couple of weeks, no one will care about 12-10 - they'll only see the W in the W/L column, so kudos to the Tide for getting this one.

Basically, there are 3 MVPS: #1a - Cody. #1b - Tiffin. #1c - The Bama defense as a whole. We don't win this game without ALL THREE UNITS, period. Tiffin misses a FG, we may lose (UT doesn't kick on-sides kick anymore - instead offense gets the ball back). Cody doesn't block one of those 2 FGs and all of a sudden, the same predicament happens. And the defense held to 10 points. If you can't score more than 10 points, then you don't deserve to win. We barely deserved the win in itself as it was... but it was just one of those defensive nightmares with special teams playing the biggest part of the entire game. 2 blocks by UT and 4 FGs by Bama, 2 of which were 49 and 50 yards. Un-freaking-believable. Now I can sleep... if we lose that game, I would NOT have slept well tonight. Let's take a look at each phase...

OFFENSE - Are you kidding me? Did we even show up? The biggest puzzler of the game was why the heck we would pound the ball and pound the ball all the way up the field, then throw 2 lame passes into the endzone when all we needed was 2 freaking yards (which we were gaining the entire drive). Sure, hindsight is 20/20 but um, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what's working for you. Had we lined up and ran the ball and not made it, I could live with that - but to throw the ball into coverage when that hasn't worked for you in how many games now?? Something was TERRIBLY wrong with those calls. And yeah, they could have gone the other way, but they didn't - and I STILL would have questioned the call because of what UT wasn't able to stop previoiusly. Getting a TD there would have been MONUMENTAL, and we squandered yet again for another FG. I'm sure all of this will get addressed during these next couple of weeks. I mean, how could it not? There is NO way in **** that Saban wanted a pass play right there. No freakin way - and how that call made it to the field is beyond me.

This is the 1st time the offense hasn't scored a TD in a game this season and it nearly cost us a very important SEC game. Now losing this game doesn't drain Bama's season completely as we'd be in the exact same predicament as LSU with one loss to an SEC East squad. Winning the game against LSU has JUST as much meaning next weekend as it would if we had lost against UT. If LSU beats us with or without the win against UT, they're still in the driver's seat in the SEC West. This just keeps us near the top of the BCS for now (which is where you want to be at the end of the season). But for Bama's offense, it's simple - stop playing not to lose football. Play to win, and execute like we know how. Don't discount the UT defense though - they were #3 in the SEC coming into the game, so they were no pushover. We need to keep that in mind. But having said that, there's still no excuse for what we showed on Saturday. No excuse at all. Some would say we deserved to lose. I beg to differ. We did ENOUGH to lose, but we DESERVED to win. We GOT 4 FGs. UT missed 3; 2 were blocked. Our FG kicker executed; theirs didn't. They scored 10 points. We scored 12. UT committed STUPID, STUPID penalties at crucial times; Bama didn't. You throw it all in a bowl and Bama deserved to win though it definitely did enough to lose. If Cody doesn't block BOTH FGs, and somehow if those same kicks had enough to go the distance AND thru the uprights, then yes, UT would deserve to win. UT can march up the field all they want and rack up yards - 700 if you want. But if you don't score, you don't win, and that's the bottom line. As bad as the offense was, we did JUST ENOUGH to win the game, and that's what counts on this given day. Now it's time to get better, because 12 points might not be enough next time.

Last, I felt bad for Mark Ingram after that fumble, TD, then onsides kick recovery. There was NOTHING he could do after he lost that football, and no one felt as bad about that fumble as Mark. And of all the times for something like that to happen - Wow. We were milking the clock, ready to go home with the 12-3 win, and then THAT happened. I'm just glad Cody came thru in the end... Ingram can now sleep at night knowing that fumble didn't lead the way for a UT win over Bama. I'm with him - Now I can sleep too.
GRADE: D-

DEFENSE - The Bama defense played lights out in the 1st half, then played a little less than that in the 2nd half. We gave up a total of 10 points which might have been 13 or 16 had Special teams not come through. But yeah, 10 points. They did enough for us to win the game. If we can't score more than 10, you got problems. For us, we almost had problems as a meager 12 points was all we could come up with. The Bama defense didn't get any help from Bama's offense as 1st downs were at an all-time high premium in the 2nd half. We just couldn't muster up 1st downs, and the defense was constantly out there on field in the 2nd half - GETTING TIRED. It's no wonder UT scored a TD at the end of the game. They WORE US OUT - something we usually do to the other team. Then the onsides kick somehow went their way too - crazy. At that point, I was thinking, this is the game we're going to let get away (as most people were thinking that I'm sure). But our defense did get the job done barely. We held UT far enough back to cause another long FG attempt. Had it not been from so far away, they probably make that FG since the FG kicker doesn't have to get as much horizontal motion on the ball instead of vertical. The defense did what they had to do to win. Since it IS a team effort, it's time for the offense to catch up with the defense and special teams work. At THAT point, then this team will deserve the #1 rating again. Until the offense gets in shape, we live in fear.
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - At the beginning of the season, all you could do was yell at the TV when the kickoff coverage team hit the field. Ok, so we're still kind of doing that. BUT the difference in this game is that we are still giving up relatively long kickoff returns, BUT we're keeping points off the board with FG blocks by the big man, Terrence "Mount Cody". The guy is a beast there in the middle, and somehow, he slid his way in between both blockers each time and got an armpit up once, and his hand on the other. More than likely, that first kick wouldn't have made it to the FG posts anyway, but we'll never know for sure. The fact is, is that he did something almost unhumanlike - block 2 in one game to WIN the game. The only way his game would have been bigger is if Bama gets an offsides on that last kick, UT has to kick it again, and Cody does it again. Not sure it would have happened 3 times since the coaches likely would have adjusted for that after 2 blocks already.

In any case, what happened happened. Cody was the co-MVP of the game, and Bama won 12-10. The other co-MVP? Leigh Tiffin, who has become one of the more solid kickers in the country hitting another 4 FGs in this game (he hit 5 last week) to WIN THE GAME. These weren't easy FGs either. One was from 49 yards and the other from 50 yards out. Just one of those being missed could have spelled doom for the Tide. The score always changes circumstances in the game what whether or not you kick onsides (yada yada yada) or not... but Bama's chances were definitely reduced with Tiffin missing just one of those. Given that fact, you have to give Tiffin Co-MVP along with Cody. And 2 MVPs on ONE phase of the game really means that phase played lights-out. Special team WON the game for Bama Saturday. 2 blocks, and 4 makes. The difference? 12-10 Victory vs 12-13 loss. I'll take the 1st. Somebody better feed Cody and Tiffin some of the best steak/lobster they have ever had this week - they earned every bit of it and more. Great job, guys!!
GRADE: A++

OVERALL - You know the recent saying: "You don't have to be the best football team in the country. You just have to be the best football team in the stadium." Well, that's not necessarily true either. You just have to be the HIGHEST-SCORING TEAM in the stadium. Heck, you could have negative yards of offense for that matter - but if your defense intercepts 3 passes for TDs, causing a fumble 2 times on the opponent's 5 yard line causing 2 FGs - let's seeee... that's 27 points with the offense not doing anything, and the stats will definitely lean to the other team. The "Better" team in the stadium is merely the team with the most points because that's all that matters in the end. 700 yards of offense and 7 points vs a team with 150 yards and 9 points loses you the game. If you're the best team in the stadium, then you find a way to put points on the board and keep the other team from doing so. Bama squeaked by UT by 2 points because we made 4 FGs and blocked 2 FGs. And that's what it took to be the "best" team in the stadium that day, even though it was outplayed in most areas on the field. Where it counted ended up not being on the stat line, but on Special Teams when yardard was not a factor.

Having said all that, this really throws a wrench into the rest of the Bama season, at least for me. I had Bama being favored in each of the last few games of the season, and now I'm not so sure. We'll have to see how things pan out in the bye week.... but it's obvious the offense needs to get in shape and start playing to WIN, and stop reverting back to the not playing to lose days of Mike Shula and Mike DuBose. Special teams were unbelievable. Defense did as well as they could considering they were on the field for more than 30 minutes (first time all year). The offense's consistent play of mediocrity could make a case for coaching changes at the end of the season as it could with any team.... it's time to put the train back on the tracks and start playing like the team we were at the beginning of the season. Yes, the defenses are MUCH, MUCH better now than the earlier ones we faced, but we still have to execute and stop playing so timid.

So even though you have to knock the offense, again, it was a team effort and a 12-10 victory. Nothing could have been worse than losing 13-12 (yeah, that could have been the headline score) and UT doing the damage - on top of that a Kiffin-coached team in his 1st year. Let's enjoy this 12-10 win because the score won't matter later... because now we're 8-0 and still on track to the SEC Championship Game. Now we just have to beat LSU to wrap up the West. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: B-

#2 BAMA 20 - #22 SOUTH CAROLINA 6

Wow - this isn't really what I expected for homecoming this year. The Bama offense sputtered and sputtered and sputtered and barely had enough gas to finish off the gamecocks tonight. Talk about a STRESSFUL game to watch - sheesh! The bottom line is that Bama won as a team just as it did last week against Ole Miss. When one phase of the game isn't working, it's up to the other phases to bring the team back up and win the game - that's exactly what happened.

OFFENSE - Um, WHAT offense? Except for the very last drive Bama had in the game (also known as the "Mark Ingram Show"), Bama didn't really do anything productive the entire game except tally up rushing yards. Points were at a premium, and we just couldn't punch it into the end zone until then end. Instead we gave the ball away 4 times and punted way too much for my blood. McElroy had another off-day, and the WRs just didn't seem to be in sync with the new Bama QB. Hopefully that get that crap ironed out this week in practice. The Bama offense couldn't maintain possession of the ball due to the turnovers, and the Bama defense ended up getting winded for a lot of the game. We would lose the T.O.P. battle for the first time this year, only holding the ball 28:17. So we have to hold on to the ball MUCH better from here on out because THAT is how we win football game. Grinding it out, ball-control type of football. Last, penalties. 10 for 113??? Are you freaking kidding me?? Of course, some of those were on special teams, but as a whole, we have GOT to do a billion times better in not commiting penalties. Gee - let's shoot ourselves in the foot one more time, right? Crap. Anyway, horrible crap of a night for the offense only scoring one TD in the waning moments of the game that really put it away late. We don't need this stress right now. Let's go out there and EXECUTE the way we know how next time, aight? Aight. The offense DID score, and that's the slim saving grace in this great score. Now Mark Ingram did have a career day 246 yards rushing & 3rd best game by an Alabama RB in its storied history (congrats to Bama for continuing to feed the beast), but it just HAS to get better on offense as a whole.
GRADE: F+

DEFENSE - Kudos to the special teams and Marquise Johnson for stepping in for last-minute injured Javier Arenas. They picked on Johnson the whole night, but he didn't waiver. He stepped up to the plate and did SUPERBLY. 6 times he knocked down potential TD passes... he and the Bama defense held the opposition to no TDs for the entire game. You really can't ask for a whole lot more considering the fact that the offense didn't help out with maintaining drives. Those guys on defense were winded, but they did enough to in essence, shut down the gamecocks. Hats off, and you guys deserve some serious cuts of beef this week. :) 5 sacks on top of that. 3rd down conversions could have been much better (9-19) but again, having to play most of the game on the field isn't something we were used to, and USC consistently kept getting in managable 3rd down plays, and we nearly got burned. Throw in the TD scored by the defense and they pretty much did enough BY THEMSELVES to win the game. Why did the offense even show up?? Great game, guys. You truly have the respect of the entire Bama Nation right now, because without you, Bama isn't sitting undefeated right now.
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams didn't give up a TD in the game, but they gave up way too many return yards on kickoffs. Bottom line is, FIX IT. Tiffin went 2 for 3 and missed the long 49 yarder. It had the distance by a few feet but was wide left. P.J. Fitzgerald had a whale of a game and possibly one of the best of his career. USC was unable to muster up any kind of punt returns due to the really great distance and hangtime on his punts. That really made a huge difference in field position, and it helped keep USC backed up for most of their drive starting points (when we weren't turning it over). My biggest issue in this game were the idiotic penalties we made on special teams. Do our players NOT know what a block in the back is? What a clip is? What ANYTHING is that causes a good punt return to have to come back??? I mean seriously - what the heck is going on here??? Every time we made a play on our punt return team, there goes the yellow cloth out of the ref's underwear drawer. STOP IT, AIGHT??? It's REALLY pissing off me and the entire Bama Nation!!!!!! UGH! Other than stupidity, they did ok I guess - so you guys please take some brain fart pills??? Crap.
GRADE: C

OVERALL - When comparing our lazy, incomplete game to Florida's and Texas' games, you'd think we were the prize of the 3, so that's good. But not comparing us to anyone, we have GOT to do much better in these last 5 regular season games or it's going to come back and bite us in the butt. GMac started out the season very strong and now has really struggled these last 2 games. He'll be fine though. Ingram is the real deal, and Julio... we still need to find more ways to get him the ball - how in the crap does he not get open??? Seems like when I watch Boise State play football, they have every WR open on every play. Granted they play in a conference where NO defense is played, so maybe that's it - I don't know. Something's gotta give though. The passing game has gotten lazy, and the only way we were able to really put the game away is thru the wildcat formation where Ingram just ran up the field 5 straight plays. Hey, if USC wasn't going to stop it, then keep running it. We had finally found a chink in the armor at least. South Carolina was stopping everything else and creating turnovers, but they didn't stop the wildcat at the end of the game. Kudos to the defense for a great game, and thanks to Tiffin for hitting at least the FGs he's supposed to hit. Each team both missed one long FG so that evened out. Also clean up the dumb penalties and get GMac and company back in sync. Do that, and this team is going to be very tough to beat.
GRADE: C

#3 BAMA 22 - #20 OLE MISS 3

There was a lot of hype in the preseason about battle it out against Ole Miss. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, we're not Texas Tech, and it's not 2008 anymore. Now you're back in the SEC where you DO get beat by teams such as Vanderbilt, Alabama, and South Carolina. And for the umpteenth year, Ole Miss will not play in the SEC Championship game. Right now, it really comes down to Alabama, LSU, and Auburn, with all 3 teams controlling their own destiny. The win against the Rebels was quite impressive though the scoreboard didn't show as such offensively. Let's take a quick look...

OFFENSE - Bama's offense just needs a couple of tweeks to really get going. First, we have to STOP DROPPING PASSES. Too many times have I seen McElroy throw passes right into the numbers, and guys are just not hanging on to the ball - including Julio Jones. It's part of the game but something we can definitely work on. Second, we haven't been doing this in past games, but let's not start forcing the ball to Julio. 2-3 times in the Ole Miss game, GMac would try and force a throw into double and triple-team coverage while leaving other guys wide open for big potential gainers. I'm sure they'll take a look at that this week in the film room as it was blatently obvious. And last, red zone offense needs to get better. You have to love a game where you win by nearly 3 TDs, but it should have been WELL BETTER than just 22 points Saturday. We left 20 other points out on the field due to settling for field goals. But we did move the ball fairly well for most of the day - now we just need to punch it in. Decent ball movement against a formidable defense, 1 lost fumble due to a good strip by the Rebels, red zone woes, but still a dominating day by the offense, especially on the clock.
GRADE: B

DEFENSE - Bama's defense honestly couldn't have done much better than what they did Saturday. In the last game, we gave up 20 points, and I thought we'd give up at least that with the multiples that Ole Miss deploys with their offense. Turns out, they couldn't get anything going AT ALL. 5 turnovers on the day, and Bama really did force those. That takeaway by Arenas was just sheer determination. With these 9 takeaways in the last 2 games, Bama has climbed into the top 10 in turnover margin in the NCAA rankings. And quite honestly, that's better than any sack you could get in a game because it totally changes momentum. And when you do it 5 times???? That's just demoralizing. Great game defense. 2 FGs by Tiffin could have won this one, and for the first time in 4 years, it didn't have to come down to that thank goodness. Great unbelievable game, defense. Keep up the good work. With Harris back next week, it'll be interesting to see how that affects the rest of the season.
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special Teams could really do no harm. Heck, they scored 16 of the 22 points on Saturday (5 FGs and 1 PAT). Hats off to Tiffin for coming through for Alabama to really put the game away slowly in little increments. He, along with the defense, is the MVP of the game. The offense couldn't punch it in, so we got quite a few 3's instead. Javier couldn't really get going on punt returns due to great punting by Ole Miss... and the NCAA record still looms, but that's ok. Bama won, and that's really all that matters. Good hard-hitting coverage in this game. Keep it up.
GRADE: A

OVERALL - Overall a solid, dominating performance. Bama just couldn't be stopped on 4th down while Ole Miss couldn't complete even one 3rd down play. The only way it could have been better is if Ole Miss had not scored at all and Bama punched the ball into the end zone more early on. Those are things that can be worked on, so I still feel very confident about this team. Injuries are still being kept to a minimum and that's a big a key to a successful season as some of the other stuff. If we keep everyone well, we have a chance to really make this a special year. ROLL TIDE, guys!
GRADE: A

#3 BAMA 38 - KENTUCKY 20

Another high-scoring Alabama football game. This is taking quite a bit to get used to. What happened to games where we would score 20 and the much weaker opponent 17? No real close games this year so far though a few have been close at halftime. In the end, Bama just finds a way to pull away and make it a no-contest affair. In the Kentucky game, it was all about turnovers because Alabama did end up giving up more points than it usually does. This time, there were no special teams points, so this was all on the defense unfortunately.

OFFENSE - The offense started out slow for the 2nd straight game after the quick strike early. We just couldn't get away from that 7-6 score. Then in a matter of seconds, WHAM. 21-6. Of course some of that can be accredited to the high winds at Commonwealth on Saturday. It's not like UK was heaving it deep every time either. But give credit to GMac and the WRs/TEs - they got the job done just before halftime by going 97 yards officially, though it was 99.7 after a penalty. Collin Peek really came up big in this game catching 6 passes at crucial times. He started it all when we almost had to punt. He got the rally going, then everyone else got in on the act. Hanks played well and so did Maze. Julio was thrown to quite a bit but ended up hauling in 2 passes. But the offensive firepower really came from Mark Ingram. It seems like it's a different guy each week. He would run for 140 yards and 2 TDs on the day. Greg McElroy would also finish the day with 2 TDs as well and no interceptions though a couple probably should have been picked off due to WR ricochets. Kentucky definitely set out to stop the run early, and it worked. We were getting pretty much zero in the early going. But as time went on, we finally settled down and got some yards. All-in-all, a good game at 38 points (31 by the offense), but a few penalties still need to be worked on. Last, I know Julio seems to be double-covered a lot but is it just me or do other teams double-cover WRs and the WR still seems to get a ball an awful lot (ie. UGA's Green)? In any case, at least the other guys are contributing and catching the ball, else this might be a long season.
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - Little chunks of rushing yardage were really getting aggrivating to watch on Saturday. It was obvious that the lack of Hightower in the lineup really made a difference. Reamer does well, but when it come to knocking people backwards, Hightower did just that. Thank goodness we still have McClain else it would REALLY be bad. The guy was a headhunter out there on Saturday. Of the 4 turnovers, he had something to do with 3 of them. He also created a lot of pressure on the QB and was relentless throughout the day. I love his intensity. The rest of the defense did ok, but going nickel for most of the game really slowed things up run defensewise. Playing a 4-2 isn't Alabama's strong suit. Saban is a 3-4 kind of guy and that really help attribute to the high number of rushing yards by UK. But because teams can spread you out, you have to play to how they are playing as well. In those game, it just might be a high-scoring affair that you can do little or nothing about. The bottom line is, Bama played hard the 1st half of the game and only gave them 6 points going into halftime....then returned a fumble into a TD. Talk about a huge momentum swing, that was it. Kentucky was already demoralized after a 13-play 97-yard drive ended in a TD that ate up most of the 2nd quarter clock. But then to have your first play from scrimmage right after that go for 7 more for Bama - Wow. That was the stake that killed 'em. But give UK credit - they didn't give up and still scored 14 more points after halftime to make the score slightly respectable. It definitely gave the Alabama coaches something to think about in the upcoming weeks which is good. But again, in giving up more yards than all the games previous to this one, we did get 4 turnovers, something we hadn't done very well in recent games. So it kind of evens out. It will be interesting to see how Jerrell Harris fits into the defense come the game against South Carolina though. He's nearly as big as Hightower and he also has the speed. Until then, let's just take care of business. We have to stop the run though - no ifs, ands, or buts.
GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Special teams did fairly well Saturday. They didn't do anything that killed us though most of the kickoff returns are still getting run back more than we should allow. You'd think with all the kickoffs Bama has had this year due to scoring so much, that we'd be a little better by now. We did stop them one time in their tracks though. That was good to see. At least we know we CAN do it. Fitzgerald also continued his good punting, and Tiffin hit everything on the day. Arenas did really well as usual. The only thing we need more of on our return game is more ellusiveness on Grant's part when he returns kicks. He just runs into the pile of people - why, I don't know. As soon as someone touches him, he goes down. It's no wonder he's the 4th string RB - he can't break tackles or avoid them. Is there something else I'm just not seeing? It's just like he's not finding any type of running lane or even trying to create one. But that's just me. But overall, we did well here. No TDs given up, no fumbles, and Javier continues to wow everyone on punt returns.
GRADE: A

OVERALL - Overall, a solid performance given the weather conditions. Bama's focus definitely need to be on rush defense with Hightower out. He definitely made a difference there. Saban had the team coached well, but penalties also seem to still be a slight problem. If we can clean some of this up, we should be ok. Now we just need to get ready for the trickeration of Nutt next weekend and stay solid on our assignments on defense for the upcoming week. ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A-

The grades might look a little high this week considering who we played and the end score result. But seeing how this is only the 2nd time in Alabama history for us to put up 30+ points in each of the first 5 games, and the first time since 1979 to put up more than 200 points in that same time span says a lot on how our offense is progressing. Yeah, we gave up 20 points, but we got the win, and we were really never threatened. That's what you want, unlike last year where an onsides kick could have made things different last year. I think teams like USC, Michigan, Penn State, and Clemson might agree with me on that - better to win 38-20 than to lose by ANY score. Just keeping it real. Now we just have to deal with the Hightower injury - and I think we'll do just that. Just win with what you have and that's honestly the bottom line. Win, and play for the National Championship - nothing more, nothing less at this point - JUST WIN.

#3 BAMA 35 - ARKANSAS 7

Alabama really came out of the gates with the intent of putting away the Hogs early. Instead, Bama dropped a few really great McElroy passes and decided to nail the coffin shut in the 2nd half. All in all, a good, dominant performance by the Tide, but we'll need to strike quicker in the future.

OFFENSE - Bama's offense started out slow and couldn't find the rhythm it needed to put away Arkansas early. Peek dropped to surefire completions very early on that would have helped keep Tide drives alive, and then later Maze would miss a long pass that would have easily put him in the end zone. On each situation, we would end up punting the ball. We just have to execute. GMac is putting the ball where it's supposed to go - our guys need to make sure they reel it in. The running game did ok at times, but for the most part, we got stuffed or had little gains. Some of the more unfortunate runs did take place at the end of the game with the 2nd-stringers in (OL) and Grant running, but that's still no excuse. We still have to execute the offense regardless of who is in the game. Richardson had the run of the game (and of the season so far) for sure, breaking 4 tackles and going 50+ yards in for the score. This guy is crazy good, people. I'm thankful that we have our entire backfield back next year because these guys are unbelievable.

As for the big plays, you gotta love 'em. The razzle dazzle wildcat play with Julio finally getting a TD pass, and then the 80-yard bomb to Maze down the sidelines... Maze even had the ability to stay in bounds and not just settle for the long gainer. He decided to take it the distance. You just can't say enough about Greg McElroy and what he brings to this offense in both accuracy and brains. The guy is a keeper, and I really hope all the people who were nervous to start the season this year can finally calm down. The guy is a winner and will take us as far as he can - which is hopefully another SEC Championship game and beyond. So many times the last 3 years we see long balls CONSISTENTLY being thrown out of bounds. We weren't even able to make a play on the ball - well, all that has changed. Now we have a guy that can actually connect - and guys that appear to be able to make the catch and do something with it. You have to love this offense so far though. We didn't rack up 500 yards of offense, but we're in the SEC now, and that's not going to happen each week. Instead we put up 35 points, won by 28 against a team that supposedly was going to score a lot of points against our defense. Gotta love it. No turnovers, the passing game worked when the Hogs put 8 in the box, and we're producing POINTS which is the main goal of the offense. No complaints here.
GRADE: A

DEFENSE - Speaking of points against our defense, do you realize that we have given up 17 points to Virginia Tech (defense didn't give up special teams TD), 7 points to FIU (same scenario), 7 points to UNT, and 7 points to Arkansas?? Guys, the defense has come to play this year. The real test was Saturday. We hadn't really played an offense that was "capable" of scoring a lot of points up to that point. And we just shut them down. The way we did it was actually pretty simple - make them throw the ball - something they would have done anyway. Arkansas is not a running team now. They are one-dimensional. Anytime a team is like that, it's very hard to win games. If you win, you usually win big. If you lose, it's likely a shootout (ie. UGA vs ARK). Without a good running game in this conference it's very tough to win each week, so for the defense, it was just a matter of making them throw even more so our DL could just pin their ears back and go to town on the QB. If the Hogs' WRs hadn't have dropped so many passes, maybe they would have scored one more time, but that still wouldn't have given them the win. I love this defense and love where it's going. The problem now is that we have to replace Donta Hightower who was lost for the season with a knee injury. He's the last one on defense we want to see getting hurt. The guy did everything as he could play 4 different positions. You just don't replace a guy like that. In his place played Cory Reamer who did do a good job, but then you have to take him out on certain downs to play other guys whose strengths match up better with the situation. That's why Hightower was so valuable. Good news did come out that Jerrell Harris will be able to play starting in the South Carolina game (the game I will be attending as Homecoming). He's the one guy that can best replace Hightower at the moment, but we'll have to wait a few more weeks until he is eligible. As for the game though, Bama played lights out only allowing the Hogs around 200 yards of total offense. And in a pass-happy offense such as this, anything close to 200 yards is really incredible. And only 7 points given up on the day will allow almost any offense to win a game, so you can't really ask for anything else. Great job - keep it up!
GRADE: A

SPECIAL TEAMS - Ok, so you remember when I said Reamer did a good job filling in for Hightower on defense? Yeah. He did. But on special teams, Reamer blew chunks. 2 freaking blocks in the back??????? Are you kidding me??? And the first one he didn't even need to touch the guy because Javey was already gone... and had taken it up to the 5 yard line. Instead, we flounder in that drive and have to punt. 3 or 7 points basically taken off the board at a time in the game when we're trying to put them away. That's just such a dumb*** freaking mistake that HAS to get fixed. How hard SERIOUSLY is it to NOT hit someone in the back????? See his number on his back?? Ok, don't touch him. Simple enough?? No? Ok, then you don't play on special teams. Find someone that can not be an idiot REPEAT offender in the SAME GAME for a DUMB MISTAKE. Sheesh. I mean, what the crap, people?? Is it just me, or is it just that these guys are idiots when it comes to blocks in the back and stupid personal foul calls (stupid ones - face masks, late hits on the QB and Out of Bounds). This just comes down to discipline, and I know for a fact that Saban doesn't preach this way to play. Guys have GOT to start paying attention and get their heads out of their butts on stupid penalty calls. It royally screws the team when that happens - and TWICE.

On a different note, the rest of the special teams did a great job. No returns for a TD were given up for a 2nd straight game - hopefully that's been fixed. Javier Arenas did a great job returning his punts and would have had a long gainer had it not been for Reamers brain fart. He's moving closer to that coveted top spot in SEC history (see my predictions page for the stats). And then last, Mr. LIONEL WASHINGTON - wait, did I hear correctly the ump-teen times Mr. Moron Vern Lindquist called him freaking LIONEL???? His name is LORENZO WASHINGTON, ya mook!!!!!!!!! Can you not read??????? Crap. Or maybe you should have said "That's a punctuation point right there - a PUNCTUATION POINT!"... Yeah, I'm sure all of you remember THAT line in the Iron Bowl last year. Sheesh - dude, it's time to retire, man. Seriously. Retire. Great job Special teams - just cut back on the penalties and we'll be more than ok. The block by LORENZO was great. Maybe they should have punted a football and not a rugby ball. ha ha
GRADE: A-

OVERALL - Overall, Bama's gameplan was to shut down the Hogs' offense and score more than them. Mission accomplished. Arkansas would only score 7 points on the day while Alabama's defense consistently challenged Ryan Mallett into making tough throws while putting him on his back a few times as well (great job Javier). This was a game I was kinda worried about because we hadn't played an offense that could actually score this year - well, now we have. And not only have we solidified our spot in the polls, but now there is a lot of talk about Alabama actually being the best "top-to-bottom" team in the country - and I have to say that I couldn't agree more. Though the top 3 spots in the polls are close, no one will fall unless they lose. And since Bama/UF will play each other if both go undefeated, the winner would definitely go to the National Championship game. Now if Alabama played UF today, even with a healthy Tebow, Alabama has a great shot at winning the game. And that's where all the talk is coming from about Alabama being #1 in the country even though we still sit at #3. It doesn't matter though, folks. Each game will take care of itself. Sure, it's great to be #1 - we did it last year for 5 weeks. But as long as we just win games, the ultimate prize will come in the end. And THAT's what Alabama strives to achieve - that National Championship trophy. So keep up the good work, iron out the penalties, create a few more turnovers, and we're headed for great things this year. On to Lexington... ROLL TIDE!
GRADE: A

#4 BAMA 53 - NORTH TEXAS 7

Domination. From the first whistle, that's pretty much what Alabama did against North Texas in their 53-7 win on Saturday. The only blunders in this game? A really odd fumble on Alabama's first snap, one long kick return by UNT (negated by a penalty), and 2 missed PATs by Tiffin. Other than that, you couldn't have asked for a better game scorewise or personnelwise. Alabama pretty much cleared the bench in this one.

OFFENSE - Once again, Alabama cracked the 500-yard mark while Greg McElroy proved why he's the man at the helm for Alabama this year. The the is deadly accurate (as I told everyone he would be - remember?) and broke yet another Alabama passing record: the highest completion percentage in a game. He was 13-of-15 for 176 yards and 2 TDs, one of which was a beauty long-ball to Maquise Maze. It really makes me wonder how much Alabama's offense might have been last year if JPW had gotten hurt? How might have things fared for the Florida and/or Utah game, you know? The guy is unbelievably smart at the QB position and puts the ball on the money with nearly every throw he makes. I love it. Then at RB, the game was over so quick, that Ingram and Richardson were done early on, so Grant actually got most of the carries in the game. Goode even got in on the action with a 14-yard gainer. The OL blocked well, and it was good to see a wholesale changeout of the entire line, and we still moved the ball well. Starr Jackson also looked good, and it was equally important to get him as many snaps as possible. If anything were to happen to Greg (knock on wood), Starr will have to be ready. Instead of just handing the ball off or kneeling, Starr was able to run the 1st-team offense for a while and get his feet wet. He threw for a modest 87 yards on 9-of-13 passing. Techniquewise, he still have some work, but he did well. In the end, Alabama scored 7 TDs and only had to punt once. Also, 11 guys caught a pass mainly due to the depth Alabama was able to get into the game. Putting up these kind of numbers without Julio Jones and Upchurch is also reassuring not only for me, but for the other WRs. We know what we can do without Julio, so with him, we'll be that much better. I can live with that any day of the week. The only blunder was the fumble to start the game. No harm done as the defense shut them down.
GRADE: A+

DEFENSE - The defense was just stifling. Had the 1st-team D been out there the entire game, UNT likely wouldn't have scored. As it was, the 2nd/3rd string players got a TON of playing time and still did well on both sides of the ball. Talk about building some depth - I can't remember a time when we actually had the reserves in as early as the 2nd quarter (Starr came in for the final drive of the 1st half). Alabama's defense kept another opponent under 200 yards of total offense yet didn't get a sack in the game. UNT did a good job of getting rid of the football quickly, so there weren't a ton of opportunities to get to Tune. Also, give North Texas credit - they played against probably the best defense they will play all year, and they didn't even turn the ball over. That's pretty good, especially against this defense. But again, the reserves played for close to 1/2 the game, so I guess that helped. You'd never know it, but the leading tackler for Alabama in this game? Chris Jordan, one of the reserves. Yeah, they got plenty of reps in this one. Barron and Cody each had 3 each. Anyway, there wasn't much else to say other than we shut then down and got a lot of backups in the game. Granted, this was against a lesser-quality opponent than we'll see anywhere in the SEC, but we did what we had to do to dominate and play our game of football. No major penalties and a 1st-team defense shutout. Keep it up - we'll need that kind of intensity bigtime next weekend against the Hogs. Yeah, did you SEE those guys play against Georgia?? Wow - we better be ready.
GRADE: A+

SPECIAL TEAMS - If it's not one thing, it's another. We finally clean up (somewhat) kickoff coverage, and now we're missing PATs????? Hopefully Tiffin is just getting those out of his system before he plays against the team that started his whole 2006 meltdown game. I mean seriously - 2 PATs IN ONE GAME??? The hold looked good. Something's gotta give - and something's gotta get that straightened out. On the plus side, he must have eaten his freaking Wheaties that morning because dang if he didn't kick 3 balls into the end zone on kickoffs. I was like "Did Cade Foster already suit up???" I was definitely impressed with his leg power on kickoffs. Let's straighten out the PATs and we'll be ok. He hit 2 FGs as well and was perfect there. Fitzgerald had 1 punt for 49 yards, so there's not much to say there except good job, and I hope you don't have to punt but once next week either. That would be great. And then the man of the hour Javier Arenas. He had some good returns on kicks and punts in the game but couldn't take one of them the distance. I'm sure he'll get his chances during the season, but good job giving Alabama a much shorter field than usual. That helped set up some quick-scoring drives which also took away from the offensive numbers. Oh well. I'll take that trade-off. As for kickoff coverage, we still need help or the next few games, we're going to get burned bigtime. UNT had a long kick return that was negated by a UNT penalty, so we lucked out there. Kickoff coverage, kickoff coverage, kickoff coverage.... KEEP WORKING. That's our biggest problem right now. Even with the Tiffin PAT misses, those will likely be corrected...I'm worried about the coverage - FIX IT SOME MORE!
GRADE: B

OVERALL - The game was dominated by Alabama from start to finish. At no time was the game ever in jeopardy, and Alabama played everyone including the trainers. I want to see more of THIS Alabama Football. It'll be tough these next few weeks, but as long as the D keeps stuffing the run and our offense keeps putting up these numbers, we should be able to hang with anyone that is put on the field with us - that includes Florida at this point. But lets see how we do against the Hogs first - that Mallet guy did really well against UGA, and their offense is really starting to click.
GRADE: A

#4 BAMA 40 - FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 14

Alabama returned home this past weekend to play the Golden Panthers of Florida International. It was definitely a different opponent than week #1, but the resemblance of Alabama's last game and this one were very similar. If FIU had had more talent, the scores might have been identical. Both weeks, Alabama started out flat in the 1st half. Both week, Alabama gave up a TD on a kickoff to allow the other team to actually take the lead. Both weeks, Alabama's defense gave up bone-headed penalties and big plays to keep drives alive. And both weeks, Tiffin hit all but one of his FG attempts. Also, both games saw Alabama get 500 yards of offense each and 5 sacks on defense. So what gives in the 1st half of these games??? Good thing we're finishing strong because Q1 and Q2 aren't being too kind to Alabama to start the 2009 season.

OFFENSE - On offense, Alabama came out smokin with McElroy hitting 14 in a row without a dropped pass - a new Alabama record in just his first official start (Virginia Tech, he was not the official starter since the first play was a 'wildcat' formation with Ingram at QB). I look for more good things from GMac. Also, the other big question mark this season was the offensive line. So far, they have played pretty well, but mostly in the 2nd half of each game. McElroy only got sacked once, and again he was able to throw for good yardage this week. The Alabama ground game saw Ingram with the flu this week so his carries were limited, and also Upchurch who got hurt after only getting 4 carries. In comes mac-daddy true freshman recruit Trent Richardson who was the overall #1 rated player in HS in Saban's most recent class. The Tide didn't miss a beat, which is very encouraging. Terry Grant also came in late and showed he still had some afterburners on those shoes, running for a 42 yard TD. The total on the ground for Bama ended up being 275 yards. Total offense in these first 2 games have totaled over 1000 yards which is pretty unheard of for Alabama. Keep in mind that 1/2 of those yards even came against a great Hokie defense. But back to offense; I liked what I saw from guys that we haven't seen much of lately. Earl Alexander came in and made a couple of catches while a few others had one catch each. The big surprise was Mike McCoy who came in for the injured Julio Jones (bruised knee). All of his catches came in the 1st half, but they were big. 100 yards in total. Great job there. The other players to get multiple catches were Richardson and Ingram, both of which made good things happen after the catch for the most part. I also like to see we're not hanging the TEs out to dry. Peek is too good of a weapon to ignore. He actually caught the pass for Alabama's 2-pt conversion. Smelly also had a catch but for a negative yard. All-in-all, we moved the ball well but didn't really start clicking until the 2nd half when we really put the game away. We definitely have things to build on with the young guys coming in for the injured ones... and it was good to see Darrah and Starr come in the game and get some snaps as well, even though just handoffs. You can't go wrong with 40 points usually, and these all came from offense and Tiffin. I'll take 40 each game in a heartbeat. Great job making holes in the running game and in keeping McElroy healthy. Now it's time to convert more in the Red Zone and stop settling for FG attempts. We have to start putting teams away early like we did last year (when we didn't trail at all).
GRADE: A-

DEFENSE - Defensively, we're still giving up a big play here or there which keeps the opposition's drives alive. We have to start doing a better job on 3rd down and covering crossing routes a lot better. I have to give it up to Ellingson though. He's definitely one of the best white WRs I have ever seen. He's up there with Jordan Shipley of Texas easily. The guy has glue on his hands and has some very good speed as well. Hilton was everything as advertised as well. But in the 2nd half, Alabama shut both of them down by getting to the QB a lot faster. They would only catch another 28 yards worth of passes in the 2nd half. Alabama went from man to zone defense and that helped out a lot. We even saw Cody in there on a few 3rd down plays. I'd say the MVP of the FIU game on defense was Dareus. That guy is a beast up there at DE. And for the 2nd straight game, Bama racked up 5 more sacks giving them 10 for the first 2 games. The key is pressure, and we finally got pressure on the QB after halftime. Good to see. Now it's just time to clean up the penalties, crossing routes, and busted coverage here and there and we'll be ok. FIU only net 1 yard rushing after sacks. And for the day, they got just over 200 yards. The only reason FIU was in it to begin with - Special teams. Good job, D.
GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS - Speaking of special teams, it's a mixed bag unit again this week. Good returns by Arenas, decent FG kicking with Tiffin missing on his longest attempt (39 yards). But his other 2 FGs actually got Bama going in the early going, so you can't discount them. Punting, Fitzgerald had a good day as well putting one of his punts inside the 5 yard line. Bama's biggest problem? Do I even have to say it? It's punching us in the face yet again. For the 2nd straight week, a kickoff returned for a TD has actually given the other team the lead for a short time. It's pretty annoying too, given the fact that Alabama had very good special teams coverage last season, and hardly anyone left. I'm not sure if it's angles or what, but the coaches REALLY need to get on the ball on getting this fixed. It's the type of play that can really change the face of a game. Doing this against Ole Miss or LSU could have serious consequences. So let's clean it up. Until we DO clean it up, all I can do is dream of the day next year when we have Cade Foster on the Alabama roster - yeah, the kicker (who also plays LB and runs a 4.6 in the 40). Because then we'll be kicking the ball deeper, AND we'll actually have another tackler with good speed. Having Tiffin out there right now, pretty much gives the other team an 11-on-10 advantage. He's like a twig out there running in the wind. Granted, his leg is decent and has won some games for us - but dang; it would be nice to have another tackler out there. :)
GRADE: C-

OVERALL - Overall, a dominant game by the Tide, but not until the 2nd half. But isn't something we're really used to. The "really" good teams always seem to be up 45-0 by halftime. We somehow always keep it interesting. Maybe that's what sells tickets. ha ha Anwyay, Saban is going a good job keeping the team grounded, and I honestly don't believe the team had a lapse in the 1st half. No way this team had or is having a letdown. We just need to execute better. Same thing happened in Week 1... and it's something that can definitely be corrected - and I expect it to be corrected soon. No way does Saban accept this type of play on special teams. Heck, we couldn't even squib kick it. Instead, Tiffin kicked it out of bounds to allow them to start at the 40 yard line. But hey, you can't complain too much - they didn't score, right? Then he sky-kicks it, and they come out to past the 40 - so he might as well should have kicked it out-of-bounds, which again, you still don't want to do. It's like they can't win, even when they do preventive kicks. Crazy stuff. Anyway, we more than doubled them up, and it was a good way to start the home opener. Clean up special teams & penalties on defense, and this team will have a chance to make some serious noise in the SEC West this year. North Texas is next!
GRADE: B

#5 BAMA 34 - #7 VIRGINIA TECH 24

Ok, so my birthday present has come true: A win over Virginia Tech. My Christmas present will be a National Championship of course. As for this game, both teams came out a little slow, but Alabama finally poured it on in the 4th quarter, something not seen in Alabama teams in the last few years. So that was encouraging. Let's take a quick look at each side of the ball...

OFFENSE - The offense was anemic in the 1st half and in the first part of the 3rd quarter. It looked as if Greg McElroy only wanted to get the ball to Julio Jones and wasn't very successful due to double-coverage on Julio. Once things settle down with the offense, and Ingram got into a groove, we started executing well. Maze made a huge diving catch, and Peek made some key grabs including the 2-pt conversion. Upchurch & Ingram together looked good and will get even better. Richardson got his first carries of the year and looked good squeaking thru the OL somehow and always falling forward to get more yards. Strangely enough, McElroy, even with sacks had 28 total rushing yards which showed he could be at least slightly mobile. The OL played horrible in the 1st half but definitely improved in the 2nd half as noted by the positive rushing and passing yards at that time. I'd say the MVP of the offense was Hanks though. Though Ingram got a lot of yards and was a monster running the ball, Hanks come up with some huge catches when nothing else was working. GMac even threw the ball pretty well at 230 yards, 1 TD & 1 Int. Overall, a great "BOTTOM LINE" game by the offense tallying up close to 500 yards total against a defense that was highly rated coming into the season. This will be the toughest defense we will see up until the Ole Miss game in my opinion. So great work overall. 1st half stunk. 2nd half was great. In the end, we scored 34 and FINISHED the game like we should.
GRADE: B+

DEFENSE - The defense as a whole played lights-out. With the exception of 2 plays where lack of judgement was involved and also a missed coverage, they played well. 1/2 of VT's rushing yards came on one play... and even with that, they only had 155 yards of total offense. Anything under 200 yards in a game is exceptional. This coming against the reigning ACC champ is even better. McClain's apology has already been noted, and I was quite surprised when it happened. I thought it was dealt with accordingly in the game. Great job by the refs to keep everything cool. McClain is just a competitive guy and it got the best of him... I don't expect to see that again this year quite honestly. The DL/LBs got pressure on Taylor for most of the game. And because Bama's secondary was so good, he rarely had anyone to throw the ball to. Again, 1 pass was 1/2 of the total passing yards for the game. So overall, you couldn't have asked for much more. One score came on busted coverage in the drive, and the other came on bad field position on a long runback on a kickoff. Given the fact that VT wasn't able to drive up the field consistently gives me great hope for the rest of the season. This defense is SOLID. Now we just have to work on the offense clicking a bit better, and cleaning up Special Teams.
GRADE: A-

SPECIAL TEAMS - Speaking of special teams, what the heck is going on on the kickoff coverage team?? At the end of the game when VT got their final score, I said "WE BETTER SQUIB KICK IT". Saban was listening loud and clear. Next thing we saw was Tiffin squibbing it down the middle of the field to neutralize their return game. Crap, we should have done that earlier, huh? That was really the only POOR performance on special teams Saturday. Tiffin did well going 3 for 4 and keeping Alabama in the game early. We couldn't do much punt returnwise because of VT's punting excellence. Brent Bowden did a great job at distance and hang time. He pretty much kept Javier in check the whole night. Then on Bama's kickoff teams, we had average returns at best. Looks like the blocking schemes will have to be reviewed to get Javey and Grant more running room. But the kick coverage team is the only thing that allowed VT to stay in the game and actually have a lead in the game. Remove special teams and Bama's in clear control of this game with a stress factor of 0. BUT special teams ARE part of the game, and we have to get better here. Good FG's, recovered fumble by Selman, but poor kick coverage. It's a mixed bag really, but something that could have cost us the game early.
GRADE: C+

OVERALL - You can't complain. We won the game and made a statement in the final statistics and score. Sure the game was closer than that for 75% of the game... but then so was Ole Miss vs Memphis. All 4 quarters count, and that's what Alabama needed to win the game. Defense was sound. The offense started clicking. Special teams, well, they will need some work in the upcoming weeks. But after watching the game, you have to love our chances at making a run for the SEC West this year for sure. This is one of those games where you watch it and you're stressed out. If you didn't watch it, and you just look at the stats, you'd think Bama totally dominated the game from start to finish. Crazy how that works.... BUT good job, and let's keep on rolling....
GRADE: B+