10/27 Tennessee Game
Sorry it took me so long to post this blog. You’d think that after a 41-10 thrashing of the hated Tennessee Volunteers I would be brimming with things to talk about. However, to be honest, ever since the loss to South Carolina I’ve hard a hard time getting as pumped about games. Don’t get me wrong; I still wake up in the morning all excited about the upcoming game, and watch every second like I’m going to take a final exam on it the next day, but I’ve just felt a little more “blah” about it since that game in Columbia. And you know what? I think the players have been in a similar funk since then too. I don’t mean that as a criticism; I think they are putting everything they have into the games. I just feel like that passion isn’t there right now.
That’s certainly how it looked in the first half against UT. We stopped them on their first series thanks to a truly boneheaded cut-back by their running back, but when we got the ball, we started running the “Pansy-sweep” (my term, not the official term). You know the play; they line up in the shotgun with Ingram beside McElroy, then McElroy hands it off to Ingram running parallel to the line of scrimmage. The defensive line absolutely demolishes the perimeter of our offensive line, lambasting Ingram who has to break 4 tackles just to get back to the line of scrimmage. Needless to say, I hate that play. It’s the worst possible play for our power-running oriented personnel. However, we spent our whole first series running that play, and predictably, had to punt the ball away almost immediately. By the time we got the ball back, we were down by 7, and let’s just say the passion was starting to creep back into me.
I specifically discussed that play call, because I noticed that once we got the ball back, we didn’t run that play again for the entire game. I doubt that Saban heard my screams (though I expect I was loud enough), but I imagine that he finally started to question why we were playing fairy ball when our entire identity is built around being the physically dominant team. From that point, we went to a more North/South running game (running exclusively out of the Pistol and Ace formations), with play action short and long (gasp) passes to keep the defense honest. We scored 3 times before halftime (1 TD and 2 FGs), and took a narrow 13-10 lead into the break.
In the second half, we saw the real Alabama football team for the first time since Columbia. Our offense was clicking on all cylinders, offensive line, running game, passing game, even play-calling; it was all in sync. Our defense continued to give up yards, but like I said last week, that’s all we can hope for. They certainly came off the ball better, and for the most part forced UT to execute very well to move the ball. Ultimately, we outscored the Vols 28-0 in the second half, and won going away.
There are a few individual performances that I want to mention. First, it almost goes without saying that Julio Jones had a phenomenal day. I really hope that wasn’t a one-time thing, because Julio is one of the most gifted WRs I’ve ever seen, and if he starts playing at his potential, our offense goes to an entirely new level. I also want to single out a couple of new-comers. I thought Demarcus Milliner played the best game of his young career. Besides the bone-crusher he laid on Denarious Moore in the first quarter, I thought in general he was in better position throughout the game. Also, in mop-up duty, it was great to see AJ McCarron get some playing experience. He led a TD drive, including a long pass to Julio and a third down TD pass to Richardson coming out of the backfield. I was particularly impressed with the fact that Saban let him play a “real” series, with the first string offense, and the full playbook. That kind of experience is extremely valuable.
Also, wasn’t it great to see BJ Scott get that interception on the goal line late in the game? I still wonder why he hasn’t seen more playing time, but I was thrilled to see him step up when he had the chance. I have to be honest; I can’t help but wonder if he might be one of those gamers; you know, the kind of guy that looks much better in the game than in practice. I hope we’re not wasting him. Also, freshman CB John Fulton made a great play in the end zone on a fade pattern. I said before that I expect him to be an All-American before he leaves the Capstone. That might be premature, but that play was a good start.
The off-week is coming at a great time for us. This 7-week stretch with Penn State, Duke, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Tennessee (the last 3 having bye-weeks before they play us) has been incredibly grueling, and I’m sure the players need to recuperate both mentally and physically. However, even though we’re off this week, there are several extremely important games this weekend. Oregon at USC, Michigan State at Iowa, Missouri at Nebraska, even Utah at Air Force, all have huge implications on our chances at the big prize. Yes, I know, we have our own problems to correct first, but heck, we’re off this weekend. I’ll worry about that next week.
That’s it for now. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Until next time, Roll Tide!
Kenny