10/5 Florida Game
When the Alabama Crimson Tide visited the Swamp on Saturday night to take on the mighty Florida Gators, I expected us to win. However, expecting us to win and predicting what happened are two entirely different things. Alabama blasted Florida 38-10 and left the Gators quite literally bloodied, battered, and bruised. By the end of the game, Florida was so thoroughly beaten that we were playing the same substitutes that we used to close out the North Texas and Kent State games; it was that ugly.
Of course, it didn’t start out that way, as Florida took an early 7-0 lead on the first play from scrimmage on a 65-yard TD pass from John Brantley to Andre Debose. We drove deep into Florida territory on our first possession, but a terrible pass from AJ McCarron to a wide-open Kenny Bell fell incomplete, and we had to settle for a short field goal to cut the lead to 7-3. Florida drove deep into our territory, but our defense stiffened, holding them to a field goal and a 10-3 lead. That’s when things started to turn in our favor. On the ensuing kick-off, Marquis Maze made a dazzling return inside Gator territory, and shortly after, Trent evened up the score with a 6-yard TD run. Even though the score was only tied at that point, I really felt like the game had turned in our favor, and given that we scored the game’s final 35 points, I guess I was right!
I could go over more of the play by play, but I’d rather spend my time talking about some of the impressive performances that I saw on Saturday. First, I have to talk about our defense. I don’t say things like this often, but this defense is special. All Alabama defenses will forever be compared to the 1992 unit, and rightly so. I predicted before the season that this would be our best defense since 1992, and stand by that, but I’ll go a step farther. I’m not ready to concede to the 1992 unit just yet. Gary Danielson described our defense best when he said we were like a boa constrictor. We just squeeze tighter and tighter until by the end of the game the offense is completely helpless. Florida started fast against us, scoring on their first two possessions. However, they didn’t score again the rest of the game, and by the end of the game, any play where a Florida player didn’t get hurt had to be considered a success by the Gators. Courtney Upshaw is invading the pocket like a marauding Hun, and Dre Kirkpatrick has gone from playing Paddy-cake to laying hits that would make Night Train Lane wince. Dont’a pursues so fast that getting outside is almost impossible, and with Nico prowling the middle of the field, even plays that appear to be open get shut down for almost no gain. I know it’s only five games in, but so far this unit goes beyond good; they have the chance to be truly great. The 1992 unit led us to a national championship, but we’ve already played two teams with significantly better offenses than the 1992 defense faced all year. I’m not saying that this year’s defense is as good as those guys yet, but they have a chance to be, and that’s the best compliment I could ever give a defense.
But Saturday night wasn’t all about defense. How about the play of our offensive line? That’s one thing I never saw coming. Our O-line has struggled against everybody, but Saturday night, on the road in the most hostile of environments, against the most talented (notice I didn’t say “best”) defensive line in the nation, our guys stepped up and played by far their best game of the year. Trent and Eddie had room to run and AJ had time to read the field and set his feet. And speaking of Trent, he finally played like the Trent Richardson I’ve been waiting for, hitting the holes in the line of scrimmage instead of just looking for a defender to run into. Overall, this was by far our best offensive performance of the year.
I don’t want to get too negative, but in the spirit of “keeping it real,” I have to mention the play of AJ McCarron. Yes, I know, he’s managing the game, and he’s not making any mistakes, blah, blah, blah. The truth is he’s playing horribly. I’m not just talking about his lack of accuracy, but more importantly, he has no field vision at all. Every pass play, he focuses in on one receiver, completely ignoring the rest of the field. I could point to several plays, but look at that play on the goal line where he was trying to force the ball to a double covered Trent Richardson in the flat. Smelley was completely uncovered right in front of McCarron’s face, but he does not look away from the primary receiver regardless of how covered they are. I don’t expect that to change this year, and as long as our defense keeps playing the way it is, it might not matter, but as of right now, quarterbacking is a huge hole in our game.
But that’s for another day. For now, we’re 5-0, Number 2 in the nation (we should be Number 1), and we have two games that should be easy wins coming up. You never know, but if Vandy pulls the upset against us, I’ll need a thesaurus to accurately express how surprised I’d be, and you might not want your kids reading next week’s blog!
That’s it for now. As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments. Until next time, Roll Tide!
Kenny