9/10/07 The Vanderbilt Game
Alabama now stands at 2-0 after a very hard-fought 24-10 win over Vanderbilt. This game was kind of odd. The final score seems to imply that we had the game under control, and upon closer inspection, you can see that we were ahead 24-3 in the fourth quarter, which would make it seem even more like this was an easy game. However, watching the game, it really didn't feel that way. Vandy was tough, and even though I expected them to give us a tough game (by the way, so did Vegas, favoring us by only 3.5 points), they were actually tougher than I expected. They were surprisingly physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and their superstar WR, Earl Bennett, was every bit as good as advertised. Bama got a couple of breaks from the refs early in the game (both were correct calls). Without those calls, the entire flow of the game could have been different.
That being said, I was very pleased with Bama's performance on Saturday. Our defense is clearly more aggressive this season, and I think that aggressiveness is leading to an overall "toughness" that we haven't had here in quite awhile. The consistency still isn't there, but it will come in time. Also, it was good to see Prince Hall back on the field. He was supposed to be one of our top two defenders this season, and hopefully he'll get back up to that level in the near future. If he does, our LB corps suddenly looks like a strength.
Our offense had moments, but the passing game just couldn't get in a good solid rhythm. Quite frankly, John Parker Wilson had a tough game. He missed several open receivers, and in general seemed to get a little bit bothered by Vandy's pressure. He made several good passes though, including the two point conversion to Nick Walker. Our offensive continues to show improvement. Toward the end of the game, the line consistently opened gaping holes, and Terry Grant took full advantage. And speaking of Terry Grant, wow! How exciting is it to have him as a freshman running back?! I hope we can keep Johns, Coffee, and Upchurch happy, because they all have talent, but it looks like Grant is going to be our go-to back. I still wish Johns could get more carries, but even I can't argue with production like that. And one more thing about our offense, it was great to see Keith Brown back on the field. I know it seems like we're loaded at the WR position, but we need Keith Brown. He has loads of talent, and when he's focused, he is hard to stop.
Next week is a huge test. We play Arkansas, who features in my opinion the third best running back in SEC history (everyone knows who the top 2 is). Clearly, we have to at least slow down McFadden to win this game. Since I don't think we can shut him down, we're going to have to score points every time we get the chance. That means executing in the red zone, and getting touchdowns instead of field goals. I'm predicting 28-24 as the final score of this game. If we can score TDs instead of field goals, we'll be the ones with 28. Don't panic when McFadden breaks the inevitable big play; it's coming, and I'd be shocked beyond words if we can prevent it. Let's just hope that when he does, our execution up to that point still has us in a position to win the game.
So far so good; we're 2-0. Let's keep it going this Saturday. Roll Tide!
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