9/10 Virginia Tech Game 2
I know I posted a blog on the Virginia Tech game already, but there were so many things that I wanted to talk about that I didn’t get to mention that I thought I’d post another blog. Here are a few things that are worth mentioning.
- I’ll bet you can’t guess who was our leading tackler in Saturday’s game. Give up? It was Eryk Anders. I thought he was inconsistent, but he definitely has a knack of applying pressure to the quarterback.
- With all the attention given to our running the Wildcat formation, a lot of people missed that we also ran several plays out of the Pistol formation. As a matter of fact, the late crucial bomb to Marquis Maze was run out of the Pistol formation. So we ran plays out of the I, Ace, Pistol, Shotgun, and Wildcat formations on Saturday, which tells me that Saban is committed to having a dynamic, diverse, high-scoring offense. Imagine our team once our offense can match our defense!
- I know you guys have probably seen this stat, but we outgained Virginia Tech 498-155 yards on Saturday night. Amazing!
- Did you notice the game that our punter PJ Fitzgerald had on Saturday night? I think it was the best punting game I have seen from a Bama punter in a long, long time. He was considered a liability coming into this season, but without exaggeration, he played like an All-American against Virginia Tech.
- We only played two true freshmen against VT, Rod Woodson and Trent Richardson. Rod Woodson actually made the first tackle of the game (and season) on our opening kick-off. Richardson made a tackle on a late fourth quarter kick-off, and also got three carries late in the game.
- Speaking of Richardson, he only had three carries, but I was very impressed with all three of them. I have a feeling the VT defenders didn’t enjoy those carries very much. Richardson runs with so much power; he’s an absolutely perfect fit in the Alabama offense.
- I’ve watched the game several times since Saturday, and I have come to the conclusion that the McClain incident was overblown. Don’t get me wrong, I think the penalties were justified, but all these calls (mainly from Auburn fans) for McClain to be suspended or even kicked off the team are nonsense. Seriously, watch it again. What McClain did was stupid, but it doesn’t merit all the outrage.
- I still can’t believe that Brandon Deaderick played only five days after getting shot. I’m sure that was a huge inspiration for the team. That being said, Marcel Dareus started at that position and played like a man possessed, and it’s going to be hard to move him out of there. Like I’ve been saying since the 2008 signing day, Dareus is a future All-American, and that future might be sooner rather than later.
- I know that I’ve given previous coach Mike Shula a hard time in my blogs, and deservedly so. But to give him credit where credit’s due, several of the key contributors last Saturday were Shula’s recruits. Arenas, McClain, Washington, Woodall, Deaderick, Mike Johnson, Greg McElroy, and Roy Upchurch were all Shula’s recruits. Now, I don’t think they would be as good as they are if Shula were still the coach, but still, he deserves credit for recognizing their talent.
- Colin Peek is really looking like a receiving threat at the TE position. However, in Saturday’s game, the blocking from the TEs was really lacking. On the first play from scrimmage, Ingram might have scored a TD had Smelley not completely missed his assignment. Later, Julio Jones took a handoff from Ingram in the Wildcat formation. He was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the VT cornerback, but that’s because Smelley ran past him and blocked the linebacker that Marquis Maze was already engaging. I’m sure TE blocking is a point of emphasis for the coaches this week, and if that doesn’t work, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michael Williams get some playing time in the near future.
That’s enough for now. As you can tell, I’m pretty happy with our team’s performance against VT, but I can’t talk about that game forever! Next in line is Florida International. They’re better than you might think. They have an explosive offensive scheme, and a very talented WR. That being said, you know as well as I do that we should beat them decisively, but memories of losing to teams like Louisiana Tech (twice), Northern Illinois, Central Florida, and Louisiana Monroe still linger, and I don’t take anybody for granted. Still, I’d be surprised if we don’t win this one by at least three TDs. Be sure to check in next week as I review what should be a dominating victory.
Until then, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide,
Kenny
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