9/6 Virginia Tech Game
OK, I have a confession to make; this is actually the second blog I have written for this game. I wrote the first one during the third quarter of the game, because I was so sure that we simply were going to keep making stupid mistakes until we lost the game that I didn’t see any reason to wait. Suffice it to say that this blog will have a decisively different tone that my original one! Actually, I still stand by the two main points from that blog: 1) we played the game with a tremendous amount of intensity, and 2) if not for mental error after mental error after mental error we would have won going away. What I didn’t foresee was the remarkable way we finished the game, and it is the way that we finished that excites me to no end.
We were all surprised to see us start our offense in the Wildcat formation. I was even more surprised to see us use it as often as we did throughout the game, and I was even more surprised at how effective Virginia Tech was in stopping it when they couldn’t have possibly expected us to run it. My first impression was that we wanted to show it so that other teams would have to waste valuable time preparing to stop it, but evidently we were using it as more than a smoke screen because we ran it so often. Even though it wasn’t very effective in general, we did convert a crucial third and short from this formation, and late in the game on our most important drive, we got nine yards on a first and 20. We got the first down on the next play, and a game clinching TD a few plays later. My hope is that Ingram (assuming he is the QB in this formation) will learn to read the defense better and hand off to the crossing back when appropriate. If so, this will become a viable weapon in our arsenal. I don’t think it’s scaring anybody just yet though!
Greg McElroy, a redshirt Junior from Texas made his first start, and I have to admit, I was very concerned about him late in the second quarter. He wasn’t going through his reads, and his passes were very inaccurate. In my opinion, his problem was that he was locking onto a single receiver, and if he wasn’t open, he either ran or got sacked. After we had brain lock on a kickoff return and fell behind 7-6 (when we should have had two touchdowns instead of field goals), and McElroy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I was getting worried. I felt a little better when Upchurch made his remarkable TD run, but VT scored immediately after that largely as a result of Rolando McClain making one (actually two) of the stupidest on-field decisions I’ve ever seen. Not only did his mistakes give VT the lead at halftime, but they also negated a heroic play by Lorenzo Washington that would have changed the course of the game. When Tiffin missed the chip shot field goal right before halftime, it was looking a lot like the old Alabama, and I wasn’t happy about it!
We continued the stupid mistakes in the second half. Upchurch made a tremendous run, but carried the ball in prime fumble position, and subsequently fumbled, almost certainly costing us the lead. Julio missed an easy catch on a crucial third and one, costing us great field position, and again, probably the lead. Javier Arenas didn’t field a punt, giving them a 57-yard net punt that completely flipped the field. However, while all this was going on, something was starting to click with McElroy. He was starting to throw to his secondary receivers, and when he scrambled, he kept his head up and kept looking downfield. Gradually, Colin Peek, Darius Hanks (who played a phenomenal game, by the way), and Mark Ingram became receiving targets, and the offense started to move the ball with much more consistency.
Finally, with about 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the game changing play occurred. After another stop by the defense (aided by a fortuitous but accurate holding call), Javier Arenas made his best punt return of the game, giving us field position near midfield. On the first play of that possession, McElroy saw Marquis Maze streaking behind the defense on a deep post pattern, and hit him beautifully inside the 10-yard line. Mark Ingram then stormed into the end zone, and after the two-point conversion, we had a 24-17 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Chris Rogers stripped the ball from the VT return man, and we had the ball deep in VT territory. We had to kick a field goal (which disappointed me greatly), but still, we had a ten-point lead with less than ten minutes to go.
I won’t go into the next VT possession (which was disgusting), but I do want to talk about our possession after that. We were up by three with about 7 minutes left. I kept saying over and over again that we had to score a TD. A field goal would leave us vulnerable, only up by six with VT needing a TD to win. And you know what? We actually scored a TD to clinch the game. We even overcame a holding penalty to do it. I’m telling you, if our offense with a new starting quarterback and three new offensive linemen can put together that clutch of a drive against that attacking defense in that situation, we have ourselves a team.
Before I close, I want to mention just a few things. First, our defense was every bit as good as advertised. We consistently applied pressure to the QB, and even sacked him 5 times, which is no small feat against a QB that slippery. Second, our RBs are beasts. Mark Ingram and Roy Upchurch are both major threats in the backfield, and both have improved a tremendous amount from last year. Add freshman Trent Richardson to the mix, and we have one nasty backfield! Third, even though I already mentioned it once, I want to mention it again. Darius Hanks played a great game, making three fantastic catches. He just might be the threat that we need to take the pressure off of Julio. And finally, mad props to Coach Saban and his staff for realizing that we needed a TD on that late possession, and great job calling the plays to get it.
So we are now 1-0, with a quality win over a legitimate top ten team on a neutral field. And to be honest, even though this was a game that almost slipped away, we dominated this game, and dominating a team like VT bodes very, very well for us. We’re good, folks.
Until next time, as always, feel free to send any questions or comments.
Roll Tide,
Kenny
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