Crimson Tide Football and Other Alabama Sports Musings

Before I start my analysis of the game, let me say a couple of things about Texas A&M . There are two things I like about the school. First, it was a stopping off point for Bear Bryant where he took a floundering program's players into the drought of the desert--The Junction Boys as we know them--and learned lessons about turning boys into men that would lead him to several national championship seasons at Alabama when Momma called him home. And second, they sneaked Dennis Franchione away from Bama in the night after Alabama helped him to a rare (for him) 10-win season and a year later offered a ten-year contract extension worth $15 million. Franchione had stated clearly that he would stay, then didn't even have the decency to return and face his players to say he was leaving. He did it by video conference. Really, Dennis? That's your way to teach young men about responsibility? Thus, he earned his name Franocchio from my friend John L. Thanks A&M for bringing him

When Butch Jones runs onto the field in Neyland Stadium this Saturday, October 15, 2016, at 2:30 central time to take on the Crimson Tide, it will be his toughest test of the year.  In my preseason contemplation, I felt that with a new quarterback and a rebuilding O line Bama would lose at least one game, perhaps two. And looking at the schedule, that loss or two would come in the stretch of four games starting in October with a road trip to Arkansas (survived that but not without exposure of a few secondary coverage issues), followed by the Tennessee road trip, home for A&M and back on the road for LSU. Whew. Tough stretch. I picked Tennessee and circled that as a loss. Fortunately, we find Tennessee not playing up to the potential I saw, without a true quality win. Remember, they started the season by taking it to OT against Appalachian State to win by scoring only 20. Yes, they beat Florida, but remember that's a team with no quality wins and which struggled to beat Vand

When the Hogs and the Crimson Tide kick if off around 6 p.m. Saturday, October 8, at Razorback Field in Fayetteville, most of the informed eyes will be watching to see the matchup between the big Offensive line of the Hogs and the Tide D Line. The Hogs are rushing for right at 200 yards per game (197 a game to be precise), but the Tide has been allowing only 68 yards. If there are not odd factors such as extra turnovers leading to multiple scores, blocked kicks or kickoff runbacks, this game should come down to what happens in the trenches. When Bama has the ball it may get a boost from the return of ArDarius Stewart, who was reported to be practicing full speed and  the possible return of Damien Harris to 100%. With Jacobs getting his first start last week and stepping up for a 100-yard game, the Tide RB situation seems solid. By this time of year most teams have stats that include a couple of challenging games and a couple of overmatched opponents, so we can begin to