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 begi...

It’s Homecoming and a great time to be in Tuscaloosa, as the weather looks a bit better this weekend for the 6 p.m. kickoff against the Kentucky Wildcats.   So what can we expect this week from The Tide? First, a quick aside or two on the team. I’m happy this week about the return of Tony Brown. We can use this speedster in the secondary where we’ve been burned a few times. Even Calvin Ridley says Tony is faster. He’s also revered by his teammates for his special teams play. As a junior with a couple dozen games under his belt he can bring some stability to the defensive backfield and perhaps shore up the weakness I see in Averette, who gets picked on a lot. And my second best feeling comes from seeing running back Joshua Jacobs’ coming out party last weekend. I see now why he averaged over 245 yards a game in high school and ran for 2700 in a season in Oklahoma. We should note that this true freshman earned his playing time OVER BJ Emmons, who was the top-ranked bac...

This will be a week for Coach Saban and his team to work on some fundamentals that will be critical before the Tide begins a brutal four-game stretch at Arkansas on October 8. If the Tide expects to reach the playoff again, improvements are required despite a couple of good wins. The Tide needs to make corrections right now, then get through next week against SEC challenger Kentucky with proof it can avoid as many mistakes. The next week the Tide goes on the road where those mistakes could be fatal. After going to play the improving Hogs, the Tide travels to play a very talented Tennessee team, then hosts Texas A&M, and again goes on the road to LSU. If the mistakes of the past two weeks continue, I predict at least one loss and perhaps two in that stretch of four games. Bama also needs some healing after several players left the Ole Miss game hobbled by knee and foot injuries or wobbly from knocks on the head and dehydration.  To be corrected based on the season so ...

When the 19 th ranked Ole Miss Rebels and #1 Crimson Tide line up Saturday at 2:30 in Oxford, there will be more than a few of us holding our breath. For Bama fans, it may not be so much fear of Chad Kelly’s arm paired with a group of good receivers or the stout Rebel defensive line as much as it is the simple fact that Ole Miss brings its swagger against the Tide and has for many years—not just the past two when they turned a flurry of turnovers into back-to-back wins over championship caliber Crimson and White teams. Many folks will be talking about a mad Tide and revenge. In my view, revenge is a rarely effective motivation. Focus on a lofty goal of championships is the mindset needed, by winning one game at a time against whatever opponent the powers that be have scheduled. For Bama’s sake I hope that is how they approach this game. Ole Miss won the last games, and two years ago they came out and took it. So let them have those wins as great memories for their program and...

With the game looming tomorrow and my schedule full, I can only give my quick overview this week. Let me start with the outcome. With Ole Miss one week away, a game most of us circled a year ago on the calendar, I expect to see lots of players in this game and starters coming out as early as possible. Let's hope the team takes this game seriously and puts the game on ice early. Pair that with a Hilltopper team much deeper than most mid-majors (they get lots of  talented transfers from places like UAB and Louisville), I see the Alabama team scoring declining toward the end of the game and not producing as much of a blowout as some would expect from last week's piece by piece dismantling of USC. The Hilltoppers finished 12-2 last year and won a bowl game, so perhaps the game will be interesting and fun to watch. No one on either team expects Bama to lose, but this team will come in with confidence and determination to make a great showing. I do expect to see Jalen Hurt star...