UTC preview: Mocs a quality FCS team, but no match for Bama
Chattanooga is 8-2 and a respected offensive and defensive force in Division-IAA’s Southern Conference, and serve as a decent analog for Week 13 opponent Auburn. This is a talented offensive team with good balance, good coaching and the desire to make a name for itself.
But Alabama is the top-ranked team in the country for a reason. The talent differential between these two teams is mighty. Here’s a preview of what to expect when Chattanooga comes to town Saturday night to face the Crimson Tide.
MSU wrap-up: Bama walks the ’Dogs down the beaten path
November 12, 2016 Comments Off on MSU wrap-up: Bama walks the ’Dogs down the beaten path
It might take a while to process how complete a victory this was for Alabama on Mississippi State, but if there was any clearer indication of just how much stronger the Alabama program is than just about everyone else in the SEC, here it was.
A Mississippi State team that a week before had beaten a young, growing, but still very talented Texas A&M team got outright embarrassed at Bryant-Denny Stadium. What Alabama did to the Bulldogs is considered cruelty to animals in all 50 states.
Continue reading …Texas A&M preview: Bama will see a familiar face in battle for SEC West
October 19, 2016 Comments Off on Texas A&M preview: Bama will see a familiar face in battle for SEC West
If this turns out to be yet another national championship year for Alabama, fans and sportswriters alike have a game they like to play: Find the one or two teams Alabama will struggle with on its way to the playoffs. Texas A&M is playing better than anyone left on Alabama’s schedule, and while LSU is more talented (and perhaps Auburn is as well), the Aggies seem to have jelled behind new offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, and the leadership of Knight.
Continue reading …UT preview: If pressure makes perfect, Vols won’t hit many wrong notes
October 11, 2016 Comments Off on UT preview: If pressure makes perfect, Vols won’t hit many wrong notes
There is no question which team is coming into this game more charged up. It’s Tennessee, and had the Volunteers not lost in agonizing fashion to Texas A&M in overtime last week, the Vols might have come into this game so amped-up that you could have plugged the entire eastern seaboard into Neyland Stadium and it would have stayed lit for a month.
Continue reading …KSU wrap-up: Bama beats the heat, Golden Flashes in 48-0 rout
September 24, 2016 Comments Off on KSU wrap-up: Bama beats the heat, Golden Flashes in 48-0 rout
Alabama defeated a poor KSU team 48-0, running up a 41-0 halftime score before having mercy on Nick Saban’s alma mater. Alabama played four quarterbacks and several walk-ons made the participation chart, including a couple that made career debuts. But early in the game, Alabama had a harder time escaping the attention of team doctors than it did the Kent State defense’s grasp.
Continue reading …KSU preview: Bama hopes to build depth against Golden Flashes
September 21, 2016 Comments Off on KSU preview: Bama hopes to build depth against Golden Flashes
Alabama was beaten up a bit against Ole Miss, and could be without the services of three or four starters as a preventative measure. It shouldn’t matter, though, as Kent State may finish the year as one of the worst teams in the old Division-IA.
Continue reading …Ole Miss recap: Nothing normal about Bama’s big win in Oxford
September 17, 2016 Comments Off on Ole Miss recap: Nothing normal about Bama’s big win in Oxford
On a day when the list of people needing medical treatment for cramps probably included SEC replay official John Bible, Alabama snatched victory from the jaws of defeat before nearly handing it back.
For whatever reason, Ole Miss can struggle against teams much lesser than Alabama, but when the Crimson Tide comes to town (or when Ole Miss visits Tuscaloosa), the Rebels seem to be the one team in America that doesn’t wilt like yesterday’s daylily.
Continue reading …Five players who need a strong A-Day showing
April 11, 2016 Comments Off on Five players who need a strong A-Day showing
With Alabama’s second scrimmage in the books, positions that are up for grabs this spring are slowly coming into focus.
Five players in particular need to post a solid A-Day performance Saturday in order to mark themselves as the starter heading into fall camp. As QB David Cornwell showed last spring, leading (or even being in the mix) at the end of spring isn’t a guarantee of holding onto a job throughout fall camp, but it certainly makes it tougher for other competitors to get a foothold.
Continue reading …Tennessee preview: Vols could be a tougher foe than Bama expects
October 21, 2015 Comments Off on Tennessee preview: Vols could be a tougher foe than Bama expects
Every season, one or two teams seem to rise above their typical watermarks and give Alabama a tougher game than it would otherwise appear on paper.
Alabama is hoping Ole Miss filled the role in Week 3, but in 2009, that team was Tennessee, then led by a young head coach named Lane Kiffin. It took two blocked field goals by DT Terrence Cody, the second coming as time ran out, for Alabama to hold onto the win and eventually play for a national championship.
Continue reading …Texas A&M preview: Improving defense, explosive offense gives Aggies a chance
October 15, 2015 Comments Off on Texas A&M preview: Improving defense, explosive offense gives Aggies a chance
Over its first few seasons after joining the SEC, Texas A&M felt like a jigsaw puzzle missing a couple of pieces.
The Aggies found those missing pieces after they hired John Chavis, the former Tennessee and LSU defensive coordinator, to coach them at the same position. Chavis immediately brought a toughness to the job that the Aggies had been lacking. Although Texas A&M is far from a defensive powerhouse in 2015, the improvement is noticeable, and more is expected in the future.
Alabama enters this game coming off its second physical test in a row. Alabama has beaten Georgia and Arkansas in successive weeks, and now must face the high-powered spread attack brought by Texas A&M. With rival Tennessee coming to Tuscaloosa the week after this game, many Alabama fans are worried that this contest has all the makings of a textbook trap game and upset.
Continue reading …