Arkansas preview: Razorbacks may not have the horses to win this one
It is easy to dismiss Arkansas as “Georgia Lite” given the Razorbacks’ offensive tendencies, but Arkansas has frequently been a tough out for Alabama. So much so, in fact, that Alabama needs to avoid falling into the trap posed by this direct-from-central-casting “trap game.”
In 2014, Arkansas took Alabama to the wire before the Crimson Tide eventually won, 14-13. It was the game that the Alabama coaches used to eventually define the 2014 squad, and it also marked the last game QB Blake Sims really struggled to get through. In 2015, Alabama gets the Hogs a week after rolling around like a bunch of hogs in the Georgia mud. Fortunately for Alabama, the fourth quarter of its win over Georgia was little more than a mutual slap-fest, as prescribed by the stunningly poor weather conditions.
Wisconsin recap: Typical Bama opener offers promise, shows need for improvement
September 6, 2015 Comments Off on Wisconsin recap: Typical Bama opener offers promise, shows need for improvement
Alabama’s offense, retooled in the wake of Blake Sims’ departure, showed enough effectiveness to allay fears about the quarterback position. The defense stuffed the run, and the defensive line, as expected, dominated the line of scrimmage.
But Alabama didn’t show itself to be a flawless team. The pass defense was sketchy all night, particularly across the middle, and Alabama’s kicking game once again disappointed.
In other words, Nick Saban has his team right where he wants them.
Continue reading …Recruiting 2016: Bama’s QB targets have common characteristic
June 27, 2015 Comments Off on Recruiting 2016: Bama’s QB targets have common characteristic
The NARCAS (North American Recruiting, Coaching & Athletics Survey) contributing staff has utilized game tape for years, but as a site, we’ve never made it a part of our published, post-analysis reports. With the amount of video now readily available at low or no cost to consumers, the time is right to integrate some of that video into analysis reports for our readership. As in previous years, however, NARCAS rankings will not be assigned until after all players’ senior seasons have been completed.
Up first is a discussion of five quarterback targets for Alabama’s 2016 recruiting class
Continue reading …SECCG wrap-up: Tigers can’t play spoiler to Bama’s storybook run
December 6, 2014 Comments Off on SECCG wrap-up: Tigers can’t play spoiler to Bama’s storybook run
This may not be the most dominating Alabama team in the school’s long, multi-championship history. But it is one of the most likable.
Every time Nick Saban talks about the 2014 edition of the Crimson Tide, his genuine affection for the team comes flooding out. Unlike the 2013 team, which suffered from leadership-related short circuits on both sides of the ball, the 2014 Alabama team is a strange combination of lunchpail mentality with the quick-strike ability of a coiled rattlesnake. The offense is led by the country’s unlikeliest elite quarterback, who is built like a sawed-off fireplug, runs like a whippet and has an uncanny knack for rising to the occasion.
Continue reading …MSU preview: For perhaps the first time ever, Bama is the hunter, not the hunted
November 13, 2014 Comments Off on MSU preview: For perhaps the first time ever, Bama is the hunter, not the hunted
Alabama is coming off its annual exposure to trench warfare, otherwise known as the LSU game, and the results were almost too terrible to imagine. Alabama needed a last-minute, game-tying drive and an overtime period to defeat the Bayou Bengals, and the Tide’s reward is a date with a Bulldog team that is more dynamic offensively, has better speed at the quarterback position and who spent last week toying with UT-Martin.
If this game was being played in Starkville, it would be even more of a circus than it figures to be in Tuscaloosa. But with Alabama’s home-field performances being so strong in 2014, the top concern might not be Mississippi State, but the annual post-LSU hangover from which the Crimson Tide always seems to suffer.
Continue reading …LSU wrapup: Tide wasn’t great, but it was relentless
November 9, 2014 Comments Off on LSU wrapup: Tide wasn’t great, but it was relentless
For a time during Alabama’s last-minute drive to tie the game and its lone series in overtime to win it, it seemed like every player who had ever been a part of a negative play in Alabama history was taking turns coming onto the field and redeeming himself.
Adam Griffith, who had missed a 27-yard kick early in the game, made another 27-yard kick to tie the game. Christion Jones, whose senior season has been one missed opportunity after another, made the catch of his life to set up Griffin’s game-tying kick. O.J. Howard set up Jones’ catch with several short catches of his own. And then Nick Perry, whose greatest sin as a safety in Alabama’s defense is that he’s not as good as Landon Collins, broke up a pass on the game’s penultimate play.
Continue reading …LSU preview: Suddenly, Tigers are a major roadblock for Tide
November 3, 2014 Comments Off on LSU preview: Suddenly, Tigers are a major roadblock for Tide
About a month ago, LSU was 4-2, coming off a 41-7 pasting at the hands of Auburn, and a lot of college football fans and pundits alike were writing the Bayou Bengals’ obituary.
But things change in an instant in this game. LSU’s alleged slide into mediocrity continued the following week with a 30-27 near-loss at Florida, a game many people believe the Gators would have won had Florida not suspended QB Treon Harris over off-the-field allegations that eventually proved false.
Continue reading …Tennessee wrap-up: Sims’ statement drive ices game for Crimson Tide
October 26, 2014 Comments Off on Tennessee wrap-up: Sims’ statement drive ices game for Crimson Tide
While Ole Miss was blinking in the spotlight – a function of not having been in the spotlight in 40-plus years – Alabama proved against Tennessee that the bigger the moment gets, the bigger the Crimson Tide usually plays.
It won’t go down as the signature win of the season – Alabama will have to work hard to top the 59-0 pasting of Texas A&M last week, although LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn remain on the schedule – but Blake Sims probably had the signature drive. Up 27-17 in the third quarter and badly needing a score to put Alabama three scores ahead again, Sims led Alabama to four third-down conversions before Derrick Henry polished off the Volunteers with a long touchdown run.
Continue reading …Texas A&M wrap-up: Seriously, where did this come from?
October 19, 2014 Comments Off on Texas A&M wrap-up: Seriously, where did this come from?
Saturday’s win over Texas A&M didn’t just set an Alabama record for most points scored in a quarter (35, in the second frame). It also set a TideFans.com record for most incorrect game preview of all time.
That second record was set both in the objective realm and the subjective realm. Objectively, the pregame pick of Texas A&M 27-24 was off by a total of 62 points (Alabama was underscored by 35; A&M was overscored by 27). Subjectively, the game played out almost precisely the opposite of the way it was foreseen.
And that’s the reason that suddenly, Alabama can get excited about its season once again – provided it can harness whatever fount of emotion it tapped into against the Aggies.
Continue reading …Texas A&M preview: Vegas may have this one wrong
October 15, 2014 Comments Off on Texas A&M preview: Vegas may have this one wrong
TideFans.com doesn’t often make reference to betting lines, as that’s not our thing. But when Alabama opened up as roughly a two-touchdown favorite over Texas A&M, it got everyone’s attention in the sports media world.
Alabama, a team that had just scraped to a 14-13 victory over Arkansas, the SEC West’s presumptive worst team, was being made a two-touchdown favorite over a team that beat Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2012, carried the Crimson Tide to the wire in College Station in 2013, and has many of the same pieces returning from those teams in 2014. On the face, it doesn’t make sense.
Continue reading …