A-Day Wrap-up: Bama looks loaded again, but is not yet complete
From the outset, Alabama was aggressive Saturday, particularly on offense, where new coordinator Brian Daboll didn’t return the Crimson Tide to stoic roots so much as he re-taught the offense how to lean forward. Gone was much of Kiffin’s finesse elements; in their place, more NFL-level schemes, strategies and attitude. When everything was clicking, this offense hearkened back to the best years of Jim McElwain and Doug Nussmeier.
Post-mortem: Bama ended up mostly meeting expectations
January 16, 2017 Comments Off on Post-mortem: Bama ended up mostly meeting expectations
Alabama mostly met expectations this year, in regards to what kind of team it put on the field. In respect to what it accomplished, Alabama probably exceeded expectations. TideFans.com projected Alabama to capture the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff (behind No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oklahoma and ahead of No. 4 Clemson), but with a regular-season loss to LSU in the mix. When LSU overreacted to an early losses to Wisconsin and Auburn, though, and fired Les Miles, the chances of LSU beating Alabama mostly evaporated.
Continue reading …SECCG wrap-up: Bama keeps destroying one-dimensional teams
December 3, 2016 Comments Off on SECCG wrap-up: Bama keeps destroying one-dimensional teams
Alabama’s resounding victory over Florida on Saturday in the SEC Championship Game did several things: It extended Alabama’s win streak to 25 games, its SEC championship strength to 3 years and ended any speculation of what the College Football Playoff committee might do in the event the Crimson Tide lost this game.
Continue reading …Auburn preview: Tiger defense will keep AU in it
November 23, 2016 Comments Off on Auburn preview: Tiger defense will keep AU in it
Depending on how deep one’s crimson blood runs, news Monday that initial Las Vegas lines were coalescing around an 18-point spread in Alabama’s favor could either be considered easy money, or a sucker’s bet.
Analysis of the two teams suggests the latter, especially if Alabama’s earlier game against LSU this season is any indication. Alabama and Auburn will meet at Bryant-Denny Stadium – where Alabama has been effective lately, but not historically, against Auburn – but the key issue is not the venue, but the strength of an Auburn defensive line that is a clear step above the LSU line that gave Alabama fits earlier this month.
Continue reading …LSU wrap-up: Alabama goes back to its future to beat Tigers
November 6, 2016 Comments Off on LSU wrap-up: Alabama goes back to its future to beat Tigers
Since Nick Saban took over at Alabama, most of the other 13 SEC teams have, at one time or another, suffered the sensation of Saban’s boot squarely in their butt. Only one of those teams has more of less been able to keep such an occurrence (and thus, a blowout loss to the Tide) at bay – LSU, Saban’s former home.
Continue reading …Previews 2016: Alabama Crimson Tide
August 8, 2016 Comments Off on Previews 2016: Alabama Crimson Tide
Defending national champions once again, Alabama looks even better on paper heading into 2016 than it did before the 2015 season started. But like last year, Alabama must replace key cogs in the machine, most notably quarterback, along with the core of its defense. Attrition that was heavy even by Alabama standards could play a factor in the team’s season outlook.
Continue reading …2016 Previews: Rating the units of SEC teams
August 8, 2016 Comments Off on 2016 Previews: Rating the units of SEC teams
While college football might be a numbers game to some, putting objective numbers down to predict a team’s chances in the upcoming season can be a challenge – some say impossible.
The system we present to you tries to do the impossible. What follows is a ranking of every position group of every team in the SEC, and we try to make the results as objective as we can.
Continue reading …A-Day Review: Not much has changed in 10 years
April 16, 2016 Comments Off on A-Day Review: Not much has changed in 10 years
Saturday’s A-Day spring contest, the 10th of Nick Saban’s Bama career, was as much a time for reflection as it was an opportunity to look forward to the 2016 season.
Alabama didn’t pack out Bryant-Denny Stadium, but it did appear to reverse a trend of declining attendance, solidly packing the 60,000-seat lower bowl, most of the west upper decks, and scattering enough fans through the remaining three decks to lead the school to announce attendance at 76,212 – which may have been even a conservative estimate.
Continue reading …CSU preview: Tide needs to get fast start, then sit starters
November 18, 2015 Comments Off on CSU preview: Tide needs to get fast start, then sit starters
It’s no mystery why Alabama scheduled Charleston Southern here. The Buccaneers’ offense makes a good analog for the Auburn offense Alabama will see a week from now. The Bucs are a quality opponent without being a real threat. If Alabama does mope around too much in this game, it could be a repeat of 2011, when the Crimson Tide let then-FCS Georgia Southern hang around almost too long, in a game that could have cost Bama a repeat shot at LSU had voters been turned off by the Tide’s performance. Ultimately, the goal is to get to the Auburn game with no further injuries, and with a convincing win in Alabama’s back pocket.
Continue reading …Tennessee wrap-up: Bama squeezes Big Orange hearts with late win
October 25, 2015 Comments Off on Tennessee wrap-up: Bama squeezes Big Orange hearts with late win
A game like this was almost expected, the result of Alabama being faced, week after week, with a gauntlet of rested teams, thanks to the SEC office’s inability (or lack of desire) to address unfair scheduling practices.
And in this case, the Crimson Tide nearly paid the price for the circumstances outside its control.
Continue reading …