Clemson preview: Is this Tiger team more Clemson ’16 or Clemson ’17?
This year, Alabama gets a Clemson team that is somewhere in between the last two versions. The question is how much like Clemson ’17 can Alabama make Clemson ’18 look.
Auburn preview: Tigers will be tough, but upset chances are low
November 21, 2018 Comments Off on Auburn preview: Tigers will be tough, but upset chances are low
Auburn has a solid quarterback, but not one that would threaten to take over a game against a secondary many believe to be elite. The game isn’t in Auburn, where weirdness is born, fertilized and cultivated into something so bizarre it begins to appear as if it should have been scripted by William S. Burroughs. And Alabama, most certainly, doesn’t have an explosiveness problem. The Tide has been as combustible as a sack of nitroglycerin in 2018.
Continue reading …The Citadel wrap-up: Yeah, it’s a win, but …
November 19, 2018 Comments Off on The Citadel wrap-up: Yeah, it’s a win, but …
We’ve seen this movie before.
Alabama schedules a triple-option team in the Week 12 slot, gives up a bunch of rushing yards, gets the TV talking heads all atwitter about sudden vulnerability against the run, and then Nick Saban has what he needs to motivate his defense for the Auburn game the following week.
Continue reading …MSU preview: Bulldogs could be Tide’s biggest regular-season test
November 9, 2018 Comments Off on MSU preview: Bulldogs could be Tide’s biggest regular-season test
Mississippi State isn’t all that likely to beat Alabama, but Tua Tagovailoa making a second consecutive fourth-quarter appearance isn’t just a possibility; we think it’s all but assured. With Auburn a bad matchup for what Alabama is capable of doing with its defensive front, the game against the Bulldogs of Starkville, Miss., may end up being Alabama’s biggest challenge of the 2018 regular season.
Continue reading …LSU wrap-up: Bama dominates in every way in thrashing of Tigers
November 3, 2018 Comments Off on LSU wrap-up: Bama dominates in every way in thrashing of Tigers
Alabama came into this game with no question marks on offense. It displayed no question marks on defense in this game, either. As long as kickers aren’t involved, this looks like a team without a weakness.
Continue reading …Missouri preview: Banged-up Tide could get a test from high-flying Tigers
October 11, 2018 Comments Off on Missouri preview: Banged-up Tide could get a test from high-flying Tigers
Although the Missouri Tigers come to Tuscaloosa riding a two-game losing streak, there is an uneasiness about this matchup that has its roots both in the history of the Alabama-Missouri series and also the high-wire act Alabama Crimson Tide has put on through the season’s first month and a half.
Continue reading …Arkansas preview: Bama is catching Razorbacks in transition
October 4, 2018 Comments Off on Arkansas preview: Bama is catching Razorbacks in transition
Although the Bret Bielema era ended rather unceremoniously in Fayetteville, through at least the first four games of the year, Bielema suddenly looked like Vince Lombardi in the rear-view mirror as far as most Arkansas fans were concerned.
Arkansas lost games to Colorado State and North Texas. As bad as that was, the Mean Green of North Texas blew out the Razorbacks. The combination of factors necessary for North Texas to blow out an SEC team occurs with the frequency of ice ages. Apparently 2018 was the year of the Mean Green Woolly Mammoth.
Continue reading …Texas A&M Preview: Aggies Are Better Under Fisher, But Not On Bama’s Level Yet
September 20, 2018 Comments Off on Texas A&M Preview: Aggies Are Better Under Fisher, But Not On Bama’s Level Yet
There are a lot of similarities between Texas A&M in 2018 and Alabama in 2007. Both programs were coming out of the pit of despair – which for their respective fan bases, means anything less than 10 wins a season. While the Aggie offense is much improved – which you’d figure would happen, given Fisher’s history as an offensive coordinator – the Aggie defense might not be able to slow down Alabama’s high-powered passing attack enough to pull the upset.
Continue reading …Ole Miss Preview: Tide’s Offense Might Find Itself in Shootout of its Own Making
September 13, 2018 Comments Off on Ole Miss Preview: Tide’s Offense Might Find Itself in Shootout of its Own Making
This game isn’t really a trap game for Alabama, as Ole Miss has won two games in the series recently and isn’t about to sneak up on Alabama in any way. It’s still a very dangerous matchup, however, and shows why Nick Saban so badly wanted to add Freeze to his staff over the offseason.
Continue reading …Arkansas State Preview: Bama tries to avoid Week 2 blues against high-flying Red Wolves
September 6, 2018 Comments Off on Arkansas State Preview: Bama tries to avoid Week 2 blues against high-flying Red Wolves
Arkansas State comes into this game the owner of the No. 1 passing offense in all of FBS. The Red Wolves have college football’s top tier’s No. 5 total offense, and is tied for 1st nationally in fourth-down efficiency, red zone efficiency and fourth-down defense.
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