Tennessee wrap-up: Vols fought hard, but resistance is futile
One of the most illogical developments in the Southeastern Conference in recent years has been the ascension of Phil Fulmer to Tennessee athletic director, roughly a decade after he was forced to vacate the position of Tennessee head coach.
Missouri wrap-up: When it came time for a gut check, Tide responded
October 14, 2018 Comments Off on Missouri wrap-up: When it came time for a gut check, Tide responded
The way Alabama’s offense can score points may mean the 2018 season goes by without a truly close shave, margin-wise, but don’t for one second think Alabama’s victory over Missouri wasn’t an epic gut check.
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 …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 Wrap-up: Tide Rolls, Rebels Fold In Epic Beatdown
September 16, 2018 Comments Off on Ole Miss Wrap-up: Tide Rolls, Rebels Fold In Epic Beatdown
Where do you go in trying to analyze a game that finished up as a 62-7 beatdown? When the defeated opponent insists on changing mascots every couple of years and is currently promoting something called a “landshark?” When a team’s wide receiver corps refers to itself as the “NWO” while its defense is MIA?
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 …Louisville Preview: Cardinals in transition as Alabama begins title defense
August 30, 2018 Comments Off on Louisville Preview: Cardinals in transition as Alabama begins title defense
If Louisville gets hot offensively, it’s not completely impossible that this game would turn into a shootout. But if Alabama can slow the Cardinal offense at all, a defense that was already bad and then lost nine starters to graduation would seem to have little chance of stopping what figures to be the most explosive Alabama offense perhaps in all of school history.
Continue reading …A-Day wrap-up: More aggression, more movement, more questions
April 21, 2018 Comments Off on A-Day wrap-up: More aggression, more movement, more questions
At most A-Day games, especially those overseen by Nick Saban, it isn’t so much what you see as what you don’t see.
There aren’t a lot of complicated blitzes. There aren’t a bunch of funky offensive sets. There isn’t much more to be seen other than a basic overview of the depth chart, on-the-hoof estimations of successful (or not-so-successful) strength-and-conditioning efforts, and maybe a few tendencies sneak through in years – like this one – where Alabama is replacing an offensive coordinator.
Continue reading …Tennessee wrap-up: Tide started slow, but hapless Vols offered no resistance afterward
October 22, 2017 Comments Off on Tennessee wrap-up: Tide started slow, but hapless Vols offered no resistance afterward
labama proved that ingesting rat poison leads to flat and sloppy play, especially with a first quarter Saturday that ever-so-briefly left in doubt whether the Crimson Tide would win at all. But after an Irv Smith fumble through the end zone was overturned thanks to a timely penalty from Tennessee’s Jonathan Kongbo, Alabama seemed to ignite. More importantly, Tennessee visibly deflated after having to give back its turnover, and a team on the verge of quitting doesn’t need much to push it over the edge. Alabama took full advantage, scored again before the half was out, and never looked back in the second half.
Continue reading …Tennessee preview: It’s been a rocky year for UT, and not likely to get better this week
October 19, 2017 Comments Off on Tennessee preview: It’s been a rocky year for UT, and not likely to get better this week
Somewhere this week, there’s a Tennessee fan wondering how Alabama is still in business – and also wondering why his own team barely is.
One of the perhaps-apocryphal stories of Alabama’s long walk through the woods circa 1993-2007 was that then-Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer told former Alabama RB Santonio Beard that Alabama “would be out of business in two years.”
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