Week 10

Tide Fans -

Everything is right in the world...The Tide is #1...at least for now! Yes, it is nice to see The Tide back on top, and Auburn sucks! We have some big games coming up, and I hope this number 1 ranking isn't the kiss of death. For now, I am going to enjoy it, because I think this team is very special. I believe they can handle all the hoopla that will be over the news this coming week. Focus, Focus, Focus Bama...get the job done!

Now - let's talk about our latest victory...what a nice Homecoming win! What started out a little slow, turned into another dominating effort by the men in Crimson. What a beautiful day for football, and for homecoming - it was perfect! I still find it hard to believe that for the people sitting on the East side of the stadium (where I happen to sit) it felt like the middle of August on Nov. 1! Wow that sun is brutal over there, and the 2:00 kickoff gave us the pleasure of full sun for the enitre game. I saw many people thinking, "I should not have worn this sweater vest today" as they found their seats. The sun was literally "leaning" on us all game. I once again made the idiotic mistake of taking my 5 year old little girl to this day game. We had not even kicked off before I got the "Daddy, I'm hot and I want to go!" 2 Dipping Dots, 1 bag of peanuts, and 2 cokes later I convinced her to stay until the end of the 3rd quarter. I would like to personally thank the gentleman sitting behind me, who gladly shared his bag of peanuts with my child. The amusement of cracking open the shells kept her distracted for at least 1 quarter, so again thank you sir!!

Ok - on to some actual analysis. The Tide did what they needed to do to get by the Red Wolves of Arkansas Satate. Or, for our Spanish speaking friends - the Lobos Rojos. Alabama put on a good performance and got out of this game with a decisive victory, and injury free!! I was pumped to see our running game continue to kick ass, and our defense contiues to play solid as well! Huge shout out to Rashad Johnson this week - an interception for a TD, plus 13 tackles!!!! He continues to get better and better. He is starting to remind me of Roman Harper - just very business like, and always there making a play when we need it. I was glad to see Mark Ingram get in some great runs this week - he is going to be an incredible running back. He just refuses to go down on the first hit. Another great game by Roy Upchurch as well - I love watching him get the ball, as he may actually be our most exciting running back. How awesome is it that we have 3 incredible running backs???

JP did what he needed to do in this game, but is going to have to be spot on next week against LSWho. For us the come out of death valley with the W, we are going to have to be balanced, and JP determies that. I know he can do it - we have seen him do it already this year. He needs to complete some good passes early to get comfortable, and get into his rhythm. I think if we can get some passes to the tight ends early, that will open up our running game and off we go!

Players I love from this week:

- Rashad Johnson (just gets better every game)
- Mark Ingram (very strong performance - great power running)
- Brandon Fanney (big game - lots of tackles)

Things we need to change so I can sleep better:

- Don't really have anything here - just need to play our game


Well, can you believe we are 9-0 heading into Red Stick, Louisiana?? What a season it has been so far, and still so many games left to play! This is a huge week for our team - I think we find out this weekend if we are true champions. If we can go down there to another very hostile environment and take care of business, then I think there is absoloutely no reason we can't go all the way. This has been such an exciting and powerful season - I see no reason for it to end now. I believe The Tide will rise again for this next challenge and keep the undefeated season alive! It will be a battle against LSU, but if we play our game and control the ball, we leave very satisfied. LSU is good, but I just think we are a better team. The atmosphere will be electric with the sounds of drunk cajuns and the smell of jambalaya in the air. I think this game is very important to Nick Saban - I think he really wants to whip Les Mile's ass, and shut him up. Les Miles has spurted nothing but disrespect to our football program for the past two years, and it is time he ate those words.

If you are going to the game, and I hope many of you are, we need to be loud and support our # 1 Crimson Tide! We always play well down in Red Stick (Baton Rouge), even when we suck. It's time to bring back the old slogan..."The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge". I have a good feeling about this weekend...I am looking forward to writing next week's analysis. Until then...Roll Tide Roll!

Jason