Arkansas

Tide Fans –

A beautiful day in Tuscaloosa! The Sun was shining, the quad was jumping, and the Alabama Crimson Tide completely dominated the pigs from Arkansas! At the end of the game I swear I could hear Ned Beatty in that famous, yet disturbing scene from Deliverance…you all know what scene I am referring to. Yes, we made Arkansas squeal all the way home! Alabama opens the SEC schedule with a dominant performance over what is supposedly the best offense in the SEC…and I liked what I saw!

The greatest thing about this game is that every aspect of our team scored a touchdown! Offense, Defense, and Special Teams…you can’t ask for more than that! The fake field goal on our first drive was ballsy, and executed to perfection. I was watching the replay yesterday, and the look on Saban’s face is priceless after the trick play worked. He looks across the field towards Petrino with a sh*t eating grin on is face…I loved it! As I say at least 15 times a year…I am so thankful Nick Saban is our coach…he never ceases to amaze me. The Jedi mind tricks he played on Petrino all day were just amazing. It’s like they would line up and he would wave his hand, and next thing you know Tyler Wilson is laying on his back…just an awesome defensive mind. He is Yoda, and Kirby Smart is Luke Skywalker…the force is definitely with them!

Ok, enough Star Wars references…let’s take a look at the Tide:

Offense:

A solid day for the Bama offense. AJ had time, never seemed under pressure, and the blocking was probably better than ever. I think our O-line is starting to gel…they were blowing some holes open for Trent and Lacy. Our passing game wasn’t spectacular, but it was effective. We utilized the tight end, and that little dump pass to Trent (which I love). That play seems to always gain big yards for us…it did with Ingram as well. The great thing is that we didn’t have to throw the long ball, because we seemed to find ways to move downfield by running over and around them. The defense was playing so well, offense just needed to burn up some clock. Our offense has weapons, and I still don’t think we have seen a whole lot from them. At some point this season we will be in a situation where they have to win the game…and I feel confident they will get it done!

Defense:

Where do I even start? Just an outstanding performance, shutting down one of the highest powered offenses in NCAA football. Our defense was tired of hearing how good the Arkansas offense attack was. Bama shut them down. Petrino looked so irritated on the sidelines throwing stuff, yelling, and just looking genuinely pissed at his team. Our pass attack was relentless, and Tyler Wilson spent more time on his back than he did standing. Speaking of Tyler Wilson…he had the bright idea of mouthing off to one Courtney Upshaw early in the game. I don’t know if you noticed on the interception return my Menzie…but Upshaw finally put an end to that, by searching for Wilson while Menzie was running the ball into the endzone and completely leveling him…it was awesome! What kind of an idiot mouths off to Upshaw…knowing that he is just going to hit you even harder? I have a feeling Tyler Wilson is still sitting in an ice bath somewhere in the Ozark Mountains, and it serves him right!

So many big hits, and heads up plays by the defense…they all played spectacular! Even when CJ Mosley went out injured and was replaced by Adrian Hubbard, and Trey DePreist…we didn’t miss a beat. This is one of the best Bama defenses I have ever seen…and that is saying a lot!

Special Teams:

I have never had to write a separate paragraph about our special teams play but wow…what a game! The Fake field goal was a thing of beauty…perfectly executed. I LOVE Michael Williams, and was soo pumped when I saw him catch that almost perfect pass from AJ and take it to the house! He has had some huge plays this season, and I know we will see more.

Marquis Maze…wow! That punt return made Javier Arenas say “Damn…that was good!” The twists and turns Maze made to break the return were unreal…and I love the fact that he slowed down some to wait for his blockers…too good! Someone I have failed to show much love to this season who deserves it is Vinnie Sunseri. That kid has been all over the place on special teams! Making tackles, making huge blocks, the kid is everywhere! I love how he just plays with no fear of injuring himself. He will just launch into someone like a missle to make a block…unbelievable! Special teams played a huge role in this game…we just need to get our punter to kick more consistently, and our kickoffs to go into the end zone more often. Of course then we wouldn’t get to watch Sunseri and DePreist make huge tackles now would we?

Huge game this week Tide Fans!!! This is the biggest game of the season in my mind. I say this because if we can get out of the swamp with a win, then I don’t think anyone stops us! Yes, LSU is still on the schedule, but that is at home and I just feel better about that game than this one. I will not lie…I am very nervous. I do not like the fact that it is at night either…just gives Florida more crowd noise. I know that we are a better team, and that Florida really hasn’t played anyone yet (Tennessee doesn’t count, and Kentucky is terrible).

If we can go down there and play focused Nick Saban football then we should have no problem. They have a pretty good defense as well, so our Offense is going to have to make some noise this week! We cannot make turnovers, and we must keep the ball away from them. Nice long pounding drives and we will wear their defense down. Our defense will need to contain their fast running game, or it could be a long night for us.

Again, I am nervous but I always feel relief when I think about our defense and our coach…he will have them ready to roll on Saturday!
I hope some of you make it down for the game…we need the support!

Until next week…Roll Tide!

Jason