Vandy

Tide Fans –

A gorgeous day in Tuscaloosa for Homecoming! The Tide shuts down the Commodores of Vanderbilt, keeping the undefeated season in tact as we get one week and one victory closer to November 5th! Bama’s defense doesn’t allow one point, and our offense shows signs of balance. We saw lots of young talent create some big plays, reinforcing the fact that we have lots of depth. Bama is big…Bama is mean…Bama is awesome! A slow start, but a powerful finish as The Tide knocks another one down…dang I love this team!

Saturday was Homecoming, but for me it held an even more special meaning. Saturday was the first game my wife and I have taken our son to, and it was long overdue! It is always a special moment when a father takes his son to their first Tide game. I took our daughter when she was only 3 months, and she was on the Jumbotron within the first few minutes…it was awesome! This week we decided to take our 3yr old with us…any of you that have young boys know this was a high risk move. I chose Vanderbilt, because I wouldn’t really mind missing half the game going to the bathroom with him, or standing in a concessions line. It being late in the day, he was vey tired and we were preparing for the worst…but he actually did surprisingly well! As soon as we walked through the tunnel, he looked at the field, smiled, and then asked me where Trent was. It was on the verge of tearing up, and was very pumped that he was happy to be there! It was a great moment, and minus one interesting trip to the bathroom, he did really well. The little man wearing his Trent Richardson jersey, was watching The Tide in person for the first time…it was awesome!

Let’s take a look at The Tide.

Offense:

The Trent Richardson for Heisman campaign is in full force now, because the man is incredible! The dude is just awe inspiring…running through, over, or around would be tacklers. He was a man amongst boys Saturday night. Our offense while it started a little slow, had a great well balanced game. We didn’t just rely on Trent…AJ was slinging the ball and making some big throws. Of course there were some great catches as well! We saw what DeAndrew White is going to bring to the table with his two big TD catches. Both of those passes were pretty much up for grabs, and DeAndrew went up and got them. We will be hearing his name a lot in the future! Maze had another great game as well…I love the little quick slant across the middle. He seems to always make some guys miss and get an extra 10 or 15 yards on that play.

How about Jalston Fowler…What a huge game he had, and what a powerful runner! He was bulldozing over the Vandy linebackers and sometimes requiring 3 or 4 guys to bring him down. It is nice to see that even when Lacy is out…the next guy in line just picks it up and does a great job of running the ball. I hope Lacy is back soon, but until then Fowler has got us covered. At one point during the game on one of his power runs I got so excited that I stood and and said…”Look at Tarrant Lynch…he is just awesome!” For those of you who don’t know or remember, Tarrant Lynch played fullback on our 1992 Championship team and wore the same number as Fowler, #45. I realized what I had said and corrected myself laughing about it…and then I sat there for a few moments thinking about how awesome he was back in ’92…ahhhh good ‘ol Lynch!

Offense had a good game, especially in the 2nd half…our line was really blowing open some holes. I’m pretty sure something was said to them in the locker room at halftime, because they were pounding Vandy in the 3rd quarter. We still have some things to work on, but it is starting to all come together.

Defense:

I’m really starting to run out of things to say about how awesome our defense is. I mean allowing no points…can’t really complain about anything here this week. I’m sure someone could find something to bitch about, but I’m just not even going to waste my time. The defense will continue to crush opponents. Shout outs go to Upshaw, Hightower, Barron, and Milliner. Mark Barron is freaking awesome!

A trip to Oxford awaits us next week, and I expect The Tide to continue to dominate here as well. Ole Miss has had an extra week to prepare for us, so they will be all fired up and ready…but again, it really won’t matter. They may hang early with us, like Florida…but in the end Trent will just run all over them. Seeing as the Ole Miss fans will have all day to catch a buzz in the grove, they too will be fired up…but it will end with a drunken irritated group of pissed off Ole Miss fans as usual. They really hate losing to us, and always think they are going to beat us. I guess they have to have some motivation to go see their team play…or maybe it is just the tailgating that brings them back. Or, maybe it is the new Black Bear mascot they have…yea that’s it! If you are making the trip to Oxford, have a great time, and cheer extra loud for me!

Until next week…Roll Tide!

Jason