11/25 Auburn Preview
You guys know my philosophy on playing weak opponents; the only things that you can learn from these types of games are bad things. That being said, it’s hard not to feel good about what we saw from our team on Saturday. We dominated from the outset, put the game out of reach early, and were able to rest our starters from the majority of the second half. It’s extremely important that we were able to rest our starters, because as you know, we play our arch rivals, the Auburn Tigers, on Friday, so we have one less day to rest and prepare than usual.
As promised in my last blog, I’m not going to spend much time reviewing the Chattanooga game. Instead, I want to focus on previewing the Auburn game. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but this game scares me to death. Let me explain. Did you ever walk on a curb when you were a kid? Even though they were pretty narrow, I could walk on them without a problem for as long as I wanted. I could even turn around if I wanted to without ever losing my balance and falling. However, if I imagined that somehow that curb was raised 1000 feet in the air, suddenly I was very nervous, and I would have difficulty keeping my balance (I had a very vivid imagination). I feel like Alabama is in that same situation this week against Auburn. Normally, I would think that we should have very little problem with the Tigers. Quite frankly, we’re better than they are. However, the stakes are so high (like a 1000 foot-high curb!) that any slip could be catastrophic.
Here’s what worries me. Even though our defense has been stellar this entire season, Auburn has a very effective spread offense that relies on precise execution. Our defense seems to rely on the opposing offense failing to execute. Several drives that had promise for the other team have been stopped by either a dropped pass, a QB missing a wide-open receiver, or a QB sack. When Auburn is clicking, they execute very well, and I don’t know if we can count on them missing open receivers or dropping passes, and they get rid of the ball too fast to sack them. It wouldn’t surprise me to see their offense jump on us early, forcing us to play catch-up, and if we have to play catch-up, suddenly the pressure mounts, and we’re looking over the edge of that 1000-foot curb.
There has been a precedent set. All the Auburn fans are pointing to the 1989 game where we were undefeated and ranked Number 2. That’s a pretty good comparison, but the truth is that Auburn team was actually much more physical than that Alabama team. In 2002, we were huge favorites, but Auburn once again manhandled us. However, the game that sticks in my mind as the most appropriate comparison is 2005. That year, we relied on a stalwart defense all year, but against Auburn, they jumped on us with 21 early points, and we were forced to play from behind the rest of the game. Auburn’s aggressive defense sacked Brodie Croyle about 75 times (I lost count in the second quarter), and before we knew it, the game was over.
That being said, we are much better than we were in 2005, and Auburn, at least on defense, isn’t quite as good as they were then. We have a much more effective rushing game, and our offensive line is significantly better at pass protection than we were then. And along the same lines, Chris “The Welcome Mat” Capps cannot legally enter the game at any point, so McElroy should at least have a fighting chance.
There is one other thing that kind of has me worries me. Do you guys remember in 1980 when we were ranked Number 1, and we had a late season matchup with second-ranked Notre Dame? Anyway, there was so much anticipation for that game that we overlooked Mississippi State, and lost to them on the road 6-3. As you all know, we have a matchup with Number 1 Florida a week from Saturday, and I can’t remember a game being more hyped than that one. If both Florida and Alabama win, it will be the game of the century. However, we have a game against a very dangerous opponent who happens to be our arch-rival on the road before that, and we absolutely cannot look past these guys.
So what do I think will happen? It’s hard to be objective because I’m so emotionally invested into this team, but I have to think that we should have the upper hand in this one. We’re a very big, fast, physical team, and if we play our best game, we’ll win fairly easily. But if Auburn plays their best game it will get tense, and if it gets tense, suddenly it becomes very difficult to stay on that 1000-foot curb.
Be sure to check in next week as I review the Auburn game. Hopefully I’ll be in a good mood! Until then, as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide!
Kenny
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