11/25 Off Week Update
Did everyone make it through a weekend without Alabama football all right? Actually, I found it somewhat relaxing, knowing that we were still going to be undefeated at the end of the day. That being said, there were a couple of games that Bama fans should have been interested in. Of course, I’m not going to go into detail about all of them, but here are my brief thoughts on three of those games.
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Oregon State nipped Arizona on a last second field goal. This game was important, because as a result, OSU is likely to win the Pac 10, which sends them to the Rose Bowl. OSU going to the Rose Bowl frees up USC for an at-large BCS bid, probably to the Sugar Bowl, where they’ll meet the loser of the Bama-Florida game. Just more incentive to beat Florida! Before I move on to the next item, I was particularly interested in the way this game ended. At the end of the game, Arizona had the ball at their 40-yard line, and they needed only one first down to win the game. However, instead of trying for the first down, they ran the ball three times (including on 3rd and 8), and punted the ball back to OSU with 1 minute left in the game. OSU completed a couple of passes and then kicked the winning field goal. Sound familiar? This is exactly the same situation as the end of the Bama-Auburn game in 1997. You know the game, the one where the Bama fans were furious with our offensive coordinator for actually trying to win the game at the end. Anyway, this game was just another example of why you should try to win when you have the chance. See my previous blog on the subject to see just how strongly I agreed with our decision to pass back in 1997.
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Oklahoma absolutely annihilated previously Number 2 ranked Texas Tech on Saturday night. It doesn’t affect Alabama directly; we still control our own destiny as far as reaching the national championship game. The problem is that the result of this game moves Oklahoma into position to be our opponent if we’re fortunate enough to be there, and believe me; no one wants to play Oklahoma. Having to beat Florida and Oklahoma in succession to win the national championship is a gauntlet that I truly believe is the most challenging ever.
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Did you see what Ole Miss did to LSU? Ouch! They dominated LSU in every way, shape, and form. Why do I bring this up? They’re returning almost everybody next year. Let’s just say that the SEC is going to be brutal next year, so we really need to make the most of this opportunity. Not saying we won’t be in this position again, it’s just that against competition like we’re facing, you can’t take anything for granted.
Of course, all this talk about our run for the national championship is premature, because we still have to face our arch-rival, the Auburn Tigers. This game scares me to death. We’re currently listed as a 17-point favorite, which I think is ridiculously high. First, as much trouble as we have protecting the QB, Auburn could possibly terrorize JPW throughout the game, and if we can’t run the ball (which is very tough to do against AU), we’ll be forced to pass. We all know what Auburn has done to our QBs over the last few years when we had to pass (remember “Honk If You Sacked Brodie”?).
Also, their offense has been playing much better lately. They’ve moved to a more conventional offense, which fits their personnel much better than their previous spread attack. They run with strength and power, similar to our running game, and their quarterback is very shifty. If you noticed against MSU, even when we were able to pressure their QB, he was able to dodge the pass rush and buy enough time to find an open receiver. Auburn’s QB is much shiftier than he was, and he can do damage both by finding open receivers and by running for the first down. If we’re not careful, this game could be very much like our game against LSU, except that Auburn has a better QB, and we can’t count on 3 interceptions from Rashad to bail us out. Plus, on top of all of that, they have absolutely owned us over the past 6 years. I know that every year is different, but I truly believe that streaks like that get into the players’ heads. If we start fast, we should be all right, but if we fall behind early (like in the LSU game), we might find it very tough to come back. What do I think will happen? I think we’ll win a tough, hard-fought game, 24-20. Win or lose, I’ll be back next week, blogging my little heart out. So be sure to check back then as I discuss what we all hope is another Bama victory. If you’re going to the game, make this the loudest game ever. We’ll need it, and the players deserve it.
As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide,
Kenny
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