9/29 The Georgia Game
Remember how excited I was when we hired Coach Saban? Remember how I said he was a once-in-a-lifetime, can’t miss coach? Remember how I said that he would return us to the elite level in college football? I’m afraid I underestimated him. In only his second year at the Capstone, he has elevated us from a team that finished 2-6 in the SEC (and we should have lost those 2) to being the nation’s second-ranked team after a dominating 41-30 win over the previously third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs between the hedges in Athens, GA.
Once again, Alabama jumped out of the gate quickly, getting the ball first and scoring a TD on our opening drive. Admittedly, we were fortunate to have a Georgia penalty negate a turnover, but the fact that we actually scored a TD after we got that break is an illustration of how far we’ve come since the Shula era. We didn’t stop there. After a clutch stop on 3rd and 7, we got the ball back, and after a long drive, kicked a field goal to increase our lead to 10-0. After that, we played flawlessly on both offense and defense for the rest of the half. After a Glen Coffee TD run, a Roy Upchurch TD run, and a Julio Jones TD reception, we took a 31-0 lead into halftime, and the game was all but over.
The second half was a different story, but it wasn’t quite as bad as the statistics might lead you to believe. Georgia scored a FG on their opening drive, and then stopped us on a three-and-out on our next possession. We actually stopped UGA on their next drive, and forced a fourth down and 4 on their next possession, but since we had such a huge lead, they went for it, converted, and then ultimately scored a TD, making the score 31-10 going into the fourth quarter. We started the fourth quarter with a punt, and P.J. Fitzgerald hit a magnificent punt that UGA fielded at their eight yard line. Unfortunately for us, the refs missed a blatant block in the back on Eryk Anders, which cleared out a path for their return man, and they were able to return the punt for a TD, cutting the lead to 31-17.
At that point, all the momentum was on their side, and admittedly, I was getting a little nervous. However, Alabama was able to put together a clutch drive, highlighted by a beautiful screen pass to Roy Upchurch. Soon after, Leigh Tiffin (barely) made a clutch 32 yard field goal, making the score 34-17, and putting the game out of reach. We weren’t done yet, however, as we put together one more TD drive, this one highlight by a sweet misdirection play action pass to Roy Upchurch, who is really stepping up his game. The flow of the play was to the right, but Upchurch released all alone into the left flat. JPW kind of floated the ball to Roy, but he put a Hall-of-Fame juke on the poor UGA defender, and ran all the way down to the UGA 13 yard line. Glen Coffee capped the drive with a 12 yard TD run, giving us a 41-17 lead. Georgia scored a couple of give-away TDs at the end of the game to make the score closer than the game really was.
I know that I’ve sung the praises of Nick Saban since the day he was hired, but a lot of the credit for this huge win goes to the spectacular play-calling of Jim McElwain. As you all probably know, I consider myself to be the greatest play-caller in the history of college football, but I have admit, I’m not sure I could have done any better in this game. I loved the two stop routes to Julio on the first drive, and I really loved the play action crossing pattern to him that set up our second touchdown. The draw play on third and goal from the 5 was beautiful, and that misdirection play action screen pass to Upchurch in the fourth quarter made me tingle. In a game like this against such a powerhouse football team, play-calling is crucial, and Coach McElwain really came through. Nice job, Coach!
So here we are, five games into the season, 5-0, ranked Number 2 in the nation. I knew we would be improved this year, and if someone told me we’d be undefeated at this point, I would have been very surprised but not shocked. However, if someone would have told me that we would be undefeated with blowouts in every game, never trailing even for a second in any game, I would have gone into a Fred Sanford “I’m coming to join you, Elizabeth” routine. As much faith as you all know I have in Coach Saban, I never would have predicted this, not in a million years. But Coach is filling our roster with epic talent, he’s coaching with a vengeance, and we’re playing like someone’s been talking about our momma. In short, this isn’t a fluke. We’re really, really good, and if we keep playing like we’re playing now, we can beat anybody.
We can’t rest on our laurels, however. We play in the SEC, and every team is a threat. Next week we play Kentucky, and believe me, this Kentucky team is no joke. They’re undefeated, and they have arguably one of the best defensive lines in the nation. Yes, we should beat them. But if we take them lightly, they could make it very difficult for us. I trust Saban to get us ready, so check back next week as I discuss what had better be another Crimson Tide victory.
Until then, as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Roll Tide,
Kenny
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