Virginia Tech Game 9/4/13
I wanted to wait until today to write my blog on the season opener against Virginia Tech because as all hard-core Bama fans know, today was the day of Cameron Robinson’s college commitment. Why is that a big deal? Here’s why; because Cameron Robinson is the nation’s top offensive line prospect, and after Saturday’s offensive line debacle, I was hoping to have good news on the Cameron Robinson front. And yes, today at about 12:30 Eastern, big Cam committed to us, so next year we’ll have another top flight offensive line prospect along the same lines as Andre Smith, DJ Fluker, and Cyrus Kouandjio. Now for the down side: he won’t be eligible to play in two weeks against Texas A&M.
We did win 35-10, but really, their defense absolutely humiliated our offense. Of the five TDs, three were on returns (a kick, a punt, and an interception), one was on a 50-yard bomb, and one was on 49 yard drive that ended in a Yeldon TD. Throughout the entire game, we only reached the red zone once. We had nine possessions that lasted 5 plays or less. We only had one possession that lasted more than 10 plays. Overall, our offense looked absolutely anemic. Fortunately for us, Virginia Tech’s offense looked even worse.
Actually, before I start railing on VT’s offense, I really should credit our defense, because overall, those guys played very well. Not even looking at the statistics, it just felt like they were playing fast. Our defensive line seemed to get a better push that we were used to seeing, and Logan Thomas, the VT QB, was almost always under duress when he dropped back to pass. Our secondary was pretty solid. There were a few coverage busts, but they didn’t come back to bite us because evidently the VT receivers greased their gloves before they ran onto the field. But again, even though their receivers and QB played horrible games, our defense really did play well, so I don’t want to take too much credit away from those guys.
OK, enough about that stinkfest. Let’s talk about the enormous obstacle that is staring us in the face; Texas A&M and Johnny Football. Honestly, I’m scared to death about this one, and what scares me even more is that I don’t think anyone is taking them seriously. It seems like everyone just assumes that since they beat us last year that we’ll beat them this year. Now, maybe I’m crazy, but I just don’t see how someone beating us is proof that we’re better than they are. And when I start looking at the matchups in the game, especially now that it looks like we don’t have much of an offensive line, I get really concerned. Yes, I do think that our defense will be better prepared to stop their high-powered offense than we were last year, but clearly our offense won’t be as good. So if we’re giving the ball back to them every 4 or 5 plays, then I don’t know how our defense will hold up.
It’s possible that I’m overreacting about Saturday’s game. Don’t get me wrong; I know what I saw. But it is possible that what we saw on Saturday doesn’t necessarily indicate what we’ll see against Texas A&M. It’s possible that our linemen just needed a game under their feet so that they could work on their communication. It’s also possible that we insisted on trying to run the ball against a stacked line because the game wasn’t in doubt due to the ineptitude of the VT offense. Perhaps our passing game will force A&M to commit fewer players to stopping the run. Perhaps our line will just play better, and we can run the ball the way we want to. One or both of those things better happen, because if our offense plays like it did against VT, A&M will beat us by 30, and I’m not exaggerating.
So that’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to write after the September 14 showdown, but until then, as always, feel free to send me any questions or comments.
Kenny