Some Thoughts on Alabama

As mentioned a few times, our meeting with the Tide in Pasadena is something I've looked forward to for some time now. Without getting too deep into it and being redundant, this game means a great deal on a personal level. My wife's family is from Alabama and while I love the hell out of them, they are freaking nuts when it comes to football. My father-in-law is a lifelong Crimson-bleeding, Bear-adoring, everything-Bama-football-knowing fanatic. His wife comes from a long line of Auburn. They don't talk much in the Iron Bowl. My wife transferred from UA to UT, where she graduated far away from all that madness. 

In our almost 8 years of marriage, the old lady and I have spent many a late night knocking back beers with her pop listening to various stories from the strip, to the 1982 Cotton Bowl, to Bear and DKR's friendship and how wonderful it would be to see Texas play Alabama while we are all still here. There was not a lot of breath to hold for the stars aligning the first few years, but the 2008 season had us on edge up to the Crabtree catch and when Florida won the SEC game. We were glued to the BCS Selection Show this time last year with our fingers crossed, only to be devastated with the results. Since the beginning of this season, we've crescendo-ed each week with greater probability. By Halloween we couldn't really talk about it from fear of a jinx. To cut to the chase, Saturday's conference championship games were rather emotional around here.

So anyway, I mention all of that because I have been watching every Alabama game this season with great intent for the sake of being a vicarious fan, but more so to know thy enemy, should the unlikely occur. And to go on record here: I really wanted this game so I was rooting for Bama up to this point, but such allegiance has been relinquished. It is now on, bitches.

Some quick thoughts from my following of Alabama this year:

• The Tide is a very good team, and is rightfully #1 based on who they are right now. But for those submersed in a fear of being rolled by the team you saw wallop Florida in every aspect in Atlanta, be sure to keep a proper perspective. This has been a strange season with little certainty throughout of who the best team is. There were at least three, maybe four weeks that I thought Texas was better. Unlike the Horns, Alabama brought their A-game to their CCG with a nearly flawless performance that had not been seen all year. They have been very solid, but that was not the team I saw throughout the regular season. That said...
• Offense has been pretty bleak at best in several games this season. OC Jim McElwain has a play-calling style eerily similar to a certain someone (not hating on either) in which I think “why?”. The stellar offensive production we saw against Florida was a bit of a shocker to me. Although, they do a very good job of time management as they run the ball… a whole lot. They are ranked 3rd in time of possession with 33:31.
• They will run the ball and they will run it hard. Ingram is what he is – great eye for an opening, hard to catch, then hard to take down once caught. Trent Richardson is a true freshman beast of a runner. It takes five guys to take this guy down. Wish we had gone after him (maybe we did?). Goon Squad’s going to do all they can to stop the run and I suspect they will be pretty successful, although these guys are relentless.
• Julio Jones – it’s been quieter than expected from the 6’4”, 210, sticky-fingered sophomore, but mostly because he is usually double or triple teamed. When he gets the ball, he’s pretty much gone. This worries me a bit, but I can see E.T. having some fun with him out there. What worries me more is what I saw in Marquis Maze on Saturday. He hasn’t done a whole lot this season, but is quick and can get open fast. If those two are both on and can split our secondary open, it could get ugly.
• Greg McElroy did very little to impress me this year, but has proven to be clutch a few times. Not that John Parker Wilson was superb, but this may have something to do with how much less we’ve seen of Julio this time around. McElroy has completed 61% of his 314 passes, 17 TDs, 4 Int, 2,450 total yards. He’s also not too quick and does not run very often/far (110 total yds).
• Defense is good, er, really good. Kirby Smart may be as revered as Boom is to us. I’m not going to dive into the D right now as it is a post(s) of its own that will be well done by someone very soon and I’m getting tired, but a few things to note: Mt. Cody is big and can move well for his size, but he is not Suh, if that makes you feel better. Rolando McClain is a beast and can hurt people. Javier Arenas is probably the player I admire the most on Bama – he’s only 5’9” but the dude shows up out of nowhere and makes huge plays. He’s also a scary kick returner.
• Nick Saban is a hell of a coach. From what I gather, he was much more hands-on with each and every play against Florida than usual and I suspect he’ll have a very similar game plan for the MNC. Side note: theory may say that Major and Muschamp may be familiar with Saban’s style on both sides, as it is apparent many components have remained the same since the time they worked with him.

Alright, it’s tired and I’m late. To sum it up in some physically/emotionally exhausted words: I feel good about our chances on Jan. 7th. If both teams play as well as they have all year, I think it will be an all-out war. Think about this: After that game against Tennessee where Cody blocked those FGs, many were talking about how weak Bama is. I’m not reading that anywhere now after they cleaned up with the Tebows. Point is, they have been just as streaky as us this year. It all comes down to who shows up in Cali.

This is going to be a long month, but I will savor every moment of it. I’m looking forward to sharing it with my son and talking about beating the crap out of Grandpa’s team. “Make ‘em bleed” as the old man says himself.