Week 8 - Bama vs UT
Ask any Bama or Tenn fan this question - "Does the Third Saturday in October hold any significance?" and you will likely get a passionate answer about Football. Bama an UT have squared off on the 3rd Saturday so many times that books have been written about the rivalry... Bear Bryant vs General Neyland - the tradition of two great Southern University's. Because of streaks, and the advent of the SEC Divisional play - this series has lost some of its national luster, but for Bama and UT fans, this game special - ceremonial cigars go to the victor - yes, the 3rd Saturday in October is special.

First a quick look at last week. Bama, by virtue of forced turnovers, stingy run defense and a successful running game beat the Aggies 41-23. Bama scored 2 TD's on defense, and of course that not only kept TAMU at bay, but the 105 thousand plus fans - including the 12th Man - insignificant in the game. Bama's secondary continues to show signs of improvement, and the pressure from the front 7 makes them look better. The best stat of the day from my seat was TAMU 32 yards rushing.

Bama is favored by 14 but Bama fans are all too familiar with the 2009 game where Bama had to block and extra point to win - however Bama has won eight in a row. Tenn comes in to this game with a 3 and 3 record. Two of those losses were blown leads, and they are also ridding the momentum of a win over Georgia 38 -31. The Vols offense will challenge the Bama defense utilizing the HUNH at times and a mobile and athletic QB in Josh Dobbs who averages 5 YPC - and 12 attempts per game. Jake Coker however has shown, especially against TAMU, that he too is capable of making a positive out of a negative with a couple of big runs - he is however not the athlete Dobbs is.

On paper, you think this is a game Bama should win easily, being ole school - and knowing the history and tradition of the famed 3rd Saturday in October, I know it won't be an easy win. I think this game Bama will play at home as well as they do on the road. Same as last week, stop the run, and run the ball, and Bama should take this one ...

      37                 24

How is it possible we are this far in the season that started yesterday?  Really it goes so fast and takes so long to get here, I suppose the best analogy is Christmas for kids.   Nonetheless, time marches on and The Crimson Tide marches to College Station Texas to square off with the undefeated Aggies. 

First a quick recap of Homecoming.  Bama beat the Hawgs by a score of 27 - 14 in a game where the score was not indicative of the game.  Arky scored late to bring it to a 13 point gap, and Bama tried for 3 quarters to stay out of their own way.  Another game with turnovers (two) that proved to take the offense out of their stride which they struggled until late in the 3^rd to regain.

This Bama Defense is real!!! The secondary seems to be improving, but I still see times when they miss assignments and have a man running wide open - of course those things do happen, and thankfully they are fewer as the season progresses.  If and it is a big if - the secondary can close the gaps and play more consistent, this Defense has the opportunity to be one that will long be remembered in the annals of Bama lore.   But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  The secondary will certainly be tested in College Station.

The Aggies are looking to revenge a 59 - 0 shellacking in Tuscaloosa last year.  And with the addition of D Coordinator, John Chavis the defense seems shored up and playing much better than the porous one last year.

For a fair comparison of both - look that the numbers, however keep in mind - TAMU has played one less game than Bama

OFFENSIVE NUMBERS

DEFENSIVE NUMBERS

The big numbers that stand out to me are - Rushing - TAMU has given up almost as much rushing as they have offensively.  Bama on the other hand has twice as many yards rushing as they have given up.  What does that mean?  Well, to me - run the ball and stop the run to win.   Bama certainly has the ability to do both.  The Tide comes in this game as a 4 -5 point favorite.  I believe they can win if they don't allow TAMU to get out early and keep the turnovers to a minimum.  One thing is sure, the CBS 2:30 game will be a good one.   I too am counting on the fact that Jake Cokers two best games this year are road games. 

My Pick

            20            28

Love Homecoming - We will be rounding up the Tide Rides and headed to T town for the 1PM parade... hope to see you !!!

Well as astounded as I was at the Ole Miss victory over Bama, I was equally astounded as I braved the rain at Sanford Stadium and watched the Tide handle the Bulldogs in a fashion that no doubt made, Gene Stallings and the late Coach Bryant proud.

The hat trick, Offense - Defense - Special Teams, shared in scoring against the Dawgs who were favored by 2 points.   Bama finished with a score of 38 -10 and really the game wasn't that close.  Jake Coker seemed to find his missing MoJo with his best performance thus far and you could almost see his confidence grow.  Despite a fumble to put the Defense in a bind early Bama D never wavered, in fact had they not let Chubb loose on an 85 yard ramble, the D played almost flawlessly. 

This is the Team most Bama fans anticipated at the beginning of the year.  Now the question, can they be consistent?  To steal a line from Coach Saban, "consistency is an area most humans suffer".  If Bama can sustain that elusive consistency they should able to stand toe to toe with everyone on the schedule.

But as they say "one game at a time" Arkansas is the business at hand. The Hogs come to Tuscaloosa as more than 2 TD underdog, ridding an SEC victory on the road against the Tenn Vols.  The Hogs had two backs with over 100 and their QB had over 200 yards, giving the team almost 500 total yards, while holding the Vols to 365.

Traditionally this game is close, and that was the case last year when Bama held on to defeat the Hogs by one, 14-13.   I believe this Bama team will continue to ride the momentum from Ga. and defeat the Hogs in the ESPN night game.

   13               34 

Week 5 Bama vs Dawgs in Athens

The words most spoken on radio across the South regarding this game is "Must Win".  Must win for Bama and must win for Georgia.  Clichés are: well clichés. Bama comes into this game as a 2 ½ point underdawg (pun intended).  This is the first time since 2009 that Bama has not been favored in a game.  The record belongs to Bama at 72  games being favored, but not Saturday.

So, the Crimson Tide will have a role they are not familiar with.  Georgia comes in with a record of 4-0 ranked 8^th and Bama 13^th  at 3 -1 with the loss to Ole Miss - still looming.  Bama would put that bitter memory behind them quickly with a win over the Dogs... but can they?  Georgia arguably has one of the best if not the best RB in the nation - and Bama has a back who is not so bad himself.  Georgia's coaching staff is made up of several former Bama coaches - thus many say Mark Richt is emulating Bama and that has put Ga in a position to be more consistent.

This is a big game, big for both and since Bama is on the road, they have a loss, and it makes sense they are not favored.

I suspect both coaches will be close to the vest, and not taking a lot of chances.   Expect a lot of punts and a lot of 3 yards and a cloud...wait - it is going to rain... not a little, but a lot - so 3 yards and a mud puddle.

The rain won't in my opinion favor either game - it will again, make the coaches be ultra conservative.  Both teams will be ready, the rain will not decide the game, but if the rain is hard enough, the team who manages to hold the ball and win the kicking game will win the game.

Bama will be that team.

Bama 17    Georgia 16