Review: No. 2 Alabama 12, Tennessee 10

Alabama snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a classic matchup with rival Tennessee, blocking two field goals in a fourth quarter that saw almost everything else go wrong for the Tide.

Alabama nursed a 9-3 halftime lead through the third quarter while the Volunteers began to find success moving the ball on the Tide. But Tennessee's Daniel Lincoln, who had missed a 49-yard field goal earlier in the game, had a 47-yarder blocked by Terrence Cody, and Leigh Tiffin pushed the score to 12-3 with a field goal with 6:31 left. After a short Tennessee possession, Alabama's Mark Ingram, who had never lost a fumble in his career, had the ball stripped from his hands as he struggled for yardage at the Alabama 43. Tennessee quickly converted the turnover into points, scoring a touchdown with 1:19 remaining.

The Vols then converted an onside kick and drove the ball into scoring position, lining up for a 43-yard field goal on third down with 4 seconds left in the game. But Mount Cody broke through the line again and blocked Lincoln's kick to seal the victory and keep the national title hopes alive.

Now for my seven points:

1. In a championship season, you have to win the close games. Thinking back to 1992, Alabama played several close games, but the closest may have been the SEC Championship game against Florida, which the Tide won on a late interception by Antonio Langham. But few remember that the Tide also had to come from behind to beat Mississippi State that year as well. Regardless, Tennessee brought their "A" game today, and the Tide still pulled out the win.

2. Terrence Cody solidifed his position today as a Tide player for the ages. The gargantuan nose tackle, who made an immediate impact for Alabama from his first game (last year against Clemson), is already one of the most popular players on the team, but plays like the two blocked field goals he had today, especially against one of your biggest rivals, are what makes legends. 'Bama fans will remember Cody's game-saving block today long after his NFL playing days are over.

3. This is a team in need of an off week. It's become a cliche to say "this off week comes at a good time," but in all seriousness, the Tide looked tired versus a Tennessee team with an extra week to prepare. The defense has been especially tested the last three weeks, and should expect to be tested again when LSU comes to town. A week to rest the legs and heal the bruises will be welcome.

4. Alabama needs to continue to work on red zone offense. The offense's inability to punch the ball into the end zone nearly cost the Tide the game today, and the red zone should continue to be a point of emphasis in practice. In fairness, the offense seemed to be hampered by poor play calling, especially on the last scoring drive of the first half. Why lean on the beleagured passing game for points when Tennessee seemed unable to stop the run?

5. Leigh Tiffin has quietly become one of the best kickers in the country. In my opinion, Tiffin has always suffered from the burden of his father's name. After all, Van Tiffin made the best-known kick in Alabama football history. But Leigh Tiffin today moved into second place in scoring all time in the Alabama record books, and is leading the country in field goals made. The knock on Tiffin has been consistency, but keep in mind if he had missed one kick today, Alabama would have lost.

6. Greg McElroy needs to step it up another notch. McElroy was excoriated, and rightly so, for his performance in the last two games. The quarterback did improve his accruacy this week, but the undemanding game plan may have nearly cost 'Bama the game. McElroy's protection has improved since the breakdown at Ole Miss, and he needs to get his confidence back with the downfield pass. Two and three-yard dump passes are not going to fill the bill against LSU and (possibly) Florida.

7. All of Alabama's goals are still in sight. Even a one-point loss to the Vols today would not have eliminated the Tide from national title contention, but Alabama has to remember that every game from now on, with the possible exception of Chattanooga, is going to be difficult. That's not the say that 'Bama won't be favored against LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn, but they will get the best shot from each of those teams. Taking a week off will still get you beat.

Review: No. 2 Alabama 20, No. 22 South Carolina 6

In another weekend filled with upsets and near misses, Alabama continued to do what it does best - dominate with defense and a pounding running game. The Tide played sloppily, garnering 113 yards in penalties and turning the ball over four times, but for the second straight game, the defense kept a top 25 opponent from reaching the end zone. Alabama's Mark Ingram had his second consecutive career game, rushing for 246 yards on 24 carries - a whopping 10.3 yards per carry.

Now here are my seven points:

1. Ingram for Heisman? Chris Low, ESPN.com's SEC blogger, claims that Ingram ran into the frontrunner spot in the Heisman race Saturday, and the case can certainly be made. Ingram ran the ball for every one of the plays in the game-clinching final touchdown drive, gaining 68 yards in six carries, five of them from the direct-snap "Wildcat" formation. Ingram also seems to be getting better as the competition gets tougher, gaining 150 against Virginia Tech, 140 against Kentucky, 172 versus Ole Miss, and 246 Saturday. And the majority of Ingram's yardage this year has come after contact, a fact not lost on NFL scouts. However, the Heisman is a quarterback's award generally, and Ingram isn't even the leading rusher in the country (he's third). Ingram is helped by injuries and lackluster performances from the early season frontrunners, but he will have to continue to have high-yardage, game-winning performances to have a realistic shot.

2. McElroy needs to get his game back on track. Alabama QB Greg McElroy saw some fleeting Heisman hype earlier this season, but as Ingram's game has improved, McElroy's has seemed to regress. Following up on the abysmal performance at Ole Miss, McElroy may have actually improved slightly, although the game plan seemed to move away from passing the ball at an earlier point than last week. This last few weeks shouldn't have been totally unexpected for an inexperienced quarterback against SEC competition, but it has looked worse compared to McElory's early season performances. The offensive line did look better against South Carolina than Ole Miss, but Tennessee's defense is pretty good too, and boasts arguably the better defensive back in the country in Eric Berry. The time to get back to basics is now.

3. The defense is getting better. Despite injuries, Alabama's defense really has been stingy in the last two games, particularly in the red zone - giving up only three field goals. Alabama's Marquis Johnson, who was filling in for Javier Arenas (bruised ribs), must have successfully defended the same fade route to the corner of the end zone six times. Performances like that boost a man's confidence and (hopefully) continue to drive improvement.

4. The weak point for this team is clearly special teams. Not every aspect of the special teams is bad - Leigh Tiffin has kicked well and consistently, although he did miss a field goal against South Carolina. P.J. Fitzgerald has punted fairly well. But kick/punt coverage is still an issue, and several lengthy returns by 'Bama players have been negated by penalties. So far, it hasn't cost us a game, but several scoring opportunities have likely been squandered by undisciplined return blocking.

5. South Carolina could give Florida problems. Florida and Alabama have very similar defenses. Florida, however, has been hampered by a lack of offensive firepower, especially since Tim Tebow's injury. Therefore, I expect South Carolina to challenge Florida similar to the way Arkansas did Saturday.

6. Get used to games like this one. Tennessee and LSU, Alabama's next two opponents, are teams with good defenses and weak offenses, you know, kind of like the last three opponents. Expect closely contested games that Alabama should be able to salt away in the fourth quarter.

7. 'Bama has made the best case to be Number One. It doesn't really matter whether Florida, Texas or Alabama are ranked number 1. As long as the three teams stay undefeated, they will all have a shot at the national championship. But Alabama has played the toughest competition of the three, and has looked the most consistent doing it.

Review: Kentucky/Ole Miss - Two for the price of one!

I missed last week's post due to a camping trip, so I decided to review the Kentucky and Ole Miss games together. This might seem odd, since Kentucky was an unranked opponent with low expectations and Ole Miss was a preseason favorite to win the West, but there were many parallels between the two games for Alabama. So to honor the two-game format, I will make fourteen points rather than my usual seven.

First, seven parallels:

1. Both opponents came into the game having suffered a devastating loss prior to the Alabama game. Kentucky's came the previous week against Florida 41-7. Ole Miss's was two weeks ago, on a Thursday night versus South Carolina 16-10.
2. Both opponents featured stingy defenses and offenses that struggled to score against 'Bama.
3. Both games were decided by Alabama's defense and the turnovers that it created. The Tide caused NINE turnovers in the two games, many of them spectacular plays.
   
4. The Alabama passing game appeared ineffective at times. After a hot start of the season, Greg McElroy passed for only 148 yards against UK, and 147 against UM.
5. On the other hand, Mark Ingram has had two consecutive career games. Ingram rushed for 140 yards on 22 carries with two TDs against the Wildcats, then followed up with 28 rushes for 172 yards and a TD versus the Rebels.
6. Although more points were scored in the Kentucky game than against Ole Miss, the margin of victory was almost identical: 18 points against UK and 19 against UM.
7. The killing blow in both games occurred just before the half. Against Kentucky, Alabama held a 7-6 lead before driving 97 yards to score a touchdown with 40 second left in the half. Nineteen seconds later, Courtney Upshaw returned a fumble 45 yards for a TD to take a 21-6 lead into halftime. Versus Ole Miss, the Tide led 9-0 after three trips to the red zone were blunted by the Rebels' defense, forcing field goals. Then, following another turnover, Alabama went for it on fourth and one, and Ingram ran for a 36-yard score with 55 seconds remaining.

Now, for my usual seven points, aka "what we have learned:"

1. Alabama is starting to look more like the team everyone expected before the year began: great defense, somewhat inconsistent offense, although that is probably more a measure of the level of competition rather than deterioration. No one is seriously talking about a Heisman for McElroy now, although he is certainly not making mistakes that cost Alabama.
2. Alabama now stands alone atop the SEC West. At the beginning of the day, there were three undefeated teams in the West, and Ole Miss was still conceivably in the race as well, with one loss and games to come against the top 3. Alabama's defeat of Ole Miss, coupled with Auburn's loss to Arkansas and LSU's to Florida puts the Tide in the driver's seat.
3. The defense is just full of playmakers. Every starter and contributer on the defense seemed to make a big play today. Rolando McClain is clearly the star athlete (and future NFL pick), but it seems like from Woodall to Green to Cody to Dareus to Arenas to Upshaw and so on, everyone has stepped up their game since losing Hightower.
4. The offseason work on defense has really paid off. The biggest strike against the Tide's defense in 2008 was inability to pressure the quarterback. This was especially borne out in the two season-ending losses. Coach Saban made it a point in the offseason to work on the pass rush. In 2009, Alabama is leading the league in sacks, and Jevan Snead was harrassed pretty consistently all day today.
5. Can everybody get off Julio Jones' back now? Before the Arkansas game, the knock on Jones was that he hadn't gotten a touchdown in 12 games (he promptly caught one that week). This week, the talk was about how Jones hadn't been as productive as he was last year. It seemed to me that McElroy overcompensated, passing to Jones several times in double and triple coverage. Let's all keep in mind that passing to nine or ten different guys in a game you win by three scores is a good thing. Julio is a great player, but we've got a lot of really good receivers. If they're wide open, it's okay to throw to them!
6. South Carolina is shaping up to be a much tougher game than it looked to be a few weeks ago. Alabama has struggled somewhat against stronger SEC defenses (relatively speaking), and South Carolina may have the best defense 'Bama has played so far. The Gamecocks came within a play of being undefeated, and has improved steadily since that game with Georgia. Let's hope that they aren't offended by playing us for Homecoming. You don't think that Spurrier will make a big deal about that do you?
7. Could two SEC schools play for the national championship? CBS's Gary Danielson predicted before the season that two SEC teams (Florida and LSU) would play for the national championship in Pasadena. This prompted much scoffing from critics, but imagine this scenario: The AP top 5 Monday are likely to be Florida, Texas, Alabama, Virginia Tech and Boise State. If Texas loses at some point (next week at Oklahoma is a possibility), and Florida and Alabama continue undefeated, they will be ranked number 1 and 2. Assuming that either team lost a close game in the SEC championship, it seems pretty conceivable that the BCS would pair up Florida and Alabama again rather than a Virginia Tech team from a weak ACC (that Alabama already defeated by the way) or a non-BCS conference Boise State. We've got a long way to go yet, but would anything establish the SEC's dominance of college football more? I mean, other than winning the last three championships and four of the last six?