Review: No. 2 Alabama 45, UT-Chattanooga 0

Well, the only unknowns for this week's game were 1) How long would Mark Ingram play? (a half), 2) would the Mocs score on Alabama? (an emphatic "No"), and 3) could the Tide escape without an significant injuries? (thankfully, "Yes"). Alabama was never seriously threatened by a Chattanooga team that finished with fewer than 100 yards of offense. The offense and special teams scored early and often and left ample time to get the second and third team players some time on the field in the last home game of the season. All-in-all, the best possible scenario for the second-ranked Tide.

My seven points:

1. Mark Ingram's day was perfect. Many wondered, and even asked Coach Saban, if Mark Ingram would play most of the game to pad his stats to impress Heisman voters. But Coach Saban's priorities are to do what's best for the team, and he explained that he wasn't going to play Ingram any longer than necessary. He finished with 102 yards, two big-play touchdowns, and a 9+ yard per carry average, all in the first half. Ingram's Heisman campaign will hinge on performances against Auburn and Florida. This game was relevant only in the sense that he looked good and didn't get hurt. Mission accomplished.

2. Javier Arenas set an SEC punt return record. Javier Arenas has already secured his position as the greatest Alabama punt returner of all time, but he is tantalizingly close to the best overall. Arenas returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown against UTC, setting the SEC record for career punt return touchdowns with seven. He is only 39 yards away from the all-time SEC record for punt return yards (held by Vanderbilt's Lee Nalley) and 105 yards away from Wes Welker's (Texas Tech) NCAA record of 1,761. Arenas has three more games to achieve that career milestone, and I believe he will get it. Congratulations to him.

3. Speaking of milestones, Mark Ingram is approaching another one. Ingram's 1,399 yards this season put him well within reach of Bobby Humphey's single season record of 1,471. Ingram, of course, will play 14 games in 2009, including the bowl game, which did not count in season stats until the 1990s. But longtime fans may remember that the 1986 season did feature 13 games for the Tide, including the Kickoff Classic against Ohio State. Regardless, Ingram currently trails Humphrey by less than 100 yards with three games to go, and eclipses single-season marks by former greats Shaun Alexander, Glen Coffee, and Shaud Williams.

4. Superlative defense is again the theme of the day. Even in the second half, the the starters safely ensconced on the sideline, the Tide defense continued to dominate. The Tide allowed just 48 yards rushing and 36 yards passing to the Mocs, a total of 84 yards of offense. The Mocs had only five first downs and three turnovers, all interceptions.

5. The Tide has a short week to prepare for Auburn. The other good part about being able to pull the starters early today is that Alabama has a limited amount of time to prepare for Auburn next Friday. The Tide will most likely travel on Thursday, which means basically three days of work before the game. Auburn, of course, has had almost two weeks to get ready for the Crimson Tide. On the other hand, Alabama will get to watch Florida play Florida State next Saturday, and will have an extra day of rest before the SEC Championship.

6. Speaking of off weeks, have you ever noticed that Alabama's opponents have a bye before playing the Tide an awful lot? I've commented on it many times in the past, but the contrast in bye weeks between Alabama and the other teams in the SEC is even more striking when it is examined statistically. RollBamaRoll has featured a couple of detailed articles on this phenomenon, but this is an eye opener:

Total SEC opponents coming off bye weeks, 2007-2010
Alabama - 17
LSU - 5
Tennessee - 4
Florida - 4
Vanderbilt - 3
Georgia - 3
Auburn - 3
Kentucky - 2
Mississippi State - 1
Mississippi - 1
South Carolina - 0
Arkansas - 0

This means that in the 32 SEC games that Alabama has during this four-year period, the opponent has a bye week before the game over 50% of the time! The most anyone else has is five. Part of this is controlled by the school, part by the SEC office, but it's a pretty amazing statistic. So when you hear someone say, "They may not be a great team, but they always play Alabama hard" you'll know why. Chances are that they had a week off.

7. Pause a moment in honor of 2009's senior class. The seniors of 2009 were the last full class recruited by Mike Shula, and had to endure the Tide's last losing season, in 2006. A few have been major contributors (especially on defense), a few have been relegated to the background, and one or two considered leaving altogether (including Arenas). But this senior class has accomplished something that has not been done at Alabama in decades, winning ten or more games in consecutive years, and still has every team goal in its sights.