In the first half, the defense gave up some big plays in the passing game and gave up a long kickoff return for a touchdown ... again. That happened last Saturday too. I will say that FIU has two WRs that are really good--T. Y. Hilton, a guy who might play on Sundays in two years, and a taller receiver who seemed to have glue on his hands.
But for the second week in a row, the Tide turned it on in the second half with a dominating defense. There were no points scored on them in the second half even though FIU sometimes had a short field to work with since the kickoff team pooched some kicks to negate Hilton.
Tide fans got to see the highly touted freshman RB, Trent Richardson, tote the rock during the game, and he was impressive: 119 yards on 15 carries and two TDs. With Ingram playing but not at 100% because he was still recovering from the flu and Upchurch out with an injury that is not clear, both Richardson and Terry Grant got opportunities to showcase their skills.
And because Julio Jones bruised his knee, senior Mike McCoy stepped up with a 100 yard receiving game. The junior QB McElroy had a solid game, and pass protection for the most part was quite good. The backs picked up blitzes well, and I can only remember McElroy throwing one shaky pass.
The Tide faces North Texas next Saturday. I suspect the theme for the D this week will be making sure you're mentally focused.
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