Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

It got pretty smoky in the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium last night. 

I enjoyed seeing that even though I'm no fan of second-hand smoke. 

What a pick-six at the end of the first half. I had a feeling they were going to pass at the goal-line because Greg McElroy kept talking about how they ran the ball over 90% near the goal. 

And Zabien Brown ran it back for a score for 99 yards. That was a feat of glory. 

Ryan Williams reemerged as a playmaker this game, which was good to see. He and Bernard led receivers with five receptions each. 

Miller played in the game, which was a bit surprising because he suffered a concussion against Mizzou. However, Alabama couldn't do much on the ground until later in the game when Daniel Hill played quite a bit. 

Hill needs more work at tailback. 

Ty Simpson had another solid game. He wasn't spectacular, but he was dang good. 

Overall, the Tide held a very good offense to a mere 20 points. That was a welcome sight.  

Next up is a trip to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina. They're unranked, but they are dangerous. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

That is three frustrating games in a row in which the massive talent that Alabama has on its roster did not come through. 

Three is a row is a trend. 

Milroe, who was a Heisman hopeful, was inconsistent as Hell. The interception in the end zone was just, flat out, a bad throw. He should do better than that. 

While Bernard caught some passes, Milroe has to get other receivers involved other than Ryan Williams. 

The defense played well in the first half, but as we've seen before, after the half the other team made some adjustments, and the Tide didn't seem to do the same. 

I don't know what Alabama will drop down to rankings wise, but the coaching staff has to right the ship because all those penalties are inexcusable. 

Get it together. 

Of the teams I hate Alabama losing to, the Volunteers is one of the top ones. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

The first half of this game made my dog go into hiding in our walk-in closet because I was yelling so often in anger at the TV. 

Then Mrs. Nasty and I went to a retirement party for her former boss, so I only followed the game via my cell phone in the second half. When we got back, I watched the second half.

And what a second half it was. Tennessee didn't score, and Alabama scored 27 points. 

As crappy as Alabama's offense and defense were in the first half, they really got their shit together in the second half. 

The defense played like I expected them to do. 

The offense played much better because of the offensive line, and the OC ran more designed runs for Milroe, which I think is key to keeping opposing defenses off kilter. 

Another key was that Alabama only had one penalty. 

I'm hoping the bye week helps Alabama focus on playing a complete game because they'll need it when LSU comes to town in two weeks. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

I still haven't watched the game because the weekend was spent traveling to and from a baseball tournament. 

Yesterday I did get to hear the last half of the fourth quarter though as I was driving home after our two pool-play games. 

It's hard to win a game with 17 freaking penalties, but Alabama almost did. If Reichard made his kick, we're having a somewhat different conversation about the game.

However, the conversation about how the defense needs to get its shit together is a conversation to be had regardless of win or loss. 

One matter remains consistent though. I hate Tennessee. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

If Alabama would have been doing what they should have been doing on defense, Tennessee should have only scored 3 points. 

But because of two plays when the safety was playing way too shallow, the Vols scored two touchdowns. And then Jobe got burned on a go route because he wasn't ready for the snap. 

I get that Tennessee runs an ultra-quick offense that creates those kind of mistakes, but the Tide should have been ready for that hurry-up modus operandi. 

Regardless, Alabama dropped 52 points on Tennessee. 

Robinson had over a hundred yards rushing. I would have liked to have seen more of a joyless murderball running attack, but that didn't happen. 

Both Metchie and Williams had over a hundred yards of pass receiving. 

Among the top five tacklers in the game, three were linebackers: Anderson, Harris and To'o To'o. That's a good sign. And Phil Mathis had a solid game. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

 After the game ended, I was hankering for a cigar. 

I followed the game via ESPN Gamecast during my son's doubleheader on a chilly day in central Illinois. So when we got back from Decatur, the game was almost over, and I watched the DVR recording of the game. 

Losing Waddle is huge blow to the offense. He does so much, and he's arguably the most explosive player in college football. 

Slade Bolden filled in well for him, but he's no Waddle. No one is. 

The new ad hoc trio of receivers seems to be Smith, Metchie, and now Bolden. But others, the youngsters will have to step up. 

Mac Jones played fantastically. Again. 

Najee Harris, Brian Robinson, and Trey Sanders toted the rock admirably. 

And the defense got stops. 

That's all they need to do: get stops. 

Tennessee has a very good offensive line, but I'm still concerned that the Tide is not getting the kind of pash rush we fans have become accustomed to. 

Let's hope the offense keeps doing its thing and the defense continues to improve. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

The big news of course is that Tua didn't play the majority of the game. He'll be out vs. Arkansas because he has a high ankle sprain. 

So Mac Jones came in and looked pretty dang nervous early on. Then it looked like he got his legs under him a bit and played much better. 

The Tide relied upon the ground game, which was something different this season. Both Harris and Robinson had good games, with Harris gaining 105 net yards on 21 carries. But the offense did pass for 233 yards. 

Interestingly, if we are to go by Coach Saban's mantra about having "balance" on offense, the Tide did exactly that: 233 yards rushing and 233 yards passing. 

Overall though, I think the team needs to tighten up their defense even more. Lewis once again stood out as a performer, but I'd like to see more production from the defensive linemen. 

But like I said, next up is a squad of Razorbacks.

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

I was kind of surprised the yearly tradition of Alabama playing Tennessee was televised on the CBS afternoon game because the Tide were heavy favorites, but I guess CBS hadn't had the Crimson Tide for a game yet this season, so they went with the traditional rivalry. 

Cigars were smoked after this one. 

What I found surprising in the game plan for Alabama is that Damien Harris, one of the leaders of the team, didn't play much. Josh Jacobs started the game, and if remember right, Najee Harris was the second back in the game. There is bound to be some speculation on InteWeb message boards about all that, but maybe the offensive coordinator wanted to try a different rotation for whatever reason? Or maybe Damien is banged up a bit? I don't know. 

Hurts gave up a bizarre interception, but he looked good once again in a backup role. By the time he was in the game, the Tide offense was trying not to be jerks. So it was run play this way and run play that way. The game got pretty boring toward the end. 

I suspect the game in Baton Rouge will not boring in two weeks. Both teams have byes before they play.

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

Damn, I wanted a shut out, but one of the Volunteer defenders got a pick-six and spoiled my wishes. 

Sorry about getting this out late. My posting schedule got a bit jacked up because of The Walking Dead's first episode of the season. 

Nevertheless, Alabama played one heck of a game even though Tennessee's defense did some good work at points in the game. 

Tua got to play with the 1s, so that was a good sign. Hurts got pulled relatively early, and a number of younger players got playing time. 

Damien Harris was a beast again, and it was good to see Hentges and Smith (both TEs) get some looks in the passing game. 

On defense, Buggs, Evans, and Wallace had great games. 

Next up is the bye week before the Crimson Tide takes on LSU. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

Ass-whoopin'. 

Taken out behind the woodshed.

Total domination. 

That's what that game was. 

Besides a brutal sack that made Hurts cough up the football and then the Tennessee offense had a short field to score, the Vol offense didn't do much yesterday. They only managed 11 first downs, 32 net yards rushing, and 131 net yards passing. 

The Crimson Tide ran the ball well with Hurts being the leading rusher: 132 net yards and 3 touchdowns. Scarbrough contributed 109 yards with one huge run for a score, and Harris provided 94 net yards. 

From the look of it, the running game has gone back to having three solid contributors at running back (Harris, Scarbrough, and Jacobs), which reminds me of the running trio of 2009: Ingram, Richardson, and Upchurch. However, Hurts is a clear threat to defenses. That's a wrinkle we saw when Blake Sims was QB. 

Hurts needs to improve as a passer. He missed some guys yesterday, and Saban was quite vocal about getting better in that phase of the game. 

Next up is Texas A&M, a really good team. 

Sunday Hangover: Arkansas

The Tide offense pretty much did whatever they wanted against the Razorbacks. 

On the first series of the game, Alabama marched right down the field, but Jacobs fumbled after being clocked on his funny bone. He was cleared to come back in the game in the second half, but the coaching staff held him out. As a result, Damien Harris rushed for 122 yards, and Scarbrough got more playing time. He gained 58 yards on 7 carries. 

It was great having Stewart back. He had an outstanding game in receiving. Hurts also hit TEs Howard and Forristall for long gains, but the balls were a bit behind them. If they would have been thrown more accurately, both might have gone to the house on those plays. 

The D played great at times, but in some series, Austin Allen carved up the secondary with accurate throws. Cornelius is the Razorbacks' best receiver, and he had 146 yards receiving. How he had that good of a game is disconcerting. 

If Alabama wants to beat Tennessee next Saturday, the Tide's passing defense will need to be much better. 

Sunday Hangover: Tennessee

It was the Amari Cooper show again. He earned a school record for the most receiving yards last night with 9 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns. The first touchdown was on the first play of the game for 80 yards. 

The Crimson Tide started out the game throttling the Vols, but then Tennessee got it together and found a quarterback in Joshua Dobbs, a dual-threat QB who ran for 100 yards. 

I was surprised the Alabama D didn't get more sacks last night with Tennessee's makeshift OLine. However, they did have 7 tackles for loss to go with 2 sacks. 

Yet again there was some sloppiness from Alabama with two fumbles, one of which was deep in Tennessee territory that thankfully only led to a field goal. 

The running game was mediocre to Alabama standards. Yeldon seemed off last night, Henry was good, and Sims had some key runs/scrambles on third down. 

The Crimson Tide will need to get healthy, clean up their game, and get their rushing D ready because the next game in two weeks will probably be a night game at LSU, a team that knocked off Ole Miss last night. 

A significant injury in last night's game was starting left tackle Cam Robinson suffering a high-ankle sprain. He's probably the best offensive lineman on the team. 

LSU played a heck of a game last night. The Crimson Tide will need to play cleaner offense along with much stronger defense when they travel to Baton Rouge.