“We kept punching them, but we were also punching ourselves.”
That quote pretty much sums up the entire first half of Alabama’s season opener against Virginia Tech in Atlanta. It’s not that Alabama played horribly – in fact the defense looked very solid and the offense made a few very nice plays – but a half filled with penalties, mental lapses, and stalled drives had many Bama fans wondering “wtf?” But whatever the problem was in the first half, the coaching staff solved it during half time. While we still didn’t do a whole lot on offense during the 3rd quarter, the defense stood strong and we quit making the costly self-imposed mistakes that were such a problem in the first half. I realize Upchurch fumbled the ball on what would have been a long touchdown run during the 3rd, but it wasn’t his fault – he was holding the ball just as he’s supposed to in the open field – the defender just made a spectacular “dive-and-strip”. It happens. The 4th quarter on the other hand, undoubtedly belonged to the Crimson Tide: we ran 20 plays, held the ball for 10 minutes, gained 180 yards compared to VT’s 50, and most importantly – outscored VT 18-7. I’m sure Coach Saban and Coach Cochran, the strength and conditioning coach, were extremely pleased with the way Alabama finished off the game in the 4th quarter.
In case you’ve been living in a cave, #5 Alabama ended up beating #7 Virginia Tech 34-24 at the Georgia Dome. This is the second straight season opening victory over a preseason ACC favorite for Alabama. And though the score was a little closer this year and the game wasn’t nearly as easy on the blood-pressure, one could argue that the statistics show that Alabama beat VT worse than they beat Clemson last year. But it’s obvious that VT is a better team this year than Clemson was last year, so what does that say about this year’s Tide?
Here’s what I gleamed from Alabama’s first game:
Defense? Check…
The 2009 version of Alabama’s defense is as advertised – if not better. Last year Alabama had the nation’s #2 rush defense and the #3 overall defense, and if the VT game is any indication – this year’s D will be even better.
Running backs? Check…
No disrespect intended toward the recently departed Glen Coffee (I love the guy and look forward to watching him tear through those NFL defenses with the 49ers), but it appears that we’re going to be just fine without him. Ingram has shown that he is more than capable of taking over the starting job by rolling up a career high 150 rushing yards PLUS 35 receiving yards against one of the nation’s toughest defenses. Furthermore, Roy Upchurch showed that he doesn’t plan to simply come in when Ingram is tired – he showed that he deserves to take some serious snaps by rocking out 90 yards on only 7 carries. And right behind him is the highly touted freshman, Trent Richardson, who Saban expects to be a serious contributor. If you were worried about a drop off at the RB position – don’t be. Alabama should be receiving very steady output from these guys.
Receivers? Check…
Julio Jones.
Need I say more? Probably not, but I will anyway…
Before the season everyone was saying that another receiver needed to step up in order to dissuade teams from doubling up on Julio and to punish the teams that double him up anyway. But what’s better than just one receiver stepping up? Well…take a look: Maze had 2 catches for 57 yards. Hanks had 3 for 55 yards. TE Colin Peek had 3 for 37 yards. And Ingram had 3 for 35 yards. Count it. That’s FOUR different players with at least 35 yards receiving. Five players once you throw in Julio’s 4 catches for 46 yards. Go ahead and double whoever you want – we’ll just burn you with someone else.
And that’s not even including senior Mike McCoy and junior Earl Alexander who contributed last year. AND we’re still forgetting sophomore Brandon Gibson and fresmen Kevin Norwood, Kendally Kelly, Michael Bowman, and Kenny Bell who are all highly touted. Receivers? Pssh…we got receivers.
O-line? Check…
The offensive line, consisting of three new starters, is going to be just fine. In the second half of the VT game, they not only proved that they are capable of opening up holes and protecting the QB, but, maybe even more importantly, they proved that they are mentally tough enough to do so even after a poor first half. That’s an impressive attribute in general, but even more so for an O-line with three first-time starters. Do they still have work to do? Most certainly. But I firmly believe that they’ll be ready by the time we open up the SEC schedule against Arkansas in week four.
Quarterback? Check…
Everything I said about the offensive line could similarly be applied to the new starting QB. McElroy seemed to let his emotions get the best of him in the first half, resulting in only 6 completions and 1 interception out of 18 attempts. But before you start calling for his head like some of my less-football-educated friends did, consider the facts:
- The offensive line did not play very well in the first half. They weren’t opening up holes for the RBs at all, which allowed VT to focus on the passing game a little more than they probably expected.
- Again, the offensive line did not play very well in the first half. They didn’t allow McElroy very much time in the pocket, and that’s definitely not something you want for a QBs first start.
- Alabama’s game plan originally involved a lot of passes to their best receiver, Julio Jones. Since Julio can catch just about anything you throw at him and never goes down on first contact, this was supposed to make McElroy’s first start as simple as possible. Unfortunately, VT’s game plan involved doing everything possible to keep the ball out of Julio’s hands. He was rarely covered by less than two defenders at any point in the first half. Combine this with the poor offensive line and there’s no wonder McElroy started to panic a little – which lead to him trying to scramble for yards on his own which often ended in McElroy taking a hit.
- But the first half was not all bad news. McElroy was able to fight through the adversity and lead the team on what should have been two scores for their last two drives of the first half: an 11 play, 76 yard touchdown drive followed by a 1-minute-drill 60 yard drive that ended the half with a missed field goal.
Despite struggling in the first half, McElroy was sensational in the second half. He was 9 for 12 (including a pass that was flat out dropped) with a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion. He went through his progressions, accurately spread the ball around, and made smart decisions. So don’t worry, he’ll definitely do at least as well as JPW did last year. And my money says that he’ll do even better.
Final Grade:
So no, Alabama’s first game of the 2009 season wasn’t perfect – in fact it was far from it. But despite what the scoreboard says, anyone who was there could testify to the fact that Alabama dominated the game from start to finish. Even some of the VT fans that I passed along the way out of the stadium admitted that Alabama deserved the victory. But I think that it was a good thing that the game was as close as it was. It shows our guys that teams can and will take advantage of every single mistake that we make, and that no matter how good we are, we are capable of being beat on any given Saturday. Another benefit reaped from such a tough season opener is that we got a very good look at what we need to work on the most. Coach Saban will now have two games against relatively easy opponents that he can use to smooth out any of those rough spots he saw during the VT game. That spells bad news for the rest of the SEC…
Here’s a highlight video of Bama’s 34-24 victory over VT.
Hey Hokies!
College Gameday review and interview with Coach Saban (Saban’s interview starts at about 3:10 in the video)
For the Fans - by a Fan 