Bluedog Limited

Alabama is now firmly seated as the National Champs.  Roll Tide!!  Congrats to Bama and Texas for playing a great game.

I've been watching and reading as many clips and news stories as I could possible get my hands on via that little thing called the internet.  Living up here in the Pacific Northwest in Pac-10 country, football news is kinda of hard to come by... football is not nearly front and center as it is in the South.  Nonetheless, I've been trying my best all these years to follow the Tide. 

The Tide has gone through a championship drought.  We had faced dark times brought on by stupid coaching decisions that led to probation, bad hiring decisions (remember Price?), etc, etc. 

I was a senior in undergrad when Alabama played Miami in New Orleans.  I clearly remember being the underdog.  Miami was going to be too hot for Bama.  Their passing attack was unstoppable.  Bama was too slow.  Well, Bama crushed Miami - we stacked 11 on the defensive line taunting Gino to throw, we ran down their fastest guys, we pressed the QB the entire evening... George Teague's famous rundown, strip, and return is forever etched in my mind.  Definitely memorable times...

Hard to believe it took 17 years before Bama would return to the pinnacle of college football. 

What a fun year 2009 has been.  We watched the Tide grow stronger, more confident, more refined.  We watched the defense become a mauling machine that seriously changed many games...

First, a review of the Championship Game...

The game was fun and frustrating.

 

Fun because Alabama won.  Fun because there were a few key plays that really changed the dynamics of the game.  Fun because Alabama proved to be the better team.

 

Frustrating because Alabama made some crucial mistakes at the start and they played too conservatively in the third quarter.

 

For example, the fake punt would have been absolutely amazing... if the throw was deep enough.  It wasn't.  It set up Texas for their first score.  Saving grace: the defense.

 

Confusion on the ensuing kick-off was the next gaffe.  It was clear to me that the team has a little unfocused.  Perhaps the noise, the long layoff since the SEC championship game, something was not letting the team settle in.

 

The fog had to lift. 

 

And it did.  The second quarter the team focused and started to wear down Texas.  The first half ended in spectacular fashion. 

 

Perhaps too much so... they let off the gas in the 3rd quarter.  Maybe it was an attempt to just run down the clock ... maybe it was an attempt to not completely run up the score ... maybe they already felt they had won the game... I'm not sure.  Either way, the play in the 3rd quarter was uncharacteristic of the Tide.  They slowed down enough to give Texas a chance to get back into the game.  Texas persevered; they capitalized on the Bama's change of pace.

 

In the end, we reclaimed the 2 touchdowns that Texas garned in the 3rd and 4th quarters.  The hits were really good, the defensive coverage was good, and the running game was steady. 

 

It would have been nice to see Alabama play as the absolutely precise machine as we saw in the game against Florida.  It would have been nice to see Greg throw more, to see Julio and Marquis in action. Nonetheless, it was a good game.  Hats off to Texas for not crying about the injury and pulling together as a team to make the game interesting.

• Florida: Hands down the best game of the year was the Florida game.  Texas was interesting; The Florida game was personal.  No one forgot the fourth quarter of 2008 SEC Championship game. Everyone played in their top form.  The team was solidly focused and a well-oiled machine went to work.
  
• Auburn: If you're from the state of Alabama, you know what I'm talking about.  On a bad year, heck any year, your goal is beat the Other team. Aside from the standard rivalry, the game was great because Alabama's offense finally came together.  The last drive was a sign of the what was to come in the Florida game.
  
• Tennessee: What more can you say about Mount Cody and his two blocked field goals?  Talk about edge of heartache and agony... all the way over to pure elation.
  
• Virginia Tech: First question of the game - who is the kid replacing John Parker Wilson?  Holy smokes!  Alabama has an air attack! VT was the first of many tests ... what a great way to start the season.