BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Prior to Tennessee facing Alabama last week, Vols coach Butch Jones said of the Tide during his opening statement of a mid-week conference call, "I feel they may be playing the best football of any team in the country."
A fatigued Alabama team that was playing its eighth game in as many weeks narrowly escaped with a 19-14 win over Tennessee days later. Still, this is a different, clearly better Tide team than the one that lost to Ole Miss Sept. 19.
Following the loss to the Rebels, there were several national writers that wrote that Alabama's "dynasty" appeared to be nearing an end.
Clay Travis of Fox Sports said at the time, "Great teams rarely, if ever, lose. Alabama's just a good football team. The rest of the SEC has caught up with Alabama and Nick Saban, particularly Saban's defense. Alabama built its dynasty on defense, and the simple fact is Saban's defense is downright ordinary now."
The defense wasn't the problem, though.
Yes, Ole Miss scored 43 points. But there was a fluky play that produced a 66-yard touchdown — a short throw into a congested area that bounced off of a Tide player and was caught by a Rebels receiver, who ran the rest of the way for the score.
There was also a controversial 73-yard touchdown — a pass from quarterback Chad Kelly to receiver Cody Core that Kelly got off barely before crossing the line of scrimmage. That was a product of a breakdown in coverage.
Excluding those two plays, Ole Miss' offense posted just 294 yards.
Through eight games, Alabama ranks sixth nationally in total defense, limiting opponents to an average of 275.8 yards per game.
Since the loss to Ole Miss, the Tide have allowed an average of just 12.2 points during their last five games.
Not exactly ordinary.
But probably the biggest difference between current Alabama and the Tide team that lost to Ole Miss is at quarterback.
Alabama was still undecided on its long-term starting quarterback as recently as the week leading up to the matchup with the Rebels.
Jake Coker and Cooper Bateman each saw time during the Tide's first two games. Bateman then started against Ole Miss before Coker essentially won the job with his play after entering late in the first half.
Through at least those first three games, the position was a weakness.
In addition to other issues, Coker and Bateman threw a combined five interceptions during the first three games. There were other passes that even Saban said should have been intercepted.
Since that point, Coker has developed into a viable starter, making plays that have helped Alabama win five straight games by an average margin of 19.8 points despite facing two teams — Georgia and Texas A&M — that were ranked in the top-10 at the time the Tide played them.
Coker has completed 70 percent of his passes (92 of 132) in the last five games while throwing for an average of 199 yards per game.
He has thrown four interceptions, but has six touchdown passes, including a go-ahead 81-yard scoring pass to receiver Calvin Ridley late in the third quarter of the Tide's 27-14 win over Arkansas Oct. 10.
Coker has also proven to be a capable runner, regularly escaping sacks and scrambling and powering for positive yardage.
Not counting runs or sacks that resulted in lost yardage, Coker has rushed for 184 yards and has two rushing touchdowns.
He had a 26-yard scramble against Ole Miss and a 16-yard run vs. Texas A&M that ended with Coker running over an Aggies defensive back.
Alabama teammates have been calling Coker — among other things — "Baby Roethlisberger" and "Vanilla Vick."
Even against Tennessee, Coker played "fantastic," according to Saban, despite being under constant pressure.
He threw an interception during the first half. Aside from that one throw, he was 21 of 26 for 247 yards, including 11 of 13 for 154 yards in the second half and 6 of 7 for 96 yards during the fourth quarter.
The Tide's offensive line remains a question mark. Alabama ranks seventh-worst nationally with eight tackles for a loss allowed per game. Tennessee had 10 stops for a loss, five sacks and two additional quarterback hurries.
However, Alabama has moved back up to No. 7 in both polls and re-established itself as a legitimate national championship contender behind its defense, a Heisman Trophy contender at running back (Derrick Henry) and an improved passing game led by Coker.
"We're not worried about the outside stuff," senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said last week. "We're just worried about each other on the inside and getting better each week. Ever since we're doing that, the team's been a whole lot better. The team is communicating better. The [defensive backs] are unbelievable, and the guys up front are doing their jobs. The offense is coming along. Everybody's just doing their job. That's the main thing. Once we do our job, we're a hard team to be beat."
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A fatigued Alabama team that was playing its eighth game in as many weeks narrowly escaped with a 19-14 win over Tennessee days later. Still, this is a different, clearly better Tide team than the one that lost to Ole Miss Sept. 19.
Following the loss to the Rebels, there were several national writers that wrote that Alabama's "dynasty" appeared to be nearing an end.
Clay Travis of Fox Sports said at the time, "Great teams rarely, if ever, lose. Alabama's just a good football team. The rest of the SEC has caught up with Alabama and Nick Saban, particularly Saban's defense. Alabama built its dynasty on defense, and the simple fact is Saban's defense is downright ordinary now."
The defense wasn't the problem, though.
Yes, Ole Miss scored 43 points. But there was a fluky play that produced a 66-yard touchdown — a short throw into a congested area that bounced off of a Tide player and was caught by a Rebels receiver, who ran the rest of the way for the score.
There was also a controversial 73-yard touchdown — a pass from quarterback Chad Kelly to receiver Cody Core that Kelly got off barely before crossing the line of scrimmage. That was a product of a breakdown in coverage.
Excluding those two plays, Ole Miss' offense posted just 294 yards.
Through eight games, Alabama ranks sixth nationally in total defense, limiting opponents to an average of 275.8 yards per game.
Since the loss to Ole Miss, the Tide have allowed an average of just 12.2 points during their last five games.
Not exactly ordinary.
But probably the biggest difference between current Alabama and the Tide team that lost to Ole Miss is at quarterback.
Alabama was still undecided on its long-term starting quarterback as recently as the week leading up to the matchup with the Rebels.
Jake Coker and Cooper Bateman each saw time during the Tide's first two games. Bateman then started against Ole Miss before Coker essentially won the job with his play after entering late in the first half.
Through at least those first three games, the position was a weakness.
In addition to other issues, Coker and Bateman threw a combined five interceptions during the first three games. There were other passes that even Saban said should have been intercepted.
Since that point, Coker has developed into a viable starter, making plays that have helped Alabama win five straight games by an average margin of 19.8 points despite facing two teams — Georgia and Texas A&M — that were ranked in the top-10 at the time the Tide played them.
Coker has completed 70 percent of his passes (92 of 132) in the last five games while throwing for an average of 199 yards per game.
He has thrown four interceptions, but has six touchdown passes, including a go-ahead 81-yard scoring pass to receiver Calvin Ridley late in the third quarter of the Tide's 27-14 win over Arkansas Oct. 10.
Coker has also proven to be a capable runner, regularly escaping sacks and scrambling and powering for positive yardage.
Not counting runs or sacks that resulted in lost yardage, Coker has rushed for 184 yards and has two rushing touchdowns.
He had a 26-yard scramble against Ole Miss and a 16-yard run vs. Texas A&M that ended with Coker running over an Aggies defensive back.
Alabama teammates have been calling Coker — among other things — "Baby Roethlisberger" and "Vanilla Vick."
Even against Tennessee, Coker played "fantastic," according to Saban, despite being under constant pressure.
He threw an interception during the first half. Aside from that one throw, he was 21 of 26 for 247 yards, including 11 of 13 for 154 yards in the second half and 6 of 7 for 96 yards during the fourth quarter.
The Tide's offensive line remains a question mark. Alabama ranks seventh-worst nationally with eight tackles for a loss allowed per game. Tennessee had 10 stops for a loss, five sacks and two additional quarterback hurries.
However, Alabama has moved back up to No. 7 in both polls and re-established itself as a legitimate national championship contender behind its defense, a Heisman Trophy contender at running back (Derrick Henry) and an improved passing game led by Coker.
"We're not worried about the outside stuff," senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said last week. "We're just worried about each other on the inside and getting better each week. Ever since we're doing that, the team's been a whole lot better. The team is communicating better. The [defensive backs] are unbelievable, and the guys up front are doing their jobs. The offense is coming along. Everybody's just doing their job. That's the main thing. Once we do our job, we're a hard team to be beat."
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