Saturday marks the next "the biggest game" of Alabama's year, and with that in mind please allow me to opine.
One thing I do week to week is compare games our current opponent has played against teams that we have played. I know it is not an exact science--that it doesn't account for intangibles such as the intricacies of rivalries, a team's perception of a perceived weaker opponent, etc--but I believe there is something to be gained from rooting around in a season's history.
For example, going into Dearth Valley our common opponents with LSU at that point in the season was Florida and Ole Miss.
LSU beat Florida 30 to 27, and this led me to believe that LSU's defense was not what it has been in past years. We beat Florida 42 to 21. All of Florida's points, of course, came as a result of Alabama turnovers in their territory. We have improved significantly in this area, so I considered the score as actually 42 to 0. Florida was dominated on both sides of the ball.
LSU beat Ole Sister 10 to 7, and the old hag, of course beat us 23 to 17. I'm still convinced that we were the better team in Oxford that day, but the jitters got the best of us. Be that as it may, we scored 17 points on a defense that held LSU to 7.
After examining our common opponents, I expected Alabama to win comfortably at LSU, provided they showed up with their A-game.
Their A-game was, of course, left in the locker room until overtime, and until then the guys played like bulimic teenagers after a purge.
Now Mississippi State is upon us, the number one ranked team in the country. Our common SEC opponents with them are LSU, TAM, and Arkansas.
LSU lost to State 34 to 29. This was earlier in the season (week four) and if played now, due to the improvement of LSU, I believe the outcome would have been different. Either way, LSU scored 29 points against State's so called psycho defense. The kitty's scored a paltry 13 against the Redwood Forest, and three of those came after a Yeldon fumble at the LSU five yard-line.
TAM (week five) scored 31 points in their loss to state. Against the Tide TAM scored...need I say more?
States week eight game against Arkansas was more impressive then our week six game against the Hogs. State won by seven. However, Alabama was still growing and it was Sims' first road game of significance. I may be entirely subjective here, but Alabama is significantly better than Arkansas and should have come out Fayetteville with a convincing win. Alabama has, in my opinion, improved tremendously week to week.
With all that said, I feel good about Alabama with the number one team coming to Tuscaloosa. Offensively and defensively we are the better team, hands down.
My main concern about this game is we're playing them after a brutal game at Dearth Valley. Remember the State game last year? We went into Starkville the week after LSU was in town, and it took awhile for the offense to get going. We were a 26 point (?) favorite going into that game, and we won 20 to 7. And Prescott wasn't the opposing quarterback.
We are favored by 6.5 points (?) in this game, but if we go into next week lethargic like last year the outcome could be different. State is hungry and we can expect them to come in firing on all cylinders.
One thing I do week to week is compare games our current opponent has played against teams that we have played. I know it is not an exact science--that it doesn't account for intangibles such as the intricacies of rivalries, a team's perception of a perceived weaker opponent, etc--but I believe there is something to be gained from rooting around in a season's history.
For example, going into Dearth Valley our common opponents with LSU at that point in the season was Florida and Ole Miss.
LSU beat Florida 30 to 27, and this led me to believe that LSU's defense was not what it has been in past years. We beat Florida 42 to 21. All of Florida's points, of course, came as a result of Alabama turnovers in their territory. We have improved significantly in this area, so I considered the score as actually 42 to 0. Florida was dominated on both sides of the ball.
LSU beat Ole Sister 10 to 7, and the old hag, of course beat us 23 to 17. I'm still convinced that we were the better team in Oxford that day, but the jitters got the best of us. Be that as it may, we scored 17 points on a defense that held LSU to 7.
After examining our common opponents, I expected Alabama to win comfortably at LSU, provided they showed up with their A-game.
Their A-game was, of course, left in the locker room until overtime, and until then the guys played like bulimic teenagers after a purge.
Now Mississippi State is upon us, the number one ranked team in the country. Our common SEC opponents with them are LSU, TAM, and Arkansas.
LSU lost to State 34 to 29. This was earlier in the season (week four) and if played now, due to the improvement of LSU, I believe the outcome would have been different. Either way, LSU scored 29 points against State's so called psycho defense. The kitty's scored a paltry 13 against the Redwood Forest, and three of those came after a Yeldon fumble at the LSU five yard-line.
TAM (week five) scored 31 points in their loss to state. Against the Tide TAM scored...need I say more?
States week eight game against Arkansas was more impressive then our week six game against the Hogs. State won by seven. However, Alabama was still growing and it was Sims' first road game of significance. I may be entirely subjective here, but Alabama is significantly better than Arkansas and should have come out Fayetteville with a convincing win. Alabama has, in my opinion, improved tremendously week to week.
With all that said, I feel good about Alabama with the number one team coming to Tuscaloosa. Offensively and defensively we are the better team, hands down.
My main concern about this game is we're playing them after a brutal game at Dearth Valley. Remember the State game last year? We went into Starkville the week after LSU was in town, and it took awhile for the offense to get going. We were a 26 point (?) favorite going into that game, and we won 20 to 7. And Prescott wasn't the opposing quarterback.
We are favored by 6.5 points (?) in this game, but if we go into next week lethargic like last year the outcome could be different. State is hungry and we can expect them to come in firing on all cylinders.
