🏈 Top 10 moments of 2014- Which is your most important?

[BAMANEWSBOT]

#10- Opening play against WVU

The record-breaking seasons for Alabama's Blake Sims and Amari Cooper began with a quick throw to the right side of the field on the Crimson Tide's first offensive play in a 33-23 season-opening win over West Virginia.

Sims, in his first career start at quarterback, got the ball out quickly. Cooper did the rest, getting a block from DeAndrew White and sprinting down the right sideline for a gain of 24 yards.

It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Cooper, a Heisman finalist, set an SEC record with 115 receptions, which went for 1,656 yards and he scored 14 touchdowns. All three marks were Alabama single-season records and he broke the Crimson Tide career records in those categories as well.

Most of the catches came from the arm of Sims, who broke Alabama's single-season passing record with 3,250 yards heading into the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.

The regular season - and the record-setting seasons for Sims and Cooper - started and ended at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, culminated by the Crimson Tide's SEC Championship win over Missouri.


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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#9- Derrick Henry breaks A&M



Coming off the 14-13 win at Arkansas, there was a degree of concern among the Alabama fan base. The Crimson Tide offense was struggling.

But, it turned out, Texas A&M was just the cure of the group that managed just 227 yards in Fayetteville. The final touchdown of the first half effectively put a bow on 30 minutes of offensive domination. It broke the already damaged spirit of a defense that eventually allowed 603 yards.

With 22 seconds left in the half, Derrick Henry caught what appeared to be an innocent short pass from Blake Sims. But he almost effortlessly took it 41 yards through the middle of the Texas A&M defense that had been gashed all afternoon.

This was supposed to be a huge matchup after two straight years of incredible Tide-Aggie matchups, but Henry's touchdown demoralized any hope A&M had left.

Alabama took a 45-0 halftime lead en route to the 59-0 final that brought the good vibes back after the Ole Miss loss and Arkansas escape.


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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#8 Offensive performance against Florida



Blake Sims can't throw the deep ball? That was debunked on the first play of the game in Alabama's 42-21 win over Florida in the fourth game of the season.

The play also showed some of offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin's creativity, as he sentKenyan Drake out in motion to the far right. Florida had a linebacker on Drake in man coverage and it was over. All Sims had to do was place the ball right on the money, which he did. Drake scored on the 87-yard reception.

"They hit a double move on a guy who bit on the double move," then-Florida head coach Will Muschamp said after the game.

It was part of a 445-yard, 4-touchdown day for Sims, who proved his worth as a passer when the playbook was opened.

"People have to respect him as a passer," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "He has made too many plays and too many good throws for people to not respect him as a passer."

Drake's season was cut short with a gruesome leg injury against Ole Miss in the fifth game, but he's already looking forward to spring practice. Drake had four rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns and complimented T.J. Yeldon andDerrick Henry's physical style with his speed and playmaking skills out of the backfield.


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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#7- Sugar Bowl loss brings new attitude.

It was something of a consolation prize, but it didn't do much to help at the time. After losing its shot at a third-straight BCS title, Alabama went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl without a championship at stake.

The 45-31 loss to Oklahoma ended the 2013 season on a down note, but it also sparked the motivation for 2014. A week after the bowl,photos of signs hanging in the Alabama locker room circulated on the web with a simple message.

"If you continue to do the same thing that you have always done you will get the same result. Guaranteed," it read.

In the wake of the loss, Nick Saban signed his new contract saying they would restart the Alabama program from scratch. The two losses exposed issues within the mindset of the team that had become too accustomed to winning and had lost its edge.

Move ahead to the fall and the 2014 team played with a different sense of urgency. After losing 23-17 at Ole Miss on Oct. 4, the fear of defeat gave way to a tougher mindset. The hunger was back and the 14-point loss in New Orleans was part of the new foundation.

Now Alabama has a shot to return to the scene of its first double-figure loss in three seasons. This time the stakes are back in the New Year's Day Sugar Bowl semifinal with No. 4 Ohio State.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

#6- BOT show commitment to Saban.

Alabama's head coach agreed to his new contract extension in late 2013, but details weren't finalized and approved by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees until early June.

The numbers - $6.5 million base per season with a $400,000 completion bonus equal $6.9 million per season and that's before performance bonuses kick in.

It easily makes Saban the highest paid coach in the country and the raise came after he made $5.5 million in 2013.

The motion to approve was passed unanimously by the board and it showed the commitment to keeping Saban in Tuscaloosa for the rest of his coaching career.

The eighth-year head coach leads the Crimson Tide into its chase for a fourth national championship under his watch with a Jan. 1 berth in the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.

The new contract, though, seemed like a new beginning for a head coach who has built such a powerhouse program in Tuscaloosa.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

#5- Loss to Ole Miss is a reality check.

Everything was humming right along when Alabama arrived in Oxford the first weekend of October. The offense hit its groove to close out September with a record-setting win over Florida.

But, in the first season of the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide lost its safety net in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The goalposts came down on a wild afternoon that saw the top-ranked team fall as its offense struggled.

After Christion Jones' fumble was converted into the go-ahead touchdown with 2:54 to play, Alabama had a shot at a quick drive to save the unblemished record. It worked a month later at LSU to force overtime, but this was different. After zipping down the field to the Ole Miss 22, Alabama was in striking distance. One play after O.J. Howard was flagged for holding when Blake Sims scrambled for a first down, the drive ended along with the game.

Ole Miss' Senquez Golson jumped over Howard's back in the end zone for the interception with 37 seconds left. A kneel down ended it, 23-17 Ole Miss. Alabama was left searching for answers after its third loss in the last seven games.

Nick Saban said the crowd impacted his team as their ability to win close games was questioned. Those answers would come over the next two months.

"Our leaders need to hold our heads up high and just show everybody on our team that we still have an opportunity to win a national championship," Sims said outside the locker room after the loss.

Turns out he was correct.

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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#4 Tide's 4th down conversion against Auburn

Alabama beat Auburn 55-44 in this year's Iron Bowl, and that's with the Tigers adding a late score to make it look respectable.

But remember that Auburn controlled the game offensively going into the third quarter. Alabama couldn't stop the deep ball, for one.

Faced with a 4th and 3, Blake Sims hitDeAndrew White on a flare to the short (right) side of the field and White barely got the first down to the Auburn 39. Alabama right tackle Austin Shepherd threw a key block. White went in motion from the right side and was in the backfield when Sims took the shotgun snap.

"I just tried to do what I could do," Sims said. "I got the ball to the open man and just got the first down."

One play later, Sims hit Amari Cooper for a 39-yard touchdown pass, cutting Auburn's lead to 33-27. Not getting that, or perhaps punting the ball away, and Auburn could have put the game away with the offensive momentum it had.

Instead, momentum started to swing in Alabama's favor and the Crimson Tide rolled.

"One of the things that comes into my mind when we make those kind of decisions is if we were playing really, really well on defense, I probably wouldn't have made that decision," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "But the fact is I thought we needed to score to change the momentum of the game - you have to take some chances. That was one that paid off for us, and I think it did change the game. I think it was a really big play for us."

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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#3: Sims scramble against LSU

Perhaps no moment threatened Alabama's season more than the final minute at LSU.

The loss at Ole Miss left the Crimson Tide with no margin for error, so trailing by a field goal with 50 seconds of the clock. The offense had sputtered all second half and the three timeouts were gone.

It was dire.

But it turned into Blake Sims' signature moment of his unexpected rise from backup to record-breaking passer. Leading the 9-play, 55-yard drive in less than a minute, Sims put Adam Griffith in position to kick the 27-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

That possession was in trouble in the early stages after a 6-yard completion to O.J. Howard and an incomplete pass to DeAndrew White. Third-and-4 from the Alabama 41 with :38 on the clock. The blitz came from Sims' blind side, so the former running back rolled to the wide side of the field and sprinted for the sideline.

Making two tacklers miss, he landed on the sideline at the 46-yard line eight seconds after the snap. First down, drive continues, Alabama was still breathing. Get stopped short in bounds and the clock rolls and the odds of it ending favorably drop off the table.

Instead, Sims went on to complete a 22-yard pass to Christion Jones and a 16-yarder to White setting up Griffith's game-tying field goal.

In overtime, White caught the eventual game-winning 6-yard catch in overtime on a play Sims changed at the line. Final score: Alabama 20, LSU 13.

"When we were in the huddle, I said 'Guys, this is the game,'" Sims said. "We can make history. We can sit down in December and watch other teams perform and get to the championship game, or we can do what we got to do."

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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#2- Kiffin is a difference maker.

Talk about a hire that made some noise.

In early January, Nick Saban made the hiring of Lane Kiffin to be his offensive coordinator after Doug Nussmeier left for Michigan.

Kiffin, who was fired as USC's head coach midway through the 2013 season, visited Alabama for Sugar Bowl practices. Kiffin had a rocky tenure as the Oakland Raiders head coach last decade and people in Tennessee still have a hard time forgiving him for departing Knoxville after just one season in 2009.

But Kiffin's offense took off for Alabama. Amari Cooper turned into a Heisman Trophy finalist and set school career and single-season records in several receiving categories. Blake Sims, once a running back, developed into a star quarterback in his first and only year as the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback.

Kiffin's offense is a primary reason Alabama is No. 1 heading into the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State on Jan. 1.

Alabama's offense averaged 490.5 yards per game, second in the SEC and 15th nationally. Alabama averaged 454.1 yards per game in 2013.

Nobody thought Kiffin could coexist with Saban. Well, nobody except Saban.

"What I knew I was getting is a very, very good coach, who does a great job with the players, is a great teacher," Saban said the day before the SEC Championship game. "He is exactly what I thought he was, does what I expected him to do. He's a really good play caller. He's done a great job for us this year.

"I think I got exactly what I expected. I don't think anybody else expected what I expected, to the point where I even got criticized for doing it by a lot of people. But I got what I expected. You all didn't get what you expected. That's what you really want to write about."

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[BAMANEWSBOT]

#1- Tide defensive line comes into its own

For a list of significant moments, touchdowns, interceptions and the visually spectacular plays get the glory.

For this ranking, we took a look outside the obvious. Sometimes the seemingly insignificant plays make the difference in a game and season.

Such is the case with Alabama in 2014. With 3:14 left in the first half at Arkansas, the Razorbacks scored the apparent game-tying touchdown. But the formality of the extra point was the issue. Tide defensive lineman Jonathan Allen got his paw up to deflect John Henson's try just enough to sail wide to the left. A 7-6 lead remained on a night light on offense.

"Brandon Ivory and A'Shawn (Robinson), they got push up front, so I give them a lot of credit," Allen said. "They're the ones who allowed me to get inside and get my hands up. So they deserve a lot of the credit. I got a little tip of it. Just enough of it to swing it to the left."

From there, Alabama's defense stuffed the Arkansas run game, the offense got just enough for the 14-13 win and the whole team found a renewed sense of urgency. A week earlier, its only loss of the regular season left the team facing two brutal months with zero room for error. Players said there was a fear of losing at Ole Miss, but they found the emotion and energy in a tight spot on a cool and rainy night in Fayetteville.

"The things we wanted to do today were to play harder than the other team, compete and be more relentless than the other team and do a better job of executing," Nick Saban said. "From an intangibles standpoint, our players played hard and overcame a lot of adversity."

The sideline almost emptied when Landon Collins all but sealed the win late in the fourth quarter with an interception. It was an outpouring that showed this group played with a little more excitement in the past.

It was the first of the eight straight wins Alabama needed to get to this point. The 14-13 final score was as ugly as it looks, but that missing point-after turned into the game winner on a night where the insignificant mattered.

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[BamaFan334]

Mine is when Sims starts to scramble. Won us a few games by his ability to escape a sack and take off for good yardage. You can't teach it and as we all saw, it saved our tails a few times.

 

[sean]

the most important play to me was the blocked pat we had at arkansas.

that allowed us to win the game by one point and thus get us back on the winning track and put the ole miss loss behind us.

 

[TerryP]

the most important play to me was the blocked pat we had at arkansas.

that allowed us to win the game by one point and thus get us back on the winning track and put the ole miss loss behind us.

Agreed.

It's a neat little side story in my eyes. In years past we always looked at the Arkansas game—normally our first SEC game of the season—as the defining game on what kind of team we'd field each season. It was the third SEC game this year after a SEC loss and it carries the same definition.

On a separate note: If you read around the 'net on other fans opinions of the Tide in 2014 a lot of them point to Arkansas as well. Those fans are using that game as something to point to in listing the way to beat the Tide. There's some truth there.

Yet, they seem to be missing the point we're seeing—the team grew up that Saturday. If you think about it, it's very similar to the 2009 game against Tennessee.

 

[UAgrad93]

I think that Arky game is when you saw the "emotion" switch kick on and CNS let it stay on. Our guys have played with more energy and emotion ever since. That blocked PAT scratched the surface, but it was Landon's pick that sealed it.

 

[planomateo]

Not to mention, Coach Saban having the teams back like he did when the reporters asked about the 1 point difference. I'm sure this paid some dividends with the team.

 

[eatidefan]

Not just a moment.....but an experience.....season tickets for the family....tailgating with family and friends......old and new.....
My first iron bowl in a lot of years my family there to experience it all......Roll Tide Everyone

 

[alabama mike]

Although it is not one of the choices given, I'd have to say the win at Arkansas. Arky played well, we didn't and we could have easily folded the tent on the season. The young men grew up that day IMO.