The University of Alabama Football and Crimson Tide Sports Source
April 26, 2024
December 13, 2014
Moving Right Along
Alabama has taken care of business after a nasty spill in Oxford, Mississippi. For a while the state of Mississippi was in ascendency and the Tide was on the outside looking in. Fortunately it’s a long season and Alabama had the time and the team to right the ship. Ole Miss lost and Alabama took care of Mississippi State and a very inspired Auburn team.
The Tide took their number one ranking into the SEC championship game and after a struggle polished off Missouri. Now bigger game is on the horizon as the Tide enters the first round of the playoff, which begins New Years Day. All in all it’s pretty heady stuff for a team that was written off after the Ole Miss game.
After that loss in Oxford the team wasn’t just written off the whole notion of Alabama as a football power was written off. The king is dead. Long live the king. This could have been 2010 – instead it was kind of 1992, but it was really 2014. This is a remarkable Alabama team that does not resemble any team that Nick Saban has coached at Alabama and I don’t remember a Paul Bryant team like this.
This team is unique in that it seems to be very adaptable. I believe the new offensive coordinator has had a lot to do with that. Lane Kiffin wasn’t exactly a household word in the SEC. Many people chuckled when he was fired in the parking lot in LA. The little punk got what he deserved. There was a lot of bluster when Saban hired him. I for one figured Saban knew what he was doing. Turns out he did.
I thought Kiffin deserved the Broyles Trophy. Then again Tom Herman has pretty much worked miracles in Columbus. Down to his third sting quarterback his team pummeled Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. Not bad.
As far as awards go I honestly thought Blake Sims should have been in the first string quarterback on the all-SEC team. Yeah, I know Dak Prescott is a more physically gifted athlete, but that really doesn’t matter in this case. Blake Sims is the main reason Alabama is where it is right now. Without him this simply would not have happened. I honestly thought Sims should have been the SEC Player of the year.
I think Saban should have won some sort of coach of the year award. That’s not going to happen unless they win everything and maybe not then. There’s this perception that Saban just shows up with all his 5-star players and wins games. Coaching we don’t need no stinking coaching. Say what you will this team has been molded.
Saban found a way to motivate these guys. They are now playing with a chip on their collective shoulder. The still have issues a cornerback. The line is still not the best one in college football. They have a mutt at quarterback – OK yeah they have a wide receiver that will play in the NFL for a long time. They have a couple of good running backs and the best coach in the country. All of that said they could have imploded after the Ole Miss game.
Instead they found a way in Fayetteville, destroyed Texas A&M and just kept winning – that all counts for something. How far can they go. Well, if they beat Ohio State they have a shot at a national championship. So let’s just wait and see.
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