Mizzou Tigers Vs Alabama Crimson Tide

The Crimson Tide will play its lone October home game this Saturday against their SEC East foe Missouri for Homecoming.  The Tigers faced Bama only once during the regular season since moving from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2011.  The only other time these two clashed was in 2014 in the SEC Championship Game and lost to Bama 42-13.

According to Rock M Nation, the official site of the Mizzou Tigers, there’s a little problem with their star QB Drew Lock. He hasn’t thrown a TD pass since Week 3 against Purdue.

Some are pointing fingers at Offensive Coordinator Derek Dooley. The beef against Dooley is the Tigers’ offense lacks rhythm. Lock has nowhere to throw more often than not and when he does have an open receiver, he’s missing them more often than Mizzou fans are used to seeing.  Dooley needs to step up his game.

Please fire Barry Odom. This isn’t working. #Mizzou

— Carson Cornelius (@carsoncornelius) October 6, 2018

Bama’s defensive back Deionte Thompson wasn’t happy with the results of their win over the Bacon Bits of Arkansas last week saying, “We did not play to Alabama’s standard today.”

The Tide will have a chance to improve against Mizzou.  There were a couple of times in last week’s game that Coach Saban used a formation that had Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts on the field at the same time during the first half and the Bama fans went bonkers.  Coach said he has plans to use it more saying, “I think because of these two guys’ skill sets it could present some problems for defensive teams.”

Hoo boy!  That should scare the beejeebers out their opponents.

Dominant against bad teams and not good enough against decent teams, the Tigers are struggling. They’ve failed to beat any other opponent with a winning record.  Just look at Mizzou’s Truman Tiger: 

I think we all feel the same way right now. #MizzouvsSC @abc_columbia pic.twitter.com/y018fCxrfb

— Mike Gillespie (@MikeABCColumbia) October 6, 2018

And…since it’s Homecoming, they’re bringing back one of the greatest traditions in college football. During the fourth quarter, “Dixieland Delight” will be added to the stadium playlist.  Traditions matter in football.  It’s about time this one was back to stay.

Alabama Crimson Tide Vs Arkansas Razorbacks

When the Hogs took the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium last year they had been humiliated the week before by a mediocre South Carolina Gamecocks team 48-22. This year as Bama travels to Fayetteville, the 1-4 Razorbacks are reeling from a stinging loss to Texas A&M 24-17.

The Bacon Bits need to make sweeping changes under Head Coach Chad Morris. They’re really bad. So bad in fact, that Ryan McGee, Senior Writer for ESPN dubbed Arkansas, Nebraska and UCLA the “Arkansaw Corn-Bruins” and ranked them No. 5 in their Bottom 10 feature this week.

Joe Cox at Saturday Down South wrote, “Nothing bold about predicting the Tide to take down the Razorbacks. But how’s this for bold? Leave the offense out of it. Alabama will score more points with its defense than Arkansas scores for the game. Consider this a referendum both on how good Alabama is and how lousy Arkansas’ offense is.”

We’re talking about the SEC here and anything can happen.  The Tide has given every appearance of being a juggernaut after 5 games.  Today, in week 6, we are half-way through the college football regular season.  Maybe the Hogs are tired of getting slapped around.  Maybe the boys from Tuscaloosa have fallen for the rat poison Coach Saban talked about last season.  Anything can happen.

The Tide will run onto the field of Donald W. Reynolds Stadium in front of a throng of angry, disgruntled Razorback fans looking to keep Bama from going to the College Football Playoffs and losing today would be a guaranteed post-season résumé killer.

I’m not worried though.  The Bacon Bits of Arkansas are going to collapse faster than a Life Alert® customer. (My apologies to Life Alert® customers.)

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Vs Alabama Crimson Tide

We are in Week 5 of college football and today the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns travel to T-Town to play my beloved Crimson Tide.

ULL last played Bama on October 6, 1990 on their home turf and lost.  Neither Billy Napier nor Nick Saban were the head coaches.  These two schools have played each other 8 times beginning in 1941.  The Tide has won each time.

I’d be a fool if I said ULL can’t beat Bama, after all, in 1996 the Cajuns knocked off the Texas A&M Aggies 29-22.  That was then, and this is now.

Louisiana-Lafayette brings its No. 126 rushing defense in the nation to Tuscaloosa to play Saban Murderball. Coach Napier, who worked at Alabama under Saban on two different occasions, will see his former mentor dial it down rather than first downing the Cajuns to death.

Against the Bulldogs of Mississippi State, the Cajuns were pummeled 56-10 with QB Nick Fitzgerald tossing the pigskin for 243 yards.  That tells me Tua leaves the game early on and Jalen Hurts takes over the offense at the half.

ULL is being paid a guaranteed $1.25 million for this beatdown.

The Cajuns’ mascot “Cayenne” better keep his head on a swivel lest he find his way into the pot of chili Bama will be cookin’ up today.

Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3) Vs Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0)

When the Hogs hit the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday they’ll no doubt have last week’s gridiron debacle against the Gamecocks on their mind.  The Razorbacks lost 48-22 to a mediocre team continuing their descent into another aimless season. The Razorback Nation took to Twitter to roast Coach Bret Bielema.

@jefflongUA @BretBielema @OLINEPRIDE Year five, fellas. Year five. @PetitJeanMeats pic.twitter.com/42KSNmwxWQ

— Mason Lace (@mlace88) October 7, 2017

Hog fans: turn the TV off & go outside. It’s beautiful out. No need to sit through this. Just forget football exists until next year. #WPS

— Ben Schmuck (@benschmuck13) October 7, 2017

Just checking in to Twitter to measure the severity of #FireBielema tweets. I’ll show myself out.

— Jason Brown, APR (@JBrown935) October 7, 2017

How much longer will the Hogs faithful stand by and watch the dumpster fire that is Arkansas football?  Bielema is 27-29.  He’s 10 of 24 in league play and a pathetic 7-18 versus the SEC West.  His only winning records are against the equally pathetic Rebels and the Vols.

Anybody remember this stellar example of Razorback sportsmanship?  I do.

need more of this!!!! RT @heyyyle: And where were the refs when this was happening? #BAMAvsARK pic.twitter.com/qE7oqmylRz

— Best Forex Robot2017 (@FOREXEAASSARV10) October 9, 2016

Dan Wolken, national college football reporter for USA Today Sports released his Week 6 Misery Index.

“The Misery Index is trying hard, oh so very hard, to make a case for Arkansas giving Bret Bielema another year. Bielema is a good coach with an accomplished track record. Arkansas is a harder job than its fans want to admit. There have been some good signs along the way. And, realistically, who is Arkansas going to get that would obviously be better? Then there’s the matter of Bielema’s buyout, which stands at $15.4 million until Jan. 1, when it goes down to $11.7 million. (And by the way, most of the coaching carousel activity will already have taken place by Jan. 1, so waiting until then would be a bad move.) But man oh man, it’s getting hard to justify the direction things are going at Arkansas following a 48-22 loss at South Carolina.

The Misery Index has long said that in a league like the SEC, where everybody has great facilities, big budgets and pays the coach a lot of money, nobody expects to lose. But the reality is that somebody has to, and right now that somebody is Arkansas. Still, it’s impossible to excuse how bad the Hogs look. They turned it over four times against South Carolina (three of which were converted into defensive touchdowns) and now face the prospect of playing Alabama and Auburn in back-to-back weeks. That will drop Arkansas to 2-5 and Bielema to 10-26 in the SEC unless there’s a massive upset. Kind of makes you long for the Houston Nutt days, doesn’t it? Nutt, for the record, only had two losing seasons in a decade at Arkansas, finished first or tied for first in the division three times and third on four other occasions.

The SEC was different then, sure, but winning is possible at Arkansas. Bielema just isn’t doing it, and the further away the Razorbacks get from the smashmouth, offensive line-oriented identity he initially wanted to establish, it’s hard to see how he makes it happen. 

Before the Texas A&M game, the Crimson Tide looked like one of the best-ever assembled teams under Coach Saban. The games against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss were over before they even started.

Last Saturday in College Station, the Tide’s performance was marred by uncharacteristic mistakes.  During the second half, J. K. Scott shanked a punt early in the fourth quarter and had a punt blocked that went out of the end zone for a safety.

The biggest blunder came late in the third quarter when Tide wide receiver Robert Foster dropped a pass that should have been caught and later, on the same drive, fumbled a catch.  It was Bama’s first turnover dating back to 2016’s Iron Bowl─that’s 38 straight quarters.

During Coach Saban’s press conference following the A&M game, he railed against the media saying he “wants them to stop filling his players’ heads” with thoughts they’re invincible.

Saban to the media: "All the good stuff you write is rat poison."

— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) October 8, 2017

In the series history between the Tide and the Hogs, the Tide has a nine-game winning streak having won 17 of the 25 games the two schools have played against one another.  Even without ESPN’s Matchup Predictor giving the Crimson Tide a 98.1% chance of winning against Arkansas, I’m certain the outcome of the game will be a thorough throttling of a Hogs team that clearly has no fight left in them. 

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Alabama Vs Florida State: A Horse Of A Different Color

Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney was asked about the season-opening matchup between Bama and the Noles.

“[Florida State is] similar to Alabama,” he said. “Alabama’s not going to give you anything. You have to earn it. They’re going to be able to match up with you. They’re going to be fast just like you’re going to be fast. So that ought to be a heck of a ballgame.”

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports would have you believe the SEC is no longer the top conference in college football citing Clemson’s win over the Tide, FSU’s Orange Bowl victory and Lamar Jackson’s Heisman Trophy season for Louisville.

We’ll just see about that!

Alabama has won 15 consecutive season openers. FSU, which is making its first Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game appearance, has won its last six.

FSU’s legendary coach Bobby Bowden was asked for a prediction on the game.

"I'm from Florida State because I coached here for 37 years," Bowden said. Of course, I was raised on Alabama football all my life. I think Bama will be favored, but it wouldn't surprise me for Florida State to eke it out somehow."

Son Tommy Bowden laughed.

"Great politician's statement. I'd say the same thing. He must be running for office,” he joked. "I think that would be the reasonable approach. What my father said is accurate. Florida State's talented enough to win. I do think they'll be underdogs. [If] both teams play as well as they can, Alabama wins.”

While little is known about the specifics of the offense new coordinator Brian Daboll has installed at Alabama since taking the reins in the spring, the Tide coaching staff won’t deviate too far from the script that has built a dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

Florida State is a worthy adversary.  Coach Saban hasn’t lost a season opener at Bama.  It’s Saturday down South after all and I’m still reeling from the last five seconds of last year’s National Championship Game.  Damn those Clemson Tigers!

Publix better hide those crab legs. Jameis Winston will serve as FSU's honorary shoplifting captain for the game.  

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Alabama Crimson Tide Vs USC Trojans

It’s been 235 days since my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide took the field against the Clemson Tigers and defeated them to garner their 16th National Championship.

Tonight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX the quest for No. 17 begins in earnest.  The Crimson Tide's last two national championships started at AT&T Stadium.  Tonight the 20th-ranked USC Trojans will do battle with an SEC team for the first time in 20 years.

Head Coach Nick Saban has never lost a season opener, in fact, he’s defeated six Power Five opponents by double digits.

The marquee game of college football’s opening weekend will see offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin exact some revenge against his former team.  For those unfamiliar with the saga, Kiffin was USC’s head coach from 2010 to 2013.  After a 62-41 trouncing by Arizona State he was called off the team bus and fired in the LAX airport waiting room.  He still believes he was the fall guy for an athletic program that was stripped bare by NCAA sanctions.

The man who fired him that day, Athletic Director Pat Haden, was forced to step down on June 30, 2016 after revelations that he used his position as board member of the George Henry Mayr Foundation to enrich himself and his family while he also funneled a vast majority of scholarship money towards USC and away from other schools.  The Los Angeles Times investigation exposed Haden’s scheme to collect nearly $2.4 million from the foundation for part-time roles involving as little as one hour of work per week according to the foundation’s federal tax returns from 1999 to 2014.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold.  Kiffin, who coached 19 members of the current team, is quite familiar with the Trojans.  Is revenge a science or an art?  Tonight that question will be answered.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

And since no football post would be complete without some lovely cheerleaders, enjoy this photo of one of Alabama’s Crimsonettes posing with Big Al, the school’s mascot.

@AlabamaFTBL @USC_Athletics @Jayruff7 When Alabama stomps someone they do it fair and square. #RollTide #USCvsBAMA pic.twitter.com/0JWxNwF0WS

— PoliticalClownParade (@Carry_That_Load) September 4, 2016

mattclapp: Oh, so that's why he was thrown out of the game. ABC College Football: Southern … https://t.co/XOH0bmlIQk pic.twitter.com/Kq4d28GJcu

— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) September 4, 2016

College Football National Championship Game: Alabama Crimson Tide Vs Clemson Tigers

Don’t expect me, a devout Bama fan whose allegiance to the Crimson Tide began when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, to be dispassionate about tonight’s national championship game between my beloved boys from Tuscaloosa and the Clemson Tigers.

My loyalty dates back to the days of legendary Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant who returned to his alma mater in 1958 and brought the Tide’s football program into dominance by winning national championships in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1979.  The “Bear” was immensely beloved and his legacy lives on in the Houndstooth apparel seen in every stadium where the Tide plays.  Coach Bryant won 15 conference championships, was named College Football Coach of the Year three times and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.  Only one other football head coach, Earl Blaik, has ever received the nation’s highest civilian award.

In 1986, the “Bear: was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.  The ultimate symbol of coaching excellence in collegiate football, the College Football Coach of the Year Award was renamed in his honor.

This past Saturday, according to AL.com, Clemson players were telling the media they are tired of Alabama living off its reputation.

Mackensie Alexander, Clemson's top cornerback, believes Alabama's favored status is based more on what the Crimson Tide has historically done than what it'll do against the Tigers in Arizona. The outspoken star told a group of reporters, "You guys know we've got a better team. 

"We are 14-0, and we were underdogs last week, it's all a brand thing," Alexander said. "Everyone cares about the brand, the Alabama brand. I understand it's a lot of fans, and they've done it for a long time, but this is a new year, and it's our time."

The Crimson Tide has played their hearts out on the field.  Standards have been raised; all built upon the most storied program in football history.  Their greatest achievement lies ahead tonight in Alabama’s quest for National Championship No. 16.  The Clemson Tigers will try and fail to knock the Tide off their pedestal.

Not this year Clemson.  Not this year! 

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

2015 SEC Championship Game: No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide Vs No. 18 Florida Gators

First things first.  Kirby Smart, Alabama’s defensive coordinator, reportedly is remaining with the Crimson Tide “through the College Football Playoff process” before heading to Athens to become the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs.  You cannot begin to imagine what a relief that is to this diehard Bama fan.  My perspective is that Smart should be there to share in the glory when Bama whips some Gator ass at the Georgia Dome and the Tide goes on to win the National Championship.

If Alabama wins this afternoon as expected, it will be the 10th consecutive year they have appeared in a BCS Championship Game or the College Football Playoff.  The series history between these two schools is 38-23-14 with Bama owning the series.   The Tide, in fact, has won two of the three SEC Championship Games since 1999 and has a four-game winning streak against the Gators.

The Alabama faithful fondly remember the glorious 32-13 loss they executed against an undefeated defending champion Gators team and their Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow in the 2009 SEC Championship Game.  At game’s end, Tebow was inconsolable as the nation watched him openly weeping on the sidelines.  Afterwards Alabama would springboard into three national championships in four seasons.  So humiliating was the loss that Head Coach Urban Meyer would quit college football after the following season and the Gators football program would spiral into oblivion.

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I am steeped in Alabama Crimson Tide football and my reverence for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.  I’ve been a fan all my life. The Bear would be proud of the boys from Tuscaloosa.

Florida doesn’t stand a chance today.  I’ve got a feeling that Bama is going to bring home its 16th national championship.  Today’s game begins that quest.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

They're all saying ROLL TIDE at SEC Fanfare! The @AlabamaFTBL pep rally is happening now. #SECATL pic.twitter.com/9uUckm4XFS

— SEC Sports (@SEC) December 5, 2015

Alabama Crimson Tide Vs Mississippi State Bulldogs

Earlier this week the oddsmakers were giving Bama a 6-point advantage over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  By Thursday they had them as an 8-point favorite.

Last Sunday the AP Top 25 Poll had the Crimson Tide moving up four slots from No. 7 to No. 3 and then on Tuesday the College Football Playoff Selection Committee came out with their Week 10 rankings moving the Tide up from No. 4 to No. 2 ahead of Ohio State and Baylor.  The Bama faithful are ecstatic.

When LSU came to Tuscaloosa last week I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  I was sure the LSU Tigers would give my Bama boys a fit.  I cannot describe the euphoria I felt over the impressive way in which they dominated the boys from Baton Rouge.

Saturday at 3:30 PM ET, CBS will carry the game from Davis Wade Stadium, the home of the eternally annoying cowbell-clanging crowd.

The Bulldogs have lost 7 straight games to Alabama.  Alabama owns the series history between the two schools:  79-17-3.  The Tide is just three games away from returning to the College Football Playoffs.

I’m not foolish enough to believe the game against “Hail State” will be a walk in the park.  A victory over Mississippi State is anything but a given. Those boys and their rabid fans are going to fight like a house afire.  It’s a matter of pride and intense yearning to knock Bama out of the CFB.

I read an interesting take on the game from Rodger Sherman over at SB Nation.  He picks game winners based on their mascots.  Sherman wrote:

“Look, I've already established many times that most animals would be helpless against the Tide, especially a more-or-less hopeless animal like a bulldog. Bulldogs have no chance against—wait, what’s that?”  Then he presents an embedded video of Tillman the Surfing Dog.  “Hell yeah!” he writes.  “It’s a surfing bulldog.  WOOO.  The Bulldogs have conquered the Tide.  They’re unstoppable.”

What ‘ol Rodger fails to mention is Tillman’s owner says he likes to “wipeout” in the surf.  That sounds prophetic to me.

Sophie The Wonderdog doesn’t care what the sportswriters say and she sure as hell doesn’t care what Rodger Sherman has to say.  She’s not the least bit worried about a “Dak Attack.”  She knows Bama is going to put another W in the books and she will get a “cookie” when our powerful pachyderms do.  That’s how she rolls. 

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

Payback Time: Alabama Vs Ole Miss

Revenge is in the air tonight as No. 15 Ole Miss rolls into Bear Country.  No. 2 Alabama will take on the Rebels at Bryant-Denny Stadium at 9:15 PM.  The game will air on ESPN.

The Rebels came away with a 23-17 victory last year at home against a stunned Tide and the jubilant fans rushed onto the field of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium tearing down the goalposts and parading the pieces around The Grove and The Square in Oxford.

Ole Miss has never beaten Alabama in back-to-back seasons.  The only time Ole Miss beat Alabama at home was waaaaaaay back in 1988.  Wins over Alabama are far and few between.  One fan mused, “Our hearts are broken year after year.”

That shocking defeat caused jaws to flap endlessly amongst sports writers and pundits who questioned whether Alabama could win the SEC Championship.  They did recover.  After all the bowl games and playoffs had been played, the Tide wound up with two losses and the rest of the SEC teams had at least three.

The Crimson Tide’s defense is about to be tested in ways it hasn't been since the Sugar Bowl, and it’s offense won't need any extra motivation to play an Ole Miss team that beat them a year ago.

Last week the Rebels’ defensive back, Tee Shepard, was ejected for targeting against Fresno State and the SEC Office imposed a half-game suspension today.

The Crimson Tide had the most efficient run defense in the country last year and returned five starters in their front seven. In games against Wisconsin and Middle Tennessee State, Bama allowed opposing running backs a scant 91 yards in 38 carries.

Ole Miss beat Bama with a so-so run game last year, but trust me, that ain’t something you want to try twice.

Bama wins by a touchdown.

ROLL TIDE!

And because no football post would be complete without pom-poms, please enjoy this photo of some Bama beauties.Get

 one

Alabama Vs. Missouri

Am I ever stoked about today.  My beloved 11-1 Alabama Crimson Tide does battle with the 10-2 Missouri Tigers at 4:00 PM ET from Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the SEC Championship.  The game will be carried on CBS.

The Tigers are the decided underdog, but don’t you dare think that I am going to be cocky about that.  I have often noted that on any given Saturday any college team can win.  Today is no exception.

Missouri would love nothing better than to knock off the nation’s top-ranked team.  I think this is going to be one helluva nail-bitter since Mizz’s pass rushers and Bama’s offensive line are the best in the SEC.

My boys are going to have to protect QB Blake Sims and they're going to have to stop Ray Golden.  The Tigers’ QB Maty Mauk is going to have to bring his A-game to have a fighting chance.

In the end, today is just one more big game for Alabama in a season that has been chock full of them and when the clock runs down at the end of the fourth quarter Alabama will be on its way to the College Football Playoff.

No. 2 Oregon won their game yesterday.  No. 3 TCU plays Iowa State at 12:00 PM ET and No. 4 Florida State meets Georgia Tech at 8:00 PM ET.

ROLL TIDE ROLL

And because no football post would be complete without some pom-poms, cast your eyes upon these Bama lovelies.

#SECATL #RollTide #BAMAvsMIZZ