Happy Monday, everyone. Alabama didn’t budge in the polls following the 42-10 dismantling of Wisconsin in Madison.
In the AP poll, Alabama remains in the No. 4 spot. However, the highlight of the poll is there’s a new No. 1. For the first time in 16 years, the Texas Longhorns claim the top spot this week.
AdvertisementFor the coaches poll, the only change in the top four was Texas moving ahead of Ohio State for the No. 2 spot.
Alabama was No. 4 in both polls heading into the game on the road.
Nick Kelly felt that the coaching staff aced its first big test.
Coaching: A
The coaching staff made the right decision to switch Wilkin Formby out for Elijah Pritchett at right tackle. Meanwhile, the decision to be aggressive at the end of the first half also paid off with a scoring drive in 17 seconds. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s challenge to his players to get more takeaways also registered with the players, with the two forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. Overall, a solid day of coaching to get the first road win of the season.
Do you agree with that assessment?
Moving on, the Tide will face a much different type of challenge a week from Saturday. This is a game that in years past would have much higher stakes, as the loser would be faced with the challenge of winning nine straight in order to feel good about making the playoff. Adding eight teams certainly takes away some of the drama, but the competition will still be fierce.
“We’re going to be aggressive,” DeBoer said. “When you have playmakers like we have, you want to give them chances to make plays and every possession matters. We went after it.”
Almost everything went right in Alabama’s 42-10 win, its first legitimate test of the season, which came on the road against a Big Ten opponent. With a bye week coming up, it didn’t take long before questions started about Alabama’s next opponent.
“There’s people that say this offense is working now, but will it work against a team like Georgia? What do you say to that?”
“Respect all, fear none,” Milroe said.
The Dawgs’ offense was putrid against Kentucky on Saturday night, and lost perhaps their best offensive lineman in guard Tate Ratledge.
Carson Beck had a career-low 160 passing yards. Georgia was actually outgained on the evening by Kentucky, even though Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff didn’t eclipse 100 yards passing until there were just three seconds left in the game.
Just a week after Beck said his goal was to not let punter Brett Thorson play, Georgia punted six times. By comparison, it had only five third-down conversions.
“We knew that it was going to be a dogfight coming in,” Beck said. “We knew that it was going to have to be blow by blow. Obviously, there’s things I think we can fix. Got to watch the film and try to improve on those, but, I mean, they’re a physical team and there’s a lot of respect there, but we were able to pull it out.”
Beck was far from his usual self, as he didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time this season. He dropped a key second down snap in the fourth quarter and had a handful of poor throws on the evening.
Georgia’s offense had some early difficulty against Clemson as well. Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey left a couple of big holes as security blankets for Beck, and he has struggled to adjust. On the 28th he will walk into one of the most hostile environments imaginable as Kirby Smart brings his team to play in front of a capacity crowd in Tuscaloosa for the first time.
Recent struggles aside, you can bet that Alabama is expecting Georgia to play its best game and, in theory, the Dawgs own a big psychological edge.
Alabama’s four captains − Jalen Milroe, Deontae Lawson, Malachi Moore and Tyler Booker − were all involved in that win over Georgia last year. They’ve got a better understanding of the crushing blow Georgia was dealt than a lot of others wearing Crimson this year, from the coaching staff to an influx of transfers to freshmen like burgeoning star receiver Ryan Williams. Over the next two weeks, those captains and other Alabama veterans will impress upon the newcomers that Georgia will bring a vengeance with its No. 1 ranking. If you don’t think Smart will continually remind his team of who robbed them of championship glory, you don’t know the former Alabama defensive coordinator very well.
Being that Kirby is 1-5 against Alabama, it’s far to say that vengeance hasn’t worked very well for him.
Alabama’s OL looked solid on Saturday, but will be truly tested for the first time this season.
“I think we did a really good job on offense of being sound,” Milroe said. “Everything we did, the pass (protection), pushing the ball down the field, we just executed.”
Alabama will need that level of execution in its SEC opener.
Through two games against Clemson and Tennessee Tech, Georgia allowed 3.2 yards per play to opposing offenses and an average of 11 first downs per game. Five different players share the Bulldogs’ five sacks, while 12 have at least a share of a tackle-for-loss.
But after Wisconsin, DeBoer was impressed with the balance Alabama was able to generate offensively, something he expects to continue moving forward.
As usual, the trenches will be key to the game.
Last, King Henry is still out here throwing NFL linebackers…
…and Will Anderson is still The Terminator.
What beasts.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
