Your latest Crimson Tide news and notes.
Happy Monday, everyone. A season, and frankly a coaching tenure, that looked to be on the brink after week one now looks promising again after winning at Georgia. Alabama is now ranked in the top 12 in both major polls.
Alabama moved up to No. 11 in the coaches poll. The Crimson Tide had been ranked No. 16 before beating Georgia. The Bulldogs fell from being ranked No. 3 to No. 10.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide jumped ahead of Georgia in the AP poll. Alabama’s ranked No. 10 now with the Bulldogs falling to No. 12. The Crimson Tide was No. 17 and Georgia was No. 5.
Neither of those polls really mean anything, of course, but Ty Simpson looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the nation on Saturday. If this passing game continues to grow, the sky is the limit for this team. That defense needs a lot of work, though.
John Talty piled on Kirby’s inability to beat Alabama.
On this night in Athens, at least, Alabama was the more resilient and more disciplined team than Smart’s Bulldogs. Quarterback Ty Simpson looked confident and poised out there, carving up Georgia for 276 passing yards and two touchdowns. Bray Hubbard forced the only turnover of the day, giving Alabama a short field and setting up what proved to be a very important field goal. There are still plenty of concerns — namely along the lines where the Tide can’t seem to run the ball on offense or stop it much on defense — but this team proved it could overcome a bad loss and bounce back.
At the end of DeBoer’s press conference in the bowels of Sanford Stadium, he was asked about what’s changed since the Florida State loss. He gave a thoughtful answer, believing the team now plays with more of an edge, before hitting on the critical question moving forward.
“Can we sustain the energy?” DeBoer said. “Can we sustain the passion? And not just for the season, not for the game, but each play.”
It sounds like DeBoer learned a lesson last season. It’s great to play well in the “big” moments, but can they keep from pissing it away this season? This is what will define him.
Smart stuck to his guns about going for it on 4th and 1, as he should have. But, this quote is a whopper.
The other question the play raised was why Jones was the ballcarrier. Typically McCray is the short-yardage back for the Bulldogs.
Smart said Jones being in the game was due to the tempo situation on third down.
“The decision is, do you stop, slow down, think about it, let them set their clears in the ground, let them get everything they want, or do you try to hit them quickly?” Smart said. “We have a philosophy we believe in… That’s a play that I believe in and believe it should work. Just so happens (Jones) was in on the third-and-four, so he was in on the fourth down too.”
Yes, Kirby, that’s exactly what you do. Why? Because you have owned the matchup advantage in the run game. Rushing and running a suboptimal play to try and catch the defense napping is bush league nonsense.
This Georgia breakdown unintentionally made the key point in the game.
It’s clear Branch, Young and London Humpherys are Georgia’s top three receivers. Young caught a touchdown, while Branch had 3 receptions for 35 yards.
Dillon Bell’s lone touch on the evening went for 43 yards on a fake reverse.
The killer play for this group, though, was a drop by Talyn Taylor. Had he cleanly hauled in a second-down pass from Stockton, Georgia would’ve taken a 28-24 lead in the third quarter. Had he just held onto the ball, Georgia would’ve been set up in the red zone.
Instead, he dropped it and Georgia punted two plays later. That drop could have been the difference in the game.
When Ryan Williams dropped a nearly identical ball early in the game, Alabama kept grinding and scored anyway. Georgia didn’t have that kind of resilience on offense, mostly because they have Gunner Stockton instead of Ty Simpson.
Ty’s mom sure enjoyed what she was watching.
“He’s loved this game since he was a little bitty boy,” Julie Simpson told AL.com, tears flowing again, after Ty jumped on the bus. “He grew up in the locker room and on the field, and to watch him go out there and play and do it like he’s always dreamed of … And he waited so patiently and knew he could do it. It was just a huge blessing.”
Just a mother watching her son’s dreams play out under the lights in a hostile place.
And redemption?
That too.
She heard all the criticism her son took in the wake of Alabama’s season-opening loss at Florida State. His first collegiate start wasn’t the cinematic moment witnessed Saturday in Athens — at least not the kind with that kind of Disney ending.
Last, Bill Connelly notes that the SEC is as wide open as it’s ever been.
To put that another way, the six above teams that have won a national title in the past 30 years (Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and LSU) have a combined 48.3% chance of winning the SEC. The other four teams above — which have combined for a single outright conference title in the past 50 years (Texas A&M’s 1998 Big 12 crown) — are at 45.1%.
(Other teams have tiny chances that bring the total to 100%. And no, Oklahoma’s odds aren’t affected by quarterback John Mateer‘s recent hand injury.)
We basically have a 50-50 shot at a team enjoying its first conference title in a very long time.
Brilliant early play from Missouri and Vanderbilt has certainly juiced these odds in their favor a bit, and after last year’s No. 2 finish in SP+, we shouldn’t be all that surprised Ole Miss has a puncher’s shot at a conference crown. But I literally laughed out loud when I saw the list above. The SEC is in an incredibly strange place at the moment, and I’m here for it.
It’s a sign of the times that Vanderbilt is a big enough draw to get College Gameday to Tuscaloosa this Saturday. This season is going to be a wild ride.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
Category: General Sports
