College Football Must Beware the Rising Tide
It sounds strange to say that teams should be wary of an Alabama team, as if they weren't already.
This is still Nick Saban's Crimson Tide of three BCS titles in the last five years. It is still a modern-day college football dynasty.
This is also the crazy, fickle world of college football where Mississippi State is No. 1 and Top 10 teams seem to lose as much as they win. In this world, Alabama could be considered an underdog in the SEC West.
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At its best, Alabama is still a team that will eat you, chew you up and spit you out on defense and break your back on offense. At its worst it looks beatable.
The Tide were at their best on Saturday. It wasn't just that the Tide beat the Aggies; it was how they beat them. The 59-0 victory was classic bully stuff—dominating and demoralizing, just how Nick Saban likes it.
The way everything is shaking out—how Alabama is improving, how schedules are organized, the chaotic nature of this season—is setting up perfectly for the Tide to make a run to the College Football Playoff.
Every question that faced the Alabama football team after a loss to Ole Miss and an uninspiring, one-point win over Arkansas was answered emphatically Saturday.
Blake Sims needs to get back in a rhythm? How about 268 yards, three passing touchdowns and this thrown in for good measure?
The offensive line hasn’t dominated anybody all year? How about 226 first-half rushing yards and 298 total?
The pass defense looks vulnerable? How about 51 first-half passing yards and 141 total against the SEC’s best passing team?
The team isn’t playing with emotion? Too tight? Not having any fun? How about players mobbing Reuben Foster after a kickoff-coverage tackle? And…this:
On Saturday, the Crimson Tide offense looked like it did the first four weeks of the season—an efficient attack that took what the defense gave it and hit big plays to build momentum.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper was once again the focal point, going for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Sims did what he does best. Outside of an early goal-line throw that could have been taken to the house the other way, he took care of the ball, made plays with his legs when he had to and was out of the game early in the third quarter.
Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin was creative in his play-calling, getting running back T.J. Yeldon the ball on the ground and through the air to keep the Texas A&M defense on its heels all game.
But the most encouraging sign from the offense was the way it dominated at the point of attack in the run game. Yeldon and Derrick Henry had massive holes to run through, with the pair averaging eight yards per carry.
On defense, Alabama easily turned in its most dominant performance of the season and showed the potential it has against the SEC’s most prolific offense.
It started up front with a pass rush that generated six sacks and even more pressure.
Aggies quarterback Kenny Hill never had a chance. He finished the day 17-of-26 passing, with just 138 yards and an interception. Hill was pulled late in the game for freshman Kyle Allen.
Texas A&M had just 51 yards of offense at halftime. By that time, the game was well out of hand.
| Statistic | Average before Saturday (SEC rank) | vs. Alabama |
| Total yards | 564. 9 (1st) | 172 |
| Passing yards | 396 (1st) | 141 |
| Yards per play | 7.15 (1st) | 3.1 |
Alabama’s secondary has taken a lot of heat in the first half of the season, oftentimes for good reason. But it very much rose to the occasion on Saturday.
And, hey, the special teams hit a field goal and didn’t fumble a kick or punt return. Saban praised his players for their performance, per a tweet from Marquavius Burnett of The Anniston Star:
Things are shaping up for a run at a fourth national title in six years for the Crimson Tide.
The SEC West will likely have four teams in the The Associated Press Top Five on Sunday, and Alabama still gets to play two of them. The third, of course, is Ole Miss. The Rebels gave Alabama its only loss so far, but they still have a tough row to hoe the rest of the year. Two losses for Ole Miss (which would put Alabama back in the lead for the SEC West) look very possible.
| Week | Alabama | Auburn | Ole Miss | Mississippi State |
| October 25 | at Tennessee | vs. South Carolina | at LSU | at Kentucky |
| November 1 | BYE | at No. 3 Ole Miss | vs. No. 6 Auburn | vs. Arkansas |
| November 8 | vs. LSU | vs. No. 21 Texas A&M | vs. Presbyterian | vs. Tennessee-Martin |
| November 15 | vs. No. 1 Mississippi State | at No. 10 Georgia | BYE | at No. 7 Alabama |
| November 22 | vs. Western Carolina | vs. Samford | at Arkansas | vs. Vanderbilt |
| November 28 | vs. No. 6 Auburn | at No. 7 Alabama | vs. No. 1 Mississippi State | at No. 3 Ole Miss |
If Alabama wins out—regardless of what happens to Ole Miss—it will have a very compelling case to be one of the top four teams in the country.
Alabama’s schedule works out for that to happen since it gets both Mississippi State and Auburn at home. And that road trip to LSU now looks very manageable.
If Alabama plays like it did against Texas A&M, it is the best team in the country, without question. The Tide took a massive step forward Saturday in all aspects of the game. That kind of improvement will make Nick Saban a very happy head coach Saturday night.
But it will be back to work on Monday, where Saban will push his team even harder, as he’d want to do after a big win.
This is a team very much on the rise. And it's one that is primed to make a whole lot of noise in the final weeks of the season.
Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. Stats come from cfbstats.com.
Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.
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