The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Bama After The Va Tech Game

The Crimson Tide had a great showing Saturday night in Atlanta.  One cannot help but to be pleased with the positives that came out of the game.  Unfortunately, there were plenty negatives that showed up during the game too. 

The Good:    

An overused term in sports these days in sports is "beast."  Well, not to be to cliché', but Mark Ingram was a BEAST Saturday night.  Racking up 150 yards is no small task against a Bud Foster defense.  Roy Upchurch was also a machine in the game, despite the one glaring mistake.  Roy amassed 90 yards on just 7 carries with one bull rush of a touchdown.  Another comforting occurrence for ‘Bama fans was Greg McElroy.  He may not be the second coming of Joe Namath, but once he settled down and got used to the speed of 1^st string Division 1 players, he managed the game very, very nicely.  230 passing yards is nothing to sneeze at against one of the best defenses the Tide will face this season.  Greg will be more than fine under center this season.  Also, Alabama’s defense was stellar.  This is quite possibly the best defense Tuscaloosa has produced since the ’92 season.  The defense is big, fast, aggressive, and hungry.  Perhaps the biggest positive to come out of the game was Alabama’s ability to “finish” the game, something that was missing last year. 

The Bad:

While not necessarily a terrible thing, we learned Saturday night that this season’s offense will be a different style than last.  We will not be able to line up big on big and run the ball straight down the defense’s throat like we did last year.  A drop off was expected, however, and should not come as a shock to Tide faithful.  The offensive line did seem to gel after halftime and that could bode well for things to come.  There were a few dropped balls, bad routes, and blown coverages also that should fix themselves over the next couple of weeks. 

The Ugly:

10 penalties for 83 yards.  The one, well two penalties actually that are unavoidable here stem the Rolando McClain meltdown.  I’m not one who will run this kid into the ground because anyone that has ever stepped onto a field or any other athletic contest realizes the level of intensity that must be achieved in order to reach your maximum potential.  You can’t just turn it on and off.  However, you do have to maintain your cool with the officials in the athletic contest.  The team is lucky that Rolando got to finish the game.  Next, 243.  That is the number of kick return yards given up to Virginia Tech.  For Alabama to make a push for the BCS championship,   it is an absolute must that the special teams improve. 

All in all, one cannot be too upset after a hard fought victory over a team that we heard over and over again “Was not Clemson!”  Virginia Tech was a very respectable opponent who will make national noise this year.  After Coach Saban tweaks a few things on each side of the ball, the Tide will continue to rise and wash over the opposition.