No Time To Mess Around For Alabama

While coaches around the country use the 15 bowl preparation practices for position change experiments and to take a little time to peek at next years lineups, Alabama and Texas must keep their noses to the grindstone.

One unfortunate side effect of the BCS system is that only the two teams playing in the championship game have anything to win.  The rest can add one more good memory to their season and send the program into the offseason with a good feeling, but little else is on the line.

Last year this time Alabama was embarrassed about as badly as a team can be by Utah.  UTAH!!!!  I didn't know they even played football in Utah.  The game wasn't even close.  Yet what was the net affect? 

Not much.  

Saban had one more example of, “We didn't finish,” to hammer the team all during winter workouts.   

Some T-shirt maker out west made some extra money with a “We Beat Bama” T.

The fans took some ribbing. 

For the fans, the Utah ribbing was nothing.  The last decade has thickened their skin significantly.  Go ahead, inform them yet again that former coach Paul Bryant is in fact dead.  While we all shed a tear at the time, that was over a quarter century ago.  Time to get a new joke.

While other teams look to have a little fun, try a few new trick plays, right a few wrongs, or gain some modicum of respect.  Alabama must stick to game preparation. 

Backup players who normally get work this time of year are still warming the bench.  Now is not the time to see if that third team corner has learned any new tricks this year. 

For Alabama this game presents a challenge.  It's pretty obvious it held back something on both offense and defense all year long just for the Gators.   

Even when Alabama fell behind against Auburn, it kept those special silver bullets in the gun.  It unloaded that gun on the Gators in the most brutally effective win since 1992.  In fact, if Lee Tiffin didn't miss an extra point, the score would have been the same as that now legendary beat down of the “U”.

So whats left?  Did Alabama have even more tricks that they never used?  Alabama drained most of the third quarter with a clock killing drive against Florida.  When Mark Ingram crossed the goal early in the fourth quarter, the Gators were finished and the staff knew it. 

Many wonder if the unusually long layoff will cause Alabama to lose its edge. 

The biggest mistake Alabama can make against Texas is to approach the game too conservatively.  

While I don't think trick plays are needed when you have a defense like Alabama has,  Alabama's offense has not shown the ability to line up and run over a good team without balance.

As good as the offensive line has played this year, it struggled when facing a stacked line.  Offensive balance was needed to loosen things up. 

Alabama struggled mid-season with this.  Three things changed late in the season that helped.

One: Greg McElroy came into his own as a quarterback.  His play reached another level against Auburn and Florida.  Alabama has not fielded a quarterback this efficient in a decade.

Two: Colin Peek got healthy.  Peek was injured during warmups mid-season and dropped off the map.  He returned two weeks later but was slowed.  As Alabama hit the home stretch, he regained his early season form and provided a matchup problem that so far has not been answered.

Three: Trent Richardson's continued development.  Richardson's development thus far has mirrored Ingram's from the year before.  He showed his inexperience when he could not always find the hole or wait for blocks.  Late in the year he showed improvement, and the staff learned how to better utilize him.  In Richardson's case he has shown more ability in the outside running game.

When Auburn sold the farm to stop Mark Ingram's inside running game, Alabama turned to Richardson.  He didn't exactly have a breakout game, but the yardage he did gain was critical to keep the offense balanced.  He's also improving as a pass receiver.

Alabama doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to beat Texas.  It needs to approach the game with an aggressive game plan in order to spread the ball around.  Only then will Ingram be able to get on track.  If he does, Texas will be in for a long night.

As for the backup players, they will have to wait a few more months to try and earn their way into the starting rotation.