Alabama Football: Observations During the Game from the Press Box, 1st Half

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) The field was adorned with two huge hounds tooth ribbons in remembrance of the tornado victims and the rebuilding effort still going on.

As I drove to the stadium, damage was still apparent despite all these months that have passed.

The game seemed to be a sell out once again and before the game there was a moment to remember the tornado victims and thank the responders. There was also a short ceremony where the members of the 1961 National  Championship team were celebrated on the 50th anniversary of that achievement.

In the pregame jumbotron announcement of the starting lineup, both A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims were announced as the starting quarterbacks. But as I predicted, McCarron took the first snap and he was perfect in driving the team down the field to a first score.

He was a perfect two for two throwing and Richardson bullied his way in from the one to make it 7-0.

I was surprised to see McCarron come back in on the second series, but after missing his first pass McCarron once again marched the team down the field before hitting Marquis Maze in perfect stride for another touchdown.

The Bama defense has yet to give up a first down.

Freshmen are making themselves felt on special teams, Vinnie Sunseri and Trey DePriest both had great tackles on kickoffs so far.

McCarron came out again for the third series, so Saban must be intent on letting them split game time by quarters. Richardson was finally thrown for a loss and the running game isn't getting them down the field. With A.J.'s first third down conversion squarely on his shoulders, the pass was knocked away.

Our punter finally got to show off his skills and he got off a good 45 yard punt.

The defense continued where it left off as DeQuan Menzie and Cortney Upshaw sacked the Flash's QB on first down. Except for a small pass reception, the defense has just eaten up Kent State.

On third down Dont'a Hightower and Nick Gentry combined to kil the QB once again.

With 5:26 left in the first quarter, Philip Sims finally came out to take a snap from the Flashes 35 yard line.

So far Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy have been taking turns and Lacy seems to have more big "gee whiz" kind of plays.

Sims first pass was high and out of the end zone to an open Brad Smelley, but Richardson was able to bully his way into the pay dirt. With 5:21 left in the first quarter, it was 21-0.

In his second series, Sims took a nine yard sack and then followed that up with a pass too high for Maze to take in. On third down Maze dropped a short crossing slant pass that was well short of a first down.

For anyone still in denial, McCarron seems the sharpest QB in Crimson today.

In his third series, Sims continued making rookie mistakes. Not being aware of the pressure around him, he had the ball slapped out of his hands before making a good pass to Marquis Maze but then followed that up with a risky pass that was batted away and close to being picked.

He didn't convert his third down attempt as he threw to a covered receiver far short of the first down marker.

At the 6:42 second mark in the second quarter, Kent State finally made a first down.

The crowd went crazy when they announced the Auburn Score, they were behind 21-14.

McCarron came back into the game and with the ball on the 48 yard line following a good punt return by Maze, the Tide got back to work on offense.

Aware of pressure on him on the first play, McCarron did what Sims hasn't so far, sidestepped the rush and dumped off an incomplete pass to the safety valve. Then A.J. started the first of two big mistakes himself.

First he threw over the middle in a crowd and was lucky not to have it picked. On the next play he over threw the receiver and it did get picked.

Perhaps they shouldn't have let him cool off for four series after his hot start. It will be interesting to see who comes in next.

Kent State went their typical three and out with just over two minutes to go and McCarron came back out. Perhaps Saban had them on a four series and swap time table.

When the other QB is playing the opposite QB is on the sidelines with the headphones on.

McCarron came out looking first quarter sharp in this series, a very crisp pass got them a first down and then DeAndrew White dropped a ball right in his hands and Smelley couldn't pull one in the corner of the end zone.

Then an apparent TD pass was no good because the receiver stepped out of bounds on the way to the end zone. A short field goal made it 24-0 in a very one sided affair so far.

Then with another futile attempt to move the ball by Kent State, it was was going to be halftime.

Or so we thought.

A.J. made an attempt to take advantage of every second and hit a long pass play to move them into field goal range but it was wide.

Now it was halftime.