And that's understandable to a great extent. Next up is a legitimate Top 10 opponent in Texas A&M, a team that will likely score some points even on Bama's vaunted defense. The offensive line play has got to improve, no question about it.
But, as Tony Barnhart points out in the third item of his column today, it all plays right into Coach Saban's hands. If Alabama had come out and looked unbeatable in the first game, it might have been difficult to get the players' attention for all the things they need to learn before the September 14 battle in College Station. But not now. He has their full attention and I expect a ton of learning to take place in the next 12 days.
I'll go a step further. I watched a good portion of the game again yesterday afternoon, and it looked to me like the quick strike from Christion Jones allowed Coach the luxury of letting things play out. Don't get me wrong - I don't think he went into the game against a respected opponent with the intention of holding back. But I do think that once he got a big lead, that allowed him the luxury of teaching his offense a lesson. Y'all think you're so good? Well, I'll just keep pounding the ball up the middle against a nine-man front and let you struggle. Then maybe you'll listen to me next week.
Maybe not. But that's how it looked to me. I guess we'll see in two weeks.
Football is back...isn't this fun?
Hmmmm.... interesting. You might be on to something, Mr. Manis.
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