Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

One down, two to go on the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2008 “Revenge Tour.” That’s what they’re calling it in Tuscaloosa.

Articles about last season’s late meltdown are posted in the Tide locker room as a reminder – not that any of the Tide players are likely to forget last Novemeber, when Bama saw a promising season ruined by a four-game losing streak that started with Louisiana-Monroe, ended with Auburn, with LSU and Mississippi State sandwiched in between.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban daily, sometimes more than once a day, reminds his charges about the dangers of being overconfident, of underestimating any opponent. Part of the reason Bama is 10-0 today and ranked No. 1 in the nation in all of the polls is that Saban has managed to keep his team hungry, approaching every game with an underdog mindset.

That’s not quite as hard as it would seem. Saban only needs to use history as a reminder.

It’s not only last year’s four-game losing streak that can be pointed at … the Tide’s lack of success against LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn is not a one-year story. Last Saturday, Bama snapped a five-game losing streak to LSU. The next reversal of November fortune will be halting a two-game losing streak to the Bulldogs from Starkville, Miss. And bringing to an end the six-game skid to Auburn will be the final and most rewarding victory on the Revenge Tour.

A prediction here: the Bama win over AU will prompt some “finger T-shirts” from the Tide side. Can anybody guess which finger will be displayed?

Alabama, undefeated (10-0 overall, 6-0 in conference play) and playing at home against a struggling Mississippi State team (3-6, 1-4) should have little trouble in racking up win No. l1 on the year, or so it looks on paper (Line: Alabama by 19_). But as the old saying goes, they don’t play the games on paper, but on a field.

Again, a little examination of history can keep one from being overcome by overconfidence. It’s not just the two-game losing streak that makes the Tide wary of the Bulldogs. It’s the fact that the Crimson Tide hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown since 2004 in the Highway 82 series. Then there’s that thing about just who coaches the Bulldogs – Sylvester Croom, an ex-Alabama star, one of Bear’s Boys. And although he hasn’t had outstanding success in Starkville, his rebuilding job still in progress, Alabama is just 2-2 against State since Croom’s arrival.

The game itself should be decided up front in the trenches, where Bama’s offensive line should be able to pave the way for Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram to roll up some big yardage on the ground. Mississippi State’s pass defense is No. 1 in the league, but it’s run defense is only so-so, ranked 11th in league play.

From here, it looks like the Tide will be able to run the ball and thus control the clock and beat the spread. Look for long drives and the Tide to go back to its early-season ways of coming out hot and putting early points on the board. Once that happens, the suspense will fade as fans’ fears of another 6-3 defeat vanishes. Then Bama will see if it has learned to not let down with that big second half lead.

There are three other conference games on tap on the Week 11 SEC football schedule. South Carolina (7-3, 4-3) at Florida (8-1, 6-1) (Line: Florida by 21) is an interesting one that has one Florida Heisman winning quarterback against another. Tim Tebow will lead the Gators against the Gamecocks, who is coached by the 1966 Heisman winner, Steve Spurrier. Florida is one of the hottest teams on the grid scene right now with impressive victories in its last outings. But can South Carolina’s top-ranked defense slow down the Gator point machine? That’s the question.

Vanderbilt (5-4, 3-3) will be visiting Kentucky (6-4, 2-4) (Line: Kentucky by 4_). Vandy will be trying for the fifth straight week to get that sixth win that will make it bowl eligible. The Commodores haven’t gone bowling since 1982 and have lost their past 17 games that would have given them their sixth win in a season. Another bad omen that seems to suggest the ‘Dores won’t make it this time either – the game is going to be broadcast on ESPN2 and Vandy is 0-7 when on that channel.

The final league game of the week has Georgia (8-2, 5-2) down on The Plains facing the Auburn Tigers (5-5, 2-4) (Line: Georgia by 8_). The War Eagle boys are in the same boat as the Commodores – seeking a sixth win to become bowl eligible and to stave off a losing season. Looks like another tough week for Tommy Tuberville. The Bulldogs have too much talent for the ailing Tigers.

The other two game on tap this week have SEC teams facing lesser foes. Ole Miss (5-4) will be favored to become bowl eligible when it hosts Louisiana-Monroe (3-7) (Line: Ole Miss by 21). And pity the Troy Trojans (6-3), who will be visiting Baton Rouge Saturday to face the LSU Tigers (6-3), still smarting from the overtime loss to Alabama.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

Saturday’s television lineup follows (all times CST):

11 a.m.
Duke at Clemson (CW), Notre Dame at Navy (CBS), Ohio State at Illinois (ESPN), Northwestern at Michigan (ESPN2), Princeton at Yale (Versus)

11:30 a.m.
Georgia at Auburn (Raycom Sports), Texas at Kansas (FSNS)

Noon
Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky (CSS)

2 p.m.
North Carolina at Maryland (ABC), South Carolina at Florida (CBS), Minnesota at Wisconsin (ESPN), Wake Forest at N.C. St. (ESPNU)

5:30 p.m.
Missouri at Iowa St. (FSNS)

6 p.m.
Connecticut at Syracuse (ESPNU), Southern Cal at Stanford (FSNS)

6:45 p.m.
Mississippi St. at Alabama (ESPN)

7 p.m.
Vandy at Kentucky (ESPN2), Boston College at FSU (ABC)

9:15 p.m.
UCLA at Washington (FSNS)

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Tags: Alabama Football, Revenge Tour on Track in T-Town

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 1:00 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.