Alabama - The road to the Dome

by Jeff Dantzler

September 1 – Arlington, Texas
Alabama – 41, Michigan – 14
The defending national champions left no doubt that they would be right in the thick of things again in 2012. Despite losing All-American Heisman Trophy finalist Trent Richardson and four star defenders – all five of whom were amongst the top 35 picks in the NFL Draft – Alabama didn’t miss a beat. It took just one game to show that this was a re-load, not a rebuild. It was a match-up of the defending champs against the 11-2 Sugar Bowl winning Wolverines, piloted by Heisman contender Dennard Robinson. Freshman tailback T.J. Yeldon went over 100 yards and the defense was ferocious, overwhelming Robinson and the Woverines. The signature play was an interception return by Dee Milliner,
which ended with Robinson trying to make the
stop and getting knocked back a couple of yards.

September 8 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 35, Western Kentucky – 0
Nick Saban was happy with the performance against Michigan for an hour or
two, then at his ensuing weekly press conference berated the media for not
giving enough credit to Western Kentucky, saying it made it tougher for him
to keep his players focused. Bama jumped out to a big early lead and Saban
called off the troops as the Crimson Tide overwhelmed the Hilltoppers. A.J.
McCarron had another strong performance, with limited passing, and the defense
was once again dominant.

September 15 – Fayetteville
Alabama – 52, Arkansas – 0
Before the season, it looked like this would be a top match-up with major
championship and top ten ramifications. But then Bobby Petrino and that tall
blonde and that motorcycle thing happened. Then Arkansas lost to
Louisiana-Monroe and the women with the hog on her head made that music
video. You could kind of see this one coming. Right? Talk about two teams
going in different directions. It was a quick strike for Alabama and they just
kept pouring it on. It marked two straight shutouts for Alabama. Through
three games, their defense had given up a total of 14 points, that’s less than
per game up to that point. The offense was showing that it was just as
lethal as the defense, and there was no doubt that Alabama was amongst the
very best in the nation, if not No. 1.

September 22 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 40, Florida Atlantic – 7
Well the only drama in this one was whether or not Alabama would ring up a
third consecutive shutout. But the Owls from Florida Atlantic, who were
beated 56-20 in Athens the week before were able to strike paydirt in the
second half. The Crimson Tide’s margin of victory was absolutely off the
charts at this point.

September 29 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 33, Ole Miss – 14
Take note of this, and you can bet that Texas A&M, Kevin Sumlin and Johnny
Manziel certainly did. Ole Miss hung in there with Alabama. In fact, prior to
their instant classic at LSU, it was the fewest points they’d scored in a game
and the most they’d allowed. Bama actually trailed 7-6 for less than 10 seconds,
but struck for a long touchdown to quickly regain the lead. However,
Ole Miss’s hurry-up offense gave Bama a hard time. Saban even belly-ached
about it, asking at a press conference, “is this what people want to see?”
Well what Ole Miss was doing was trying to negate Alabama’s superior depth
and catch the Crimson Tide defense in advantageous situations. For the
Tide, wide receiver Amari Cooper was showing that he could be the next Julio
Jones caliber Crimson Tide wide receiver.

October 13 – Columbia
Alabama – 42, Missouri – 10
This was one of the more bizarre games of the year in the Southeastern Conference.
The Crimson Tide were doing their usual domination thing, highlighted
by a typically stingy defense and long run from Eddie Lacy. Then it
started raining, and raining and raining. Then lightning. Elephants and
Tigers were seen walking two by two as the walkways cascaded rainwater.
The game was delayed for over an hour. When it finally started back, there
were less than 1,000 people in the stands. Who could blame them? The
lengthy delay came in the first half, so when the game went to intermission,
the actual halftime Mlasted five minutes. Well Bama had a couple of miscues
and gave up a kick return touchdown. But order was quickly restored and Alabama
had chalked up yet another impressive win. Missouri sure got introduced
to SEC play with Alabama and Texas A&M as their West Division foes.

October 20 – Knoxville
Alabama – 44, Tennessee – 13
In this longstanding, bitter rivalry, played most years on the third Saturday in
October – and it was nice that this year’s game was actually played on the
third Saturday in October, since tradition doesn’t seem to mean much in
today’s college football landscape – there have been some long win streaks,
and conversely droughts. Well Tennessee is in a drought against Alabama,
and the Crimson Tide are on a roll against what was once their second
biggest rival. I think it’s safe to assume that LSU has taken that mantle, at
least for now. McCarron and Cooper hooked up for a wide open score, and
the young freshman’s dynamic play at wide receiver had given the potent Alabama
offense yet another dimension.

October 27 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 38, Mississippi State – 7
In a match-up of 7-0 Southeastern Conference unbeatens, you rarely see a
23.5 point spread from the boys in the desert. Well, as almost always, they
were onto it. Alabama flat out rolled Mississippi State, delivering the knockout
blow in the first half and never looking back. For a State team that had
its best passing game since maybe John Bond 30 years ago, they had no luck
whatsoever in solving the rugged Crimson Tide defense. McCarron was again
lights out, and the trio of Lacy, Yeldon and Cooper again showed that they
were amongst the nation’s best. Bama couldn’t have drawn this up any better
with the Titanic battle that awaited.

November 3 – Baton Rouge
Alabama – 21, LSU – 17
The history between these two over the last five years has been nothing short
of incredible. There was Bama’s overtime win in Baton Rouge in ’08. LSU
won by three at Tiger Stadium in 2010. Then you might have heard, last year,
the Fightin’ Tigers beat Alabama 9-6 in overtime in “The Game of the Century,”
pitting No. 1 vs. No. 2. You may also have heard that there was a rematch
in New Orleans for the BCS Championship. Alabama dominated in the
SuperDome and won 21-0. Talk about a bitter taste for the Tiger faithful.
And oh yeah, then there’s that Nick Saban thing. You know, he used to coach
the Tigers. LSU had been struggling offensively, lowlighted by a 14-6 loss at
Florida. But the Tigers got their swagger back with a roaring 23-21 win over
South Carolina in Death Valley. This would go down as one of the top five
games of the year in college football’s regular season, if not No. 1. LSU had a
couple of gambles backfire and the Crimson Tide took a 14-3 lead to the
locker room. But the Fightin’ Tigers fought back. LSU took a 17-14 fourth
quarter lead, but the Tide stuffed a Spencer Ware quarterback sneak and
fourth and one and a half. The Tigers proceeded to miss a field goal that
would’ve put them up six. Then came “the drive.” It will live forever in Tide
lore. McCarron quickly and efficiently piloted Bama downfield, then dumped a
screen pass against a blitz to Yeldon. Touchdown Bama! With under a minute
to go. That was all she wrote and Bama had prevailed in one of the most
physical, emotional games any fan will ever see.

November 10 – Tuscaloosa
Texas A&M – 29, Alabama – 24
Physically and emotionally worn from the battle in Baton Rouge, Bama was in
trouble against the Aggies. Texas A&M, behind their wonder of a quarterback,
redshirt freshman sensation Johnny Manziel, raced to a 20-0 first quarter lead.
You just don’t see that. Manziel’s signature play came on a third down deep
in Bama territory with the Aggies sporting a 7-0 lead. Alabama had him bottled
up, but Manziel broke free and threw a touchdown pass. Of course Alabama
came back, making it 20-14 at the half, and then 20-17. But the Aggies
continued to take the fight to Alabama. They would build a 29-17 fourth
quarter lead. Alabama fought back again, with McCarron throwing a long
touchdown and then hitting another bomb down to the Aggies six. But the
Tide didn’t score, and McCarron was intercepted on the goal line on fourth
down. With the Aggies set to punt on fourth-and-one with 40 seconds to go,
stunningly, Alabama jumped offsides. Yes the Crimson Tide could’ve won at
the end, but A&M left a lot of points on the table with a missed extra point,
failed two-point try and missed field goal. Perhaps the classic from the week
prior had been topped as Game of the Year.

November 17 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 49, Western Carolina – 0
The Catamounts came into the game at 1-9. They were one of the worst
teams in Division I-AA, now known as the FCS. Bama was favored by 51.5
and could’ve doubled that. As it was, Alabama raced to a 42-0 first half lead
and threw only six passes for the entire game. Then came the night of mayhem,
as Oregon lost to Stanford and Kansas State fell at Baylor. When the
polls came out, the defending champs were right back at No. 2, controlling
their path to play for the SEC and BCS Championships. On deck, their archenemy
in the midst of their worst season since going 0-10 in 1950. Only the
Middle East harbors more animosity between two sides than Alabama and
Auburn. To say everyone in Crimson was “licking their chops,” or “chomping
at the bit,” or whatever cliché you want, would be, well, a cliché-esque understatement.

November 24 – Tuscaloosa
Alabama – 49, Auburn – 0
This will go down as one of the great days in Alabama history when it comes
to flexing the muscles against arch-enemy Auburn. It was 14-0 at the end of
the first quarter. It was 35-0 at the half. The final was 49-0 – the same score
as the week before. It was Alabama’s fourth shutout of the season and the
biggest margin of victory in the series since it was brought back in 1948. Alabama
moved to 11-1 and would play Georgia in the Southeastern Conference
Championship Game for a shot at the national title. Auburn finished 3-9 and
went 0-8 in the league, the Tigers first winless SEC campaign since 1980. Yes
the Paul Finebaum Show has been rather one-sided for a few weeks now.

Tagged: jeff dantzler, sec football, alabama crimson tide, nick saban