Yesterday's Texas Game By Game article was really designed to give you a feel for what Texas did this season. You guys probably already have a decent idea what the Tide did this season, but hopefully it will be at least a bit enlightening to look at it in the same format as yesterday's Texas article.
So let's do that.
Alabama 34, Virginia Tech 24 (Atlanta)
OPPONENT – Virginia Tech (ACC)
Record – 10-3, 37-14 win over Tennessee in Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Over when – Trent Richardson’s 35-yard TD jaunt on the first play of the fourth quarter made it 33-14.
IMPRESSIVE – 516 yards of offense with no turnovers.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Midway through the third quarter, FIU trailed by six and had the ball.
OVERALL – A flat performance the week after the big Tech game, against what is by any measure one of the worst teams in Division IA.Possibly Alabama’s worst game of the season.
Alabama(H) 53, North Texas 7
OPPONENT – North Texas, Sun Belt
Record – 2-10
Schedule Strength – 105th
Average Score – 26.6-35.6
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 408.7, 37th
Rushing – 185.3, 28th
Passing Efficiency – 128.5, 60th
Total Defense – 412.3, 97th
Rushing Defense – 195.6, 104th
Pass Efficiency Defense – 128.5, 60th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 260 rushing, 263 passing, 28 first downs, one turnover
Opponent Stats – 61 rushing, 126 passing, 7 first downs, no turnovers
Score by quarters – 14-0, 30-0, 44-7, 53-7
Over when – Lee Tiffin’s first-half-ending 35-yarder made it 30-0.
IMPRESSIVE – Seven first downs surrendered; 258 rushing yards from the three-headed tailback.
UNIMPRESSIVE – No turnovers forced, second-string offense unimpressive.
OVERALL – More like it.Nothing to get excited about, but nothing to complain about either.
Alabama(H) 35, Arkansas 7
OPPONENT – Arkansas, SEC
Record – 8-5, 20-17 win over E. Carolina in Liberty Bowl
Schedule Strength – 4th
Average Score – 36.0-25.1
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 408.7, 37th
Rushing – 131.8, 81st
Passing Efficiency – 149.8, 13th
Total Defense – 401.2, 89th
Rushing Defense – 152.7, 73rd
Pass Efficiency Defense – 137.9, 92nd
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 134 rushing, 291 passing, 18 first downs, zero turnovers
UNIMPRESSIVE – It took Alabama 20-1/2 minutes and an amazing 52-yard TD run to get on the board against a mediocre defense.
OVERALL – The impressive shutdown of Mallet was one of Alabama’s signal defensive accomplishments of the year, and the offense fired on all cylinders once it finally got going.A memorable intro to the SEC for the 2009 Tide.
Alabama(H) 38, Kentucky 20
OPPONENT – Kentucky, SEC
Record – 7-6, 21-13 loss to Clemson in Music City Bowl
Schedule Strength – 62nd
Average Score – 26.1-22.7
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 331.5, 92nd
Rushing – 191.2, 22nd
Passing Efficiency – 108.6, 109th
Total Defense – 359.7, 54th
Rushing Defense – 182.9, 100th
Pass Efficiency Defense – 113.1, 27th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 204 rushing, 148 passing, 18 first downs, zero turnovers.
Opponent Stats – 133 rushing, 168 passing, 20 first downs, four turnovers
Score by quarters – 7-6, 21-6, 38-13, 38-20
Over when – McElroy’s 7-yard TD pass to Darius Hanks with 3:45 left in the 3rd made it 38-13.
IMPRESSIVE – 25-point third-quarter lead over a bowl-bound SEC team; no turnovers for 14 straight quarters.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Out-first-downed by an average team with an average offense and an average defense that played an average schedule; Kentucky’s turnovers made the difference.
OVERALL – Alabama was a little flat for the home game against a lower-tier SEC team the week before the big road trip to Oxford, but was just way too powerful for the ‘Cats to ever really get in the game.
Alabama(R) 22, Ole Miss 3
OPPONENT – Mississippi, SEC
Record – 9-4, 21-7 Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma St.
Schedule Strength – 49th
Average Score – 29.5-17.7
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 402.4, 44th
Rushing – 183.6, 32nd
Passing Efficiency – 125.9, 71st
Total Defense – 314.7, 21st
Rushing Defense – 140.3, 58th
Pass Efficiency Defense – 101.5. 11th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 200 rushing, 154 passing, 17 first downs, one turnover
Opponent Stats – 57 rushing, 140 passing, 12 first downs, five turnovers
Score by quarters – 3-0, 16-0, 19-3, 22-3
Over when – Jevan Snead found Rolando McClain for his fourth interception with 13:02 left in the 4th quarter and Bama leading 19-3.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Greg McElroy 15-34 for 140 yards, no picks, no TDs.
OVERALL – Alabama’s offense was workmanlike, and the defense was absolutely stellar.This road beatdown of the Cotton Bowl champs was at least as impressive as any Texas game of the season.
Alabama(V) 20, South Carolina 6
OPPONENT – South Carolina, SEC
Record – 7-6, 20-7 Papajohns.com Bowl loss to Connecticut
Schedule Strength – 15th
Average Score -
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 347.4, 82nd
Rushing – 121.2, 91st
Passing Efficiency – 120.6, 86th
Total Defense – 300.7, 15th
Rushing Defense – 137.7, 52nd
Pass Efficiency Defense – 113.0, 26th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 264 rushing, 92 passing, 17 first downs, four turnovers
Opponent Stats – 64 rushing, 214 passing, 19 first downs, two turnovers
Score by quarters – 10-, 13-6, 13-6, 20-6
Over when – Mark Ingram ended a 6-play, 68-yard, all-wildcat, all-Mark Ingram drive with a 4-yard TD run with 4:54 left to make it 20-6.
IMPRESSIVE – Ingram won the Heisman with his 24 carries for 246 yards and two receptions for 23 yards.26 plays, 269 yards for #22.Meanwhile, the defense outscored South Carolina 7-6.It's also impressive that this was Alabama’s only game of the season with more than one turnover.
UNIMPRESSIVE – The non-Ingram offense: 32 plays, 87 yards, four turnovers.
OVERALL – McElroy had easily his worst game of the year, but Alabama jumped out early on Mark Barron’s 77-yard interception return and, despite #12’s troubles, coasted to a solid victory over a team that posted a winning record against the 15th-toughest schedule.
Alabama(H) 12, Tennessee 10
OPPONENT – Tennessee, SEC
Record – 7-6, 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech in Chick-Fil-A Bowl
IMPRESSIVE – Getting it done when it counted against a bowl-bound SEC team with an on-fire quarterback.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Late-game collapse; getting out-gained by a 7-6 team.
OVERALL – A conservative offensive gameplan and timely defensive stops worked for 56 minutes and 30 seconds, but with a 12-3 lead and a first down with 3:30 left, Mark Ingram lost the only fumble of his career.The wheels promptly came completely off, right up til Cody’s game-winning block saved Bama’s perfect season.
Alabama(H) 24, LSU 15
OPPONENT – LSU, SEC
Record – 9-4, 19-17 loss to Penn St. in Capitol One Bowl
Over when – Robby Green picked off Jarrett Lee’s pass with 2:01 left and the Tide leading 24-15.
IMPRESSIVE – A 14-0 fourth-quarter blitz against a team with an elite talent level.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Inability to convert yards into points before the fourth quarter.
OVERALL – The faux controversy over Peterson’s so-called fourth-quarter interception didn’t change the fact that the Tide recorded a nine-point win over a program with two recent national championships, but the Tide D was a bit more porous than expected against the stagnant Bengal attack.
Alabama(V) 31, Mississippi St. 3
OPPONENT – Mississippi St., SEC
Record – 5-7
Schedule Strength – 1st
Average Score – 25.6-26.8
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 371.9, 65th
Rushing – 227.6, 9th
Passing Efficiency – 110.6, 105th
Total Defense – 366.0, 58th
Rushing Defense – 146.0, 62nd
Pass Efficiency Defense – 130.8, 66th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 252 rushing, 192 passing, 17 first downs, zero turnovers
Opponent Stats – 114 rushing, 99 passing, 11 first downs, three turnovers
Score by quarters – 0-0, 14-0, 17-3, 31-3
Over when – Greg McElroy found Julio Jones for a 48-yard score to make it 24-3 with 10:18 left.
IMPRESSIVE – Mississippi St. played the toughest schedule in the country but this was the only beatdown they took all year.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Awful kickoff return D, but it still wasn’t enough to keep the Bulldogs in the game.
OVERALL – You could say that the last few games before this one were not Alabama’s most impressive, but you couldn’t say that about this game.Road domination against an SEC team that was tougher than it’s 5-7 final record would indicate has to impress.
Alabama(H) 45, Chattanooga 0
OPPONENT – Chattanooga (FCSSchool)
Record – 6-5
Schedule Strength - FCS
Average Score – 21.5-25.7
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 301.8, FCS
Rushing – 85.0, FCS
Passing Efficiency – (?), FCS
Total Defense – 307.7, FCS
Rushing Defense – 148.8, FCS
Pass Efficiency Defense – (?), FCS
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 313 rushing, 109 passing, 26 first downs, no turnovers
Opponent Stats – 48 rushing, 36 passing, 5 first downs, three turnovers
Score by quarters – 21-0, 35-0, 38-0, 45-0
Over when –
IMPRESSIVE – 35 point in the first 20:07; UTC had almost as many turnovers as first downs;
UNIMPRESSIVE – Second-string offense with 10 points in 40 minutes against an FCS team.
OVERALL – A beatdown against an FCS team.Draw your own conclusions, because I don’t really come up with any.
Alabama(V) 26, Auburn 21
OPPONENT – Auburn, SEC
Record – 8-5, 38-35 win over Northwestern in Outback Bowl
Schedule Strength – 21st
Average Score – 33.3-27.5
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 431.2, 18th
Rushing – 212.0, 13th
Passing Efficiency – 143.6, 23rd
Total Defense – 374.4, 68th
Rushing Defense – 146.4, 78th
Pass Efficiency Defense – 115.0, 31st
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 73 rushing, 218 passing, 17 first downs, no turnovers
Over when – The clock ran out with Auburn at the Bama 37.
IMPRESSIVE – Shrugging off an early 14-0 deficit in a rabid road venue to stage a methodical comeback that never looked like it would fail; getting it done in the clutch when the comeback almost took too long to finish.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Shades of the Sugar Bowl in the first quarter; Mark Ingram’s 16 carries for 30 yards and one injury; stagnant offense against a mediocre D.
OVERALL – You could look at this game and wonder how a team that eked past Auburn could compete for a national title.On the other hand, you could look at it and see a team dominating the last 3-1/2 quarters against a rival in a hostile environment, despite undeniably getting caught looking ahead to the big game the next week.
Alabama 32, Florida 13 (Atlanta)
OPPONENT – Florida, SEC
Record – 12-1, 51-24 win over Cincinnati in Sugar Bowl
Schedule Strength – 5th
Average Score – 35.9-12.4
Stats and national ranking
Total Offense – 457.9, 9th
Rushing – 221.8, 10th
Passing Efficiency – 167.3, 1st
Total Defense – 252.6, 4th
Rushing Defense – 99.8, 12th
Pass Efficiency Defense – 96.1, 6th
SUMMARY –
Alabama Stats – 251 rushing, 239 passing, 26 first downs, zero turnovers
Opponent Stats – 88 rushing, 247 passing, 13 first downs, one turnover
Score by quarters – 9-3, 19-13, 26-13, 32-13
Over when – Tim Tebow failed to arch a potential TD pass over Javier Arenas, giving the Tide the ball and a 32-13 lead with 11:51 left and Gator fans flocked to the exits.
IMPRESSIVE – Everything, but especially the 490 yards of total offense – a total that would’ve been much higher if Alabama hadn’t gone completely conservative in the fourth quarter.
UNIMPRESSIVE – Some defensive letdowns in the second quarter maybe?Hard to think of anything, to tell the truth.
OVERALL – To say that Texas doesn’t have a game this impressive on its resume is like saying that a three-legged dog can’t swim as well as a dolphin.This was one of the most impressive games on any championship-level college football team’s resume, ever, anywhere.At the time, it could kind of be passed off by saying “well, apparently Florida wasn’t really all they were cracked up to be,” but that doesn’t work so well after Cincinnati went through the Gator meat-grinder in the Sugar Bowl.Oh, and by the way: we made Tebow cry.
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Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 