Game Day, Part III

The Crimson Tide is rolling, to say the least, following a 41-30 win over Georgia between the hedges in Athens. On a night when the Dawgs and their fans were dressed in black, the mood at Sanford Stadium resembled that of a wake.

Alabama scored on its first five possessions, jumping out to an insurmountable 31–0 lead before ultimately scoring the most points (41) ever on Georgia in a 65-game series that dates back to 1895 — topping the previous high of 36 points during shutouts of UGA in 1905 and 1923.

“Alabama did a fine job of preparing and getting after us,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, following an embarrassing loss at home.

“We had some self-inflicted wounds, but they took it to us — period. At halftime we challenged our players not to lay down and die, and they didn’t. We battled and fought and there’s a lot to be said for that. But the bottom line is, they whipped us.”

In a fashion Bear Bryant would be proud of, coach Nick Saban’s team smothers its opponents early on — with trench warriors like 340-pound left tackle Andre Smith and 360-plus-pound run-stuffing nose tackle Terrence Cody — then rides a tidal wave of momentum to victory.

So far this season, Bama has outscored its opponents 74-0 in the first quarter — blanking Clemson (13-0), Tulane (13-0), Western Kentucky (17-0), Arkansas (21-0) and now Georgia (10-0) in the first stanza. The Tide are putting games away in the first half, having outscored their five opponents by a combined 133-20 halftime score.

Still, Coach Saban — known to some as the Nick-tator — wants his team to finish games the way they are starting them. And tonight, after jumping out to a 31-0 lead, the Tide ebbed in the second half and coasted to a 41-30 win.

“We got beat in the second half, 30-10,” said Saban, who appeared to be aggravated by the SEC title and national championship hype just five games into the season.

“I’m looking at what we need to do to become better. If you don’t come every week to play with intensity, the other team will beat you.”

Senior quarterback John Parker Wilson executed to near perfection, completing 13-of-16 passes for 205 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions on his way to passing Brodie Croyle on Alabama’s all-time passing yards list.

Along with excellent play from the quarterback position, the Crimson Tide controlled the ball on the ground, outrushing the Bulldogs 129-to-50 and owning time of possession 35:46-to-24:14. And although he may be a wet blanket in the press room, Saban’s team was obviously well-coached on the field, committing only two penalties for nine lost yards, compared to Georgia’s 10 mistakes for 81 the other way.

On the downside, Bama’s suffocating defense allowed its first rushing touchdown of the season, on a 2-yard run by Knowshon Moreno with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter. And the Tide special teams allowed a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown by Prince Miller to start the fourth quarter — the first punt return TD against Alabama since 1996.

In the end, the bottom line is the bottom line. And the $4 million coach has the Tide rising with a 5-0 record and two high-profile nationally televised wins over Top 10 teams. A tip of the houndstooth cap, Alabama is now 36-25-4 all-time vs. Georgia, with a 12-7 mark in Athens.

“It was a great win for our players, fans and university. I’m very proud of how we played. Georgia is a fine team,” said Saban. “It’s a great team win.”