It was all over in 10 minutes......

Gotta love that Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News ... he really tells it like it is.

CECIL HURT: It was over in first 10 minutes
Published: Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
ATLANTA The war of nerves started before the game did on Saturday night.
It didn’t last very long.
It started with the coin toss. The University of Alabama won that toss. It elected — maybe “demanded” would be a better word — to receive the football.
When it took the kickoff, Alabama ran the ball straight ahead on three consecutive plays, perhaps as much for the sheer pleasure of smacking Clemson in the mouth as for the yardage that it netted.
That drive ultimately ended with a long field goal, but it also sent a message that was worth a lot more than three points.
Clemson’s first drive sent the opposite message. The first play wasn’t a similar run, a play designed for big back James Davis to answer with some physicality. It was a fade pass that Tiger quarterback Cullen Harper couldn’t complete.
The next play, an overwhelmed freshman back named Jamie Harper fumbled the ball.
Clemson never again called plays as if it thought it could effectively block Alabama. It tried some misdirection, some direct snap trickery, but most of it accomplished little.
The game wasn’t 10 minutes old. But it was over.
Clemson had two highlights after that, one long catch-and-run by speedy Jacoby Ford that resulted in a field goal (Ford didn’t make it through the hard-hitting first half) and a nifty kickoff return by C.J. Spiller, who is so good and fast that he really should get to rush the ball more than two times in a game, blocking or not.
Alabama, as Nick Saban noted, didn’t pressure Clemson much. It played defense aggressively, but with an eye at containing Clemson’s package of bubble screens and other diversions.
Offensively, Alabama just kept pounding. The Tide could throw whenever it wanted. If tight end Nick Walker slept with a blanket upon returning to Tuscaloosa on Saturday night, it was the first time all evening that he was covered.
Mainly, though, the Crimson Tide ran. And ran. And ran some more.
Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning was left to wonder what the number of the Escalade that ran over his front seven might have been, and whether he should have devoted more time to coaching and less to comedy during the week.
“I think the last drive, to take the air out of it for seven minutes, is what you call finishing the game and I was pleased and proud that we were able to do that,” UA coach Nick Saban said.
The closest thing to a scary moment came when Spiller opened the second half with a lightning kickoff return. Last year’s Alabama team didn’t handle such adversity well.
“Those were the things that we would melt down on in the past,” Saban said. “People would flatten out. But we responded and I think when you respond to adversity, that’s the sign of a good competitor.”
The result was Alabama’s first win over a top-10 team since Florida in 2005 and its most notable regular-season non-conference win since a victory over Penn State in 1989. Coming as it does, at the start of the schedule, it will send Alabama fans into an excited frenzy. It should be a cause of celebration, but it should also come with a note of caution. The Atlantic Coast Conference portion of the Crimson Tide schedule is over. Before long, big-boy football – the SEC kind – will begin.
“This is just one game,” Saban said. “We’ve still got to find an identity.
“We’ve just made a ‘B’ on a midterm. Do we slack off and make a ‘D’ on the next one and have a ‘C’ average? Or do we try to make an ‘A’?”
There is no way to downplay the emotions of this win for Alabama fans.
It wasn’t just that the Crimson Tide beat a team that was favored, and had a big reputation, although that must have felt sweet. It was the way Alabama did it – with tough, physical football that has been the Saban trademark elsewhere – that was the most gratifying thing, the first fulfillment of Saban’s prediction upon his hiring. He stated then that Alabama would become a team that other teams hated to play.
Today, Clemson knows just what he was talking about.

Game Week Prep For Tulane

Well the tide took care of business Saturday night and now its time to get back to work for this week. Next up: Tulane Greenwave

Here are some details about their 2008 squad ... bear in mind they lost quite a few players to graduation & this is their OPENING game so no game last week to draw info from.

Scouting The Offense:
A new quarterback and new tailback have the benefit of a veteran offensive line that returns four starters, including Lombardi Trophy watch list member Michael Parenton (6-2, 287) at center. Offensive coordinator Dan Dodd says the team has a much better understanding of his intricate West Coast package than they did when it debuted last season.

Scouting The Defense:
Seven starters return under new defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert. Senior FS David Skehan had 66 tackles, four interceptions and 10 pass breakups and senior DE Reggie Scott registered four sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles last year. Tulane ranked 37th nationally against the run (132.6 yards per game) and 113th against the pass (287.7).

Quote To Note:
“The thing he’s doing, as opposed to the other guys, is he’s not getting tackled. That sounds crazy, but a lot of the young guys get hit and they go down right away. I tell them they’re not tackled until both of your feet are up above your head.”—Tulane head coach Bob Toledo on junior tailback Andre Anderson.

Strategy And Personnel

THIS WEEK’S GAME: Tulane at Alabama, Sept. 6—The Green Wave hasn’t defeated the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa since Nov. 3, 1900. Alabama owns a 26-11-3 edge in the all-time series, but the programs haven’t met since 1994. The Crimson Tide is coming off a season-opening 34-10 thumping of Clemson.

Players To Watch:
QB Kevin Moore—The 6-5 sophomore completed 30-of-54 passes for 432 yards and two touchdowns in parts of eight games last season. He secured the starting spot during the offseason when Anthony Scelfo elected to pursue a baseball career full-time.
RB Andre Anderson—The junior carried 14 times for 91 yards and one touchdown last season and has the nearly impossible task of replacing record-setting rusher Matt Forte (2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2007).
CB Josh Lumar—Tulane’s most experienced defensive back faces a tough challenge in the season opener. The 5-10 senior will likely spend a lot of time opposite Alabama’s 6-4 freshman phenom Julio Jones, who caught four passes for 28 yards and a touchdown in the win against Clemson.

Roster Report:

• Head coach Bob Toledo has suspended sophomore TE Tyler Helm (two games) and sophomore WR Alan Mitchell (three games) for unspecified violations of team policies.
• In the last week of August camp, Tulane moved offensive lineman Oscar Ponce de Leon back to defensive tackle. The 6-2, 302-pound sophomore played there exclusively as a freshman in 2006 before being moved to the offensive side and taking a redshirt year in 2007.

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Seems although they have some players of the future this team is in rebuilding mode. I could be wrong of course but I think this will be just another scrimmage type game for the tide offense & perhaps julio jone's coming out party. I hope the tide doesnt look past these guys but I dont expect this to be a dangerous game.

L8ter All