We are now inside of two months until kickoff. Which is pretty awesome, if you ask me.
Finebaum tells it like it is: never before has the national media wanted someone to fail so badly. Wonderful read - and the story about the secretary telling him "nice haircut" was awesome. Hahaha.
Phil Steele says ""Alabama could be like Arkansas was last year. The stats are eerily similar." Pat Forde, from ESPN.com says "Steele has the Crimson Tide ranked 17th. None of my other four magazines puts Bama in the Top 25. The man could probably run for mayor of Tuscaloosa right now and win in a landslide." Read more about the preseason magazines here.
THE MIKE SHULA ERA
#26: Oklahoma State 34 Alabama 31Dec. 28th, 2006 in Shreveport, LA
I know, I know. Shula didn't actually coach this game. But his staff did, so the same gameplan was pretty much in place.
This game was ugly, then insane, then ridiculous, then gut-wrenching at the same time. Another heart-breaker.
Oklahoma State knew exactly what to do against our defense. They piled up yards like crazy in the first half, taking a 24-14 lead into half time. They scored with 41 seconds left, right after we scored with 2:30 left. Talk about a momentum swing...thought we were going in only down 3, and they score a late touchdown to make it a 2 posession game.
Regardless, we came out and kicked a field goal in the 3rd quarter to make it 24-17. That's how the quarter ended. Then, in the 4th, they scored another touchdown, making it 31-17. After a quick 3-and-out, Bama punted the ball back, and most of the Bama fans in attendance decided to make an early exit. Disgusting play leads to much drinking...and the casinos were calling everyone's names.
But our defense held Okie State and they were forced to punt to Javier Arenas, who took it 86-yards to the house. The score was 31-24 with 10:50 left.
Then another miracle happened. The Cowboys fumbled the kickoff and Bama recoverd. First down at the 21. 6 plays later, Andre Smith's famous catch-and-run for a 2 yard touchdown tied the game at 31.
And then, the heartbreak occured.
Oklahoma State was able to hold on to the football, and Alabama was not able to make any more stops, even with momentum. We used all three timeouts, but couldn't ice the kicker, who hit the game winner with 8 seconds left. Losing sucks, but at least it was a fun game, right?
#27: Arkansas 27 Alabama 10Sept. 25th, 2004 in Fayetteville, AR
This game is best known by Mike Shula claiming Houston Nutt ran up the score at the end of the game.
I say, if you can't stop them running the football down your throat, what are they supposed to do? Run backwards?
Matt Jones, their 6'6" 4.2-40 speed-demon-killer-athlete-of-a-quarterback did anything he wanted to us all day. There's a reason why he was able to switch to wide receiver in the NFL. He's a freak. He ran 9 times for 60 yards. He was 7/12 for 122 yards. He did what he wanted, when he wanted to. It was disgusting.
Then, at the end of the game, Arkansas, leading by 4, scored a touchdown with 3 minutes left, then another one with 1:12 left. But it was all rushing.
This was Marc Guillon's coming out party. 6/18 for 57 yards and an interception. Hence the back spasms.
¶ 9:35 AM
