the best first half team in college football. it’s the second half that always worries me.

what the score or who the coach, I have always been proud to say I am from Bama! But this year there is just something a little more special, a little more to be proud of. I think it IS the youth of this team! This 7-0, #2 in the nation team is only just beginning.

Think about it: this group of guys trailed for a few minutes by 3 points for the first time all season in the SEVENTH game! And they will be back next year to try it again! If that doesn’t give you hope for the future, you need to go ahead and die because nothing will.

Can we win out? Ask me again in January and I will tell you….no one knows that yet. But if we do, I bet we aren’t going to think “well, we really don’t deserve "#13 b/c we only beat Ole Miss by 4 and played the first half of some games.” We will be on the we-found-a-way-to-win bandwagon! So, let’s just get on there, now…..rtr.

During the first half of the season, I’ve watched a lot of player interviews and interviews with Coach Saban on TideTV. A common thread among many of them is the desire for the team to find an “identity.” I’m not exactly sure what those interviewees meant, but I believe a team’s identity is the first thing that people think about when you mention them. Coach Saban, I’m sure, would have liked for it to be that nobody wants to play us because we are tough, dominating, and never give up. Unfortunately, I’m afraid our identity has already been established: the team with two identities; a dominating performance in the first half and then a total lack of intensity and execution in the second half.

Now, we have several games to establish a different identity — a team that FINISHES. Here’s hoping that Coach Saban finds a way to make that happen. If he does, I don’t really see anyone on the schedule … hell, anyone in the country … that we simply can’t beat. If he doesn’t, we’re going to be in for another depressing second half of the season.

I have faith, though. I believe in Coach and I believe in our players. This is a different team from last year, and I believe they’ll find a way to get the job done. I’m not calling for a national championship this year, but I believe we’ll have a season to be proud of, regardless. Roll TIDE!

…does an in depth analysis of this game. Why would Coach Mac call for 2 pass plays when we were 3rd and 1 and 3rd and 2? No, our running game wasn’t as dominant as in other games, but Mark was doing pretty dang well, and it seems the percentage of making the first down would have to be higher with the run. We did not do well in 3rd down conversions yesterday. Letting Ole Miss succeed on 2 of 4 4th down conversions was a big disappointment. We KNEW they were going to fake the field goal, so that touchdown should not have happened. That being said, I was happy the D stepped up and didn’t fold after Cody went down. That was so scary. I hate watching a player go off on a cart. Pro jumped into my head immediately.

Once again Glen Coffee kept the opposing team in the game. He has been the John Parker of 2008, but at least we’ve still won the games. The law of averages eventually catch up with that kind of mistake. I heard(reliable source, not rumor) that Coffee is really cocky despite his demeanor in interviews.

The crowd was awesome yesterday. We were LOUD. I hope it came over on TV.

No offense, Bamavicki, but any sentence that starts with "I heard … " is a rumor, regardless of how reliable you feel your source is. Maybe it’s just my Journalist degree from UA talking, but I really don’t think we should throw out accusations based on hearsay unless we’re willing to name our source. Of course, this is an open forum, and you have the right to write whatever you want.

That said, I have noticed a bit more “cockiness” from some of the players, especially Javier Arenas, in the player interviews. At least Javier is performing well and backing up his attitude with performance on the field.

Regarding the fumble, I kinda go with Coach on this one. I don’t entirely blame Glenn. He was smacked as soon as he got the ball due to a missed blocking assignment. And, he was holding the ball high and tight; the defender simply got a hat on the ball and knocked it loose. I’m still pissed that he had another fumble, but I don’t find this one as egregious as the three from last week.

Bamavicki, I didn’t mean to offend you, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. Reporting with unnamed sources may be practiced by some reporters at discredited media outlets like The NY Times and CBS News, but I was taught by professors at the university we both love that it constitutes bad journalism.

Anyway, we’re not practicing journalism on this blog, just conversation, so it was wrong of me to take offense. So, I apologize. And, I’ll take your word that your source is in the know.

And, in regards to Coffee, all I care about is that he stops fumbling so that we can continue winning games! I think that’s something on which we can all agree.

Roll TIDE!

…confident, arrogant, whatever you want to call it, the attitude I’ve seen from Javy on the field and in interviews seems healthy to me. What bothered me about some players who have recently left the program was that they seemed to want to celebrate themselves before the game, or after a loss, regardless of anything earned. Javy works hard, soaks up what the coaches tell him to do, but plays with supreme confidence, as he pointed out in his interview yesterday. If you play scared, you will lose. I love how he responded when asked what he was thinking on the fourth down stop late in the game, saying, “Throw it to 28.” This is a guy who got beat on a TD pass in the same half, but he wants the ball thrown his way for an opportunity to make a play. I think his mentality is perfect, and he is among the first of many players I love on this team.