Update [2006-9-18 0:17:44 by Nico]:
I bumped this story to the top of the page since I won't be able to post until late on Monday, but there are two stories written more recently below this one.
The two teams combined for four fumbles and an interception
Games against this kind of team are never much fun. If you blow them out of the water, it's not terribly exciting because that's what is supposed to happen and if you barely squeak out a win then it's cause for concern because that is precisely what shouldn't happen.
My eyes nearly rolled out of my head when Bama fumbled the ball on their first play from scrimmage. It set the tone for an exceptionally lackluster first half performance that saw the Tide fumble the ball twice and lose it once deep in LA-Monroe territory only to recover a Warhawk fumble on the next play. Bama went into the half leading 17-7 and I was about ready to pull all of my hair out. The Warhawks' 83 yard, 11 play TD drive at the beginning of the second quarter almost made me start chain smoking and I've never smoked a cigarette in my life.
The third quarter provided a bit more frustration when Alabama failed to punch it in with a first and goal on the 4-yard line and had to settle for a field goal instead. The third quarter ended with Bama up 27-7.
The Warhawks completely mailed it in in the fourth quarter going for a fourth and 1 on their own 29 yard line. Bama's defense stuffed the run and then scored two easy TDs when having a short field after getting the ball on downs and then intercepting the Warhawks deep in their own territory on their next possession.
On one hand, the team is 3-0 and that's hard to complain about, but even this 41-7 performance that saw Bama rack up over twice the amount of yardage that LA-Monroe did somewhat covers up the fairly ugly game that took place.
That's not to say that there weren't any bright spots in the game, but these type of games often frustrate me to no end and I see very little value in playing them. We'd be much better served facing another Hawai'i caliber team.
I believe the Arkansas game will be a real struggle for this team (they barely squeaked past Vanderbilt on Saturday) and the result will probably set the tone for the rest of the year.