Alabama doesn't play Saturday, and it may have already yielded its claim to greatness in a two-touchdown loss at South Carolina. But it could still come out of the weekend in control of destiny to eventually reclaim the iron grip it held on the No. 1 ranking at the start of the month. The Crimson Tide are already the highest-ranked one-loss team in every relevant poll, including the BCS. Two of the six undefeated teams ranked in front of them, Michigan State and Missouri, are seven-point road underdogs Saturday against top-20 conference rivals. A third, Oregon, is traveling to face a rested USC outfit that's calling the showdown "our bowl game." A fourth, Auburn, is bound for Tuscaloosa for what's shaping up as a cataclysmic, winner-take-all Iron Bowl date on Nov. 26. The fifth and sixth are Boise State and TCU. Look at the landscape, do the math, and be honest: Based on what we know right now, what team would you put your money on to make it out of that scenario in December?
I don't have Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy pegged as a gambling man, but it sounds like he's feeling pretty good about the Tide's chances down the stretch after Saturday's 41-10 victory at Tennessee. From Alabama Live:
...The blemish is misleading, according to Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy.
"Believe it or not, at this point of the season going into the bye week, I think we're stronger right now than we were a year ago," he said late Saturday night on a national radio show. "Last year, we were really limping going into the bye week. We didn't have a great game in any of the weeks leading up to the bye week." [...]
"The record speaks for itself," McElroy said, "but as far as continuity and the trust we have for each other and the way we played tonight, I think we're playing better than we were a year ago.
"It's just whether or not we'll be able to continue to improve. Last year's team over the course of the bye week really made a few strides. That's what we need to do this year."
The most glaring difference between this year's team and last year's going into the Halloween-weekend bye is the '09 Tide seemed wholly reliant on the defense. The offense had managed a single touchdown in the last 10 quarters, an all-Mark-Ingram-all-the-time drive against South Carolina, and barely escaped the upset bid by Tennessee by virtue of Terrence Cody's infamous field-goal blocks. The 2010 defense, as expected, is not on the same level as last year's squadron of veteran, draft-bound killers, but it's hanging pretty tough – 'Bama still leads the SEC in scoring and pass efficiency D and comes in second in yards allowed. It's also forcing the most turnovers.
Where this team has the opportunity to separate itself, though, is in the versatile attack that may yet emerge as the best offense in school history, or at least of the post-Bear Bryant era. The bar isn't incredibly high, statistically, but McElroy is currently clearing 34 points and 440 yards per game on 7.1 yards per play, all in the upper reaches of any 'Bama attack of the last 25 years. For all the hype over the Ingram/Trent Richardson beast in the backfield, the passing game is putting up over 250 yards per game – easily a school record if it stands – and already has as many completions of 15 yards and 25 yards as the '09 offense had in almost twice as many games. After his record night at Tennessee, Julio Jones already has more catches for more yards than he did through all of last year.
So far, the Tide are outscoring and outgaining opponents (on a per-play basis) by slightly wider margins than last year's SEC and national champions. They should come out of the bye week at full strength, with two straight games against currently ranked teams (LSU and Mississippi State) to shore up their poll position – especially according to computers, where they lag outside of the top 10 – going into the Armageddon game with Auburn. They need a little bit of help, of course, but if the preseason No. 1 has any of that dust left, the path is still there over the next month to justify the hype.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
Gordon Crockard Craig Dack Roger De Coster Ken De Dycker Yves Demaria
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