Sunday - October 02, 2005

Roll Tide!

The Crimson Tide is back ... with a vengeance! After nearly a decade of coaching changes, probations, etc. Coach Mike Shula has my boys back on track as evidenced by an old fashioned butt-whuppin’ the Tide put on Forida yesterday. Alabama went into the game as a five-to-one underdog and spanked the #5 ranked Gators severely. Florida never saw the endzone and barely managed a single field goal the entire game. This is the first time since 1992 that the Gators haven’t been able to score at least one touchdown in a game. Needless to say, there was a lot of beer-drinkin’, potato chip crunchin’, and whoopin’ and hollerin’ in the Skipper’s cabin yesterday afternoon. I have just now recovered from the party and post-game celebration. My head hurts but I’m as happy as a pig in slop (apologies to Oink) ...

(15) Alabama 31, (5) Florida 3
TUSCALOOSA (AP)

Alabama produced everything from long touchdown passes to a goal line stand in its biggest game in nearly 6 years. Then, the Crimson Tide players wondered why people seemed so surprised at their 31-3 rout of No. 5 Florida on Saturday. “This is exactly where we thought we’d be,’’ quarterback Brodie Croyle said. Few others were expecting such a dominant performance from No. 15 Alabama (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference), which proclaimed itself perhaps the league’s team to beat with the victory.

Croyle threw for three TDs, including an 87-yarder to Tyrone Prothro and a 65-yarder to Keith Brown, and the defense was even more impressive in shutting down Urban Meyer’s offense. A Meyer-coached team had never been held without a touchdown, and the Gators (4-1, 2-1) hadn’t been kept out of the end zone since 1992. “Tell him not to feel so bad, because he played a very good defense,’’ Tide defensive back Charlie Peprah said.

Alabama, which had lost its last five games against top-five teams at Bryant-Denny Stadium, got its biggest win since a 34-7 victory over Florida in the 1999 SEC championship game. Tide fans, who had been hungry for just such a victory, mostly remained in the stands well after the game’s conclusion, celebrating as the players lingered on the field.

“That’s all we talked about all week, that we could make history,’’ said Croyle, who was 15-for-18 for 286 yards. The Gators had the league’s top defense overall and against the pass, but left having failed to even slow down Croyle when it counted. Coming into the game, Croyle hadn’t completed a pass longer than 52 yards all season. “We are a man-coverage team and we were exposed,’’ Meyer said. “We lost a lot of one-on-one battles. They are a very fast team. They looked a lot faster than we did today.’’

Chris Leak, meanwhile, was harassed into a 5-of-16 performance in the first half and his first two interceptions of the season, leaving him three passes shy of Danny Wuerffel’s school record streak of 121 without a pick. It was the Gators’ worst defeat since losing 36-7 to LSU in 2002 and ended Meyer’s personal 20-game winning streak at Utah and Florida. “Our back was against the wall the whole game,’’ defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “They took advantage of that. They’re a talented team but we could have and should have won.’’

There was one downer for Alabama on its best day under coach Mike Shula. Prothro was carted off the field with a splint on his lower left leg after landing awkwardly trying to catch a fourth-down pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter. Shula said the do-it-all receiver broke his leg in two places and was likely out for the season. “There were a lot of questions about how we could match up against a talented team,’’ Shula said. “Hopefully we answered some of those.’’

The Gators trailed 24-3 at halftime and couldn’t capitalize on Alabama’s one big mistake. Prothro fumbled away the punt after Alabama’s defense pinned Florida at its own 7 on the opening drive. After the Gators again failed to gain a yard before punting, Croyle hit Prothro in stride just across midfield for the long touchdown on the next play. It was just the beginning. Alabama’s defense set up another TD when Chris Harris intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 14 yards to Florida’s 2. The Tide added Croyle’s 65-yarder to Keith Brown midway through the second quarter on a slant pattern.

Prothro caught five passes for 134 yards and added a 15-yard touchdown in the third. Kenneth Darby rushed 15 times for 101 yards for the Tide. Croyle broke Alabama’s career record held by Andrew Zow and current coach Mike Shula’s career record of 35 touchdown passes with his 15-yarder to Prothro in the third quarter.

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/02/2005 at 09:35 AM   
Filed Under: • Sports •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner