The calm before the storm....

It's week 13 of the 2008 college football season, and time to take a deep breath before the plunge. The next 3 weeks sit in judgment of Alabama's football success. One opponent is a laughing stock, the other makes everyone else look that way. One opponent is the annual SEC West in-state rival that is hated, reviled, and is the target of what is hoped to be 6 years of vengeance. The other is a rarely-played SEC East opponent that is respected more than disliked, and sees Alabama as a necessary speed bump in their 43-point per game offensive juggernaut.

To get to this point, Alabama has defied the odds, the analysts, and the predictions. Coach Saban has apparently instilled his brand of attitude, commitment, and discipline in taking a 7-6 team that barely beat Colorado last season to the brink of a BCS bowl in 12 months. Veteran players have accepted the responsibility of leadership and played to their potential. A group of talented true freshmen have significantly and effectively contributed to every aspect of the team. Fate or luck has also intervened, with Alabama suffering no significant injuries or other attrition of an already shallow roster. For the first time in years, Alabama is playing through adversity instead of being a victim of it. The defense is capable of winning the game if the offense is not. The offense has been able to score enough points with sufficient time of possession to overcome opponent scoring. The team is capable of overcoming special team mistakes. As a result, Alabama is winning close games that it would have lost in recent years.

On the other hand, this team has not played through adversity in a game in which its own character is the measure of success. In other words, the games in which Alabama had to come from behind to win, and there aren't many, the opponent's mistakes had as much to do with victory than Alabama's performance. Without Jarrett Lee's 4 interceptions and his inability to see an open Brandon Lafell streaking across the middle in overtime, LSU would have likely won the game. Some will say that Alabama's defense was the reason for the interception, but something tells me that Tebow, Bradford, etc, would have fared a bit better. While it's true that Alabama contained Georgia's Matthew Stafford for one half, he had over 250 yards in the second half and Alabama was outscored 30-10. John Parker Wilson has not shown a propensity for consistent effective passing capable of coming from behind and winning a game. The running game has shown weakness in games against physical teams. The bottom line is that Alabama has dominated portions of opponents.

I am extraordinarily happy with the team's performance at this point of the season. To feel any differently is to confirm a popular national media opinion that Alabama fans are the most delusional possessors of unrealistic expectations in college football. But, with this kind of success, the fall from the top becomes longer and much more bitter. A loss to Auburn would negate any previous accomplishments, and irrevocably stain any subsequent ones. A loss to Florida would summarily relegate Alabama to media has-been status in a wave of "I told you so." It is a common sports cliche to label a team as "peaking" if they show resilience and success in the last part of the season. Florida has peaked or is peaking. Alabama has still not, in 11 games, played an entire game at a consistent level. It might happen against Auburn, or Florida, or against a BCS opponent in post-season play. The hope is that it eventually will happen.