Instant Analysis - Sept. 5
Alabama 34 ... Virginia Tech 24
Pete
Fiutak
To go Dennis Green, they are who we thought they
were, but
58 points? With these two defenses? Virginia Tech
was able to stay alive by making things happen in
key moments, but Alabama's run defense showed why
it's going to be among the best in America, and the
Tide showed why it deserves to be in the national
championship chase. The defensive front appears to
be even more athletic and more stout, while the
offense was stunningly efficient to put the game
away with the ground game. 268 yards and two rushing
scores, and that was without superstar recruit Trent
Richardson playing much of a role, shows just how
dangerous the Tide will be. Virginia Tech needed
Tyrod Taylor to be special, and to carry the offense
at times, and he was merely average and never got
the ground part of his game going. He'll have some
big moments this year, and it'll go to show just how
good the Bama defense really was in this big win.
Richard
Cirminiello
So much for ‘Bama struggling to establish the run against good defenses this season.
Right out of the gate, the Tide dismissed one of its biggest concerns in the offseason—winning the line of scrimmage when it had the ball. No Andre Smith to bolster the line. No Glen Coffee to be the feature back. No problem. Facing a pretty stingy, SEC-like defense in Virginia Tech, Alabama ran the ball right down the Hokies’ throats, a really positive omen for the next three months of the season. Mark Ingram and Roy Upchurch, Coffee’s heir apparents, were absolutely brilliant in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff, exploding through the line of scrimmage and getting to the second level with very little wasted movement. Together, they went for 230 yards and a couple of scores on only 33 carries, a healthy seven-yard average. With the way the Crimson Tide defense played all night, holding Tech to just 154 yards, Alabama is going to be right back in the national title hunt if they can continue to dominate between the tackles and keep new QB Greg McElroy from having to play beyond his capabilities.
Matt Zemek
Virginia Tech scored 24 points, but seven came off a kick return, three off a turnover deep in Bama territory, seven more on a busted coverage, and seven more after a drive start at the Tide 35. In essence, Tech’s offense earned just 14 points, and those 14 points were the result of one play and a severely shortened field. Bottom line? SEC defenses 2, ACC offenses 0, after South Carolina’s smackdown of N.C. State on Thursday. Tyrod Taylor was supposed to show a lot more game than he delivered this evening, as the Hokies--the ACC standard-bearers--couldn’t lift the conference out of the depths of a very miserable Opening Day. Yes, Tech fought hard and well (unlike Clemson in last year’s Chick-Fil-A Opening Game event), but Bama walked off the field as the clearly superior team. This writer felt the ACC was set for a breakout year, but it appears that an Acutely Compromised Conference will be with us for another Autumn.
Michael Bradley
Alabama gets few style points for its win over Virginia Tech, but the way the Tide plays defense, they don’t want to look all that sharp. If ‘Bama could have cut down on the turnovers, kept its composure in one key situation and played better special teams, this one would have been a blowout, because that VT offense was absolutely no match for what the Crimson Tide brought. Greg McElroy has a long way to go at tailback, but Alabama showed in Alanta that has the athletes and potential to be THE team in the SEC West – Mississippi be damned. As for Tech, it had better hope those special teams and its defense can continue their solid ways, because Tyrod Taylor continues to struggle throwing the ball, and no matter how solid the freshman running backs may become, they’re not ready to be featured performers yet.