Florida 28 Alabama 13

Tide lacks finishing touches

Shula needs to score points with Tide fans

Rushing woes continue for Tide

Gators Topple Tide

Saturday, the boys and I travelled to my Mom and Dad's home. We watched Bama lose to Florida down in Gainesville on CBS. Bama hung tough, and I think they gave it their best shot, but they were just outmanned by a superior Florida team. I won't even complain about Shula's play calling like I did last week after the Arkansas game. I think he did all that he could.

All losses are frustrating. The Arkansas loss was one of the most frustrating I have seen. Bama clearly showed more talent and had a better game plan. They were in a position to win, but execution failed in the special teams with four, count 'em four, missed kicks. One of the missed kicks was a missed extra point in overtime. Another problem is that the play calling leaves many Bama fans scratching their collective heads. Running up the middle with your injured tailback on third and long, repeatedly, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Normally that should be a passing down. And if you want to run and use the element of surprise, try a reverse, option play, or something to the outside. If you do run up the middle, use a back with enough size and strength to break tackles. Between the play calling and missed kicks, Bama threw away a game that they should have probably won by 10-14 points.

The Florida loss was also frustrating. Bama led much of the way and could have won this game, too, despite the score. Things just fell apart at the end. You expect that will happen occasionally on the road in the SEC against a quality opponent like Florida. As I mentioned previously, though, it appears that Coach Shula called much better plays on offense and put his team in a position to win.

There are some lingering concerns, but I believe this Alabama team is heading in the right direction.