Alabama

Bonus notes, observations from a second viewing of Alabama win over Georgia

Published

1 year ago

September 30, 2024

Bonus notes, observations from a second viewing of Alabama win over Georgia

We’re back.

Loyal readers might remember this weekly Sunday series from my time as a beat writer covering Alabama. It went on hiatus after moving into a new role last spring but we dust it off on special occasions.

So here’s the Sunday DVR rewind of Alabama’s 41-34 win over Georgia. For the uninitiated, this was a series to go back and clean up the notes we missed watching the game in real-time at the stadium. Sometimes, the TV copy of the game can add context to what we saw, and instead of wasting these notes, we just ran them for the whole internet to read.

So here we go, the stream-of-consciousness note-taking as we watch this one a second time.

— Coming out, I was expecting to see a Georgia team with its hair on fire after a full offseason to think about what Alabama stole from it in last season’s SEC title game. I was clearly wrong.

— From the first play, I was surprised to see how Georgia was playing Ryan Williams. The CBs were lined up well off the ball, allowing a free release for a quick 8-yard gain on the game’s first play.

— Running back Jam Miller threw some impressive blocks several times. He’s a powerful back who got just five carries but made his impact in other ways. It’s worth pointing out Alabama RBs got just 11 carries while Jalen Milroe ran it 16 times.

— It’s hard to explain the wiggle and burst that Milroe has in the running game. He makes rushers miss with phonebooth moves and the next gear burst in the open field is unlike almost any QB I remember seeing.

— Alabama overcame three penalties on the first drive to score the first touchdown Georgia allowed in its fourth game. The Tide set the tone physically and with a great game plan.

— It was clear Georgia was testing Alabama’s young secondary early and often after seeing how many open WRs were missed by the Tide’s first three opponents. It didn’t work early. Then it did later.

— I remember watching this in real time so I checked the stats. Carson Beck looked like he had plenty of time to operate when throwing the ball 50 times. He was sacked three times while Alabama was credited with just two QB hurries. I thought affecting Beck was going to be a big factor in the game and the fact he had time was crucial in the comeback later.

— Ryan Williams gains seven or eight extra yards (it seems) every catch with his footwork. He’s like a dancer out there with his footwork.

— It was interesting watching the TV version of Milroe’s TD pass to Jam Miller to make it 14-0. The camera angle didn’t do that throw justice but our angle in the press box did. We were right on the line of the throw that Milroe had to throw so far ahead of the RB to bend around the pursuing linebacker. That thing went through a window barely bigger than the ball, nearly kissing the LB’s helmet before landing in Miller’s breadbasket. I thought you could argue that was among the best of Milroe’s throws at Alabama, even more impressive for Miller to haul that in as a RB and not a WR.

— The third-down play on the following Georgia drive was among the most important in the game. The crowd was a factor here too. Down in the Alabama student section end, Beck tried to change the call at the line seeing Alabama had more pass rushers than they had blockers. Well the WRs didn’t get the message, Kirby Smart said after the game. Alabama DB Domani Jackson sniffed it the whole way, stepping in for an INT that changed the game. The Tide had the shortest field of the game and it cashed in. Suddenly 21-0 and the first quarter wasn’t even over.

— Alabama CJ Dippre had an impressive game catching passes where he’s been almost primarily a blocker. He had four receptions for 38 yards.

— The most surprising thing to me early in the second quarter was the trick plays Alabama tried. It was gashing the Dawgs the traditional way before trying two tricks in three plays. The first was stopped for a one-yards loss on a WR pass that Kendrick Law ultimately ate.

— The fourth Alabama TD was a message. Jam Miller took the helmet off LB Jalon Walker as Milroe somehow turned a corner and dashed upfield for the 36-yard score. Taking you behind the scenes, that play was the subject of the opening few paragraphs of a column that never saw the light of day. The way the game changed meant scrapping that lede, but here’s what you would have seen:

Jalon Walker took a knee in the dark, helmet-less looking stunned.

The Bryant-Denny Stadium lights strobed as its seating bowl pulsed in perhaps the most stunning moment on a baffling night at the center of the universe.

The Georgia linebacker had just been separated from his headgear as Alabama QB Jalen Milroe made a cut and dashed upfield. His 36-yard run gave the Crimson Tide a fourth touchdown on four possessions but it was the helmet-rattling block on the Bulldog ’backer that was the insult to the injury.

— Alabama had a 258-27 yardage advantage after taking that 28-0 lead that was clearly as good as it would get for the home team. The Tide ultimately finished with a narrow edge (547-519).

— There was serious whiplash from Alabama getting stuffed on fourth down late in the half, followed directly by Beck’s second INT of the half thrown to LB Jihaad Campbell. He made an impressive play on the ball for a linebacker but that was wasted when Dippre batted a Milroe pass into the air for the first INT of the year (compared to 10 TDs).

— Was impressed with Alabama’s sell-out blitz that led to the intentional grounding safety three plays after the INT. They sent EIGHT pass rushers at Beck. Robinson and Koht sandwiched the QB because Georgia just didn’t have enough blockers to stop eight blitzers.

— Totally forgot about the failed flea flicker late in the half when Alabama was driving up 30-7 before halftime. It lost eight yards on 2nd-and-5 from the 40. The Tide ultimately punted when there was blood in the water.

— Can only imagine how Saban would’ve handled a post-half unsportsmanlike penalty like the one Alabama got with a dust up going to halftime.

— I remember thinking the third-down sack of Beck on the first drive of the second half was huge. It forced a three-and-out when Georgia was in desperate need of momentum.

— The level of desperation peaked on the next Bulldog drive down 30-7. Georgia went for it on three fourth downs on its own side of the 50. That included plays at the 29, 37 and 46. Getting stuffed on any and Alabama has a short field and a play from making it 37-7. Impressive play under pressure to keep this game competitive.

— Malachi Moore played with an edge all night.

— A stat of note, Alabama defenders were credited with nine pass break-ups. Moore and DeVonta Smith led with two apiece.

— To show how quickly this game changed, Georgia was behind the 50 down 30-7 with 5:45 left in the third quarter. It would come all the way back to take the lead in just over 17 football minutes.

— What more could be said about this insane Ryan Williams catch. Here it is. Watch it again.

— It’s crazy to think Alabama brought in Graham Nicholson, the reigning Lou Groza Award winner, and his first field goal came late in the third quarter of his fourth game. And the 28-yarder barely missed the upright to make it 33-14 with 1:23 left. Again, it was a three-score lead with just over a quarter to play.

— Georgia outgained Alabama 275-115 in the fourth quarter with 75 of those Tide yards coming on the game-winning touchdown pass to Williams.

— Alabama defenders started to looked gassed in the fourth quarter, just as Georgia hit another gear and scored three straight touchdowns.

— Just noticed Ryan Williams did the Dirty Bird dance after scoring the game-winning TD.

— A stat that was huge: Georgia was 1-for-3 on 2-point conversions. Alabama was 1-for-1.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

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Alabama

Can Alabama carry the banner for the SEC to the Final Four?

Published

3 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Can Alabama carry the banner for the SEC to the Final Four?

OK, now it’s time to get real.

The first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament are annually chock-full of buzzer-beaters and 1-game wonders and upsets and choke-jobs. And boy did we get them all in the 2026 version of March Madness.

But now it’s time to get real.

That first weekend served as a very real reminder of the 1-and-done finality of the NCAA Tournament – where a barely-in squad like Texas stands tall after 3 games in 5 days while a supposed dynasty like Florida didn’t even escape the second round.

Without the mighty Gators, the question at hand is this: Does Alabama have what it takes to represent the SEC all the way to the Final Four?

After 2 games, at least, it would appear the answer is trending toward “yes.” Sure, pulling away from Hofstra in the first round in the Midwest Regional in Tampa looked better scanning the final stats than it did at the 35-minute mark with the Pride trailing by just 5. But the second-round squashing of Texas Tech sent a smidge of shockwave around the country for the ease in which the Crimson Tide advanced to the Sweet 16.

Why? Because after Aden Holloway disappeared into a cloud of his own (alleged) smoke, many would have pegged Alabama as a second-round departure fighting TSA lines on the way back to Tuscaloosa.

Instead, Nate Oats’ squad got better between Friday and Sunday – which isn’t great news for No. 1-seed Michigan. It’s as if it took the Tide those 35 minutes against Hofstra to figure out how to play as an elite team without Holloway and then proceeded to use that knowledge to bludgeon the Red Raiders with 19 3-pointers and a cakewalk victory.

Surviving the Wolverines won’t be a cakewalk. No. 1 seeds aren’t supposed to be easy outs. The 3 non-Florida No. 1s won their second-round games by an average of 26.7 points – with Michigan swarming past ninth-seeded Saint Louis 95-72.

But Alabama could well be uniquely suited to be the team to hand Michigan just its fourth loss of the season when the 2 teams meet Friday in Chicago’s United Center (7:35 p.m. ET, TBS/truTV). For starters, the Crimson Tide test a scoreboard operator even more than the Wolverines – leading the nation at 91.6 points per game (the Wolverines aren’t shabby either at 87.4 ppg) and ranking among the top 10 nationally in efficiency at 1.188 points per possession.

Alabama currently has an 18% chance to beat Michigan in the Sweet 16, per Kalshi:

Alabama has also uniquely turned Holloway’s absence into a positive, in that it has been a showcase for the Tide’s absurd bench depth – especially in the low post where Michigan feasts. Cycling in 7-footer Noah Williamson, Amari Allen, Taylor Bol Bowen and even London Jemison keeps the machine running at near-Mach speed.

And while Labaron Philon Jr. was perhaps the lone ineffective Alabama player against Texas Tech (9 points but with 12 assists), he also can single-handedly take over games – proof of concept coming via both his 29-point effort against Hofstra in the first round and his 35-point barrage against Arkansas on Feb. 18.

There is also a matter of being there before. The Tide are just 2 years removed from their first-ever Final Four appearance, and while only Latrell Wrightsell was on that 2023-24 Tide team that lost to UConn in the national semifinals, the current roster was built on the back of that unit. Michigan, on the other hand, hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2018.

Of course, Michigan isn’t the only team Alabama will have to worry about in the Windy City. The second-seeded Iowa State Cyclones and the sixth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers tussle in the other Midwest semifinal – but the Tide nipped Tennessee in Knoxville just last month and Iowa State simply hasn’t seen the kind of track meet the Tide can produce.

For Alabama to carry the SEC banner to the Final Four, though, taking down the big, bad Wolverines will be the key. That Michigan disdains shot-clock violations almost as much as Alabama actually plays into the Tide’s hands, so the resulting 40-minute sprint is bound to give a double-digit underdog a chance.

Is it a puncher’s chance? Sure. Is it the kind of odds that keep the lights in Vegas twinkling 24/7? Maybe. But survive Michigan, and Alabama could well be the best chance for SEC to represent in the Final Four now that the road to Indianapolis is almost complete.

Here are the latest Final Four odds, via Kalshi:

An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.

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Alabama

Lawsuit accuses University of Alabama of censorship in ending student magazines

Published

15 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Lawsuit accuses University of Alabama of censorship in ending student magazines

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Students at the University of Alabama filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the suspension of two student-run magazines — one primarily focused on Black students and another on women’s issues

The lawsuit accuses university officials of engaging in censorship and viewpoint-based discrimination.

University officials in December informed the editors of the magazines Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice that they were immediately stopping the magazines. A university official told editors that the problem was that the magazines had a perceived target audience and cited guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses university officials of violating the First Amendment rights of students and asks for the magazines to be reinstated

“These student magazines — unlike other student publications at the University — were suspended and defunded by UA because UA administrators disfavor their editorial perspectives related to race and gender,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are students who wrote for the magazines. The students are represented by attorneys at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Alabama.

“Students at the University of Alabama deserve the right to freely express themselves, including their viewpoints shaped by their experiences as women and Black people,” said Sam Boyd, a senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Their lived experiences are valid, important to the fabric of this country’s history and should be shared without interference.”

Alex House, a spokesperson for the University of Alabama, said the university has no plans to comment on the pending litigation. House said in December that the university remains committed to supporting all students and “in doing so, we must also comply with our legal obligations.”

The decision to stop the magazines prompted protests on campus.

Nineteen Fifty-Six is named after the year the first Black student, Autherine Lucy Foster, was allowed to enroll at the university. It has been in publication for the past five years. A recent edition included an article on the experiences of international students and another on the importance of “creating camaraderie on campus” amid diversity program rollbacks.

Alice had been published for 10 years. The most recent issue of Alice included beauty content, such as alternatives for high-end cosmetics, and more political pieces about misogyny in heavy metal music and an article on the politics of reproductive issues.

Neither magazine restricted who could work on staff.

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Alabama

Cooler, quieter weather settles into Alabama after warm weekend

Published

1 day ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Cooler, quieter weather settles into Alabama after warm weekend

COOLER: After a weekend with highs well into the 80s, we expect a high in the 68-76 degree range across Alabama today with a good supply of sunshine. Tonight will be clear and cool with lows in the 40s and 50s.

The weather stays unusually quiet for the rest of the week (for late March). We might consider mentioning a small risk of a shower Wednesday, but the weather will be generally rain-free with afternoon highs rising back into the low to mid 80s by Thursday and Friday.

THE WEEKEND: At this point the weekend looks dry and cooler. Highs both days between 66 and 74 degrees; mostly sunny days and fair nights.

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And, the latest global model output suggests the dry pattern continues into the first half of next week. It will be sometime in early April before we experience our next widespread rain/storm event

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