Well, needless to say, the Bama Nation (yes, that’s what we call ourselves (or the Alabama Family)) is very disappointed this weekend. That is not to say that we weren’t disappointed last weekend or the weekend before or the weekend before that. However, this weekend doesn’t leave us with a W, and it should have.

I’ve gotten used to the Tide playing well enough to keep me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails, and then pulling out the stops for a win. We usually sit around afterwards saying, “Whew! That was too close.” It was looking like this weekend’s game against the Arkansas Razorbacks would be the same. Bama should have won that game.

The Razorbacks had a Freshman QB, who consistently overthrew his man, OR overturned the ball, through the whole game. Our corners consistently outran their defense. JP, a super QB in my opinion, was having a great day! For some reason, Shula seems to prefer field goals over touchdowns, and Tiffin wasn’t having a good day.

I don’t understand is what happened to #34? And when it became painfully obvious that he was having difficulty carrying ball farther than 2 yards, why didn’t Shula take him out for good? Why run the same offensive plays over and over again when the Hogs’ defense stops it everytime? Why not let JP throw the ball more? And, finally, why in the world do you go for a field goal when you can win the game with a TD!!!!? I know that Shula is conservative. I fully expected him to line ’em up for a kick on that last drive rather than go into the endzone. I was not surprised. I was disappointed.

Overtime? I don’t know. I can see how Shula wanted to show confidence in Tiffin. However, Tiffin was having a bad day. And Christiansen proved himself over and over again last season. I don’t know how many games last year depended solely on that young man, but he handled the pressure well. Why not let him go for the field goal? I hope Shula isn’t playing favorites. (Leigh Tiffin’s father, Van Tiffin, was the kicker for Bama when Shula was the QB.)

It certainly looked like Houston Nutt wanted to win the game. The Hogs were fired up. And their coaches weren’t afraid to try something different to win the game.

The next few weeks are going to be tough. Yesterday’s game was agonizing to watch. I think we have the talent. I just hope Shula figures it out that sometimes he’s going to have to call plays that are more of a gamble. Even if Bama loses, it might be more fun to watch!