Rosenbush Cafe

Gisele, Cleo, Max, Cosmo

I Can't Vote?

Congratulations to my friends Gisele and Tim on the birth (October 22nd) of their first child, Maximilian Zolton McGraw. Mazal Tov!

AP Top 25
1. Texas (65) 8-0 1,625
2. Alabama 8-0 1,542
3. Penn State 9-0 1,503
4. Oklahoma 7-1 1,361
5. Florida 6-1 1,337
6. Texas Tech 8-0 1,280
7. USC 6-1 1,234
8. Georgia 7-1 1,212
9. Oklahoma State 7-1 1,168
10. Utah 8-0 1,027
11. Boise State 7-0 946
12. TCU 8-1 848
13. Ohio State 7-2 834
14. Missouri 6-2 791
15. LSU 5-2 649
16. Florida State 6-1 558
17. Brigham Young 7-1 553
18. Ball State 8-0 542
19. Tulsa 7-0 527
20. Minnesota 7-1 438
21. North Carolina 6-2 228
22. Michigan State 7-2 219
23. Oregon 6-2 188
24. South Florida 6-2 100
25. Maryland 6-2 89
Others Receiving Votes: West Virginia 73, California 42, Kansas 40, Pittsburgh 33, Connecticut 30, Virginia 25, Georgia Tech 19, Louisville 15, Notre Dame 11, Oregon State 11, Virginia Tech 6, Troy 5, Northwestern 5, Boston College 4, Air Force 4, Navy 2, Arizona 1. Dropped From Rankings: Pittsburgh 17, Kansas 19, Georgia Tech 21, Boston College 23.

USA Today Poll
1. Texas (58) 8-0 1,522
2. Alabama 8-0 1,439
3. Penn State (3) 9-0 1,414
4. Oklahoma 7-1 1,265
5. Texas Tech 8-0 1,246
6. USC 6-1 1,228
7. Florida 6-1 1,199
8. Georgia 7-1 1,137
9. Utah 8-0 987
10. Oklahoma State 7-1 972
11. Boise State 7-0 894
12. TCU 8-1 813
13. Ohio State 7-2 752
14. Missouri 6-2 740
15. LSU 5-2 573
16. Florida State 6-1 546
17. Brigham Young 7-1 545
18. Tulsa 7-0 524
19. Ball State 8-0 445
20. Minnesota 7-1 403
21. Michigan State 7-2 292
22. North Carolina 6-2 232
23. South Florida 6-2 153
24. Oregon 6-2 150
25. Maryland 6-2 71
Others Receiving Votes: Georgia Tech 48, Kansas 40, California 40, West Virginia 35, Notre Dame 25, Connecticut 24, Pittsburgh 23, Northwestern 11, Louisville 9, Boston College 9, Virginia 7, Fresno State 6, Wake Forest 4, Arizona 2. Dropped From Rankings: Kansas 18, Pittsburgh 20, Georgia Tech 21, Northwestern 24

By Henry B. Rosenbush

KNOXVILLE, TN–Alabama Coach Nick Saban has been looking for a complete game from the 2nd ranked Crimson Tide and he got it from an inspired offensive and defensive performance in a 29-9 win over the Tennesse Volunteers (3-5, 1-4).

The Tide improved to 8-0, (5-0 in the SEC West) in a game that started as a defensive battle.

After the Tide took a 3-0 lead on Leigh Tiffin’s 39 yard field goal the defense held the Vols on the ensuing drive but after a 54-yard punt, Javier Arenas fumbled and Dennis Rogan recovered at the 5 yard line. Tennesse looked poised to take a 7-3 lead from inside the 5 yard line but the defense stiffened holding the Vols to minus 9 yards forcing a Daniel Lincoln 31 yarder to tie Alabama. It would be the closest Tennessee would get in the game.

At 3-3, it was the first time Alabama has been tied this season this after only trailing once, last week against Ole Miss 3-0 before rallying for a 24-20 win. For the season, Alabama has trailed for one minute and fifty seconds in their eight games.

Alabama scored in every quarter and unleashed a consistent running game with one touchdown each by Glen Coffee, Roy Upchurch and Quarterback John Parker Wilson.

Josh Briscoe’s 10 yard TD catch from Vol Quarterback Nick Stephens with 7:26 left to go was Tennesse’s only TD as their offense never saw the ball again with Alabama’s running game grinding the remaining time away.

Stephens finished 16-28 for 137 yards and 1 TD while Wilson played a confident role late in the game finishing 17-24/188 completing passes to nine different receivers. The Volunteer defense, which had 14 interceptions coming in to lead the SEC (2nd in the nation), was unable to pick off Wilson.

Upchurch led the Tide’s rushing attack with 14 carries for 86 yards and the 1 TD and Coffee finished with 78 yards on 19 carries and 1 TD. The running game grew stronger as the game progressed with Alabama finishing with a rushing advantage of 178 yards to 36.

Even when Tennessee moved the ball early the defense held them to two field goal attempts (51, 43 yards), both missed and outgained the Vols 366 yards to 173.

Alabama played an almost flawless first half, except for the Arena’s fumble, it was late in the second half before the Tide was first penalized (3/35 yards) while the Vols were flagged 7 times for 60 yards.

The win was Alabama’s first back-to-back wins over Tennessee since the 1991-92 season and leaves the Crimson Tide the only undefeated team in the SEC. Playing without nose tackle Terrence Cody the defense kept Stephens from getting any rhythm in his passing game. Cody sustained a right knee injury against Ole Miss and may return for the November 8 game in the Bayou against LSU.

Julio Jones led all receivers with 6 catches for 103 yards as Alabama passed for 188 yards to 137.

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER
ALA: FG 10:18 Leigh Tiffin 39 yard field goal; 1 plays, 50 yds in 4:42 3-0
TENN: FG 6:28 Daniel Lincoln 31 yard field goal; 4 plays, -9 yds in 1:32 3-3
ALA: FG 1:37 Tiffin 43 yard field goal; 5 plays, 21 yds in 2:00 6-3

SECOND QUARTER
ALA: TD 2:41 Glen Coffee rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN, Tiffin extra point GOOD; 6 plays, 66 yds in 3:03 13-3

THIRD QUARTER
ALA: FG 10:28 Tiffin 30 yard field goal; 6 plays, 20 yds in 3:16 16-3
ALA: TD 1:38 John Parker Wilson rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN, Two-point conversion attempt, Wilson pass FAILED; 12 plays, 79 yds in 6:25 22-3

FOURTH QUARTER
ALA: TD 9:43 Roy Upchurch rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN, Tiffin extra point GOOD; 8 plays, 80 yds in 4:31 29 3
TENN: TD 7:26 Nick Stephens pass complete to Josh Briscoe for 10 yards for a TOUCHDOWN, Two-point conversion attempt, Stephens pass FAILED; 6 plays, 63 yds in 2:17 29-9

Other key stats: Alabama led time of possession 35:12 to 24:28; there was only one turnover, the Arena’s fumble; Alabama also converted two 4th downs and outscored Tennessee 16-6 in the second half after having been outscored 78-55 previously. In the first 15 minutes, Alabama has a definitive edge of 101 points to 6, with both field goals coming in the last two games.

The ESPN announcers said the 102,000 plus stadium had over 106,000 fans in attendance; talk about standing room only.

Number 1 Texas held off a late rally from #6 Oklahoma State to win 28-24 while #3 Penn State came from behind to defeat #9 Ohio State 13-6.

Alabama hosts Arkansas State (4-3, 2-1) for Homecoming November 1, 2 p.m. CST, before traveling to #13 LSU (5-2, 3-2) on the 8th for a match up with a Tiger team totally dismantled earlier today, at home, by the #7 Georgia Bulldogs (7-1, 4-1), 52-38.

I sat through the first two Transporter movies and found them highly entertaining. The first with the concept of a mysterious driver who would deliver anything or one for a price and the second which proved you don’t want to be a villian at the end of a firehose. While they will never be mistaken for classics they do have three components that make them worthwhile: Jason Statham, outrageous automotive stunts with BMWs and the actor’s wry humor coupled with his amazing fighting skills. Statham is another actor who seems to relish his typecast status; Handsome Bob in the remake of The Italian Job or Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as Bacon, the British thesp is always entertaining. The busy actor is starring in his 4th movie this year, after the high-octane Death Race remake fizzled at the boxoffice.

By Henry B. Rosenbush

The Alabama Crimson Tide  (7-0, 4-0) takes their second place record on the road this weekend to Knoxville to play SEC rivals the Tennessee Volunteers (3-4, 1-3) at 6:45 p.m. CST on ESPN. Although out of the SEC race, the Vols are tied for first place in interceptions with 14, which also leads the Southeastern Conference. Alabama is favored by 6.5 points.

While Alabama leads the all-time series 45-38-7, the series is 20-20-1 in Knoxville and Coach Phillip Fulmer’s record against Alabama since 1993 is 11-4 including a 7-game streak from 1995-2001, but since 2001 the teams are 3-3.

As the season has unfolded, Alabama quickly rose from the ashes of last year’s 7-6 season in which the Tide started strong and after a blowout of the Vols lost four in a row before a bowl win over Colorado. Coach Nick Saban has taken a mixture of talented veterans and freshman from a 24th place ranking on August 30th to second place in both polls after seven games.

Any casual observer of Alabama football will see a pattern emerging that is quietly bizarre; get a big lead in the first half and spend the second half defending it. If Alabama had played LSU last Saturday like they did against Ole Miss it could have easily been similar to Florida’s recent dismantling of LSU. Even so, the Tide has outscored opponents this season 226-101. Their last two games against Kentucky (17-14) and Ole Miss (24-20) closed the gap, however, 41-34, which is oddly close to the winning score over the previously 2nd ranked Georgia on September 27, 41-30.

Last season Alabama had late leads over Georgia and LSU but could not control the 4th quarter. In 2008, the Tide has controlled the ball early and until Ole Miss scored a field goal in the first quarter Alabama had never trailed or been tied all season.

Now that the first BCS National Championship standings have been released Alabama knows that their destiny is firmly in their hands. The BCS Standings top 5 are: Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Oklahoma and Southern Cal. The Longhorns have a BCS grade of .998 out of 1.000. Alabama is second across the board, behind Texas in the polls and the computers with a BCS average of .949; Penn State, (.867); Oklahoma (.832) Southern California (.775) round out the top five with Oklahoma State (.773) sixth; Georgia (.720) seventh; Texas Tech (.713) eight; Ohio State ninth (.703) and Florida (.699) tenth.

In other Tide news, nose tackle Terrence Cody, who sustained a right knee injury in the third quarter of the Ole Miss game sat Tuesday, leg immobilized, doing push-ups and sit-ups while the team practiced in pads for two hours. The 365-pound junior college transfer had an MRI that confirmed he’d be out for at least two weeks which coincides with the big game at LSU on November 8.

Alabama junior left tackle Andre Smith has been named one of 12 semi-finalists for the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia an award presented to the nation’s top offensive or defensive lineman.

Tennessee is one game shy of its 775th win and for Tide fans let’s hope it comes against South Carolina on November 1st.

Top games this weekend: Number 1 Texas hosts the sixth ranked Oklahoma State with both teams 7-0, 3-0 in the Big 12; Penn State takes its 7-0, 4-0 record on the road at rival Big 10 #9 Ohio State (7-1, 4-0); and Georgia (6-1, 3-1) travels to Baton Rouge to take on the 13th ranked LSU Tigers (5-1, 3-1).