ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE O:9 D:4
A Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech and the #8 ranking in the country is what the Crimson Tide earned a year ago. However, what might have been had the team been able to stay completely healthy has haunted the Bama faithful the entire off-season.
The offense was putrid once WR Tyrone Prothro went down with an injury against Florida, and it was the reason they lost their last two games of the regular season. That being said, the Tide’s offense looks to be in much better shape in ’06. Granted, QB Croyle has departed, but nine starters return and they boast one of the best RB corps in the country backed by an O-Line that returns four starters. The ground game should be amongst the top attacks in the league. The WR corps returns almost completely intact, with the lone question mark being that of Tyrone Prothro who missed all of spring practice. Defensively, the Tide’s green in all three facets of the unit. They look to be strongest up front, but the back seven will be the Achilles heel early on. Don’t expect this unit to give up the 10.7 PPG they gave up in 2005. Special teams look to be very average as well since they have to break in a new punter, and find someone with speed that can hold onto the ball to return kicks.
With mass defections on the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson Tide will have to play a different brand of ball in ’06. Expect to see some higher scoring games, and less defensive struggles. Their non-conference schedule looks very appealing, but their SEC schedule is a beast. Trips to Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, and LSU don’t bode well for the record, but the Tide will only get better as the season progresses. |
