This has already been linked to and discussed, but Tyler Bray will be seeing some action this coming Saturday against the mighty mighty Crimson Tide of Alabama. Opinions on this appear to be quite divided, but I think it's a smart move. Now before you tell me how dumb you think I am, answer me this: how much better can we really expect to get with Matt Simms as the QB? Have we not already seen the guy's upside? At time == present, are we something other than abjectly terrible on offense? If the QB remains the same, how much improvement on offense can we really expect to see?
I don't mean to give Simms a hard time. I think he has done a reasonably good job, and there is no disputing that he is a certifiable gamer. But I say we throw the youngster in a pressure situation and give him a chance to sling it around a little bit. You never know, he could be.....good.
- Alabama will be without an offensive linemen for the game. Our beloved Tennessee Volunteers will be getting one back. So instead of their O-line being way way way better than ours, it will just be way way better. I'll take what I can get. The latter link also notes that Greg King is likely out for the year.
- Third Saturday in Blogtober "takes inventory" of Tennessee in an excellent sort of "state of the program" article that I highly recommend reading. Good stuff.
- Of course, the obligatory "Dooley is a Saban Protege" article. I have a feeling that this will not be the last one of those.
- Mike Strange reminds us that Alabama was somewhere between mediocre and putrid at football for a not-insubstantial number of years. And that those not-insubstantial number of years were actually not that long ago. Thanks, Mike, this makes me feel good. But next time please devote a couple more paragraphs to Mike Price. With more graphic details. They always make me chuckle.
- I realize that we're supposed to be talking about football this week, but I have no choice but to bring to your attention the preseason media poll picking the BasketVols to finish 4th in the SEC East. I won't even elaborate on how ridiculous that is. I will, however, invite any and all of you who happen to know who votes in this poll to get in contact with me so that I can get in contact with them. I have some real estate I think they might be interested in.