crimson and white roundtable: fancy logo edition

this weeks questions are brought to you courtesy of bama sports report. they are the kind of the new kids on the block in the bama blogosphere, but they are top notch to say the least. here we go.

1. What are your feelings on Alabama’s current position in the polls? Are we overrated? Underrated? Just right?

i actually advocate volatility in the early polls. if you can bump bama up 8-12 spots for whipping clemson's ass, then feel free to drop them for what happened on saturday. that being said, they have no business creeping around the top 10 like they seem to be doing. i would have them in a holding pattern somewhere around 20 pending the arkansas game.

2. What aspect of the game did Alabama control that shocked you the most? What aspect of the game was Alabama dominated in that shocked you the most?

well obviously i can't believe that bama got "out physicalled" (trust me) by tulane. especially given what we saw just 7 days previous. i don't know that the domination on special teams really shocked me, but it was pretty damn impressive. obviously javy arenas went above and beyond, but i don't know that anything he does shocks me at this point.

3. Name your player of the game on Offense. Also name one on Defense.

given that offensive performance i should probably hold onto this award until next week, but in the spirit of the roundtable, i'll give it to mark ingram just for sheer effort.

on defense, rolando mcclain seems to me to be a no brainer. a career high 15 tackles, 2 for a loss, and a pass deflection. and he's only a sophmore kids.

4. John Parker Wilson has been called a number of things - most of them not so nice. What do you see in your crystal ball for #14 for the balance of the season?

probably something in between what i've seen in the first two weeks. with the way the defense and running game are looking, all jpw needs to do is manage the offense and make smart throws. i can handle a certain level of inaccuracy, its the backbreaking int's and fumbles i can't handle. it would appear to me after last week that jpw's success may well just depend on the play of the o line.

5. Considering that we rushed for 6.5 yards per carry against Tulane, and only averaged 1.6 yards on pass plays, why do you suppose that we passed 27 times and only ran 22 times?

i have no idea. its not like bama should feel the need to "trick" tulane with their play calling. they should just be able to line up and do their thing. part of me chalks it up to being like a preseason game in the nfl. as long as you're in control of the game you to work on some things at true game speed...something you just can't duplicate in practice.

rolando mcclain: defensive cyborg