Alabama 34, Virginia Tech 24. In a couple big-picture ways, nothing about this game was surprising: Alabama was expected to win an intense, competitive game, and expected to generally hold the Hokie offense in check, and both of those assumptions held. But the Tide deviated from the conservative/field position/defense script in a handful of frightening ways:• 'Bama rolled up just shy of 500 total yards on a perennial top-10 defense, its second-highest number against a I-A opponent and the second-highest output by anyone against a Virginia Tech D since 2003. The Tide averaged 6.3 per play and went on seven scoring drives, including marches that covered 70, 77, 54, and 74 yards, in addition to 57 and 60-yard drives that didn't end in points. • It was a balanced attack, not content to pound away despite consistent success on the ground -- Mark Ingram and Roy Upchurch combined for 240 yards on a whopping 6.9 per carry, but Greg McElroy also put up 230 passing in his first start. • Maybe most frighteningly, a lot of those yards came on big, downfield passes to a variety of receivers: McElroy was somewhat inconsistent but averaged 15 yards per completion and hit a couple deep strikes -- neither of them to Julio Jones; five different receivers had multiple catches for at least 35 yards. If the Tide had any glaring concern on paper, it was the duel uncertainty about McElroy's arm and the lack of any reliable targets beyond Jones. Neither was an issue tonight.
Those were the surprises. Meanwhile, the defense was killer as advertised, and maybe moreso: Va. Tech was held to 154 yards on a paltry three yards per snap and only had one scoring drive all night (a 51-yard drive in the second quarter) that didn't start in Alabama territory following a turnover or come on a kickoff return. The Hokies punted eight times, turned it over twice more and did nothing to discredit the Tide defense as one of the best half-dozen outfits in the country.
Yet somehow Virginia Tech actually led this game well into the fourth quarter despite being dominated by every objective measure, which may be the only concern 'Bama takes away from it: Both Tide turnovers were costly, they let Tech run a kickoff back and they left a lot of points on the board via turnovers and settling for field goals (including a missed field goal). Based on the down-to-down, yards gained/yards allowed performance, Tech should have been blown off the field instead of taking the thing into the final minutes.
Still, combine those margins with the killer instinct that produced 18 decisive points in the fourth quarter, and Alabama probably has the nation's most impressive opening-day performance for the second year in a row.
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