With a 42-10 victory over Missouri, Alabama has officially maneuvered (OK, steamrolled) its way through the first half of the season.  The Crimson Tide has outscored its opponents by a score of 243 to 45 and is sitting atop the polls with a 6-0 record.

     The first half of the season has been a breeze.  Will the second half be so easy?  Is Alabama that much better than everyone else?

     Certainly, Nick Saban has stockpiled talent in Tuscaloosa the likes of which has rarely been seen in the modern era of college football.  Scholarship limitations have made more difficult for one program to stand head and shoulders above the rest. 

     Sure, Urban Meyer had a great run at Florida, as did Steve Spurrier a decade before.  Meyer won two national titles in six years with the Gators.  Spurrier’s teams dominated the SEC, winning six conference titles in 12 years.  Amazingly, he won only one national title and never had an undefeated season. 

     Pete Carroll dusted off the USC program and won two national titles in just nine years.  Most seasons, though, the Trojans lost focus and dropped a game to a less talented team.

     Only Tom Osborne at Nebraska was able to do what Saban is trying to accomplish this year – three national titles in four years.  To clarify, the Cornhuskers won outright championship in 1994 and ’95 and split the title with Michigan in 1997.  The BCS was born the following year, guaranteeing no more shared championships.

    Saban has loaded and reloaded the program with a top five recruiting classe in all but his first year.  The results so far speak for themselves.

     No one is ready to hand the crystal football to this Alabama team.  There are still six regular season games to go.  But, Saban clearly has taken the Alabama program to the mountaintop of college football.  The relative ease with which this team is winning would suggest that the gap between the Crimson Tide and the other programs is widening.

     But, will winning so easily week in and week out prove to be a good thing?  How will this team respond when it is challenged? 

     The second half of the season will seemingly provide more challenges than the first half has.  The first of those will be Saturday night on the road against Tennessee.

     The Vols are certainly far from the team that had its own run of dominance in the conference.  They bring with them a record of just 3 wins and 3 losses.  They have yet to win an SEC game this season.  The Vols losses are to Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State.  The loss to Mississippi State was last Saturday night and the Vols were outscored 41-31.

     What they will do is challenge the Alabama defense with a skillful passing attack.  Both Arkansas and Missouri are teams that like to throw the football.  Neither team was able to field their best quarterbacks due to injury, however.

     Tyler Bray is the starter for Tennessee, and he is healthy and ready to go.  Bray has completed 60% of his passes for an average of 288 yards so far this season.  He has thrown 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.  Expect the ball to be in the air for much of the game when Tennessee is on offense.  Bray throws an average of 36 passes per game.

     The Tennessee offense is averaging 38 points per contest, which is fourth best in the SEC.

     Passing is their bread and butter, but the rushing game is also pretty decent.  The Volunteers average 183 yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry when running the football.  Those rushing statistics put them in the middle of the SEC.

     The problems for Tennessee are on the defensive side of the ball.  They are giving up an average of 31.5 points per contest.  That is exactly 24 points more than the stingy Alabama defense allows.  Only Kentucky is giving up more points among SEC teams than the Vols.

     The yardage has been easy to gain both on the ground and through the air against this Tennessee team.  That should play right into the hands of a very balanced Alabama offense.

     Nick Saban has never lost to Tennessee since he has been at Alabama.  His young defense will be challenged Saturday night, but expect them to answer the call.

     Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer will be drowning out Rocky Top by the time this one is over.