Tide's trend is fast starts

TUSCALOOSA — Football is a 60-minute game, but Alabama’s 5-0 start is due in large part to the opening minutes of every game.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide has been ruthlessly efficient in setting the tone.

n Alabama has scored on its opening drive in four of its first five games, including touchdowns in its last three.

n The Tide’s 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter in Saturday night’s victory over Georgia was the team’s closest score all season. In fact, Nick Saban’s team has built a cumulative 74-0 lead after the first quarter and 133-20 at halftime.

n Alabama’s drive chart in the first half this season is even more impressive. Alabama has scored 22 times it has touched the ball in the first half. Sure, a punt return and two interception returns for touchdowns are included. By contrast, the Crimson Tide has failed to score on just nine first-half possessions, although that doesn’t include a snap or two to run out the clock before halftime.

There have been 17 touchdowns, five field goals, three missed field goals and five punts.

“What that shows is that we go out and show them that we want to play dominant football,” defensive end Lorenzo Washington said. “The offense has done amazing controlling the ball. ... We also need to do a good job keep getting the three-and-outs.”

Saban credits his staff for having the team prepared to play, and the players for executing the game plan.

“We have done a good job of executing. That is probably the biggest reason for it,” Saban said.

The coach said Alabama does script its first several plays.

“We plan it. We practice it. Our players are aware of what will be called whether it is 8-10-12-15 plays,” Saban said. “Obviously it doesn’t go completely towards the script because you have some situations that are short-yardage on third down or whatever.”

Running back Glen Coffee said the script has been nearly flawless.

“The game plans have been on point each game, the coaches are doing a great job,” Coffee said.

Quarterback John Parker Wilson said he gets the script on Thursday.

“It takes a couple days to be able to get it together,” Wilson said. “They can see what we’re hitting good. ... I mean, we’re not going to put something in the (script) that we haven’t really, really looked good on.”

Still, Coffee said the early success is less about Xs and Os than mental toughness.

“We just have that mind set that nobody is going to stop us,” Coffee said. “We just have the mind set that we are going to physically try to dominate you, no matter who you are.”

Everything we do is on us, no matter what our competition is.”

Alabama hasn’t had a lot of competition early. Only Tulane forced a punt on the Tide’s first possession this season.

Against Georgia, Mark Ingram scored on a 7-yard run that capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:28 off the clock.

Ingram’s 1-yard run ended Alabama’s opening drive against Arkansas, a 10-play, 71-yard march that took 4:20.

Before that, another 7-yard run by Ingram opened the Western Kentucky game, finishing off an 11-play, 63-yard drive that took 4:21.

“It’s huge. It sets the tempo of every game,” center Antoine Caldwell said of the Tide’s first-quarter success. “In the locker room before the game, everybody’s jumping around, everybody’s excited. When you see everybody like that and you go out on the field, you feel like you still have that energy. We’re ’up’ and no matter who’s out there in front of us, we’re going to go out there and dominate. That’s the mentality we’ve had. So far, it’s been successful.”

While the defense can’t script plays like the offense can, there is a method to its early play, too.

“We try and play a way on defense where we make simple adjustments early trying to get through their script if they are a script team,” Saban said.

Washington said the defense does want to dictate adjustments by the offense.

“We game-plan a lot of stuff, but we have certain stuff you want to run against certain formations, certain personnel that they have out there,” Washington said. “A lot of times, you might not be running your whole package. We hardly blitzed at all (against Georgia). If you can get pressure with three down, four down, five down, that’s definitely key, because you can get more guys in coverage and use different coverages to confuse the offense.”

The first-half stats indicate more than a little confusion from Crimson Tide opponents.