Alabama Crimson Tide Answer Critics on Saturday

By Tim Letcher on October 18, 2014

The Alabama Crimson Tide heard the criticisms all week long. Apparently, they were not very happy with what they were hearing.

After last week’s 14-13 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Tide were criticized for “only” winning by a point against a team that has struggled in SEC play over the past two seasons. Fans and media members asked what was wrong with the mighty Tide.

In his Monday press conference, Nick Saban addressed the criticisms, saying he was frustrated by what people were saying about his team.

Apparently, Saban passed that message on to his team during this week’s practices, because the Tide took their frustrations out on Saturday. The unfortunate victims were the Texas A&M Aggies, who came to Tuscaloosa and got pounded 59-0.

It was a dominating performance on both sides of the ball. Alabama raced to a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and simply added to it after that. Blake Sims was efficient, connecting on 16-of-27 passing for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Running back T.J. Yeldon carried 13 times for 114 yards and a pair of scores. Amari Cooper caught eight passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns as well.

The Tide defense was stingy against a highly-potent offense. Texas A&M came into the game third in the nation in passing yards (396 per game) and sixth in the nation in scoring (43.9 points per game). On Saturday, Alabama held the Aggies to eight first downs, 172 yards of total offense, just 141 yards passing and zero points for the first time since 2003.

Perhaps the criticism was the kick in the pants that Alabama needed this season. It certainly appeared to work this week.

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.