re: So why was it only 10-10 at the half against The Citadel?

The halftime score was just from the pace of play slowing down. A running game that chips in 3-5 chunks down the field can easily use up 7-10 minutes if they’re not running a HUNH scheme.

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which is why Citadel was such an anomaly.

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Holy shitballs Batman.

I always chuckle in anger when this level of football-understanding ineptitude raises it's head on this forum, and then I gotta bang on this keyboard a bit. Let's try it again, shall we.

This is directed not at whomever I quoted above, but anyone whose opinion is that what happened versus the Citadel is a worrisome thing. Or any other abjectly terrible opinion, like not wanting certain star players to return punts to save them for non-special teams plays, or some other such hogwash.

Anywho... Anyone who is concerned about the first half vs the Citadel never played the game of football at any meaningful level, or played it very recently and had only hurry-up teams on their schedule.

Running the football can compress the game to a shocking degree. For example, back in the late 90s, our team, which finished the year 3-7, made the playoffs and traveled to play an undefeated, ranked #2 in the state (#1 in the power polls), team that was waxing us in the first half. We trailed at halftime 19-7, and it was only that close because they missed or we blocked 2 extra points. We also got our 7 by returning a fumble 97 yards for a TD. That fumble play would've made it basically 26-0.

After a players-only halftime meeting, we came out on fire. You see, both teams ran the wishbone. They were dedicated to it, and but we were running a lot of 2 back (I and Pro) as well.

They get the ball to start the 3rd, and go 3 and out and backwards every play. They were laughing at themselves and having fun. They had relaxed. After the punt, we started deep in our own territory and mounted a 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust drive where Yours Truly scored ON THE FINAL PLAY OF THE 3RD QUARTER. Yes, there were 2 drives in the 3rd quarter: a 3 and out by them, and a TD drive by us. 19-14.

They receive the kick and similarly get stuffed. 3 and out. Punt.

And then the same exact thing happened again. Crazy long drive resulting in TD dive by Yours Truly, the fullback. We scored to make it 22-19 (we went for 2).

There were only a couple minutes left in the game by that point. They got the ball, got a first down, and stalled near midfield. It's 4th down, and they ran a fake punt where the punter THROWS what looks like a punt to inside the 10, hoping we'd be fooled and they could catch it for a TD. We weren't fooled, and knocked it down. Got in Victory formation, and won the game. A 3-7 team beat arguably the best team in the state at our level because they thought they had it won at halftime and relaxed, and we super compressed the game. Not counting the victory formation play or 2, there were only a total of 5 drives in the 2nd half - by BOTH teams combined.

And so, how does this apply to Alabama. The Citadel was eating clock with it's first few drives. "But wait," you say, incredulously. "Why were they moving the football on us, God's Gift to Football, the Alabama Crimson Tide?"

Because that's why this type of offense, an offense from a half century ago, is still run by a handful of teams, mostly military academies. It allows you to compete with lesser athletes. It relies on angles and speed of execution to work. Olineman don't have to overpower Dlinemen to block them. You literally cut them or just get in their way. Trap blocks galore.

This offense also has the added benefit, due to the clock continuing to run after running plays where you stay inbounds, of using said clock and radically limiting the number of potential scoring drives of the other team. The Rule Book: ain't it a stinker!

And so Alabama got what, 4 drives (or potential scoring opportunities) in the first half? And all it takes is a couple of miscues for Bama, or any team, to get a lot less points than they're accustomed to in X number of minutes.

Add to that the fact that Bama was obviously not uber-focused for this one, which is perfectly understandable. Ergo, the few miscues early.

However, with time and halftime adjustments, we figured out how to shut down the triple option and blew them out.

And so, this raises the question for any Bama fan concerned about the events of that day: Which is it? Are you clueless about football? Or are you just the type of fan that absolutely has to invent things to worry about, because that's how miserable of a person you are?

It has to be one or the other.