Just got the call. And I really did just get the call. From my Alabama sharp on the Mizzou game

2) Mizzou has made a nice little season for itself out of overlooked. My guess is that, after beating Auburn in a sweaty, intense Iron Bowl, Bama will have a significant drop in emotional intensity for at least the first quarter.

3) Mizzou has an excellent pass rush with their DE's. Sending Amari Cooper deep to torch single coverage is fun, but Sims will need 3 seconds or so to see if he beat the coverage. In that time, I think the pocket will be collapsing on him, and Bama will lose the big play passes that more or less was the source of about 21 points against Auburn.

4) Alabama's secondary was exposed against Auburn. Anytime that Nick Marshall throws for 450 yards against you, you have a coverage problem. Coates beat his man routinely in that game, leading to multiple gigantic TD's. Mizzou will be looking to exploit the same weakness, and Bama may overcompensate, making running the ball easier as they reinforce the CB's.

5) Bama doesn't deserve to be giving 14 points to hardly anyone this year. They have a consistency problem, and while Lane Kiffin's exceptional offensive strategy has largely covered over the variance, Bama hasn't played a full game this year. LSU, Miss. St., Arkansas, Auburn. All wins, all by less than 14, all choppy, unnecessarily dangerous games that could've been lost. In other words, Bama could easily be 8-4 right now instead of 11-1. Their record is misleading as to their dominance.

6) Alabama's FG kicker, Griffith, has been a psycho for weeks now. I expected him to have cost us a game by now, but since he hasn't, this looks like a good spot as any for it. He flat out cannot be trusted to be consistent in clutch spots in big games. If Bama is forced to settle for FG's, he will bleed points for them.

as an alabama fan, i would like to offer a few opposing view points to this to gove the other side of the story. as you know, there are always 2 sides to any story and the truth often lies in the middle.

1). while i agree that Bama's offense has been far less productive away from T-Town, this game will basically be a home game. the vast majority of Mizzou's tickets have been sent back to the school and there are now some 15,000 tickets being released to the public today via after market sites like StubHub. it will be 75% or more Alabama fans there

2). the only time over the past few years that Bama has "dropped the intensity" has been after they lost a regular season game. they will be ready

3). cant argue that point too much as i do thein Mizzou's Dline is far better the AU's

4). the corner that was torched in the Bama game was taken out at Halftime and resulted in no more holes in the secondary. that corner has been given the starting job for today as well and despite what anyone thinks, Auburn has the best 1-2 punch at WR IN THE COUNTRY. both Coates and Williams will play big time on Sundays. hard to contain them for that long all day. they will make plays

5). you are flat out wrong about the domincance theory. this is the best D in NCAA this year andn if you want to use the 44 Auburn hung as the basis for a rebuttle, you have no clue how intense the Iron Bowl is. Bama has given up more than 21 points only 2 times this year...theh first game of the year without the signal caller on D and vs AU.

6). THIS KICKER HAS BEEN REPLACED. read your starting lineups bro. Griffen no longer is the starter.

all that being said, i cant really blame you for taking 14.5 points. this game "should" be close but i would not take it as a lock that Mizzou will be all that special. this is the same team that lost to Indiana at home and got shut out by UGA. too much risk to take Mizz IMO. the under 49.5 is the better play IMO but GL