There is no slowing this Tide's roll

Alabama will finish the 2012 season undefeated and capture the school's third national championship in four years.

There, I said it. No turning back now.

There isn't a force in collegiate football strong enough to derail the Crimson Tide as Nick Saban's bunch seeks to become the first dynasty in the game since Bear Bryant left Tuscaloosa.

Here are the reasons for my confidence in this prediction - a dominant defense and quarterback A.J. McCarron. I make this entry for two reasons.

First, to show fans just how dominant this Alabama team is. But more importantly, I don't want to anger Harvey Updyke with any criticism of his beloved team. I love the trees in my front yard, so Roll Tide!

1. Alabama lost seven starters on defense, including three who were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Remarkably, the unit has not skipped a beat. 

The seventh overall pick in April's draft, safety Mark Barron, told reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis about the complexity of Alabama's 'D.'

"There aint no one who can learn that defense in under a year," said Barron, who currently starts in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive backfield. "We played in a very difficult defense, first of all. We did a lot of different schemes. I really don't believe anyone can learn that defense in under a year."

In fairness, Alabama did return four starters from last year's personnel and has several other players who saw significant playing time during last year's championship season. Those reasons pale in comparison to the challenges this team's defense faced.

Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had to fill several voids.

There's Barron, fellow first-rounders Dre Kirkpatrick (corner) and Don'ta Hightower (linebacker), perhaps the best college player of them all in Courtney Upshaw (third pick of the second round), Josh Chapman (defensive tackle) and De'quan Menzie (corner). That's six players on one side of the ball lost to the NFL.

However, a cast of talented but inexperienced relative unknowns have stepped into their new roles with  great confidence. The transition on the defensive side has been seamless from 2011 to 2012. Not bad considering over half of last year's starters are now playing on Sundays.

Let me preface this by saying I realize we're only four games into the season. It's a small sample size, which makes 'Bama's efforts thus far even more impressive considering two of its four opponents entered the campaign with two of the nation's most explosive offensive attacks in Michigan and Arkansas.

Alabama ranks among the national leaders in almost every major defensive statistical category: rushing defense (sixth), pass efficiency defense (fifth), total defense (third), scoring defense (second), turnover margin (second), passing defense (second) and sacks (23rd).

The Tide dominated Michigan and electrifying quarterback Denard Robinson in the season opener. The defending national champions made Robinson uncomfortable from the start on its way to a 31-7 halftime lead. 'Bama forced three Wolverine turnovers and surrendered only a pair of touchdowns in a convincing rout. If the questions regarding the squad's ability to contend for a title in 2012 despite the losses it suffered on defense loomed before the game, they were quickly answered in front of a national audience.

Following an expected drubbing of Western Kentucky, Alabama hit the road for its first SEC tilt of the young season. The Arkansas Razorbacks welcomed their conference foes to Fayetteville by providing absolutely zero resistance or any semblance of competition as the Tide embarrassed John L. Smith's club, 52-0. Granted, Razorback signal-caller Tyler Wilson did not play due to an injury suffered a week earlier. But let's be serious, it wouldn't have mattered that much.

'Bama racked up 438 yards to Arkansas' 137 while limiting the Hogs to 79 passing yards. The Tide recorded five takeaways in their second consecutive shutout.

Last week, Florida Atlantic made the trek to Tuscaloosa and was handed a 40-7 defeat in which it had only 35 yards of total offense before driving 75 yards on a fourth-quarter scoring march. Before FAU's final possession, the longest drive it had sustained covered a whopping 13 yards.

This defense is the nation's best and it'll only get better as these younger players become more comfortable in the system.

And how can we be sure the Crimson Tide will score enough points to reel off 14 consecutive victories?

2. A.J. McCarron. What a difference a year has made for the shaggy-haired senior, who out dueled the highly-touted Philip Sims in a quarterback competition at the beginning of last season. He struggled during stretches of the 2011 title run but his poised effort against LSU in the championship game fueled his confidence. McCarron's performance through four games has indicated just that.

Arguably, quarterback is the toughest position to play. He has to read defenses, study coverages, call the right audibles, identify blitzes, make accurate passes, manage the clock, the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, all of these responsibilities are critical to a team's success. For McCarron however, his job is fairly simple.

Do not, under any circumstances, turn the football over. Saban has said it before - any drive that ends with a kick is a good one. Think about it, a field goal? That's fine, three points. An extra point? Even better. A punt? So what, we'll gain 35-45 yards of field position and force our opponents to score on our defense. Good luck with that, by the way (see numbers above).

McCarron has improved by leaps and bounds since his up-and-down season a year ago, which included a critical interception against LSU during the regular season that could have costed 'Bama a chance at the national championship. He responded admirably by producing an error-free title game against the Tigers in which Alabama seemed to surprise Les Miles' team by opening up the playbook a bit. McCarron calmly executed play-action passes to the flats, connected on a few tosses down the field, and made all the right decisions in a Crimson Tide victory.

He picked up right where he left off.

Through four games, the right-hander has completed 51-of-81 passes for 819 yards. He has fired 10 touchdown strikes against zero interceptions. Zero interceptions, a number that must make Saban himself smile.

'Bama has turned the ball over only twice and just once since the second quarter of the Michigan game.

The offense averages 42 points per game, which ranks 13th among all FBS teams. The Tide averages over 200 rushing yards per contest and ranks second in the country in pass efficiency, a balance that has made this offense more difficult to defend and team more dominant.

The defense wasn't the only unit that lost several starters, either. The 'O' returned just three starters from last year and was faced with replacing Heisman candidate and resident beast, running back Trent Richardson.

...

So here we are. Week Five is right around the corner and Alabama hasn't shown any signs of weakness. Surely, someone will exploit the Tide. But can they do it long enough to pull the upset? I just don't see it.

Alabama is that good.

What could possibly go wrong? This blog post. My prediction will ultimately doom the Crimson Tide. It never fails.

I'm sorry, Harvey Updyke. It's all my fault.

Family, Dawg House, 'Bottom Line' - College Football Saturdays

There's nothing like Saturdays in the fall. My two older brothers and I used to wake up and scan through the local newspapers, checking high school football scores from the night before. Like clockwork, we'd make a trip to the Dawg House, a hamburger and hot dog joint just up the road from our two-story home in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Perhaps we should have not visited the nearby restaurant so much, as my recent attempts to fit in size-34 pants have failed miserably, but that's neither here nor there. We always tried to time our lunch outing so that we'd be home and back on the couch for Saturday's first kickoff.

Dad, Will (oldest brother), Brett (middle) and I typically flipped to one of the local channels for the RAYCOM Game-of-the-Week, which featured a contest between a pair of ACC schools. Of course, we would have already noted which games were shown on ESPN and ESPN2 simultaneously. We had to occupy our time during commercial breaks of the ACC game somehow. ESPN frequently aired a Big Ten tilt from 12-3, prompting Pops' weekly joke about football in the Midwest - "I'd rather watch two goats fighting over a turnip." Fortunately, goat fighting wasn't on the TV Guide docket most Saturdays. Games from 12-3, a highlight show for a half-hour, then another set of games that kicked off around 3:30 - it was our routine and the four of us were and remain creatures of habit.

Then came the night games. The primetime slots featured the weekend's best matchups, but it also kicked off the family's second big meal of the day. Both reasons played critical roles in deeming the seven o'clock hour a Hickman favorite. You probably get where I'm going with all this. We didn't channel surf on Saturdays to find a good movie. Pigskin was all we knew. We craved it, and wouldn't have it any other way. Those days preceded perpetual use of the smart phone and Internet, thus eight eyes in the Hickman family living room were peeled on the ESPN 'Bottom Line' scoreboard ticker, between plays of course. It was always gut-wrenching seeing Wake Forest, my childhood "team," trailing by a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

I recall one instance vividly, the tracker reported a Wake upset over Northwestern in the season opener. I couldn't have been happier than I was in those short, glorious moments, only to see my squad lose eight of its next 11 tilts and plummet to the bottom-half of the league standings. I took solace in Duke usually finishing dead last during those seasons, which pleased us all. My fanaticism for the Demon Deacons was growing exponentially at a time when my happiness revolved around the 'Bottom Line' report on Wake's success, or lack thereof, usually the latter. I proudly rooted for a perennial cellar-dweller, which I still consider a remarkable accomplishment. On the other hand, the constant heartache did however provide me great practice.

You see, Dad planted his love for the NFL's Washington Redskins into Brett and I at a young age, before we were dumb enough to actually cheer for the Cowboys. I firmly believe the grief I dealt with as a Wake supporter facilitated the development of a certain numbness to Washington's ineptitude as a franchise, which has endured for the greater portion of my life. Wake's hiring of head coach Jim Grobe sparked a remarkable turnaround for the football program in Winston-Salem. With fingers crossed, I predict the selection of Robert Griffin III in this year's draft, which led me to believe team owner Daniel Snyder may have a brain after all, will lead to significant improvement on the gridiron in our nation's capital.

Even my mother peeked in her boys' college football theater periodically. First to make sure we were all breathing -- close games are still tough on us all -- and secondly to pick up on a handful of notable scores and key plays, which she commonly referenced the following week in an effort to impress us. Mom always knew what was going on during the action on Saturday somehow. Even more shocking was her ability to pick up on our commentary to learn the game. Still today, if a team faces a third-and-1 in the opponent's territory Mama Gail chimes in, "Run the quarterback sneak twice." It's a beautiful thing. Now we're working on my girlfriend, who last year asked me what a first down was during one of Brett's game last year at North Greenville. Apparently that information is not addressed during episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress." However, Maggie is making strides, mostly because she has no alternative - sorry, dear.

Our passion for the game flows through our veins. I don't have the records present but surely it's in our DNA somewhere.

And Maggie, too, will gain a better understanding of the game we love so deeply. Sara, a coach's wife to the core and fantasy football junkie, has spent the early stages of the 2012 campaign learning the intricacies of defending the triple option. I'll take baby steps with Mags. Before Monday Night Football this week, she will know the purpose of the pregame coin toss. Wish me luck...

Check out "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" Sunday evening for a recap of Saturday's college football action. I'll also explain why Alabama will not be challenged on its way to capturing the Tide's third national championship in the last four years.

Pregame Introductions

Welcome, readers, as I christen "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" and add yet another blog you don't have time to follow closely. I hope to provide you all with valuable and refreshing insight into the world of sport through commentaries on various teams, leagues, athletes and coaches, ranging from the Washington Nationals to tennis star Andy Murray. I must warn you, if you aren't remotely interested in sports, close the link. Believe me when I tell you, this platform will bore you.

I have several other interests, believe it or not. I earned degrees in history and religious studies from East Carolina University but seldom will this blog contain information about the German wars of unification or the growth of Islam in Africa. Both topics are fascinating and neither will be discussed here, that's all. A fair warning, if you will.

Some of may know me, others may not. Since before I can recall, my passion has revolved around sport. Granted, I've always been partial to the "big three" - football, basketball and baseball. I've also spent my life closely following the PGA Tour, professional tennis and more recently, European soccer. This site will examine issues in most realms involving athletics. With that said, don't be surprised if I don't flood this work in progress with entries concerning badminton or synchronized swimming. I extend apologies with not even an inkling of sincerity to the archery fanatics out there, both of you. Perhaps for the right price I would consider doing a piece on rowing, but we're talking big bucks.

Even if you and I share the same passion, my background may still put you to sleep. However, it's imperative that I briefly offer a glimpse of life through my lens.

Here's the shortened version, courtesy of my friend, Mr. Cliff Notes.

My father, Yogi (nicknamed after Yankees' legend Yogi Berra) stepped down from his position as an insurance agent in the mid-80s to become an assistant high school football coach in his hometown of Whiteville, where he once "starred" as a three-sport athlete for the Wolfpack. Dad, if you're reading this, I'm kidding. We all recognize your prep accomplishments at the turn of the nineteenth century. Moving on, he served as an assistant on Whiteville's 1987 state championship football team, which featured Clemson star and NFL Pro Bowler Chester McGlockton. Dad served as a head coach at St. Pauls and West Brunswick, where we won over eighty percent of his games. I attribute this to my skills as the team's water distribution coordinator. Pops disagrees, yet it's certainly debatable.

I have two older brothers, Will (oldest) and Brett. We were coach's kids and we ate it up, Brett more so than Will and I. Whereas myself and Will used the field house or locker room as a playground, our middle brother viewed it as if he were at work. Brett even took it upon himself in the sixth grade to remove a JV player from West Brunswick's varsity locker room before practice one day. There was one small problem - the JV player Brett "dismissed" had been promoted to the varsity squad by dad earlier in the week. Nice going, B.

After winning a state championship in baseball his senior year at West, Brett eventually landed at East Carolina where he accepted a job as a student assistant on the Pirates' football coaching staff. There was never a doubt Brett wouldn't be a coach one day. We have since tossed countless church bulletins with diagrams of isolation runs, passing routes and goal-line packages sketched in the once-blank space beneath the line reading 'Closing Prayer.' He later received an actual playbook, which didn't include tabs for an invocation or benediction. Brett graduated and eventually accepted a coaching job (linebackers) at North Greenville University, a small, Division II institution in Tigerville, S.C. He is currently in his fourth year as a member of the Crusaders staff. When he does have the rare opportunity to come home for a quick visit, he typically spends them in the living room with dad, a dry erase board and a host of 'X's' and 'O's.'

I recently finished my degree at ECU as well and returned home after working in the athletic office as a student assistant in the Media Relations Department. I spent my last two years of college covering Pirate athletic events, ranging from women's soccer to the Conference USA Softball Tournament in 2011. I loved every second of it. I spent my whole life around some kind of ball field, diamond, pitch, court, take your pick. Working as a part, albeit a small part, in collegiate athletics sparked my decision to launch a career involving sports just like Brett and my father. Upon graduation in May, I returned home and began working part-time for our local newspaper as a sports correspondent.

Fortunately, Will and his wife, Laura, live in the area as well, thus giving me an outlet to vent when dad tries to convince me Otto Graham would be a stud quarterback in today's NFL. Will shares my unrelenting passion for the Atlanta Braves. Actually, his exceeds mine with relative ease. The man can tell you Atlanta's salary cap and the issues it faces this offseason. This guy is non-tendered. This other guy is in his arbitration year. This outfielder is a client of Scott Boras - you get the picture. I'll admit, I'm not quite that intense. Whoever walks on the field donning a Braves' uniform has my support, unless of course Coach K stuns us all and begins a career as a member of the Bravos. Will and I discuss varying topics in sports for at least a half-hour each day, whether it by text or phone call if we don't see each other. He also has the luxury of Direct TV and its extensive packages for channels showing games, thus I take advantage of his dish when the opportunity presents itself.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Check out "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" later today for the blog's first non-autobiographical entry as I reflect on one of our family's favorite pastimes - watching college football on Saturdays.