CECIL HURT: Tide hasn't faced adversity, yet

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In today’s political world, it is no longer acceptable to put lipstick on a pig.

Putting a butt-whipping on a pig, apparently, is still allowed.

The Crimson Tide did just that on Saturday, dominating the Arkansas Razorbacks from the moment that Glen Coffee ran for 17 yards on the first play until the point when the managers put the final equipment on the bus. The bacon consumption needs of the Southeastern United States could be satisfied with less swine carnage than took place in Fayetteville.

The performance did leave a couple of lingering questions.

First, what exactly is the upside of this team? Saturday’s win, as dominant as it was, could aptly be described as explosive, but it wasn’t entirely efficient. John Parker Wilson completed just six of 14 passes for 74 yards, although Saban was quick to say the Crimson Tide quarterback managed the game well and the raw statistics were deceiving.

There were a lot of deceptive statistics going around on Saturday, by the way.

For instance, Arkansas dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 35 minutes. All that proves, though, is that it took Arkansas longer not to score than it took Alabama to score. (Two long interception returns also skewed things profoundly.)

That brings us, in a roundabout way, to the second mystery surrounding this Alabama team. We still don’t know how the Crimson Tide will handle adversity because they really haven’t faced any.

That’s not a criticism, by the way. The ultimate measure of an outstanding football team is that it puts opponents away early and decisively. It might not be as thrilling as pulling out a last-second win every week, but it’s a lot more conducive to long-term success.

Alabama hasn’t been behind all season. It hasn’t been threatened with falling behind all season. When asked if he’s been in a tough situation all season, John Parker Wilson had to think hard.

“In the first half of the Tulane game, we weren’t playing very well,” he said. “We weren’t doing what we would like to do on offense then, but we were still in pretty good shape because of our defense and special teams.

“But we will face adversity. You always do. And I think we will be able to handle it. We’ve got some veteran guys. They’ve been there before, just not this season. We will know how to handle it.”

One would assume that the test would come this week at Georgia. Things can’t continue to be this easy for the Crimson Tide. I thought that Arkansas would at least be some sort of obstacle on Saturday, although I thought Alabama would prevail. One could mention some what-if’s – what if Arkansas hadn’t roughed P.J. Fitzgerald when it had stopped the first Alabama drive? What if Casey Dick had thrown to his own receivers with the same quick-strike capability that he shared with the Alabama secondary? But the fact is that Alabama had little trouble. Houston Nutt left town at the right time. Bobby Petrino has a good offensive mind, but Arkansas has nowhere near the Tide’s talent on either line – and Alabama isn’t standing still.

That’s a long-range consideration about the rising Tide in the SEC West, though. The short-term topic for the Tide staff is Georgia — not just controlling the very talented Bulldogs but keeping expectations from ballooning the way they did in the wake of a similarly heady win over Clemson.

“If we get all full of it, if we drink the Kool-Aid too much like we did after Clemson…,” Nick Saban said, leaving the thought unfinished but hinting that the consequences would be dire. “I was right (about that). I’ll tell you straight up, I was right, even though everyone wanted to compare me to Atilla the Hun.”

It shouldn’t be hard for Alabama to remember how it reached this point. It has arrived by the most simple and direct route, running right over the four teams that stood in the way. Tulane was a little more problematic than the other three, but the outcome wasn’t in doubt in that game, either.

Sooner or later, it won’t be that easy. Probably, that day will arrive sooner rather than later. But to this point, Alabama has handled adversity in the simplest way possible — by not letting it happen in the first place.

Cecil Hurt is sports editor of The Tuscalooosa News. Reach him at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0225.