will this be the one?
(bcs title game, part four)


i am on record, if not on this blog, in my inner circles (notice how important and mysterious "inner circles" makes me sound? no??? it just makes me sound douche-y??? perfect.) having said that if and when alabama loses a game this year, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up.

going into the season, i wasn't convinced that mcelroy wasn't a step up from jp haircut, but that says more about my thoughts on john parker wilson than my confidence in the would be new guy.

i like what i read in the linked maisel story about his competitive fire and i have really liked how he's handled himself with the alabama football crazed media in this state when things weren't going well for him in the middle of the season. in those games, most notably the tennessee game, you would've been hard-pressed to find many bama fans that didn't believe the tide were winning in spite of their quarterback's play.

as this and other stories have noted, though, something changed in the lsu game. being there in person, i was as shocked as anybody with the gameplan that called to open the game up with mcelroy throwing the ball all over the field. but the confidence the coaches showed in him that day was repaid in full with his performance in the iron bowl, when did alabama won the game not in spite of him but because of him.

i still believe that he is alabama's weakest link. and i still believe that if alabama loses thursday, it'll be because greg mcelroy has screwed something up. but i don't dislike him. and i'll be proud to welcome him back to tuscaloosa for his senior season if he is carrying that crystal football with him.

he doesn't have a nickname that i know of. i am not totally in love with his game. but, i do love his heart. and that matters. it could matter a bunch come thursday. i am not going to call him the x-factor for the title game. that'll be someone else. for a post closer to the game. for today, though, i think alabama has a better shot at winning because mcelroy's the qb and jp haircut didn't stick around for his eighth year.

go get 'em, greg. and roll tide.