Week 8 Wrap: Alabama looking vulnerable
October 25, 2009
Alabama is going to remain my No. 1 team, but the Tide looks increasingly vulnerable as it’s become apparent QB Greg McElroy isn’t playing with as much confidence as he was earlier in the season, when he looked so dangerous throwing downfield. Against the Vols, he averaged a paltry 4.1 yards per pass attempt. Given how well this team runs the ball, that shouldn’t be anywhere near the number.
Like its fellow SEC heavyweight brother, Florida, Alabama also is having big problems in the red zone. The Tide now has only scored a touchdown on 16 of 38 red zone trips (42.1 percent). Coming into Saturday, Alabama ranked 109th in the nation in touchdown percentage of red zone trips, and its inability to punch the ball in allowed Tennessee to hang aroun
Tags: brother, confidence, fellow, greg mcelroy, red zone, tennessee, Tide, touchdown, Tweets, volsRelated posts
Bama Vs Tennessee Over View
October 25, 2009
It was over when… Alabama blocked Tennessee’s 44-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of the game with the Tide up 12-10.
Gameball goes to… Terrence Cody. The nose guard blocked his second field goal of the fourth quarter as the clock ran out.
Stat of the game… 0. The number of TDs Bama scored in the win, as all of the Tide’s points came off 4 field goals.
Tags: bama, clock, field goal attempt, field goals, fourth quarter, game, Game OverView, gameball, nose guard, stat, tennessee, Tide, yard field goal, yard field goal attemptRelated posts
Volunteers-Crimson Tide Game Review
October 25, 2009
Tennessee Alabama Football
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) – Alabama’s Terrence Cody blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired as the top-ranked Crimson Tide survived Tennessee, 12-10, in an SEC tussle.
Jonathan Crompton finished off Tennessee’s previous series with an 11-yard TD pass to Gerald Jones with 1:19 to go. The Vols came up with the onside kick at the 41 and Jones made a 14-yard catch into ‘Bama territory on second down.
Following a false start penalty and an incompletion, Luke Stocker made a 23- yard catch to the Tide 27 with four seconds left and a rush for minus-one yards set up a potential game-winning field goal from Daniel Lincoln but the try was blocked before it was airborne.
Greg McElroy finished 18-of-29 for 120 yards and Leigh Tiffin booted four field goals for the Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC), who are off next week before hosting LSU on November 7,
Crompton was 21-of-37 for 265 yards one score and a pick for the Volunteers (3-4, 1-3), who have dropped two of three. Jones wound up with seven receptions for 72 yards in defeat.
Tags: alabama football, Crimson Tide, field goal attempt, field goals, greg mcelroy, Insider, jonathan, jonathan crompton, leigh tiffin, lincoln, lsu, onside kick, receptions, sports network, tuscaloosa al, tussle, vols, volunteers, yard field goal, yard field goal attemptRelated posts
Cody’s two blocked field goals, Tiffin’s four FGs save No. 1 Tide’s undefeated season
October 24, 2009
TUSCALOOSA – Who needs offense?
Terrence Cody
When you have the nation’s top-ranked defense and you have Leigh Tiffin, you have enough to win.
And when you have Terrence Cody.
At least that was enough today for the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
Barely.
Alabama’s defense almost held a third-consecutive opponent without a touchdown and Tiffin kicked four field goals to lead the top-ranked Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference) to a 12-10 victory over Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) in a defensive battle today at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
A late Tennessee touchdown and a successful onside kick added late drama to an intense physical battle.
The Vols drove to the Tide’s 28-yard line in the last minute, but Cody blocked a 44-yard field attempt. It was the senior nose guard’s his second blocked field goal of the game.
Tiffin’s field goals included kicks of 50 and 49 yards.
The Tide kept the Vols out of the end zone until there was 1:19 left in the game. Jonathan Crompton threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Jones.
Tennessee was held to one field goal in three attempts by Daniel Lincoln. He missed a 47-yard attempt at the end of a first half that ended with Alabama leading 9-3. He also had a 43-yard attempt blocked early in the fourth quarter by Cody.
The Vols drove into field-goal position on one other possession in the third quarter but were pushed backward by the Alabama defense and had to punt.
Alabama’s offense, which averaged 40 points in its first five games, has averaged only 18 points in its past three, but its top-ranked defense has stepped up.
But this game wasn’t about red-zone failures. The Tide only reached the red zone once, but with 1:11 left in the second quarter, it settled for a 24-yard field goal by Tiffin.
Alabama now only has 16 touchdowns in 37 red-zone opportunities this season for a 43.2 percent rate. Fifty percent is considered average.
Tags: alabama crimson tide, bryant denny stadium, Crimson Tide, denny, end zone, field goals, goal position, jonathan crompton, jones tennessee, leigh tiffin, nose guard, onside kick, ranked defense, red zone, SEC, southeastern conference, touchdown pass, vols, yard field goal, yard touchdownRelated posts
Cody comes through for Tide
October 24, 2009
In a battle of field goals, a blocked kick is the equivalent of a 70-yard touchdown.
Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody bulling through the line and blocking Daniel Lincoln’s field goal attempt in the fourth quarter may be what saves Alabama against a Tennessee team determined not to go away.
The Vols have moved the ball, but can’t get anything going when they get close to the red zone.
It’s a given that Alabama has one of the best defenses in the country. But what makes the Crimson Tide great on that side of the ball is the way they dig in when anybody sniffs their goal line.
Tags: bulling, Cody, Crimson Tide, field goals, fourth quarter, goal line, lincoln, nose guard, red zone, tennessee team, Tweets, vols, yard touchdownRelated posts
Tennessee-Alabama Preview
October 24, 2009
CrimsonTide
While leading Alabama back to a No. 1 ranking, running back Mark Ingram has pushed himself into the Heisman Trophy picture. His candidacy would take a substantial hit if Tennessee can contain him again.
Ingram and the top-ranked Crimson Tide look to continue their quests for the Heisman and the national championship Saturday when they host the SEC rival Volunteers.
After beating No. 22 South Carolina 20-6 last Saturday, Alabama (7-0, 4-0) jumped Florida to claim the top spot in the poll for the first time since Nov. 30 — six days before a loss to the Gators in the conference championship game ended the Tide’s five-week run at No. 1 and kept them out of the national title game.
Though Alabama’s ranked first in the poll, it’s still second behind Florida in the initial BCS standings.
The Tide won’t face the Gators unless they meet in the SEC championship game Dec. 5 in Atlanta. Alabama has to like its chances of making it to the Georgia Dome thanks to Ingram’s recent success.
The sophomore piled up 246 yards in the win over the Gamecocks to register the third-best rushing performance in school history and set a career high for the second time in as many weeks.
“Mark did as fine a job today as anybody I’ve ever been around, and that includes Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown and some really good ones,” coach Nick Saban said. “He was fantastic.”
Ingram, who scored the game’s only offensive touchdown last week, had 172 yards at Mississippi on Oct. 10. Those performances have boosted his rushing average to 129.3 yards, fourth best in the Football Bowl Subdivision and tops in the SEC.
Ingram has run for at least one touchdown in each of Alabama’s seven games while compiling 905 yards, 173 more than he had in 14 games as a freshman. Ingram also hasn’t lost a fumble in 304 career touches.
“He’s just as good as anyone in the country,” quarterback Greg McElroy said. “I wouldn’t trade him for anyone.”
While he had a night to remember last week, Ingram was held to a career-low 1 yard on four carries last season against Tennessee (3-3, 1-2). He also nearly had a fumble returned for a 47-yard touchdown, but he was ruled down.
Despite Ingram’s struggles, the Tide beat the Volunteers 29-9 in Knoxville. Alabama has outscored Tennessee 70-26 to go 2-0 in the series under Saban after losing 10 of the previous 12 meetings.
The Crimson Tide are seeking their first three-game win streak over the Volunteers since winning seven in a row from 1986-92.
They will likely earn that victory if their defense continues to excel. Alabama gives up the second-fewest scrimmage yards per game in the FBS at 228.7 and the fourth-fewest points per game at 11.6. It also leads the SEC with 21 sacks and 10 interceptions.
The Tide haven’t allowed a touchdown since the fourth quarter of a 38-20 win at Kentucky on Oct. 3. That was the only time in the last five games they’ve allowed more than seven points.
Alabama, however, has three defensive players dealing with nagging injuries in cornerback/return man Javier Arenas (bruised ribs), defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick (back spasms) and nose guard Josh Chapman (abdominal strain). Arenas and Chapman missed last week’s win.
The Crimson Tide will face a Tennessee team that’s well-rested after a 45-19 rout of visiting Georgia on Oct. 10, its first SEC win under first-year coach Lane Kiffin.
Jonathan Crompton led the way by completing 20 of 27 passes for a career-high 310 yards and four touchdowns. The Volunteers finished with 472 yards, their highest total since they put up 657 in a season-opening win over Western Kentucky. They’ve gained more yards in each game since totaling 208 in a 19-15 loss to UCLA on Sept. 12.
In the past three games, Crompton has averaged 264 yards with eight TDs and two interceptions after averaging 93 yards with no touchdowns and five picks in consecutive defeats to the Bruins and Gators.
“That’s winning football,” Kiffin said. “It’s good to see him making good decisions. We just have to make plays for him.”
Until Crompton’s breakout performance, Tennessee’s most reliable offensive threat was senior running back Montario Hardesty, who has run for a touchdown in each game this season and totaled 694 yards.
Hardesty ranks 12th in the FBS and fourth in the SEC with 112.0 yards per game.
Tennessee is 2-7 all-time against No. 1 teams, and Kiffin doesn’t doubt that Alabama has earned that distinction.
“I think one poll got it right,” said Kiffin, who has antagonized the Gators several times since taking over at Tennessee in the offseason. “If you watch football and pay attention, I don’t think there’s any doubt who the No. 1 team is. Alabama has a great team — very well-coached, extremely talented, great special teams, great on offense, great on defense.”
The Tide lead the series 46-38-7.
Tags: coach nick saban, conference championship game, Crimson Tide, football bowl subdivision, fumble, gamecocks, gators, georgia dome, greg mcelroy, heisman trophy, mark ingram, national title game, offensive touchdown, ricky williams, ronnie brown, rushing average, school history, SEC, sec championship game, seven gamesRelated posts
Alabama hosts Tennessee
October 24, 2009
Mark Ingram’s race to the Heisman continues when Alabama hosts Tennessee. But the sophomore running back will need a better showing than last season against the Vols, when he carried four times for one yard. The Crimson Tide are seeking their first three-game win streak over the Volunteers since winning seven in a row from 1986 to 1992. The Tide lead the series 46-38-7.
Tags: Crimson Tide, game, Heisman, hosts, mark ingram, sophomore, tennessee, Tweets, vols, volunteersRelated posts
Midseason review: Alabama
October 20, 2009
It can’t get much better for Alabama at this point. The Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0) were No. 2 this week in the BCS standings and have already beaten three nationally ranked teams. Their
CrimsonTide
defense might be even better than a year ago, and that’s despite losing star linebacker Dont’a Hightower for the season in the Arkansas game with a knee injury. The passing game has hit a snag these last two games, as quarterback Greg McElroy hasn’t dealt with pressure as well. The other concern has been the Crimson Tide’s kickoff coverage. All in all, though, this looks to be Nick Saban’s most complete team yet at Alabama and maybe one of the most complete teams in the country.
Offensive MVP: RB Mark Ingram. If Ingram doesn’t watch out, he’s going to run his way into Heisman Trophy contention. In fact, he may already have. He’s coming off a spectacular 246-yard performance against South Carolina and leads the SEC with 905 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s the best runner after contact in the league and is extremely dependable. He hasn’t lost a fumble in 304 career touches at Alabama.
Defensive MVP: LB Rolando McClain. The 6-4, 258-pound McClain just looks like an NFL linebacker. He plays like one, too, and is the heart and soul of an Alabama defense ranked No. 1 nationally this week in total defense. McClain leads the Crimson Tide with 49 total tackles, including 6.5 for loss, but his value goes much deeper than sheer numbers. He’s essentially an extension of Nick Saban on the field and anticipates the game so well. McClain is always around the ball and one of those guys who has a knack for changing the complexion of a game with a big hit or key takeaway.
Alabama Crimson Tide, Rolando McClain, Nick Saban, Mark Ingram, Dont\’a Hightower, SEC team overview 102009
Tags: alabama crimson tide, arkansas game, bcs standings, Crimson Tide, defensive mvp, greg mcelroy, heart and soul, hightower, Insider, mark ingram, nfl linebacker, nick saban, offensive mvp, one of those guys, passing game, rolando mcclain, rushing yards, sec team, sheer numbers, team overview, yard performanceRelated posts
Week 7 Wrap: Ingram tops Heisman list
October 20, 2009
By around 6 p.m. ET Saturday, every Heisman front-runner seemed to be in the midst of a nightmarish week: Cincy QB Tony Pike got hurt Thursday night; Colt McCoy’s Longhorns won, but in reality, his best play against Oklahoma on Saturday was a tackle off an interception he had just thrown; Sooners QB Sam Bradford got hurt again; Jimmy Clausen’s Fighting Irish were losing; Ndamukong Suh’s Cornhuskers were getting pounded; Tim Tebow was losing to the SEC’s worst defense. But around the same time, Alabama running back Mark Ingram was stepping into a phone booth somewhere in Tuscaloosa.
However Ingram prepared to face South Carolina on Saturday night, it sure worked. He was spectacular.
Tags: cornhuskers, defense, fighting irish, Heisman, Ingram, interception, jimmy clausen, list, longhorns, mark ingram, midst, phone booth, reality, saturday night, SEC, south carolina, suh, thursday night, tim tebow, tuscaloosa, TweetsRelated posts
Saban says Alabama on its way, not there yet
October 20, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — If you think Nick Saban is going to stop for a nanosecond to enjoy Alabama’s football resurgence, think again.
He’s not wired that way.
There’s always another meeting, something else to plan for, a defensive breakdown to correct or a key recruit to call.
Spend a little time in Alabama these days, and you’ll hear it often.
“We’re back!”
Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have won 20 of their last 23 games.
Saban, who wrote the book on living in the present, cringes at such talk.
Sure, the Crimson Tide might be No. 2 in the BCS standings this week and working on their second consecutive unbeaten regular season — which hasn’t happened at Alabama since 1973 and 1974 — but they’re far from being a finished product in Saban’s mind.
But, then, in his mind, there’s no such thing as a finished product.
“I only think there are three or four of what I’d call dominant programs in the country, and I don’t think we’re there yet,” Saban said during a wide-ranging interview with ESPN.com. “Florida is probably there. Texas is probably there. Oklahoma is probably close to being there. I know they’ve had issues this year, but who could afford to lose two top-5 picks, one of them being your quarterback, and not have it affect you in some kind of way? USC is certainly there.
“You get there when your players just go play because they want to be as good as they can be, and they’re going to do it every time they play. There doesn’t need to be some external factor that’s going to motivate them.”
How close are the Crimson Tide to being there?
“I’ll tell you at the end of this year,” Saban said.
Even the most zealous Alabama fan probably wouldn’t have predicted this much success this soon for the Crimson Tide. After all, they went 7-6 and lost to Louisiana-Monroe in Saban’s first season there.
But since that embarrassing loss, Alabama has won 20 of its last 23 games and put together back-to-back recruiting classes that were ranked among the top two in the country.
While it might be human nature to enjoy some of that success, it’s not Saban’s nature.
“Probably to a fault, what happens to you when you’re like that is that you don’t enjoy what you accomplish because you live in a constant state of anxiety with small moments of relief,” Saban said. “And that’s something that just doesn’t change.”
In each of the last two weeks, Alabama has beaten nationally ranked foes.
“But by the time I’m showered and walking out of the building, I’m thinking about the next game,” Saban said.
Not even his wife, Terry, has been successful in getting him to soak at least some of it in.
“She’s done trying … quit trying a long time ago,” Saban said with a guilty smile.
But that doesn’t mean he’s a complete football droid, which he’s been accused of being in certain circles.
“I enjoy it in a different way,” Saban said. “My positive self-gratification comes from knowing that you’re getting the right people in your organization and the organization is functioning at the top end.
“It’s not about me and my ego and how many games we win. It’s about having everybody in the organization playing and doing what they need to do, not just as football players, but doing what they need to do to be successful as people.”
And believe it or not, Saban can live with losing.
He’s still peeved about the loss to Utah in the Sugar Bowl last season. But the loss to Florida a month earlier in the SEC championship game, a contest that carried much bigger stakes, doesn’t haunt him nearly as much.
Marvin Gentry/US Presswire
Nick Saban says he enjoys working with college kids and having an impact on other aspects of their lives.
“A lot of times, the winning and losing part of it gets blurred for me,” Saban said. “Even though I hate to lose, we played a damn good game last year against Florida and they played a damn good game and it was a hell of a game. We had a chance to win it, but they made the plays at the end of the game they needed to make to win the game. I’m not happy about it, but I don’t feel like our team was ill-prepared and didn’t play well or whatever.
“Now, the Utah game, I felt horrible as a coach. For whatever reasons, I don’t feel like we put our players in a position where they were going on that field to be as good as they can be and play their best. I think there was an arrogance about us in terms of how we approached the game, and I don’t care what anybody says. Utah was a very good team.”
While the talent on Alabama’s team is obvious, Saban still isn’t ready to say it’s on a par with what he left LSU after taking the Miami Dolphins job following the 2004 season.
“No, we don’t have as many good players as we did there,” Saban said. “We still don’t have the depth we need.”
LSU had a record 47 players on NFL opening-day rosters this season, and 33 of those players were signed by Saban.
One of the things that’s happened this season is that Alabama has been able to evolve both offensively and defensively. They’re much more diverse on offense and have been able to do even more on defense.
“Each year, the guys who run your [defensive] system can do a little more, especially when you’ve got an experienced group like we have and then you’ve got a guy like Ro [linebacker Rolando McClain], who’s really smart at getting it implemented on the field and called right,” said Saban, who likes to joke that he’s defensive coordinator Kirby Smart’s graduate assistant.
“We always have a lot on defense. We practice a lot. We don’t do it all in the game, but we’ll take something we haven’t done and do it in the next game. But it’s not the first time we ever did it.
Offensively, Saban said the Crimson Tide probably relied too much on their offensive line a year ago.
“Last year, we kind of fell into a little bit of a trap,” Saban said. “We had such a good offensive line. It got easy to play to that strength and not develop it and do enough other things. When you play really good teams, you need to do that. It’s hard to just dominate really good teams up front.”
Saban balks at the notion that he somehow had the reins on offensive coordinator Jim McElwain last season, but what he does say is that Alabama has branched out of its bunker mentality.
“My feeling on it is that you can’t win the war unless you get out of the bunker,” Saban said. “There’s not a lot of battles won if you stay in the bunker.”
His reputation as a demanding boss is legendary, but Saban says he’s probably not as hard to work for as he once was.
“I still don’t think I’m hard to work for,” Saban said.
What he is anal about is the details. He’s unwavering when it comes to doing things the way he wants them done.
Doug Murray/WireImage.com
Nick Saban says he has no plans to return to the NFL.
“I think what happens to most guys, and this is what people tell me, is that most guys have an issue with all the attention to detail we pay in everything that we do — recruiting, academics, how we get ready for the season, how we do quality control, how we research, how we work, how we do things,” Saban said. “It’s a little tough on them because they’re not used to it, especially guys who’ve been college coaches. But that’s really how pro coaches work, because that’s all there is.”
Saban is as comfortable as he’s ever been with his staff, although he has at least two guys — McElwain and Smart — who will undoubtedly be commodities in the head coaching market sooner rather than later.
“I want our guys to get those opportunities,” Saban said. “They deserve those opportunities.”
The only opportunities Saban is thinking about are right there at Alabama. His contract was just recently extended and will approach an average of $5 million per year toward the back end of the deal.
He doesn’t have a buyout, but says he doesn’t need one.
He’s exactly where he wants to be for the rest of his coaching career and agrees that it would be foolish to want to go anywhere else after investing everything he has into getting Alabama’s program back to where it is.
“I don’t want to go anyplace else,” Saban said. “I never would have left LSU if it weren’t for the NFL. I never would have gone to another college, and I’ll never go back to the NFL. I’ll never have another opportunity to go back, but I’d never go.
“It wasn’t fun for me. I enjoy so much more the kids at this age, this level and the impact you can have on them in other areas of their life. This is where I belong, and this is where I’m going to be.”
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