Dareus deals dual blows to Horns
January 9, 2010
Like a baseball hitter who knows when he gets a hold of one just by the way his hands feel on contact, Marcell Dareus knew he’d tattooed Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.
What he didn’t know was that it would be the final play of McCoy’s brilliant career.
“I didn’t want him to be out for the game. You never want to hurt anybody, and you always want to beat teams at their best,” said Dareus, Alabama’s sophomore defensive end.
“But I knew I’d got him by the way the hit felt and by the way his head rocked back. I got a clean shot on him, and those are the kind of hits you can feel.”
It was also the hit that paved the way to Alabama’s 37-21 win and its first national championship in 17 years.
McCoy never returned from the pinched nerve he suffered on Texas’ fifth offensive play of the game. His backup, true freshman Garrett Gilbert, played valiantly, but he also wasn’t the real McCoy.
“That comes with the game,” said Dareus, named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Citi BCS National Championship Game. “Sometimes you miss. Sometimes you land a good one. The main thing is that we made enough plays to walk out of here with a championship.
“That’s what we all came here for, to get this program back to winning championships. It still hasn’t sunk in. It probably won’t for a while.”
Dareus’ night was far from over after knocking McCoy out of the game. In fact, he would strike again in the first half with a play that completely turned the game in Alabama’s favor.
With 15 seconds remaining and Alabama leading 17-6, Texas coach Mack Brown decided not to play it safe.
Instead of taking a knee and going into the half down 11, the Longhorns tried a shovel pass from their own 37. The ball deflected off of Texas receiver D.J. Monroe’s hands, and Dareus was there for the carom.
“It almost seemed like slow motion,” Dareus said. “I saw it hanging there and knew I had to get it.”
Dareus might be a 6-foot-4, 296-pound defensive end, but he looked awfully comfortable toting the rock.
He stiff-armed one Texas player and then did a little pirouette on his way to a 28-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“All I was thinking about is Mark Ingram and Javier [Arenas] and just doing moves I didn’t think I could do,” Dareus joked. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe I pulled off that screen.’ I saw the lineman coming for my legs, and my first reaction was to spin.
“I looked to my left and saw Eryk Anders. I knew it was a touchdown. I could not wait to get to the end zone.”
Dareus’ return made it 24-6 going into halftime and totally changed the complexion of the game.
And with the way Texas battled back in the fourth quarter, who knows where the Crimson Tide would have been without Dareus’ defensive touchdown?
Or his only tackle.
That’s right, the only tackle he was credited with was the one on McCoy.
“That put a dagger in them. You could see it in their faces,” Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody said. “The game started going downhill for them from there. They came out after halftime and fought back, but we had to finish. That’s what we do.”
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Saban already ‘thinking ahead’
January 9, 2010
Though other current coaching giants who also won two national titles in the last decade may be leaving the college game or temporarily stepping aside — see Southern California’s Pete Carroll and Florida’s Urban Meyer— Alabama coach Nick Saban isn’t going anywhere.
His likeness will be immortalized in a statue at Bryant-Denny Stadium along the Walk of Champions in the stadium’s north end. Alabama athletic director Mal Moore didn’t have any further details on Friday, but Saban is expected to join the Crimson Tide’s coaching pantheon of Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul “Bear” Bryant and Gene Stallings.
“I guess that when you’re driven and you put as much into what you do as we have, not just for this year but or 30-some years, you would hope that something you do leaves a mark that is positive, that maybe could affect someone in a positive way in the future,” Saban said the day after his team won the Bowl Championship Series title after beating Texas 37-21 at the Rose Bowl. “That would be the most significant thing I would see from something like that.”
In the statue, Saban probably won’t be smiling. His focus will be intense, perhaps looking to what lies ahead, just as he did less than 12 hours after hoisting the crystal trophy.
Already, his message was clear: “I’m always thinking ahead, anticipating problems. Every success brings a new set of problems. Every success brings a new set of issues — the attitude of next year’s team, development of the players for next year, issues that you have from a staff standpoint or player standpoint, personnel standpoint, recruiting standpoint.
“There’s really no time to sort of let your guard down. And being able to manage that is what allows you to be successful with more consistency.”
Alabama will likely begin the season ranked No. 1, given much of its offense returns next fall, including running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, quarterback Greg McElroy and receiver Julio Jones. Defensively, the Tide will lose nose guard Terrence Cody, cornerback Javier Arenas, two starting defensive ends, Lorenzo Washington and Brandon Deaderick, and likely junior linebacker Rolando McClain, who expected to declare early for the NFL draft. Also gone will be All-America kicker Leigh Tiffin and punter P.J. Fitzgerald.
As Saban ticked off all the players the Tide will lose, he downplayed expectations in hopes of keeping the players focused and lofty projections in check.
“I think that people who make those statements sort of just look at the periphery. You’ve got to build a team. We play 50 or 60 guys through the course of the season, and like I always say, the bottom 40 guys on your roster usually determines how good that team really is. I don’t want to criticize the media or anything, because God knows I get punished enough by you guys, but you guys will look at the top four or five guys (returning) on the team and make your determination.”
Indeed. Expect the Tide to start the season just as they finished: No. 1.
Tags: Alabama, BCS Bowl, champs #1, coach nick saban, Crimson Tide, game, greg mcelroy, julio jones, mark ingram, SEC, yard touchdownRelated posts
Ingram Delivers Alabama Its First Heisman
December 16, 2009
Mark Ingram dabbed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. All set, he accepted the Heisman that completes Alabama’s trophy case.
The tough-running tailback turned tearful after winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in the closest vote in the award’s 75-year history. Next, he’ll try to lead the most storied program in the South to a national championship.
Ingram finished 28 points ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart.
The sturdy, 212-pound Ingram took a moment to get composed before starting his speech. Dressed in a dark suit with blue pinstripes, his voice wavered throughout.
“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” he said. “I’m just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner.”
Ingram received 227 first-place votes and 1,304 points. Gerhart got 222 first-place votes and 1,276 points, while Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, last season’s runner-up, received 203 and 1,145.
Ingram said later he was feeling relaxed — right up until the winner was announced.
“When he started reading that letter, my heart started beating and I could feel it beating real fast,” he said. “When he called my name I was excited, then I saw my mom crying and it kind of made me break down, too.”
His father, a former Super Bowl star, was a few miles away. Incarcerated on bank fraud and money-laundering charges, he watched his son’s big win on a prison television.
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was fourth and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman two years ago, was fifth.
The previous closest vote in Heisman history came in 1985, when Auburn’s Bo Jackson beat Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points.
Ingram won four of the six regions. Gerhart took the far west and Suh won the southwest.
“I appreciate the way he plays,” said Gerhart, who ran for 1,736 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. “The passion for the game. I’m a physical guy, he’s a physical guy. I feel we’re similar in a lot of ways. I’m proud of him and honored to be included with him.”
Ingram has been the backbone of Alabama’s offense, rushing for a school-record 1,542 yards, gaining 6.2 yards per carry and scoring 18 touchdowns.
And in his final chance to make a case for the Heisman, facing Florida’s then-top-ranked defense, Ingram ran for 113 yards and scored three touchdowns to punctuate his season.
The win sent the top-ranked Crimson Tide to the BCS national title game against McCoy and No. 2 Texas on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl.
“This is a great, special moment for me but at the same time you’ve got to move forward,” Ingram said. “We still have a national championship game to play in.”
He is the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman since Tebow became the first in 2007 and he will be the sixth winner in the last seven years to go on to play in the BCS national championship game.
Few college football teams can match Alabama’s history of success. The Crimson Tide dominated the Southeastern Conference for decades. With six AP national championships, only Notre Dame and Oklahoma have won more.
But at Alabama, it’s a coach who has towered over the program more than any player.
Bear Bryant led some of college football’s greatest players — from Joe Namath to John Hannah, Ken Stabler to Ozzie Newsome — but never had a player even finish in the top three of the Heisman voting over his more than three decades at Alabama.
“The legacy of Alabama football certainly had a void filled,” Tide coach Nick Saban said. David Palmer, the shifty receiver and return man, was third in the Heisman voting in 1993, the best finish by a Crimson Tide player.
No major college program had won more games without a Heisman winner. “Everybody that’s been in the Alabama family has been supporting me,” Ingram said before hoisting the bronze statue. “Walking to class, students flashed me the Heisman pose.” Now he can take his place among
Alabama’s greats and the Paul W. Bryant Museum has a new piece of a hardware to display. “I’m sure it’ll be in the trophy cases with all those national championships and all the other awards people have won,” he said later. The announcement that Ingram had won came minutes before the Alabama men’s basketball team was set to host No. 5 Purdue, prompting an immediate roar from the mostly full Coleman Coliseum. Even though the presentation wasn’t shown on the videoboard, fans instantly found out the news. The public-address announcer congratulated Ingram early in the game, bringing another big ovation. One young fan sat at courtside sporting a 22 jersey — Ingram’s number — with “Heisman” across the top. By midway through the first half, Heisman T-shirts were already on sale at the arena. Ingram came to Tuscaloosa from Flint, Mich., the son of the former Michigan State and NFL receiver of the same name. Saban had been a coach at Michigan State when the elder Ingram was in college. Mark Ingram Sr. starred for the New York Giants, but last year he was sentenced to almost eight years in prison. Then he did not show up at the federal prison in Kentucky to serve his sentence, which might cost him even more time. He was found hiding out in a Michigan hotel the same day his son played Utah in the Sugar Bowl last season. He has been serving his time in a New York City holding facility, where he’s been able to watch his son play. “My father has been a great influence on my life and I love him to death,” Ingram said on the podium.
The father has seen his son quickly blossom into a feature back. As a freshman last season, Ingram was Bama’s No. 2 back, with a nose for the goal line. He ran for 728 yards and a team-high 12. This season, he’s been the best weapon on an offense with a first-year starting quarterback and a rebuilt offensive line. And he’s been at his best against most of Alabama’s best competition. He opened the season with 150 yards rushing and two TDs against Virginia Tech, had 172 yards rushing at Mississippi, and set a Bryant-Denny Stadium record with 246 yards versus South Carolina. In what was billed as the year of the quarterback — with Tebow, McCoy and last year’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford — all returning to college, Ingram emerged as the Heisman front-runner at midseason. His only poor game, a 30-yard rushing performance against Auburn on Nov. 27, came at the worst time and in front of a national television audience. But with the Tide playing in the biggest game of the season, a No. 1 vs. No. 2 SEC championship against Florida, Ingram had one more chance to impress voters — and he delivered.
Tide fans like to say their team is about winning championships, not Heismans.
Tags: SECRelated posts
Ingram on Good morning America
December 15, 2009
Mark Ingram appears on Good morning America.
Tags: College Football, good morning america, mark ingram, SECRelated posts
DALLAS COWBOYS:TERRENCE CODY, DT, ALABAMA
December 15, 2009
At first glance the Cowboys don’t appear to have any major, glaring holes on their depth chart. This is especially true after the emergence of Miles Austin at wide receiver. With that being the case one must look ahead and forecast future problem areas and their defensive line stands out above the rest. Even though he’s done an admirable job Jay Ratliff has never been an ideal fit at nose tackle in a 3-4 scheme and with Marcus Spears set to become a free agent next offseason the Cowboys might have to bring in some reinforcements. Alabama’s Terrence “Mount” Cody is a 6-5, 365 pound load in the middle and even though he is strictly a one-dimensional run-stopper he has the ability to be absolutely dominant in that capacity. There are serious concerns about Cody’s conditioning and he won’t be a fit for everyone but with so many teams now featuring a “30” front it’s hard to imagine him getting out of the first round next April. With Cody at nose tackle Dallas could kick Ratliff back outside to his more natural position at defensive end. The Cowboys could still use some more offensive line depth too, especially at tackle, but after recently giving both Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo sizeable new contracts that probably isn’t a 1st Round priority.
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Bama vs Texas in title game
December 15, 2009
There were five undefeated teams and only two spots in the title game.
Alabama and 
Texas came out winners in that bit of BCS math, while TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State were left with nice consolation prizes.
The imperfect method of choosing a national champion paired top-ranked Alabama against No. 2 Texas in the BCS title game – a Jan. 7 meeting that will bring together Heisman Trophy hopefuls Colt McCoy of the Longhorns and Mark Ingram of the Crimson Tide.
And, of course, Sunday’s bowl bids also produced plenty of fodder for second-guessing.
No. 3 TCU, No. 4 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State also finished undefeated. All three were included in the BCS, but none will play for the championship – a predictable result that will renew the annual debate about college football’s way of determining the best team in the land.
“We absolutely recognize that there were five undefeated teams that had very good seasons, and the fact is, only two could play in the game,” BCS executive director Bill Hancock said.
Seeking its first national title since 1992, Alabama opens as a 3-point favorite for the game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. That’s the place where Vince Young almost single-handedly led Texas to a victory over Southern California in 2006 to claim the national title.
The other BCS matchups: Oregon against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl; Iowa against Georgia Tech in the Orange; Florida against Cincinnati in the Sugar and TCU against Boise State in the Fiesta.
The TCU-Boise State game also will pit a pair of undefeateds against each other, two teams from small conferences that don’t always get automatic spots in the BCS. This is the first time in BCS history that two of the small schools have been selected. Both should be expected to use the title-game snub as motivation.
“We’re here to prove a point,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “I voted for us No. 2 in polls today when we voted. We believe we have a great football team and we’re out to show we could be the No. 1 team in the nation.”
The Longhorns (13-0) have been on both sides of the BCS debate.
Just last year, their chances for a national title were squashed when they lost a three-way tiebreaker for the Big 12 South title.
This time, Texas defeated Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 title game to secure its spot in the national championship, though the less-than-dominating performance certainly left things open for debate.
Still, there was a big gap between Texas and TCU in the BCS rankings, the coaches’ poll and The Associated Press poll, which is not included in the BCS formula. The AP awards its own national championship.
Alabama, meanwhile, got 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Ingram to defeat Florida 32-13 in the SEC championship game, an overwhelming victory over the defending national champions that made the Tide (13-0) an easy choice for No. 1.
But is anything really clear-cut when it comes to the BCS?
TCU was ranked 17th in the preseason polls and never really had a chance to rise above the bigger, more traditional programs that were ahead of them.
Cincinnati made it through the Big East, one of the six so-called power conferences, and needed a 21-point comeback against Pittsburgh on Saturday to move to 12-0. The Bearcats finished third in the BCS rankings and would’ve taken Texas’ spot had the Longhorns not pulled out their last-second win.
“We were within one second of playing for a national championship,” coach Brian Kelly said. “It’s not crazy (for Cincinnati) to play for a national championship.”
Boise State finished its fourth undefeated regular season in the last six years, but still found itself ranked behind No. 5 Florida, in large part because it plays in the Western Athletic Conference.
A perfect scenario for an eight-team playoff, perhaps, but that’s years off. The current system is set for the next four years. And to hear the BCS officials tell it, there’s nothing really wrong with their system, anyway.
“We do feel like it’s working and college football is thriving,” Hancock said. “We recognize there are elements in each constituency that don’t like it, but the fact is, it has a consensus. The critics, the playoff proponents, do not have a consensus.”
Certainly, he’ll get no argument from Texas or Alabama, who meet for the first time since the 1982 Cotton Bowl – a 14-12 Longhorns win over the Tide and Bear Bryant.
“The system put us in the game,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “We were told for the last three weeks if we won, we’d be in the game. We did that.”
Not by much, though.
It took a 46-yard field goal from Hunter Lawrence with no time left to lift the Longhorns to the victory over Nebraska. Now it’s Brown, formerly known for not being able to parlay all that Texas talent into a national title, who’s a win away from taking his second in five years.
Alabama, meanwhile, is in the midst of a resurgence brought about by Nick Saban, who three years ago took over a program in turmoil and now has the faithful believing again.
“There’s so much tradition and so much passion,” Saban said. “There are great expectations for what people like to accomplish around here, and it’s a feeling of tremendous self-gratification for everyone involved in the program.”
Tags: bill hancock, boise state, colt mccoy, consolation prizes, Crimson Tide, gary patterson, good seasons, hopefuls, mark ingram, national champion, predictable result, rose bowl, SEC, second guessing, tcu coach, title game, undefeated teams, vince youngRelated posts
Ingram, McClain lead 6 Alabama AP All-Americans
December 15, 2009
NEW YORK — Alabama will bring a lineup powered by All-Americans into the BCS national championship game.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide had six players, including Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, voted to The Associated Press All-America team released Tuesday — more than any other school.
Ingram was a unanimous first-team selection, as was linebacker Rolando McClain. Defensive tackle Terrence Cody was selected for the second consecutive season. Cornerback Javier Arenas, guard Michael Johnson and kicker Leigh Tiffin were also first-teamers.
Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the Heisman runner-up, and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who finished fourth in Heisman voting, were also unanimous first-team All-America selections.
Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was the All-American quarterback, selected to the first team by a panel of 14 AP college football poll voters. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was a second-team selection. Boise State’s Kellen Moore was the third-team quarterback.
McCoy finished third in the Heisman voting last weekend and was a second-team All-American last year. The senior was joined by his longtime pal and favorite receiver, Jordan Shipley, on the first team. Texas safety Earl Thomas gave the Longhorns three players on the first team, second only to Alabama.
The Crimson Tide and Longhorns play in the BCS national championship game at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 7.
Alabama safety Mark Barron made the third-team, giving the Tide seven players who received AP All-America honors. Texas put three players — kicker Hunter Lawrence, center Chris Hall and linebacker Sergio Kindle — on the third team for a total of six overall.
Florida also had six players make the three teams, including cornerback Joe Haden and tight end Aaron Hernandez as first-teamers.
The SEC was the most represented conference on the first team, with 11 players, including Tennessee safety Eric Berry, South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood and Georgia punter Drew Butler.
The Big 12 has seven first-team selections, including three of the five offensive linemen.
The tackles were Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung and Oklahoma’s Trent Williams. Baylor’s J.D. Walton was the center.
Finishing out the offensive line was Idaho guard Mike Iuapti.
Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate and Clemson running back C.J. Spiller, selected as an all-purpose player, round out the offense.
TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes was the lone representative on all three teams from the unbeaten and No. 3 Horned Frogs. Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan was the other defensive end.
Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones was the only Big Ten player on the first team.
Florida’s twin brother offensive linemen, Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, were selected to the second team. Oregon State receiver James Rodgers made the second team as an all-purpose player and his brother, Jacquizz, was a third-team selection at running back.
Tags: alabama the crimson tide, ap college football poll, ap college football poll voters, bcs national championship game, college football poll, colt mccoy, eric berry, florida quarterback, javier arenas, joe haden, jordan shipley, kellen moore, leigh tiffin, mark ingram, national championship game, ndamukong suh, SEC, sergio kindle, south carolina linebacker, tennessee safety, tim tebowRelated posts
Ingram wins Alabama’s 1st Heisman
December 13, 2009
Mark Ingram dabbed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. All set, he accepted the Heisman that completes Alabama’s trophy case.
The tough-running tailback turned tearful after winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in the closest vote in the award’s 75-year history. Next, he’ll try to lead the most storied program in the South to a national championship.
Ingram finished 28 points ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart.
The sturdy, 212-pound Ingram took a moment to get composed before starting his speech. Dressed in a dark suit with blue pinstripes, his voice wavered throughout.
“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” he said. “I’m just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner.”
Ingram received 227 first-place votes and 1,304 points. Gerhart got 222 first-place votes and 1,276 points, while Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, last season’s runner-up, received 203 and 1,145.
Ingram said later he was feeling relaxed — right up until the winner was announced.
“When he started reading that letter, my heart started beating and I could feel it beating real fast,” he said. “When he called my name I was excited, then I saw my mom crying and it kind of made me break down, too.”
His father, a former Super Bowl star, was a few miles away. Incarcerated on bank fraud and money-laundering charges, he watched his son’s biggest moment on a prison television.
Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was fourth and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who won the 
Heisman two years ago, was fifth.
The previous closest vote in Heisman history came in 1985, when Auburn’s Bo Jackson beat Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points.
Ingram won four of the six regions. Gerhart took the far west and Suh won the southwest.
“I appreciate the way he plays,” said Gerhart, who ran for 1,736 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. “The passion for the game. I’m a physical guy, he’s a physical guy. I feel we’re similar in a lot of ways. I’m proud of him and honored to be included with him.”
Ingram has been the backbone of Alabama’s offense, rushing for a school-record 1,542 yards, gaining 6.2 yards per carry and scoring 18 touchdowns.
And in his final chance to make a case for the Heisman, facing Florida’s then-top-ranked defense, Ingram ran for 113 yards and scored three touchdowns to punctuate his season.
The win sent the top-ranked Crimson Tide to the BCS national title game against McCoy and No. 2 Texas on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl.
“This is a great, special moment for me but at the same time you’ve got to move forward,” Ingram said. “We still have a national championship game to play in.”
He is the third consecutive sophomore to win the Heisman since Tebow became the first in 2007 and he will be the sixth winner in the last seven years to go on to play in the BCS national championship game.
Few college football teams can match Alabama’s history of success. The Crimson Tide dominated the Southeastern Conference for decades. With six AP national championships, only Notre Dame and Oklahoma have won more.
But at Alabama, it’s a coach who has towered over the program more than any player.
Bear Bryant led some of college football’s greatest players — from Joe Namath to John Hannah, Ken Stabler to Ozzie Newsome — but never had a player even finish in the top three of the Heisman voting over his more than three decades at Alabama.
“The legacy of Alabama football certainly had a void filled,” Tide coach Nick Saban said.
David Palmer, the shifty receiver and return man, was third in the Heisman voting in 1993, the best finish by a Crimson Tide player.
Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram became the 75th recipient of the Heisman Trophy and first Crimson Tide player to ever take home the honor. Here’s a look at the past six winners:
Year Winner 2009 Mark Ingram, Alabama 2008 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma 2007 Tim Tebow, Florida 2006 Troy Smith, Ohio St. 2005 Reggie Bush, USC 2004 Matt Leinart, USC
No major college program had won more games without a Heisman winner.
“Everybody that’s been in the Alabama family has been supporting me,” Ingram said before hoisting the bronze statue. “Walking to class, students flashed me the Heisman pose.”
Now he can take his place among Alabama’s greats and the Paul W. Bryant Museum has a new piece of a hardware to display.
“I’m sure it’ll be in the trophy cases with all those national championships and all the other awards people have won,” he said later.
The announcement that Ingram had won came minutes before the Alabama men’s basketball team was set to host No. 5 Purdue, prompting an immediate roar from the mostly full Coleman Coliseum.
Even though the presentation wasn’t shown on the videoboard, fans instantly found out the news. The public-address announcer congratulated Ingram early in the game, bringing another big ovation. One young fan sat at courtside sporting a 22 jersey — Ingram’s number — with “Heisman” across the top.
By midway through the first half, Heisman T-shirts were already on sale at the arena.
Ingram came to Tuscaloosa from Flint, Mich., the son of the former Michigan State and NFL receiver of the same name. Saban had been a coach at Michigan State when the elder Ingram was in college.
Mark Ingram Sr. starred for the New York Giants, but last year he was sentenced to almost eight years in prison. Then he did not show up at the federal prison in Kentucky to serve his sentence, which might cost him even more time.
He was found hiding out in a Michigan hotel the same day his son played Utah in the Sugar Bowl last season.
He has been serving his time in a New York City holding facility, where he’s been able to watch his son play.
“My father has been a great influence on my life and I love him to death,” Ingram said on the podium.
The father has seen his son quickly blossom into a feature back. As a freshman last season, Ingram was Bama’s No. 2 back, with a nose for the goal line. He ran for 728 yards and a team-high 12. This season, he’s been the best weapon on an offense with a first-year starting quarterback and a rebuilt offensive line.
And he’s been at his best against most of Alabama’s best competition. He opened the season with 150 yards rushing and two TDs against Virginia Tech, had 172 yards rushing at Mississippi, and set a Bryant-Denny Stadium record with 246 yards versus South Carolina.
In what was billed as the year of the quarterback — with Tebow, McCoy and last year’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford — all returning to college, Ingram emerged as the Heisman front-runner at midseason.
His only poor game, a 30-yard rushing performance against Auburn on Nov. 27, came at the worst time and in front of a national television audience.
But with the Tide playing in the biggest game of the season, a No. 1 vs. No. 2 SEC championship against Florida, Ingram had one more chance to impress voters — and he delivered.
Tide fans like to say their team is about winning championships, not Heismans.
Thanks to Ingram, Alabama might get both this season.
Tags: Alabama, alabama football, coach nick saban, College Football, Crimson, Crimson Tide, football team, heisman trophy, Ingram, mark ingram, Quarterback, ranked defense, running back, saturday night, SEC, SEC, sec championship, sugar bowl, title gameRelated posts
Saban a sound investment
December 11, 2009
The University of Alabama won its bet on Nick Saban.
In fact the gamble — a $32 million, eight-year deal that made Saban the highest paid college coach — paid off better than anyone might have hoped.
Records from the U.S. Department of Education show Tide football made nearly enough money in the 12 months ending June 30 — $38.2 million — to cover not only the $4 million per year of Saban’s orginal contract, but also the one-year extension he recently signed that upped it to $4.7 million annually.
“That makes it pretty much an open-and-shut case,” said James Cover, an economics professor at the university.
Especially considering it is an almost 40 percent gain from the year before Saban was hired in 2007. By comparison, domestic corporate profits in the United States have plummeted 27 percent since 2006, according to statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
This year could be even better than the last for Alabama, with the Crimson Tide set to play Texas in the Bowl Championship Series title game on Jan. 7. Fans barely recall those pre-Saban days when Alabama was an also-ran in the national title discussion.
Along with BCS bowl money, Alabama will rake in cash from the Southeastern Conference, sales of licensed Tide merchandise, tickets and donations. Florida’s football revenues jumped $7.2 million to $61.3 million this year after it won the national title last season, records show.
Alabama officials raised more than a few eyebows when they opted to make Saban the nation’s highest-paid college coach almost three years ago, signing him after he left the NFL ranks and the Miami Dolphins. At the time, Oklahoma’s coach Bob Stoops was reportedly the highest-paid college coach with a contract worth just under $3.5 million in 2007.
Saban is proving to be worth the money. He has led Alabama to two straight SEC title games and two straight lucrative BCS bowls while compiling a 25-2 record over the last two seasons. The school may have raised the salary bar to new heights, but it’s hard to question whether it was a good financial investment.
Football continues to pay the bills for other varsity sports and the department still wound up with a $22.1 million profit last year.
Recession-plagued construction is at a standstill in some areas, but huge cranes stand over Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. It’s being expanded to raise its capacity to 101,000 at a cost of more than $80 million.
Alabama’s jobless rate climbed to 10.9 percent last month, but the waiting list for Crimson Tide football tickets is more than 10,000 names long.
On University Drive, stores are selling Southeastern Conference championship shirts as quickly as they can get them after ‘Bama’s 32-13 convincing win against Florida last week.
David M. Jones, who runs Alabama Bookstore, said he has been swamped with fans buying hats and T-shirts ever since the SEC title game. Excitement over Alabama football has helped his business weather the recession.
“We call it the Saban effect,” Jones said. “It was a great investment three years ago, and he’s continuing to pay dividends.”
Tags: bcs bowls, bowl championship series, bureau of economic analysis, coach bob stoops, contract worth, corporate profits, Crimson Tide, economics professor, education show, highest paid college coach, jan 7, miami dolphins, SEC, sec title, southeastern conference, straight sec, title game, title games, u s department, u s department of educationRelated posts
Nick Saban on SEC Championship Victory
December 6, 2009
Coach Nick Saban on SEC Championship Victory!!
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