Sorry about the delay in posting today. I've been INSANELY busy at work. I'm lucky I got a chance to update at all. Today's will, of course, be kinda short, since I'm doing this on my lunchbreak.
As you saw on the headline, this is my 500th post. I'm feeling pretty damn good about myself for that. I've kept this thing going a lot longer than I thought I would. Thank you guys for continuing to come back and read up on the Tide. It kinda drives me to keep writing. :-)
This isn't really Bama news, but it involves that douchebag, Coach Franphony. Apparently he has been selling injury reports and details about his players in a confidential newsletter called VIP Connection. Only a dozen big name boosters were subscribers, but it was a $1200 fee to join and get the inside scoop on certain players' injuries, etc. It is a CLEAR violation of HIPAA laws. Anyway, read more about it here. Man, talk about the bottom falling out for a coach. Jeez. Karma's a bitch.
DJ Hall was not recruited by Florida State, even though he lived very close to there. He's gonna make sure they don't overlook him again on Saturday.
You can see a whole lot of Coach Saban in Jimbo Fisher. The same focus on "the process," along with other facets of the game. Read more about their similarities here.
As we've been saying for most of the week, Saturday will probably be the debut of Brian Motley on defensive line, along with the return of Captain Insano, Darren Mustin. Read more here.
John Parker Wilson has, of course, been struggling. When asked about it, Coach Saban joked "maybe we should just run a 2-minute offense all the time." Then the joking ended. Wilson's gotta get better for this team to have a chance to do really well this season. Period. Read more here.
Plenty more news stories today about all things Bama / FSU. Turns out that Cal vs Oregon is the biggest game of the weekend. People are comparing Dennis Dixon to Vince Young. For some reason, I don't buy that. I watched this kid play last year, and he looked awful. Of course, it does say something about LSU's Gary Crowton, who was Oregon's OC last year - if he couldn't get them to win and score like they are now...maybe he'll be the chink in LSU's armor this year. :-)
RollBamaRoll has a huge write-up about all the ties that we're seeing in this game. From Bobby Bowden offering Nick a job way back when, to Mickey Andrews attending the UofA and winning 2 national titles while playing for Bear, to the Jimbo Fisher / Nick Saban stuff, etc. Check it out here.
The saga of Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher is told, somewhat, here. Read up on it.
Coach Bowden has known Coach Saban "since he was about that high." Read more about all that here.
We've heard it a thousand times - Bowden could have been Alabama's coach in 1986, but we were idiots and went with Bill Curry. Either way, this will be the first time he's faced his homestate school.
Roy Upchurch is ready to get on the field more. This is, after all, the team he grew up a fan of. He's from Florida, so he wants to show out a lil bit. I like this quote - "T spreads em out, Glen beats em up a lil bit, then I come in and run by 'em." Good philosophy that should actually work. Read more here.
I haven't read an article detailing Coach Saban's "Hey Coach" show as of yet, but I finally got one here. Being in Memphis, I don't really get to listen to many of the Bama radio shows...although I'm debating spending the $5 per month for yahoo sports.
Brian Motley and Darren Mustin will both be playing in limited roles on Saturday against Florida State. They both look to be doing well, although I'm sure that Lorenzo Washington and Prince Hall will both start.
Prince Hall is finally beginning to prove himself to Coach Saban and the coaching staff, and he's relieved. He's finally getting some good playing time, and it's going to add more depth to the defense. Read more here.
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Don't forget guys - if you're debating going to the game in Jacksonville this weekend, make sure you've got your tickets. Check out TickCo.com's Alabama section for tickets to any game, home or away.
I went to see Bury Your Dead last night at a new place called the Dregs. I used to be big into the hardcore scene...but now I just don't understand it. Buncha kids getting into fights, and punching air and all that. Really strange. I like some metal, but I'll stick to my beer drinkin rock n roll, thankya very much.
19 of LSU's 24 starters were signed by Coach Saban. That's pretty damn incredible. Read here.
We can get excited about the fact that Hayes won't be starting at MLB for Fla St on Saturday, or we can face the facts that, even without a start, he'll still get significant playing time. Bowden left the door open for him to still get minutes.
You want depth? We'll get some depth - maybe as soon as this weekend. Brian Motley was back at practice yesterday, and was not wearing a "no-contact" jersey. McCullough and Chapman were both in scout team garb, and Motley was running with the big dogs. Of course, Coach Saban said Motley wouldn't be back in football-shape until after this weekend, but we'll see what happens.
They're not sure, but this could be the first time ever that both Alabama and Auburn travel to the state of Florida in the same weekend. Both teams are going to face tough competition, but Auburn looks to have the bigger challenge, playing in the Swamp.
Coach Steele says that leaving Florida State was the hardest thing he's ever had to do. Read more about it here.
Ray Melick throws in his 2 cents worth on Alabama fans staying "classy." I agree with everything, but I am really sick of hearing about all of this. Read his article here.
Turns out, figuring out exactly what's wrong with John Parker Wilson isn't quite so easy. There are a ton of things he's doing wrong, and it's tough to just point to one thing and say "There. That's what needs to be fixed." Coach Saban said JP needs to just settle down and take what the defense gives him. Which is, of course, easier said than done. Read more here.
By now you all know that the Houston/Bama game on Oct. 6th will be a pay-per-view broadcast at 2pm. There are a ton of big games that day, so it's not surprising that we didn't get picked up for a broadcast. Read the specifics here.
¶ 8:55 AM2 commentslinks to this post
There's not a whole lot going on this morning. The guys get back to practicing today. After two draining football games against incredibly tough competition, they needed a couple of days without contact to get their bodies back into gear.
Finebaum knows what he's talking about. Read more here.
The transcript from yesterday's press conference, previewing Florida State, is up over at rolltide.com. Go check it out.
Everyone involved with the game on Saturday, from Florida State, Alabama, and the Gator Bowl committee, is incredibly excited about it. It's like a bowl game in the middle of the season. Check it out here.
Coach Bowden will discuss the kids that were arrested, and any other injuries, etc, on Wednesday. 'Til then, he won't talk about it. Read more - here.
Several of the current players on Alabama's roster grew up as Florida State fans - which is normal because Florida State was the hottest school of the decade in the 90s with a 109-11 record and 2 national titles. Of course, once Saturday rolls around, they'll be ready to whip some Seminole booty. Read more here.
There are just 4 trillion story lines leading into Saturday's matchup, but this was the most interesting to me. Coach Bowden offerend Nick Saban a position on his staff, even though there wasn't one available, so he could move closer to home to be with his mother after his dad passed away. That's a huge gesture and it shows a lot of class. Should be a helluva ballgame on Saturday.
The running backs have no idea what the rotation is, or really what their role is on the team yet. Terry Grant, Glen Coffee, and Roy Upchurch appear to be the main three, with Jimmy Johns being the odd man out. Antoine Caldwell says it best: "it's always good to have fresh legs in the 4th quarter."
The Jaguars newsroom talks about Coach Shula not commenting on the Alabama situation at all. Read more about it here.
If you had any question on where Coach Saban stands involving stupid, class-less fan behavior - read here. It doesn't represent our university in a good light, and it will hurt us in the long run, so for anybody that's thinking about throwing a cup, or calling a coach - don't do it. Period.
¶ 8:43 AM0 commentslinks to this post
But, of course, you already knew that. Here's the deal - we talked about Gundy's tirade about an article that was mainly an opinion piece, based on rumors, that was somewhat trashing Bobby Reid, Oklahoma State's quarterback that has since been replaced. It was attacking his character and his attitude, and was incredibly uncalled for by anyone with any kind of ethics. If you want to bash the kid's playing ability, that's fine. If you want to bash a kid for getting arrested or something, then that's fine too. To question a kid's attitude or desire to work hard - that's just a slap in the face to not only the player, but the coaches as well.
I for one think Mike Gundy outburst was needed. Dennis Dodd, using the whole "journalists fraternity" idea, thinks Gundy should be fired for attacking a journalist. Read more about it here. More proof of why he's an idiot.
Either way, that's not Alabama stuff, so I guess I shouldn't care at the moment. Haha.
You need your Bama-FSU tickets, don'tcha? Well go on over to TickCo.com's section for Bama/FSU, or you can get tickets for any other Bama game this year as well.
The Decatur Daily talks about how Saban is getting more out of this team than anybody even thought capable. Read more here.
Ian Rapoport says the loss should bring us fans back to reality, but it shouldn't make us any less excited about the future of this program. We've actually got guys that can coach now, as compared to the past decade, and Saturday was more proof of that.
Scarbinsky talks about how, for a few minutes in the 4th quarter on Saturday night, the Saban-mania, and the belief in the impossible, crossed the threshold from insane to ridiculous. Read more here.
Coach Saban talked about how the passing game needs to improve - again. Read more here.
Nick Gentry, freshman from Prattville, played quite a bit Saturday night as the back-up nose tackle. Nobody really talked much about him before, but that's just one more body that can come in and help us get some depth on the line towards the end of the season. Just imagine how deep this team can be by 2009. It should be on the verge of ridiculous.
Cecil proves, again, that he knows what he's talking about. There are lessons to be learned from the loss, and he goes through them. Very very good article.
Looks like the boys are going to get 2 days of rest rather than one. Should be good for them. They could really use a break. Read more here.
I remember last year having close ballgames, but knowing that we would lose. And this year, even when I knew we would lose (like last night), I still had hope.
It is incredibly obvious that we do not have the talent to compete for SEC Championships yet. Georgia did anything and everything they wanted to for most of the night, and we still found a way to take the game into overtime. That's absolutely incredible for a coaching staff that just came in here 9 months ago. This football team believes they are better than they really are, and that's half of the battle.
Now, after the overtime loss, we've crashed back down to reality, but just getting to overtime was a feat in-and-of itself. I didn't hear anybody that was mad about losing...just people that know that better things are on the way. We got smacked in the mouth last night, early and often, and still fought back, and I'm proud of our football team, as I'm sure most everyone is.
The Florida State game has been confirmed for CBS, with kickoff at 4pm CST on Saturday. This is another team that has more talent than we do, but they haven't shown anything as of yet. Should be another fun game, so get ready for another thriller. And the early line has Bama as at +3.5.
As for the Georgia fans that defaced Bryant-Denny - I have no proof of that happening, and until I see otherwise, I won't believe it. I met several Georgia fans yesterday, and they were very very nice.
And now, for the Greek section at Bryant-Denny throwing cubs, shakers, and liquor bottles on the Georgia players when they were celebrating the victory the other night, I have this to say - who cares? Yes, the Georgia players have the right to celebrate, but run down the field and get in front of your fans. Don't taunt our fans and jump around in front of the student section. That's just idiotic. I don't blame our fans for throwing shit, same as I'm not going to get irritated at Georgia for celebrating in the wrong spot. Everyone that's worried about "class" - don't be. Both of these teams had it, and both fanbases do, even if there was a minor incident at the end of the game.
Coach Saban made some interesting remarks about the passing game at the end of the night, saying that we've got too many good skill players to not be better at throwing the football. I agree with him. And for the people that are wondering how Georgia got more pressure on our quarterback than we got on theirs - look at the difference in the QBs.
John Parker is NOT the quarterback that will lead us to the promised land. He's not a good decision maker, and he's not an "under center" qb. But that doesn't bother Coach Saban - because he's not going to change his gameplan, or change what he's trying to accomplish to match his personel. It is very obvious that Coach Saban isn't worried about winning for the next couple of years. He's worried about getting a plan in place and doing things the right way. JP is the perfect shotgun quarterback. If he had gone to Texas Tech or to Hawaii, he'd be putting up ridiculous numbers, but in a power offense, he's just not that good.
Bottom line, see how many times JP held the ball longer than 2 or 3 seconds in the ball game. An offensive line should give a quarterback about that long to go through his progressions and make the throw. John Parker sat back there as long as humanly possible, got happy feet, and couldn't make the throws when he needed to. But you notice that as soon as we put him in shotgun in pressure situations, he knows where to put the football.
Of course, that's not what Coach Saban wants though. He has a plan. Eventually, he will get the football players to fit that plan, but we're not there yet. The process will take time.
...But it is definitely fun watching as it happens. Oh yeah, it hasn't quite been 24 hours, but I'm hearing that they've "voluntarily" gone over Florida State film today. The game should be interesting to see if Jimbo has some tricks he's saved for Coach Saban.
Oh yeah, and this is absolutely awesome - I am officially a Mike Gundy fan, even though they beat us last year. The article he's talking about is located here.
They're setting up the Gameday stuff in front of the stadium. I'm just curious where the walk of champions will occur on Saturday, because it appears that they're setting up directly in the middle of it. See for yourself...maybe you see it differently than me.
Oh well. Either way, it's better to have Gameday here than not have them. I know that much. Maybe changing coaches and changing locations will help break the jinx we've been talking about all week.
Students and RVers alike are expecting Coach Saban to break the Gameday jinx. People are more worried about the process, and the attitude of the players more than they were previously. Read more here.
According to the message boarders over at TideSports.com, Tubberville skipped his call-in show last night, electing to send Al Borges into the fire. Apparently Tommy was out "recruiting," or...as we like to say...collecting left-overs.
The Texas A&M boards are livid this morning, calling for Franphony's head. They're already talking about how they're going to get Tubberville. Sounds good to me. Haha. Check it out here.
If you'd like to see the full size versions of the pics of ESPN setting up yesterday evening, go here. Very good pics.
Scarbinsky says that Alabama has an advantage if Saban is freaking other coaches out - i.e. Mark Richt closing practices. Read more here. Oh yeah, and he says in Nick Saban's movie about his life story, he'll be played by Al Pacino. And then I realized that they actually do like kinda similar.
Mark Edwards reminds us that Georgia has won only 2 of its last 7 SEC games. Of course, I believe Alabama is close to the same number, but we've had a regime change since then...haha. Advantage: Alabama.
Coach Saban used Saturday's game as a teaching tool. Hopefully the kids caught the lesson.
The Mobile Press-Register says that Georgia closing practices is no big deal - just look at the fact that EVERY practice in Tuscaloosa has been closed since Saban got here. And I would agree, except for the fact that Georgia has ALWAYS had open practices under Mark Richt for the past 7 years. Read more here.
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I was pretty confident that Arkansas would steamroll most of the rest of their opponents, including Kentucky this week, but the more I hear about Houston Nutt complaining about the officiating in the final drive last week, the more I think he's not getting mentally prepared for what looks to be a pretty difficult test against Kentucky. Arkansas should win the game...but Louisville should have beaten the Wildcats last week and they didn't do it. Bottom line, Houston, get over it and move on to the next game. That's why Saban has a 24 hour rule - maybe you should implement it.
There's not much going on today. Everybody's gearing up for a big weekend, and an even bigger game. Win this one and we're 3-0 to start SEC play...which, if you'll note, is one more win in the SEC than we had last year.
I've gone back and watched Georgia's game against South Carolina from the 2nd week of the season, and I must say...Georgia plays very erratic. They're not a team that can absolutely kill you. We talked before about David Greene just destroying a Nick Saban coached LSU team that liked to bring blitzes and leave corners in man coverage, but it is very obvious that Matthew Stafford is no David Greene. Yes, he was able to hit a few throws, but when South Carolina brough pressure (and they did, a lot), his throwing was incredibly inaccurate. He rushed passes and over/underthrew a lot of balls. When you're able to get pressure on that weak offensive line, they don't have as much success running the ball either. Of course, a lot could have changed in 2 weeks. Who knows. haha.
Coach Saban spends Friday afternoons running through the "unpredictable" things that will probably never ever happen...but might. He would prefer that they at least see these things before they're faced with them in a game. Read more here.
Terry Grant's been through quite a bit in his life - including Hurricane Katrina among other things. But he's always had football. That's what keeps him focused. Read more here.
Coach Saban felt the need to blast anyone that thought that he or anyone else might be spying on other teams to gain an advantage. He dared anybody to question the integrity of coaches nowadays. I'm sure this crap is really starting to piss him off. We also found out that Gameday will be setting up in front of the north end of the stadium this week, with the new addition being the backdrop for College Gameday. Should be interesting, and maybe it will change our fortunes when Gameday comes to town from now on. Read more about all of that here.
The AOL Fanhouse can't figure out if Mark Richt is clever or paranoid. He's closed practices to the public for the first time in his tenure at Georgia. Hmmmm....
I'm sure there will be more that continues through the day today. When something happens, we'll post about it.
¶ 8:55 AM0 commentslinks to this post
Y'know, I've been thinking about this whole AP and Coaches Poll ordeal, where we jumped about 11 spots after a home victory over #16 Arkansas. Does it seem a little obvious that the voters wanted to put us in the top 25, but felt they couldn't without some form of validation?
And it didn't take long for the national media to hop on the Alabama bandwagon. Within 9 months of Saban being hired, we've already had the cover of Sports Illustrated, and now we're getting ESPN Gameday on campus for the first of likely two trips down there this year (the other being, of course, LSU). Just seems that everyone may be hopping on the bandwagon a little quickly. The defense looked atrocious in the loss on Saturday - but that's the thing. We were still able to win, even with a bad defense because the players "knew" they were going to win. It's all a mindset. What a difference 9 months will make.
USC's 300+ yards rushing over Nebraska wasn't done by trick plays and a bunch bull crap. You wanna see how dominant USC's line is? Look at the pictures below.
So is there any wonder why everybody considers them the best team in football right now? I mean, jeez. Thanks to CornNation.com for the pics.
Ivan Matchett had a helluva time at the game the other night, and he talked to Andrew Bone about it. I don't know if anybody else caught this...but read this part of the statement and tell me what you think - "All the in-state commitments were there except for Destin [Hood]. I talked to guys like Burton Scott, Julio Jones, William Green and Tyler Love. Tyler and I are real cool with each other." Did that sound like he's already committed, or am I just losing it?
Tom Lemming says it's not a matter of if, but WHEN Nick Saban will win a national title at Alabama. They spoke with Georgia coach Mark Richt about the impact it's already making on recruiting. Read more here.
I knew that we didn't play Georgia very often, but I didn't know that this will only be the 13th time since 1965. That's 13 times in 42 years. Geez. And we're in the same conference? Unbelievable. Read more about how historical this game is here.
The defense understands what it takes to win ballgames, and after such a physical game as Saturday's was, they need as much time as possible to recoup. Of course, they also understand that it's the mental side that is the most important - knowing that you'll be ready, whether you're tired or not. Read more about their preparations for the Georgia game here.
Read quotes from Georgia's weekly press conference here. Some pretty decent stuff in there about what they think about our team.
The team's film session on Monday morning lasted about an hour and a half before class saved them from hearing more from the coaching staff. They may have won the game, but Coach Saban almost made them believe that they lost the game. The defense had some HUGE breakdowns, but they still found a way. Read more here.
Saban is going to bring quite a few blitzes, leaving the corners in man-coverage this weekend against a team that's pretty well known for throwing the football. Good thing we've got a pretty good secondary. Read more about it here. The last time Georgia played a Nick Saban coached team was 2004 when they beat LSU 45-16, thanks to David Greene's 5 touchdown passes. I don't think Stafford's as good as David Greene, but we'll see what happens.
There are conflicting reports on whether the Gameday crew will be on the Quad or somewhere else this year. Personally, I think the only place I could really see it being is on the lawn in front of the stadium. That would be perfect, especially since we've lost the last few times they've been on the Quad. We should hear an announcement on it today at some point. Read more here.
¶ 8:44 AM0 commentslinks to this post
I will be in Tuscaloosa ALL DAY on Saturday, so if you're bored and wanna hang out - spot me an e-mail and we'll swap numbers. It'll be good to meet some of you. We'll be out there during Gameday, and then we'll go back to our tailgating spot, wherever that may be, and fire up the grill. I'm bringing one of my friends that's a Bama fan who has never been to a game, so hopefully he'll come away with good feelings about it.
Also, I don't have tickets for the game - so if you've got some cheapies, lemme know, cause I can't afford shit. Hahaha.
If you thought it was going to be a complete turning of the Tide, you may be completely wrong - the basketball season suddenly looks dreary. Ronald Steele has consulted with Coach Gottfried and will opt to take a medical redshirt this season.
If you've been nervous about us kicking field goals this year - next year looks to be quite a bit better. Corey Smith, a commitment from West Virginia, booted a 59-yard field goal last weekend to help his team to a victory.
Florida State's offense isn't exactly impressing Jimbo Fisher. In fact, he called it ridiculous. Bobby Bowden said that if they don't get things turned around over the bye week, "we'll get killed."
Coach Saban's press conference yesterday was about as expected - we're over the Arkansas game, and now it's time for Georgia.
Antoine Caldwell said that they amended the 24-hour rule to a 36 hour rule...until everybody started talking about Georgia, and it quickly went back to 24 hours.
They won't announce the game time or TV network for the Bama - Fla St game until this Sunday. They're also considering Auburn at Florida, for some reason. Haha.
Coach Saban and Coach Richt talked quite a bit about coaches stealing signals, and the ethics of competition on the field, etc. Very good read. Check it out here.
The Athens Banner-Herald talks about how Saban's impact isn't limited to just the field. It talks about how difficult it will be to get players out of the state of Alabama now, along with how different the landscape is in Tuscaloosa now as compared to previous years.
Caddell has transformed from a receiver who doesn't receive, to a bona fide superstar in Tuscaloosa after his 9 catch performance that included the game winning touchdown. Read more about it here, here, and here.
It's absolutely great to hear Coach Saban talking about teaching kids how to do things. Rather than focus on the negative that's happened, like a wide open receiver not catching the football, you have to focus on what happened to where they didn't catch it - was their hand placement wrong, did they not watch the ball, etc. If you just yell "CATCH THE FOOTBALL" that's not going to fix anything. You have to teach. This coaching staff is so different from last year's it's unbelievable. Read more here.
Chris Walsh's weekly First-and-10 is up. Go check it out here
Darren Mustin suffered a neck injury while making a tackle on McFadden Saturday night. But what hurt the most was not being able to go back in during the 2nd half. The medical staff took his pads and helmet so he wouldn't try to go back in. Read more here.
CBS Sportsline actually has a little piece about the Tide's game with Georgia this weekend, which should be quite entertaining. Wallace Gilberry said that after Saturday's game, he'll know Matt Stafford's phone number, middle name, home address, etc. Cause he'll have to know where to send the flowers. Haha. And then he responsed that he was only playing because he "don't trash talk." HAHAHA.
Mr. Finebaum goes into detail about Tommy Tubberville's $6M buyout, saying that it might not be enough to keep him around if the season gets any worse. Read the article here.
¶ 8:47 AM0 commentslinks to this post
You wanted confirmation? Here ya go. You better believe I'll be there, loud and proud. Time to break this hex of losing when we're on Gameday. Keep watchin your TVs for MemphisTider signs up everywhere. Haha.
¶ 2:42 PM3 commentslinks to this post
Wow. What a weekend. It's still shocking to me. Just all around madness. And now there's a chance that Gameday will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend - seriously. What other matchup, other than Penn St vs Michigan, would attract them this week? Especially with the game being on ESPN that night. We broke the 7 game losing streak on ESPN, so why not break the Gameday hex as well? They won't have many more opportunities to come down to Tuscaloosa, other than Nov. 3rd, so I'm sure they'll want to take advantage of it.
If you don't already have tickets for the Georgia game, you've got PLENTY of time. TickCo.com has the best tickets available - so check out the Georgia tickets here and the remainder of the schedule here.
The Alabama/Georgia line has opened with Alabama -3.5 at most sportbooks, with a few -4s thrown in for good measure. To start off the season, most sportbooks had Bama +4 or +5 for this one. My God, how things have changed in just a few short weeks.
Wes Howard, who is now a writer for BleacherReport.com, used to be a manager on the Auburn football team back in '03. He said that what the Patriots did shouldn't be considered cheating - because everyone does it. That was one of his main jobs for the '03 Auburn team - stealing signals. Read more about his experiences here.
Auburn fans have no idea what the hell has happened to their football team. Track Em Tigers says they should have seen the warning signs.Their next five games are New Mexico St, @ Florida, Vandy, @ Arkansas, and @ LSU - which could, in all probability, lead to a 3-5 start with Georgia and Alabama left on the schedule.
Western Carolina told reporters after their game last weekend that Georgia was "more skilled" and was "bigger and stronger" than Alabama. Thanks, Todd Spritzer, for the bulletin board material.
Georgia is 2-1, but is 0-1 in the SEC. They are looking for their first SEC win, but it will have to come in their first road game. They haven't played away from Athens yet this season. Read more here.
I forgot to mention that Alabama is back in the AP and USA Today polls - at #16 and #20 respectively. I guess voters were just waiting for some proof before jumping us 11 spots in each poll.
Coach Saban talked about how important it is to be able to overcome adversity. We lost a senior wide receiver (DJ Hall) and a senior linebacker (Mustin), but still found a way to come back and win. Read more in the Montgomery Advertiser.
Comeback victories for Alabama just don't happen in Bryant Denny very often. Read Cecil's article about the rarity here.
Coach Richt knows that Georgia is going into a stadium this week that is flowing with momentum and confidence. His job is to find a way to stop that - and early in the game on Saturday.
The Ledger Enquirer has the blueprint for a perfect football Saturday in Tuscaloosa. It's a good read. Haha.
Alabama finally found its confidence on Saturday night, just in time for a dramatic comeback victory. Something like this could lead to MUCH bigger things down the road.
Coach Saban is keeping everything in perspective. He's not satisfied with the win. We had them beat, and didn't have that killer instinct. We should have been able to hold a 31-10 lead midway through the 3rd quarter, but couldn't handle it. We did win, but we've got a loooong way to go to be a championship football team.
¶ 8:43 AM0 commentslinks to this post
Well, now that I've awoken from my heart attack last night...haha. What a helluva game. I've never seen momentum swing like a pendulum the same way I watched it last night. That was absolutely incredible, and incredibly telling of a team that is in the process of becoming a champion.
ESPN's article on the game pretty much sums it up. "Alabama summoned up one huge defensive stand, a last-minute drive led by John Parker Wilson and Matt Caddell and a final, game-winning pass into the end zone.
Welcome to the Nick Saban era, Bama fans."
Before we go any further - go ahead and vote for Caddell's catch as the Pontiac Game Changing Performance. Go here to vote.
If you would like to know what happened with the defense, well, I can offer that up to you. The defense was just beginning to show signs of being worn down by that huge Arkansas line and D-Mac's insane running abilities. They had a drive that went for 5 plays and 61 yards in the 3rd quarter to make it 31-17. Then, on the ensuing possession, we held the ball for 4 plays and fumbled the snap back to them, putting the defense back on the field with them in scoring position. Then, on the next possession, we ran one play - an interception at our own 26. After that touchdown the game was tied at 31. They kicked off and we went three and out. They scored in 6 plays and absolutely had our defense worn out.
The defense this year will need every bit of rest they can get. I'm still not sure what the status is on Rashad Johnson, since he went out on the last serious, and I'm not sure what happened with Darren Mustin. I do know that A TON of freshmen got playing time last night, which makes that game all the more exciting.
So we gave up 145 passing yards and 312 rushing yards. It was a disgrace to good defenses everywhere - but then, there was the '94 game against Georgia. That's the only thing I can compare this to - and of course we get to see that game play out again next week.
Seriously, when was the last time we had a come from behind victory? I believe the Florida game in the Swamp in '99, but before that it was 1996 against Auburn with Dennis Riddle juking a boy right out of his shoes before running into the endzone. Is there another one I'm missing? I know there were a couple of last minute wins with Mike Shula in '05 (Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas Tech) but all of those would have gone to overtime if we didn't score, so it wasn't life or death. In '06 we went down 23-20 in the first overtime to Ole Miss, but came back and scored to win 26-23.
All of that is for a reason - only great, focused teams can pull off something like Alabama did last night. The last minute come-from-behind victory is something to be cherished. The adrenaline rush it gives, and the momentum it gives the players going into the next few weeks is something that no other type of win could get you.
DJ Hall broke the receiving record - I believe on the first play, if I'm not mistaken. He also set a record for receiving yards in one quarter, having 4 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. And then, in the fourth quarter field goal drive, I believe he did something wrong because he was, for the most part, suspended from going into the game. Very interesting call considering he's your best wide-receiver, but we all know how Saban works. He's not interested in winning the game - he's interested in building for the future. Part of that is holding players responsible for their actions, no matter what the consequences.
Darren McFadden, who I thought ESPN said was being held out for the rest of the 4th quarter due to severe cramps and the possibility of a tweaked hamstring, was apparently held out, according to Mark McCarter because he suffered a concussion on their last touchdown drive. If he had not gone out, I'm not sure that it would have mattered, because we were going to have 10 guys in the box on their last possession anyway.
According to some in-person accounts, the student section started chanting "JU-LI-O" when Julio Jones came out with the rest of the recruits to see the game on Saturday night. He couldn't help but grin. I think he knows where he's going to school. Haha.
Kevin Scarbinsky knows what's up. In one fateful evening, Alabama and Auburn turned the corner going in different directions. One losing at home to the last placed SEC West team, and the other defeating the reigning SEC west champs. What this says to recruits, etc, is that the tide has officially turned.
Randy Kennedy lets us know that "the process" is underway in Tuscaloosa. Last night was just the beginning of what could be a very fun next few years at Alabama.
The Northwest Arkansas Morning News chimes in with some quotes from Arkansas players and coaches, including Houston Nutt saying "we should've won the game, but we made too, too many mistakes." Damn, that sounds awfully familiar.
The Birmingham News details some of the things that went on in the last drive of the game - read it here.
Wally Hall is the only writer that I've seen mention how ugly the incident was between Ernest Mitchell and Justin Britt - where Mitchell ripped off Britt's helmet after the play and hit him with it. It will most certainly be reviewed by the SEC offices, and could result in even more of a suspension. He's automatically out for the first 2 quarters against Kentucky already.
Matt Caddell's touchdown pass
Leigh Tiffin's field goal, ultimately the difference in the game, in the 4th quarter
Two of the better coaches in the SEC
Coach Saban doin his thang #1
Coach Saban doin his thang #2
Coach Saban doin his thang #3
Coach Saban doin his thang #4
Alright, let's move on to what else happened yesterday...
Tommy Tubberville got Croomed yesterday, which is never a good thing. There aren't many SEC coaches that Croom has beaten that have kept their job the following year. One would be Ed Orgeron in his first season. The other would be Rich Brooks in his first season. After that, there was Zook, then Shula, and now, possibly, Tubberville? Read more about State's first win at Auburn since 1999 here.
Tennessee absolutely got shalacked by Florida down in th Swamp. Final score - 59-20. Check out more about it here. Suddenly makes me feel pretty good about the Tennessee game this year. Looks like Fulmer's in some trouble.
Kentucky stunned Louisville with a 57 yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left. Very fitting that it was being shown on ESPN Classic. Haha. Read more about Kentucky's first win over a top 10 team in over three decades here.
Ole Miss is now 1-2 on the season, thanks to being beaten 31-17 at Vanderbilt. I guess we know that Vandy doesn't really suck - we were just better than them last week. Read more about Vandy's quest for a bowl game here. Ole Miss looks to be in some serious trouble with games against Florida, Georgia, a suddenly good-looking La Tech team, Arkansas, and Alabama on the horizon.
Georgia and South Carolina both played 1-AA teams (Western Carolina and South Carolina St), so I don't put much stock into what they did.
It appears that Georgia and Alabama will be on CBS next week, so we'll see whether or not that holds up, since South Carolina and LSU looks to be the better matchup.
¶ 9:27 AM2 commentslinks to this post
Finally, the weekend is here. I won my first bet last night. I took West Virginia (-16.5). Talk about nuts. I'm really glad I didn't pick the over, although I was tempted. I've got several games that I like this weekend. I'll probably post them later on.
Ron Higgins, from the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, and now ESPN.com, has a great write-up about Leigh Tiffin and how, if there's any justice in this world, he'll get a chance to redeem himself against Arkansas this year.
We all know how important this game is, historically, to our season. BamaMag.com goes indepth to take a look at exactly why this game is so important.
ESPN.com has a preview of McFadden's heisman trail blazing through Alabama this weekend. Check it out here.
Didn't even think about this one...Alabama has lost its past 7 appearances on ESPN. Let's go back and see which games were involved - 2006 against LSU, 2004 against LSU, 2003 against Hawaii, 2003 against Auburn, 2003 against LSU, 2001 against LSU, etc. Which, of course, means that's not right, because we beat Tennessee and LSU in 2002 on ESPN. What other games were on ESPN that I'm missing?
With all the crap going on about the Patriots spying on teams, Saban came out and defended the team saying that, when he was with the Browns, EVERYBODY would film him and his defensive signals. Kinda funny to hear.
Coach Saban has stressed it in practice this week - we need more explosive plays. I'm sure he'll probably get them, as I'm sure the playbook will be opened just a touch more - but not too much - to allow bigger plays.
For everyone that was worried about playing so many teams with open dates - fear not. History has proven that it's not beneficial at all. Teams coming off an open week into league play have an 18-22 record. Sounds like Bama might be ok.
¶ 8:34 AM4 commentslinks to this post
I can't stress it enough. If you don't have your tickets yet for the Alabama Arkansas game, go to TickCo.com's Alabama vs Arkansas ticket section and see what you can get. You do NOT want to miss this game.
Another thing that I'm sure you already knew - it appears that Chris Lett will not practice or play for the entire year, or until his condition improves dramatically.
They're using Jonathan Lowe as a mock of McFadden. They've even put him in the #5 jersey. They're gearing up for the "wild-hog" formation that they've made so popular over there - using Kyle Pennington and Lowe to copy McFadden's role in the offense.
Darren McFadden's the big name in college football, but I'll be damned if Felix Jones isn't just as good as his counterpart. Jones is also an All-SEC back, and would probably start anywhere else in the conference. Read more about him here.
Terry Grant listens to music prior to the game to get himself in the right mindset to run over people. You would expect hard rap music or angry metal music - but he listens to R. Kelly and Ginuwine ballads. Slow music to get him in the right mindset. Seem a little strange? Haha. Read more here.
You've gotta wonder what Leigh Tiffin's mindset is going into this game. Is he ready to exorcise his demons and breakthrough during this game, or is he nervous and scared about the same things happening again? Read more about the stress test here.
DJ Hall expects John Parker Wilson to have a huge game on Saturday. He says that this week he's looked a lot more focuses, and a lot more comfortable in the pocket. He's ready for people to stop talking about that bad game. Read more here. Also, look for DJ Hall to break the all-time receiving yards record at Alabama on Saturday night. He's only 34 yards away.
Cecil Hurt lets us know that Arkansas will try and trick their way to a victory on Saturday night, so be ready for some real odd-ball stuff.
There is, of course, the possibility that John Parker Wilson was still a bit groggy for the 11:30 kickoff last Saturday. That could, of course, be the reason why he was "a little off" on his passes. He seems to believe there's nothing major that's wrong - he just needs to keep improving. Read more here.
MSNBC.com chimes in with a big story about how high the stakes are when Alabama and Arkansas play each year.
Looks like we'll be all clear on Saturday night. They expect the remnants from the tropical storm to be long gone by gametime. Check out Tuscaloosa's weather.
Colin Cowherd has picked Alabama to upset LSU this year. It's one of his 6 "best bets." Who woulda thought the Bama basher would ever have something decent to say about Alabama?
Why on earth is Jackie Sherrill still talking? Apparently Tubberville said that State's program was out of control and that it would take at least 10 years to fix the mess that was down there. He was trying to come to Sylvester Croom's defense, but he ended up bashing Jackie Sherrill in the process. Sherrill calls him out in Ray Melick's latest column.
Stewart Mandel goes through the odds on whether USC, LSU, and Oklahoma can all go undefeated. Seem odd that this looks exactly like 2003? Anyway, read more about it here. LSU has a 40% shot - compared to USC's 80% and Oklahoma's 60%.
Also, check this kid out. 15 years old, rollin through some kicks. Saban better start early with this one. Haha.
...how much I want to be asleep in the bed this morning. It's 65 degrees outside, a little bit sunny. There's a crisp in the air and dew on the ground. It is officially football season. And I'm at work.
The Arkansas Razorback Sports Network has a story about how this is a make-or-break game for both Alabama and Arkansas. This game almost always gives us a look into the future - whether we'll be good or lackluster.
Last year's 2-OT loss at Arkansas still stings, and a lot of the players are ready for payback. Read more here.
Mark Edwards at the Decatur Daily points out that Coach Saban's team has done what it's supposed to: handle teams easily that should be handled easily. That's the biggest difference between Shula's teams and Saban's - they do what they're supposed to without much drama. The big dramatic endings will be saved for the big games. And that's it. Saturday night we'll see what else is in store for the Tide.
John Parker Wilson doesn't think that the offense was that bad last week. They did what they were supposed to do - throw just enough passes to keep the defense on their heels and then pound the football right up the middle. TideSports.com breaks down Wilson's passing day and gives us an insight as to exactly what happened with the incompletions.
Coach Saban says that the passing game got away from what they're good at - throwing over the middle. All of the passes Saturday were either deep passes, or sideline grabs near the line of scrimmage. Nothing across the middle to make the defense defend in there so the running backs could get outside.
Eli Gold talks to the Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle about how much fun he's having watching Saban's team. He tells us it's like when Bear was there, and he also compares this team and the excitement to the 1993 team where everybody was thrilled about them.
The story of Terry Grant - found here. The players knew he was going to be good - just didn't know it would be this good. Remember, he's 8th in the country in rushing, and 1st in the SEC, and he didn't even play in the 2nd half against Western Carolina. The kid's got 307 yards and 5 touchdowns in 6 quarters of play. Jeez.
Arkansas is going to key-in on Grant this Saturday. Lucky for us, we haven't even opened our passing playbook yet. If you see the rinky dink routes we've been running - well, there ya go. Haha. Either way, who woulda thought that the leading rusher in the SEC going into this game wouldn't be on the other sideline. Kinda fun to talk about.
The defense is gearing up. They're ready to take on McFadden and Jones. "I'm trying to destroy (McFadden)," Gilberry said. "Not trying to be brutal, but that is my mind set." That's definitely good to hear.
Arkansas is, of course, adding new schemes to the offense this week in preparation for the Alabama game. David Lee says he won't give anything away, but they have some new passing schemes to throw us off. I honestly don't buy it, because even if they did have passing schemes, it's not like Dick could make the throws. :-)
Finebaum's latest column is all about how the Auburn fans' worst nightmare has come true. Alabama is off to a roaring start, and Auburn is 1-1 out of the gate with a home loss to South Florida, thanks to 5 Auburn turnovers and the Riverboat Gambler's conservatism at the end of the game to force overtime rather than try and win in regulation. Either way, Auburn is helping Alabama look VERY good right now, even though they haven't really done anything.
¶ 8:39 AM0 commentslinks to this post
Hope everyone's having a great Tuesday. I'm taking part of the day off again. I love having vacation time...haha. So I guess we'll get right into some more news.
Terry Grant was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the 2nd week in a row. I guess 173 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns looks pretty good to the people that vote for that thing. Haha.
Coach Saban's weekly press conference to gear up for the next opponent was held yesterday. You can read the transcript here. Nothing too interesting - just a helluva lot of praise for Houston Nutt's coaching ability, and the Arkansas offense, defense, and special teams. He thinks they're a damn good football team.
Kareem Jackson is the real deal. I should've brought him up before now because I noticed on Saturday that they weren't playing Castille on Bennett...they were playing Jackson. Kareem's a true freshman that studied and learned from Simeon Castille over the summer and in fall practice - and on Saturday it all paid off, as he held Earl Bennett to 4 catches for only 52 yards. The kid's playing like a veteran already.
Bama will get to see a lot of Darren McFadden's vaunted stiff-arm move that he's made so popular. He can throw a defender to the turf as easily as anyone I've ever seen. Read more about how Alabama's planning to defend against it here.
McFadden's coming out party was in Tuscaloosa in 2005 when he ran for 95 yards on 8 carries, including a 70 yard touchdown where he stiff-armed Roman Harper and vaulted past the Alabama defense for a touchdown. Bama won 24-13, but that was the first sign that McFadden was a star.
Coach Saban mentioned that it's going to be "fun" to go against Arkansas' "Wildhog" offense. They get the ball to their playmakers so many times that it's challenging for the defense - "and that's part of the fun of it." Read more here. I, personally, like a coach that has fun getting schemes together to stop somebody else. Haha.
It appears that Marcus Monk and Ben Cleveland will both be out for this game with injuries. I don't put any belief into it though. If I were Coach Saban, I'd go in expecting them to play, cause Houston's a slick sonuvabitch.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette says it's going to be just as much of a challenge for McFadden to run through Alabama's defense as it will be for Alabama to stop McFadden. Both sides will be ready to go on Saturday.
Arkansas has two guys simulating John Parker Wilson in practices this week, trying to gear up for what they feel will be a coming out for Alabama's passing game. Read more here.
The Crimson White has more about Terry Grant being taken out of the game, and Coach Saban motivating him to pick it up against Vanderbilt.
I had no idea that Rashad Johnson picked up his first career interception against Vandy last week. In NCAA '08, I just finished the 2009 season and Johnson had 7 picks, including one that went for a touchdown in the National Championship game win over USC (41-20). Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.
Arkansas fans unite - because apparently Alabama is the exact same under Nick Saban as it was under DuBose, Franchione, and Mike Shula. At least according to the sports editor for the Arkansas Traveler. He thinks Arkansas will roll right over Alabama. Riiight.
¶ 8:44 AM2 commentslinks to this post
Well, we were underdogs in most of the bigger games this year, at least at the beginning of the season. In the preseason, the games that Las Vegas already had odds on were Arkansas, Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn.
We were underdogs in all of them. Here's the difference in the lines between now and then.
ARKANSAS Preseason: Bama +2 Currently: Bama -3.5
GEORGIA Preseason: Bama +4 Currently: Bama -2
FLORIDA ST Preseason: Bama +9 Currently: Bama +4
TENNESSEE Preseason: Bama +3 Currently: Bama -2.5
AUBURN Preseason: Bama +8 Currently: Bama +1
Las Vegas sees something going on here. Pay attention, because they tend to be pretty good at this stuff. Like, for example, they currently have South Carolina at -1 for the Florida game. They have LSU a 12.5 point favorite over Florida in a few weeks, and a 21 point favorite over Auburn. Something's going on. Pay attention.
¶ 11:28 AM0 commentslinks to this post
Don't forget guys - if you need tickets to the game this weekend, go check out Tickco.com's Alabama section and look at the schedule to see what's available for upcoming games. If you want a link directly to the Alabama - Arkansas game tickets, then here ya go. :-)
Arkansas has only one guy with a quarterback sack this year - and Reggie Herring, the defensive coordinator has said that he's going to try and bring more blitzes to disrupt our quarterback. They're having trouble getting pressure with 4 down linemen. Look for Weston Dacus to come on blitzes quite a bit - I fully expect to kill them with misdirection this week. They'll overpursue like crazy in this game.
The AOL Fanhouse has confirmed that Vandy's season is all-but-over, thanks to a crushing defeat to Alabama. This was supposed to be their game this year, and it didn't work out like that at all. Of course, Alabama didn't look very sharp either...but hey, it was Vanderbilt. We never look sharp against Vanderbilt.
The Birmingham News points out that we don't have to worry about Terry Grant's durability anymore, and that the defense can, in fact, play power football. They also pointed out that it felt like an Alabama home game on Saturday - not only because Vandy wore their white jerseys and Bama wore Crimson, but because 3/4ths of the stadium were clad in Crimson. Haha.
Mike Johnson's injury this past Saturday was quite scary because we've seen things like that happen before and come out much worse. Luckily it was a minor ankle sprain. He'll be back at 100% this weekend.
Terry Grant got an earful from Coach Saban for not running hard enough. He got a case of the Darbys in the backfield and started dancing around rather than hitting the holes. He fixed that in the second half by getting 120 of his 173 after the break.
The amazing playmaker, known simply as "Earl Bennett" has disappeared against his home state team for two straight years. So, is he scared? Or is the Bama defense just that good?
Alabama's passing attack needs answers, cause there are a TON of questions going into the Arkansas game. Not quite sure what exactly is happening here, but if JP doesn't improve drastically, we may be seeing more of Greg McElroy, in my opinion.
Chris Walsh's first-and-10 details everything that was good, and bad, from this past Saturday's performance. The good, of course, was the offensive line, running backs, and the entire defense. The bad - the passing game. Can't say much more than that.
¶ 9:38 AM0 commentslinks to this post
Wow, talk about a long, wonderful day. Haha. I woke up WAY late, left Memphis around 7:30, pulled into Nashville right at 11 and made it to my seats 10 minutes before kickoff. After the game, my better half and I sat behind our car in the parking garage, drinking our Coca-Cola and eating peanuts, and watched Oregon thrash Michigan pretty soundly in the first half en route to a 39-7 victory.
We stayed in Nashville for a while and made a day out of it, shopping, then eating at Cracker Barrell, etc. We headed home, and I got to listen to the entire first half of South Carolina and Georgia, So Miss give Tennessee everything they had, then some of Missou and Ole Miss, a lil Kentucky vs Kent, the weather delay that was Arkansas St and Memphis (lightning is serious, ya'll), the Mississippi State / Tulane game, and LSU's thumping of Va Tech. This game was over before it started.
Either way, we got back to Memphis, picked up my daughter from her grandparents' house, and headed home. And when I got home, much to my surprise, Auburn and South Florida were in a knock-down-drag-out fight. I got to see Fannin fumble the football two straight plays. I got to see Brandon Cox look about as bad as JP Wilson did yesterday, and I got to see South Florida have worse kicking woes than us.
And then I got to see the overtime. GLORY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH! Haha. What an awesome day.
Anyway, here we go with a recap from not only yesterday's Bama game, but other games I DVR'd yesterday and went back to watch quite a bit of.
John Parker Wilson looked God-awful today. We sat in the endzone near the Vandy student section, and were able to see a good bit of what he was seeing on the field, and the bottom line is that he just couldn't make the throws. He hit a 30+ yarder to DJ Hall early in the first "real" drive (after we were already up 7-0) that was as beautiful a fade route as you'll ever see, but he missed several guaranteed touchdown passes, and over/under-threw his receivers all day. He threw the ball behind them, too far in front, led defensive backs all day, and basically telegraphed everything he did. Which leads to the next point...
The offensive line is a BEAST. They came out and smacked Vandy in the mouth early and often, and opened up holes for not just Grant, but Coffee and Johns as well. I like the multiple running backs scheme...keeps everyone fresh. I mean, seriously, could you imagine this team with Mike Ford and Jamar Taylor (the two backs for South Florida) on it as well? We wouldn't ever have to throw a pass. Haha.
The defense is, of course, BIG TIME underrated. If you're paying attention, more often than not, Saban is running with 4 down linemen. This so called "3-4 defense" is really just a 4-3, with versatile defensive ends. They stay on the line of scrimmage, and it's awesome.
The secondary is telegraphing when they're going to blitz and when they're not. They need to change their body language because good teams will pick up on this. Castille and Johnson both need to work on it. I called it three times from sitting in the stands, so I know they had to have seen it on the field.
Rolando McClain is a man. Period. He put some hits on some of Vandy's players that they'll be feeling for a couple of weeks. Very fun to see another guy that hits similar to DeMeco Ryans. Very very very fun.
Watching Coach Saban get onto Marcus Carter in the 3rd quarter for trying to pick up a fumble and run with it - rather than just fall on it - was absolutely awesome. Another fun thing to watch was Coach Saban basically riding Nick Walker all day like a beat-down mule. If kids make mistakes, they have to learn what the consequences are. And the consequences just so happen to be Coach Saban up your ass for the rest of the game. Next time, Marcus, just jump on the football. Don't be a damn hero.
I know we've talked about this before, but jeez. How bad would you feel to be booed when you run onto the field at your home stadium? It was probably 3/4ths Alabama fans. The entire endzone, and both sides of the stadium were nothing but Bama fans with some Vandy fans stuck in the middle. It was ridiculous - but incredibly awesome to see. The streets were nothing but Bama fans before and after the game. Props to Vandy's fans though. They're an incredibly classy bunch. Even after the game was over, the students still in the student section were still cheering on the team. And I don't think it was because they had been drinking.
We've got a lot to work on before next week, but I think we're playing solid, aggressive football right now. Tweaking the quarterback play and working on hiding things with the defense a little more will surely lead to good things. Also, for the love of God --- somebody tackle somebody please.
Steve Spurrier actually may have a team that could win the SEC East this year. They get Florida at home, but sadly they've gotta go play LSU in Baton Rouge. With the win over Georgia, they've proven they can win on the road...but I don't know if this is a year where they can beat LSU. Not that Va Tech has really proven they're a good team...but damn that was whoopin.
Georgia looked like they didn't have a clue what they were doing offensively or defensively, and if South Carolina could pull that off, just imagine what Coach Saban can do. Of course, we're not thinking about them yet. Saban was already breaking down game film of Arkansas on the trip back to Tuscaloosa from Nashville. The question will be asked all week...can we stop McFadden? I think so.
South Florida lined up and just smacked Auburn in the mouth quite a few times. Tiger mishaps really killed them in this game - most notably the turnovers, but mainly the boneheaded decisions by the players and coaching staff alike.
Mike Ford is the REAL DEAL. And so is Taylor. Having these two on our team would almost be like the stockpile that USC has - just a stable of running backs that could all start pretty much anywhere in the country.
Grothe is a gamer, straight up. That kid, no matter what happened, always knew they were going to win the football game, and he showed it. His poise is absolutely ridiculous. With South Florida's win over Auburn, and Cincinnati's beatdown of Oregon State this past Thursday, along with Louisville, Rutgers, and West Virginia, the Big East looks like they may be something serious this year. Of course, they could end up like the SEC and have everybody knock off everbody else, which could be somewhat comical...but either way.
LSU absolutely beat the dog-shit out of Virginia Tech. And that's about as nicely as I can put it. LSU's offense just pushed around Tech's defense. LSU's defense just pushed around Tech's offense. The game was over after the first quarter, where LSU had a 24-0 lead. Flynn led LSU to scores on four of their first five drives. Perriloux got more work after he came in, leading them to two more scores.
Of course, you can always look at the other side. Virginia Tech didn't play very well last week either, and they were at home against East Carolina (who isn't awful, but isn't top-notch competition either). It is extremely possible that LSU has just destroyed two not-very-good football teams. That's my guess for right now because there are still holes in that offense that I saw against Mississippi State, and if Henig hadn't thrown more interceptions than completions, then that would've been a different game.
LSU fans were actually nice before the game. They didn't throw any beer bottles. They didn't chant "Tiger Bait." They didn't try to tip over the Va Tech buses. It was an overall friendly attitude - until kickoff. Then it got nasty.
Michigan looks like the worst coached football team in the country. And I don't think Lloyd Carr really cares. It's a shame for the Wolverine faithful, but damn - 39-7 at home to Oregon? God bless America.
BYU didn't cover the spread against UCLA this weekend. Neither did Hawaii. Those two teams ALWAYS made money last year. What the hell?
I REALLY wanted Fresno to beat Coach Franphoney. Oh well.
I think Kentucky will beat Louisville in a couple of weeks. They're really clicking. Kent State isn't a bad football team (they just beat Iowa St last weekend) and they put the whoopin on em by 42. Louisville couldn't stop Middle Tennessee from scoring, so they sure won't be able to stop Kentucky.
You remember a couple of years ago when Oklahoma absolutely steamrolled everybody before they got clobbered in the Big 12 title game and the Sugar Bowl? This year's Oklahoma team is looking eerily similar. Fran talked a little bit of trash in the pre-season, and it's possible his team could get spanked to the tune of 77-0 again. Haha.
Notre Dumb got smacked around some. Penn State looks like a pretty damn good football team. I dig it.
Vanderbilt safety Ryan Hamilton will be one to keep an eye on Saturday morning. He's quick and appears to be turning the corner as a playmaker in the 'Dores secondary.
Communication, of course, is key. Rashad Johnson is in charge of that in the secondary. And, of course, don't EVER let coach know you didn't get a signal.
The Decatur Daily is picking Bama to win 20-13, but warns that Saban is known for losing a game or two that he shouldn't in his first season. I don't think that'll matter much with this one. It's still all about who has the most talent.
Vanderbilt is ever so close to turning the corner and actually pulling out a winning season. They've got athletes. They've got good coaches. They're in a prime position. It just sucks that they play in the SEC.
Lorenzo Washington is just about all we've got at nose tackle, and he knows it. Good read on everything happening here.
If Earl Bennett can't get open, then Earl can't catch the football. Simeon intends on being all over that kid like white on rice.
Coach Middleton has done a great job with the tight ends. Look for more of the same this weekend against a week Vandy defense.
This isn't really Bama news, but it involves that douchebag, Coach Franphony. Apparently he has been selling injury reports and details about his players in a confidential newsletter called VIP Connection. Only a dozen big name boosters were subscribers, but it was a $1200 fee to join and get the inside scoop on certain players' injuries, etc. It is a CLEAR violation of HIPAA laws. Anyway, read more about it 
