SB Nation - Jerrell Harris

Initial Impressions from the South Carolina Game

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:15:23 -0000

Another weekend and another win for the Tide. A few initial impressions from the aftermath:

Ugly win last night, and I mean ugly. Any time you average 4.6 yards per passing attempt, have over 100 yards of penalties, miss a kick, and turn it over four times, your performance has all of the aesthetic appeal of a Roseanne swimsuit calendar. Thankfully, though, the defense was impenetrable as usual and Mark Ingram took over the game, carrying us to victory. Had either one of those two slipped up any last night, we would probably be lamenting our first loss of the season.
Another bad night for the offense. I know South Carolina is generally considered to have a good defense -- and in all fairness Lorenzo Ward and Ellis Johnson had them prepared -- but they are not that good. Thirteen points on the night offensively, and our previously unstoppable offensive juggernaut has put up all of two touchdowns in nine quarters.
The extremely frustrating part of our offense's overall performance was that South Carolina never really stopped us. We averaged over 6.0 yards per play, and only punted three times all night long. On six of our drives, we moved the football at least 30 yards, so again, South Carolina never really stopped us. We moved the ball well, but as usually is the case, we continued to beat ourselves. Leigh Tiffin missed a field goal, we failed to convert touchdowns in two first-half red zone opportunities, and we turned the football over four times. We only had 10 possessions in this game -- short game last night, mind you -- and when you are so inefficient that literally half of your possessions end in missed field goals and turnovers, you simply aren't going to score many points. It's just frustrating as hell... opposing teams aren't stopping us, but we continue to stop ourselves. We are our own worst enemies.
Greg McElroy was the biggest problem offensively, and his performance just gets worse and worse with each passing week. Again I know South Carolina played well defensively last night, but that still doesn't change the fact that McElroy was ungodly terrible. He couldn't hit a wide receiver if his life depended on it, and our "passing game" -- and I say "passing game" loosely because in all actuality we had no passing game whatsoever -- consisted of dump-off passes to the tailbacks. He threw two interceptions as it was, and had it not been for great wide receiver play (see next bullet), he would have probably thrown at least three more. The stat line says it all... 10-20 for 92 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. I do not say this lightly, but I nevertheless stand by the following statement... for all intents and purposes, we had Spencer Pennington at quarterback last night, and quite frankly Pennington rarely played worse than McElroy did last night (and in terms of QB rating, I don't know if Pennington ever had a rating this low). I don't remember the last time we had a quarterback play this poorly.

And our wide receivers played great last night, for the record. They held their own against a good South Carolina defensive backfield, and they absolutely saved this game for us by bailing out McElroy's terrible throws. Julio Jones had to commit offensive pass interference to do it, but he broke up a certain interception that was heaved into double coverage, and he also did an incredible job forcing a fumble (that we recovered) on another interception. Likewise, Marquis Maze wrestled away yet another certain interception from a South Carolina DB. Had those guys not made those three plays, we probably lose this football game. Blame someone if you want, but don't blame the receivers.

Furthermore, we should all praise Julio Jones. He's a superstar wide receiver, and yet somehow we cannot get him the football. And despite the fact that we live in an era where any wide receiver with even an ounce of talent suddenly turns into a bigger diva than Madonna, we cannot get a superstar wide receiver the football, and our superstar wide receiver never complains one bit. You know what he does? He goes out with a great attitude and works his ass off doing the dirty, blue-collar work, and he does a damn fine job of it at that. He kills DB's in run blocking, works as the scratch returner, and probably already holds the unofficial record for most interceptions broken up by a wide receiver. It's nothing short of a damn shame, and keep in mind that Julio Jones is a three-year player. His tour of duty is now officially more than half over, and in fourteen months he will be preparing for the NFL Draft, so our time with him is quickly fleeting. Harsh reality here, folks, we're wasting a once-in-a-generation player.

Mark Ingram... cannot say enough about him. I highly doubt he wins the Heisman -- and honestly I'm really torn on that subject anyway, so I'm not crying regardless -- but honestly he deserves it. Either way, enjoy him while we have him. He's another three-year player, and barring a major injury, his tour of duty is also more than half over. He has NFL tailback written all over him in every single way possible.

Marquis Johnson played the game of his life tonight, and he silenced critics left and right. Kudos to him. He's a fine young man who has worked his butt off and overcame a lot of very undeserved criticism. He played well, he's a solid player, and I'm glad to see him finally getting the recognition he rightfully deserves. He's earned every bit of it.

As good as Rolando McClain played with Dont'a Hightower alongside, he just took his game to the next level when Hightower went down.

Jerrell Harris... did not play a single snap in this game. He's eligible, but didn't play on defense nor did he play on special teams. Nico Johnson got the start and had tackles on two of the first three plays, but pretty much went incognito after that.

Josh Chapman didn't play last night. He dressed but was apparently being held out with some sort of an issue. I don't know if he was banged up slightly or what, but he didn't play. Hopefully he'll be back next week.

In Chapman's place, Kerry Murphy came into the game and played the nose, and did very well. Murphy has a bright future ahead of him.

Big hat tip goes to Tyrone King, a walk-on. With Arenas out, he played a lot as the nickel and dime corner, and he played well. It ust goes to show you what he can do at this level with a lot of dedication and hard work. He's a fifth-year walk-on getting a ton of meaningful playing time in a close conference game, and in the process he's keeping a five-star kid on the bench, plus he's also allowing us to keep a redshirt on another five-star cornerback (Burton Scott).

Safety play has really came a long way this year. We have a three-man rotation there between Woodall, Barron, and Green, and all three have played really well as of late. In particular, Barron looks to be turning into the player we thought he would be when he came out of high school as a five-star recruit.

Great night as a whole tonight for the defense, and those guys are just doing more than you could ever reasonably expect out of your defense, no matter how good of a unit you have. We continue to put them in bad situations time and time again thanks to special teams breakdowns and offensive struggles, but they answer the bell every single time. Last night they only gave up 3.8 yards per play, six points, and actually on net with Barron's pick six generated one point for our cause. Again, doing more than anyone could ever reasonably expect.

The pass rush continued to look good against the Gamecocks. Their offensive line was grabbing our rushers all night long -- not many holding penalties, though, I'm afraid -- and we still racked up five sacks on 46 passing attempts. This looks to be our best pass rush since 2002.

Special teams... just ungodly terrible, period. We cannot return kicks or punts without getting penalties, we cannot cover kicks, we are still inconsistent kicking field goals, etc. We just have one of the worst special teams unit in the country, I'm afraid.

All in all, ugly performance tonight, but sometimes you have to win ugly. We are currently beaten to a pulp right now, and we need an off week in the worst way. We have played seven weeks, with four straight conference games -- all against teams that will make bowl games -- and it is really starting to show. We've got to suck it up another week, though, and fight through against Tennessee. Those guys have had their usual week off, and they'll come to Tuscaloosa ready to play. We're now the #1 team in the country, but we're going to need a lot better performance next week or we will be in yet another nailbiter.

Week Seven Previewing: #2 Alabama vs #22 South Carolina

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:42 -0000

Beating up on Colonel Reb was certainly nice, but as the proverbial saying goes there is no rest for the weary, and that saying rings particularly true for teams competing in the SEC. After beating Ole Miss 22-3 in Oxford, Alabama returns to the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium this week for its fourth conference game in as many weeks as South Carolina and the Ol' Ball Coach head to Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks come into this game with a solid 5-1 record and a top-25 ranking, so as is usually the case, the Tide will need to play well in order to insure that it emerges victorious. Let's take a closer look at the match-ups:

Alabama Offense v. South Carolina Defense

The strength of this South Carolina team, as has been the case with nearly all of Steve Spurrier's teams in Columbia, is on the defensive side of the ball, with a defense led by a couple of coaches with strong Alabama ties: Lorenzo Ward ('Bama alum) and Ellis Johnson (two stints, and a national title ring, as an assistant at 'Bama). The Gamecocks are a bit of a different animal defensively in terms of schemes, and as much as possible they try to operate out of a base 4-2-5 set. Whether you've noticed or not, South Carolina has really been an NFL factory the past several years for talent in the defensive backfield, and in many ways the 4-2-5 is just a way of playing to their strengths and getting their best players on the field.

Individually, the standout of the South Carolina defense is clearly linebacker Eric Norwood. At 6'1 and 250+ pounds, Norwood will likely be a star on Sunday one day, and with injuries continuing to plague Greg Hardy, Norwood is probably the best pass rusher in the conference these days. Nevertheless, don't paint him as a Rahim Alem-esque one-trick pony who can only rush the passer, just look at his overall stat line on the year... 38 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks for a loss of 42 yards, 5 QB hurries, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 2 blocked kicks. Bottom line, the kid can do it all. He can rush the passer, he can play the run, he can play the pass, and he can make an impact on special teams. He is nothing short of a defensive coordinator's dream, plain and simple.

Aside from Norwood, the starting eleven on this team was very good. And I say was because injuries have really hit this unit hard. As I mentioned earlier, they had a great starting eleven, but quality depth was never on their side, and the injury bug has only made things worse. Defensive tackle Travian Robertson tore his ACL earlier in the year, and middle linebacker Rodney Paulk also went down for the year with a knee injury. For a unit with very little proven, quality depth, both injuries hit hard, and making matters worse starting cornerback Akeem Auguste was recently suspended for violating team / university rules, and will not play in this game.

So, we really don't know exactly what to make of the South Carolina defense right now. There are definitely a lot of good players on the defensive side of the ball, that we do know. Aside from Norwood, defensive end Cliff Matthews is a fine player, and Shaq Wilson and Chris Culliver are both very good players in their own right. Moreover, they do have some young guys contributing early, particularly cornerback Stephon Gilmore, a player Saban himself recruited very hard to come to Alabama. The rest of the starters are generally pretty solid at worst, so it's a decent group in that respect.

On the other hand, though, again, injuries have hit this group hard and the depth really just is not there, so in many ways this does have the look of a vulnerable group. The loss of Robertson and Paulk have really hurt the run defense, and it has looked pretty ugly in the past couple of weeks. South Carolina State ran for 170 yards against them, and Kentucky went over 200 yards, both of which is pretty bad news when you set off to head to Tuscaloosa.

In many ways, the defensive backfield, again, has led the Gamecock attack. It's a young group, but they have generally been able to get the job done to date. But, of course, looking at the schedule, you really do have to question the strength of their six opponents to date. North Carolina State, Florida Atlantic, and South Carolina State all have anemic passing attacks, and the Georgia offense with Joe Cox hasn't exactly lit up the scoreboard in Athens. Likewise, Kentucky many have the worst quarterback play of any team in the SEC, and the Gamecocks got to play for more than a quarter against the back-up. Taking Jevan Snead to the woodshed was certainly a good performance, but then again pretty much every good defense that has faced the Rebels have done that (Alabama included), so who really knows how much that says? And, of course, the suspension of Auguste will do nothing to help the Gamecocks on this front.

For Alabama, the Tide really just has to work its way out of the miniature funk it fell into last weekend in Oxford. We know this unit can be extremely good, but Greg McElroy has to be a lot more disciplined in his progressions this week, and frankly the offensive play-calling needs to improve, not to mention red zone execution in general. Fortunately, though, we have been running the ball very well as of late, and we've still got a ton of talent just about everywhere offensively. We don't necessarily need a breakout game here, but an improvement over Ole Miss would be good news.

All in all, I think you have to be cautiously optimistic here for the Tide, so long as you can do a decent job of blocking Norwood and Matthews in pass protection sets. South Carolina certainly has a solid defense -- and honestly a very good one if they could stay healthy -- but again injuries and suspensions have really made there lack of quality depth an issue, and while you still probably aren't going to be running up and down the field against these guys, if we execute better than we did last week against Ole Miss, I do believe it's reasonable to think that we will have some degree of success. If nothing else, we ought to be able to wear these guys down over the course of four quarters and take advantage of their lack of depth.

Alabama Defense v. South Carolina Offense

Perhaps the biggest piece of good news for the Gamecocks this year has been the emergence of quarterback Stephen Garcia. The highly-touted Florida product struggled immensely his first couple of years in Columbia -- about all he did of positive note was to win the Six Beer Challenge -- but he has really turned the corner in 2009. He hasn't gotten all of the publicity that has gone to 'Bama signal caller Greg McElroy, but if you look at Garcia's stat line -- 61% completion rate, over 7.0 yards per attempt, and a 3-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio -- he has played at a level very comparable to McElroy. Furthermore, Garcia is a legitimate dual-threat quarterback, and at 6'2 and approximately 225 pounds, he can be a load to bring down in the open field. After a very ugly start against North Carolina State, the South Carolina offense has actually performed pretty well (arguably as well as it has since Spurrier arrived), and clearly Garcia's progression as a player are the foundation of that improvement.

Admittedly, though, Garcia does have plenty of help at the skill positions, where the Gamecocks have more than their fair share of big, physical playmakers. True freshman Alshon Jeffery is making nice progress on his degree in gas pumping, and while he may not be having quite the kind of year Julio Jones and A.J. Green had last year, he's very close. He has "NFL" written all over him even at 19 years old. Furthermore, Tori Gurley is an incredibly difficult match-up for any cornerback, coming in at around 6'5 and 225 pounds, and Jason Barnes is another big target. And while Moe Brown is the smallest of the group, he's a fine player in his own right, and he's probably the best of the bunch right now. Making matters even better for the Gamecocks, tight end Weslye Saunders comes in at 6'5 and 280 pounds, and he can be a difference-maker in his own right. Bottom line, Garcia has clearly made a lot of progress this season in his own right, but by the same token he's got a lot of great players to throw the football to as well. For a defensive coordinator, this is a group good enough to keep you up late at night.

The weakness of this offense, as has always been the case under Spurrier, is up front on the offensive line. It's not so much that this unit has played poorly, per se, as much as it is that this group just doesn't have a lot of good players anyway, and injuries have hurt considerably. Left tackle Jarriel King is probably the best player they have, and he's not really a standout in his own right. The rest of the line has pretty much been a patchwork job. Hutch Eckerson is starting at right tackle now after the flu and some other injuries caught up with Quintin Richardson, and he has really struggled with edge rushers. Starting left guard Terrence Campbell is going to miss a lot of time with an injury, and that has caused a lot of re-shuffling in its own right. Alabama native Heath Batchelor saw some time there, but he left the program a couple of days ago, and redshirt freshman T.J. Johnson has been forced to play. There has even been talk that true freshman Nick Allison -- who has redshirted to date -- may have to play against the Tide. And making matters even worse, center Garrett Anderson missed the Kentucky game with a back injury, and while he may be back in some capacity against the Tide, he likely won't be 100% and will rotate time with Lemuel Jeanpierre. Bottom line, South Carolina just isn't a very good unit up front. They play hard, seemingly, but they don't have very much talent and injuries have just killed them to date.

The running game for the Gamecocks will be a three-headed monster with carries being split between Kenny Miles, Jarvis Giles, and Brian Maddox. Miles and Giles are scat-back type players, and Maddox is a bruising runner who came into the year as a starter. Maddox really struggled early, though, and gave way to the youngsters Miles and Giles, both of which sport pretty impressive yards per carry average. With his 100-yard performance last weekend against Kentucky, look for Miles to get the bulk of the work against the Tide. On the other hand, though, you can make some legitimate questions about just how good these backs are. The line is obviously in shambles, and while the raw production from Miles and Giles looks impressive on paper, it should be noted that most of that yardage was racked up against the likes of Florida Atlantic and South Carolina State. Giles, for example, may be averaging 5.8 yards per carry, but if you take away those two cupcakes, he's suddenly averaging less than 3.0 yards per carry against the rest of the schedule, and largely the same critique (to a lesser extent) can be made against Miles.

Defensively, we all know that the Tide has the look of an elite unit, and really the only big question mark to date for the 'Bama defense is exactly what happens this week with the return of Jerrell Harris. Obviously we'll all have to tune in to find out for sure, but I imagine we'll see a lot of both Harris and Nico Johnson on Saturday, and we'll have some package specific roles for both players. Who "starts" is really a moot point, and both will likely be breaking a sweat come Saturday night.

Regardless of which of those two players ultimately gets the starting nod, the real key for Alabama on Saturday will be dominating this game at the line of scrimmage. Even with all of the other issues notwithstanding, South Carolina has a small offensive line -- the five starters average right at 300 pounds -- and we need to take full advantage of those weaknesses. Our defensive line needs to get after Garcia and dominate these guys in the running game. If we can do that, we're probably in good shape here. On the other hand, though, if Garcia gets comfortable in the pocket, look for South Carolina to have more than their fair share of success. I don't care how good the Alabama defense supposedly is, we're going to have a lot of issues defending their skill position players if Garcia gets time to throw the football. As is usually the case, look for this match-up to be decided in the trenches.

Putting It All Together

All in all, 'Bama comes into this game as approximately 18-point favorites, and it's not overly difficult to see why Vegas is so bullish on the Tide. We look very good right now, we have more top-end talent and better depth throughout the roster, and while South Carolina's 5-1 record may look nice on paper, who have they really played? Their five wins, to date, consists of a Division 1-AA team, a non-BCS team, a bottom of the barrel ACC team, Kentucky, and a victory at home over Ole Miss, plus a loss to a Georgia team that looks to finish up 6-6 at best. Look at their schedule to date... how many ranked teams do you see? Zero. So there are plenty of reasons for 'Bama fans to feel good going into this game.

But on the other hand, in reality, life in the SEC is just never easy, and the gap between the really good SEC teams and the middle of the road SEC teams is always relatively small. Regardless of how you break it down, truth be told, SEC teams are always a lot more similar than they are different, and that applies this week as well to the Gamecocks. South Carolina may have a lot going against them in this game, but they've still got a lot of fine players in their own right and they are far from a pushover. And, hell, right now they can probably stake as legitimate of a claim to the #3 spot in the SEC as anyone else.

And rest assured, these guys will come out ready to fight. Steve Spurrier has been poor-mouthing his team all week, all but completely writing off this game to the media as a guaranteed loss. Don't buy that garbage for one second. Spurrier loathes 'Bama with every fiber of his being, and hell will freeze over before he concedes us anything. We may take his Gamecocks behind the woodshed and he may need Tommy Johns surgery after throwing that visor all night, but we'll have to earn every bit of it. He's looking to show that he's making progress at South Carolina, and he and his team will fight 'til they drop on Saturday night.

For 'Bama, it's really the same story that it is every week. You never get a week off in the SEC... one challenge is simply replaced by yet another challenge, and regardless of who you play, you're going to have to come out and play good football if you want to win, and if you do that you're probably going to get beat. For all of the advantages that 'Bama has on paper over the Gamecocks, that's still the ultimate scenario we are facing this week.

Hope for the best.

Halfway Home: A Midseason Look at the SEC

outsidethesidelines — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:54 -0000

With six weeks of the 2009 college football season now behind us, we can finally start to get a good idea on exactly what everyone is made of around the SEC. With that in mind, a few thoughts on some SEC teams:

Alabama Crimson Tide

I expected Alabama to be good this year, as did most others, but honestly I believe we've exceeded expectations in the first half, and we've done so in the face of some bad injury / suspension luck. Dont'a Hightower and Damien Square are gone for the year with knee injuries, and Jerrell Harris has yet to play thanks to an NCAA suspension. Moreover, we're a beat-up squad right now. Julio Jones isn't healthy, nor is Roy Upchurch, and Terrence Cody was limited to only about fifteen snaps against Ole Miss with some sort of leg muscle issue. Cory Reamer, in fact, left part of his ear in Oxford. And that's, of course, not to say anything of Brandon Deaderick, who was, you know, shot at point-blank range. Twice.

Despite all of this, 'Bama has played extremely well to date. The defense is every bit as good as expected -- perhaps even better -- and even with his miniature meltdown in Oxford, Greg McElroy has played the quarterback position better than anyone in Tuscaloosa in ages. The offensive line isn't the same in the running game, but it is perhaps a bit better in pass protection than it was a year ago, Colin Peek has more than filled Nick Walker's shoes, and the wide receiver corps has really taken things to the next level. Our win over Virginia Tech at a neutral site is probably the most impressive win of any team in the country, and a 22-3 thumping of Ole Miss in Oxford is still a quality victory even with the Rebels' disappointing season in mind. We haven't won by fewer than ten points all season, and really haven't been given a real scare since the early fourth quarter against Virginia Tech.

At this point, the sky is the limit for the Tide. We've established ourselves as the front runner in the SEC West, and we might even be able to lose a game at this point and still make it to Atlanta. A worst-case scenario right now seems to be a 11-1 or 10-2 season where we make it to the SEC Championship Game, but whether or not we can beat Florida is another matter. I think the Tide has clearly showed the muscle to do it, but we have yet to play a complete game to date, and that is exactly what it will take to get past the Gators. This team is a legitimate national championship contender, but we're going to have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot -- think pre-snap penalties, kick coverage breakdowns, questionable play-calling, dropped touchdown passes, red zone inefficiencies, etc. -- in order to win the ultimate prize. Until we show that we can do that, I'm afraid, this 'Bama team will probably "just" end up another team that wins a ton of games and likely gets a BCS bowl berth, but one that ultimately has no hardware to show for it at day's end.

Arkansas Razorbacks

Despite a disappointing early season loss to Georgia, this Arkansas team actually looks pretty decent. The offense is a very good unit -- Michael Smith is still the most underrated player in the conference -- and the defense looks to be improving slightly. I know neither Texas A&M or Auburn are special teams by any stretch, but to thump those two by a combined 49 points is pretty impressive regardless of how you look at it. With a 4-2 record right now, Arkansas will return to a bowl game this year, and Bobby Petrino is clearly doing good things in Fayetteville.

The real problem with Arkansas is an ungodly tough schedule. It's bad enough to have to play on the road at Alabama, plus South Carolina (the second best team in the East). But to have the terrible luck to draw Georgia and Florida on the rotational conference schedule, not to mention a neutral site non-conference game against Texas A&M, plus games against LSU, Auburn, and Ole Miss? Good grief... they are the anti-Auburn, the pure embodiment of scheduling hell. You could be a great team and only go 9-3 or 8-4 against this schedule, and the mere fact that Petrino and company are likely to get back to a bowl game, in and of itself, shows you the progress that is being made in Fayetteville.

And, really, keep your eye on this team moving down the stretch. They thumped both A&M and Auburn, and if their defense can prove to be even somewhat formidable, they will be extremely tough to beat. They beat LSU a year ago, and almost knocked off Ole Miss to boot. Expect them to claim at least one of those scalps again this year.

Auburn Tigers

The Gene Chizik era has gone as well as could have been reasonably expected, thanks in equal part to both the production of the Auburn offense and the lackluster performances to date by those on the Auburn schedule. Gus Malzahn has produced an offense as prolific as any Auburn fan could have dreamed off, and opposing defenses have clearly struggled with assignment breakdowns. Likewise, the Football Gods have been more than kind with the schedule. Louisiana Tech turned out to be a bad team even by WAC standards, Ball State completely nosedived, Mississippi State is as bad as expected, West Virginia's fifteen minutes of fame are clearly up, and Tennessee looks little, if any, better than a year ago. The Auburn defense has been the worst since Terry Bowden roamed the Plains, but the high-power offense and the weak schedule have driven Auburn to a surprising 5-1 start.

Moving forward, I really do not think this team is a particularly good one. I think they are a solid, 6-6 caliber team, but again the Football Gods continue to bring gifts with the schedule. It's always good to draw Kentucky, at home, on the SEC rotational schedule, but Auburn gets an added gift this weekend with the 'Cats starting quarterback being injured and unavailable. Beyond that, Furman is a guaranteed win, LSU continues to disappoint, Georgia is looking at its worst year in a decade, and Ole Miss has failed to live up to preseason expectations.

Again, I don't think this is a particular good team, and I could still see them crashing and burning if injuries show just how little quality depth this team has throughout the ranks. Nevertheless, though, it's a fairly decent team that can take advantage of a weak schedule thanks to their high-power offense, and they look to be in position to do just that. This is a team that will at least get seven wins, and nine wouldn't be a total shock.

Georgia Bulldogs

Get your popcorn ready, folks, this one is about to get highly entertaining. After getting blown out by Tennessee, Georgia sits at 3-3 on the season, and that is with games remaining against Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech. Even if these guys can avoid upsets against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, they are still probably going to struggle to get above 6-6. At these point, these guys are probably headed to the "new Shreveport," whatever that is, and that's if they don't get upset from here on out.

Either way, this is easily the worst team of the Richt era and it's likely to be the worst UGA team since Donnan took over in 1996. The defense is not very good, the running game is non-existent, Joe Cox is a glorified game manager, and they have no real threats at wide receiver sans A.J. Green. What else can you say? This is just not a good football team, period.

With all of that in mind, again, get your popcorn ready. This is Richt's ninth year in Athens, and he's entering uncharted territory. Few SEC coaches last this long, and the few that do are reeling and running out of steam at this point. Look at Fulmer at Tennessee, Tuberville at Auburn, and Nutt at Arkansas, just to name a few. And it certainly seems like Richt fits that mold as well. The fanbase is going nuts, they want lots of assistants fired, and many are openly questioning whether or not Richt can ever get the job done. This one will get interesting. That preseason #1 ranking feels like it was decades ago, doesn't it?

LSU Tigers

A 5-1 start and a top ten ranking to start the season, so things are all well in Baton Rouge, right? Not really. This team has zero quality wins to date, and frankly they are just fortunate to not be 3-3 with losses to Mississippi State and Georgia. This team will beat Tulane, and will probably beat Auburn, so they are likely to go into Tuscaloosa with a 7-1 record and a top ten ranking, but things just aren't right with this team, and I really don't know what's wrong.

LSU obviously has an ungodly amount of talent on hand, but it's not really working. Jordan Jefferson may not be Mr. Pick Six, but he cannot throw the football down the field, and the passing game is nothing special with him in. The offensive line is struggling up front, and without a line blowing defenses out of the water, suddenly guys like Charles Scott look pretty average. The defense looks pretty good, but who really knows about them? They have played only one good offense to date (Florida), and while only allowing 13 points looks nice on paper, realistically Tebow was not playing anywhere near his usual level, and the Florida offense was more conservative than Roy Moore.

Moreover, with all of the talk of the 2007 Florida game recently, it should be pointed out that this team really hasn't played well since Jacob Hester converted those umpteen fourth down opportunities. Since that victory, national championship and all, LSU is a combined 9-8 in SEC play, and the wins have generally came in close games against bad teams. The combined record of those opponents in the nine wins is a mere 40-50, and six of those nine victories came by a touchdown or less, which includes three come-from-behind wins in the final two minutes, plus a goal line stand in the waning seconds. The other three victories came by an average of 13.6 points, and the combined conference record of those three opponents is a laughably low 2-17. And that is from a team that led the SEC, by a wide margin, in both 2007 and 2008 in fumble luck. Again, I don't care that they won a national championship in 2007, these guys haven't played good football in two years now.

I really don't know what to make of this team. Again, like I said, they'll probably go into Tuscaloosa 7-1 and near a top five ranking, but I don't know that they are really any good. They've got the raw talent to go off and play extremely well, but that's not a given, so who knows? I do think they averted complete disaster by squeaking out games against MSU and Georgia, but for a team with so much talent and an unstoppable recruiting juggernaut, it certainly does feel that they are just barely hanging on with a cupcake OOC schedule and a couple of lucky breaks in close games against bad teams, doesn't it?

Kentucky Wildcats

With three straight bowl victories in the bag, Rich Brooks looks like he could somehow take the 'Cats to the promised land a fourth time in 2009. To be sure, the 2-3 record to date is disappointing, but hardly shocking. With Alabama and Florida on the schedule early, at best they figured to be 3-2 at this point. They gave South Carolina a legitimate run for their money, and a win there would have almost guaranteed a return trip to the postseason, but alas it was not to be.

Nevertheless, Kentucky still has a solid, achievable route to a bowl game. Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Kentucky should yield two easy wins, and then the 'Cats get the two worst teams in the SEC with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Even if the 'Cats slip up somewhere along those lines, they still have a few chances at some upsets. They've played well to date, and will be favored in four of their remaining seven games, and while they will be underdogs in the other three -- at Auburn, at Georgia, and Tennessee -- Kentucky will have a legitimate chance of winning each time out. I think the smart money is still on UK ending up 7-5 or 6-6 and making it back to the postseason yet again.

Ole Miss Rebels

Colonel Reb is pretty much as overrated as I expected them to be all along in terms of contending for the SEC West. The real question for this team, now, is where do they go from here? Given how they have played to date, this team could easily lose another three games unless they improve. On the other hand, they could rally like last year and still get a good bowl game. They cannot win the West for themselves, but they sure as hell can spoil any chance either LSU or Auburn has left. Truth be told, as of right now, 'Bama fans have few better friends than Ole Miss. If they can beat LSU in Oxford, that practically clinches 'Bama the SEC West regardless of what happens in the Alabama v. LSU game.

As a more general point, will Ole Miss ever win the SEC in our lifetime? Clearly this was their only shot for now... bringing in a solid, proven coach after a recruiting guru filled the roster with raw talent, but obviously it's not to be, and Nutt will never win it in Oxford. He couldn't do it in Fayetteville, and with the lack of recruiting success he is having at Ole Miss, his Rebels are moving in the wrong direction. It just isn't happening, folks.

The last time Ole Miss won the SEC was in 1963 -- 46 years ago -- days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. My father was seven at the time, and I am currently moving closer to 30 than I am 20, and Ole Miss has never even came close to winning it in my lifetime. So, again, I ask, will we ever see Ole Miss win the SEC in our lifetime, or is this going to be like waiting on the Cubs to win the World Series?

Mississippi State Bulldogs

I've long gone on the record as being a fan of the Dan Mullen hire, and I think he has done pretty well in Starkville to date. The offense is coming along a lot quicker than I expected, and he almost pulled off a massive upset against LSU a couple of weeks back. True freshman Chad Bumphis has impressed at wide receiver, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Tyler Russell can do at quarterback in the future.

Of course, though, in the harsh light of reality, life is never easy for the lovable Bullies. With a loss to Houston, MSU is now probably looking at a 3-9 campaign, and that's if they can beat Middle Tennessee on the road in what many expect to be a pretty close game (Vegas has MSU as only a three point favorite). Mullen is effectively fighting the impossible fight in Starkville, and his efforts won't pay any short term dividends. I guess all you can say is that, at least, they beat Vandy and aren't the worst team in the conference, which is what most expected.

South Carolina Gamecocks

If I had to wager, I would say the Gamecocks are perhaps one of the toughest teams to judge right now. The opener against North Carolina State was ugly, and losing to Georgia at this point is likewise far from pretty. On the other hand, the win over Ole Miss was impressive -- and the game wasn't as close as the scoreboard indicated -- and the victory over a relatively decent Kentucky team was fairly impressive.

I actually think this has the pure potential to be the best team Spurrier has fielded in Columbia since his arrival, even though that may not be saying much. They do have a great defense, Garcia has clearly improved, and the offensive line looks to be the best it has been to date under the Ol' Ball Coach. I think that as of right now, there is very little doubt that these guys are probably the #2 team in the SEC East. On the other hand, though, Florida ought to thump these guys once again, and beating 'Bama would require a major upset. They are 5-1 at the moment, and will get to six wins against Vanderbilt, but with road games left against Arkansas and Tennessee, not to mention a date with Clemson, getting above eight wins still looks to be a difficult task.

Tennessee Volunteers

I've never seen anything like Lane Kiffin, for better or for worse. The constant verbal jabs in the media. The changing of pullovers at halftime. The "play to lose with respect, not win" strategy. The trying to go for two with defeat certain and time expired just to reduce the margin of defeat and bump up their Pythagorean Wins. He's a unique one, no doubt there.

That said, I see little reason to believe the Vols are much better this year than they were a year ago, and in fact they look to be pretty much the same team to me. The blowout win over Georgia was nice, but truthfully it was probably more to do with UGA's implosion than the "turning the corner" that so many UT fans would like to make it out to be. Even with that, this team is basically in the exact same boat they were last year... a 6-6 team that will make some laughable bowl game so long as they don't get upset late by a really bad team. They ended up 5-7 last year when Wyoming pulled off the shocker, and that is exactly what they are looking to avoid now. Either way, it's hard to see this team being anything more than nominally improved over its immediate predecessor, and their final record will reflect that.

Vanderbilt Commodores

I enjoyed last year's showing by Vandy as much as anyone, and Bobby Johnson has done a marvelous job in Nashville. At the end of the day, though, it's still Vandy, and it's showing. Losing to Mississippi State, at home, effectively guaranteed that the 'Dores would be the worst team in the SEC in 2009, and after losing on the road against lowly Army, Vandy fans will probably have to wait until 2010 to get another win. With six games remaining against Georgia, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee, it's hard to see the 'Dores getting another win. A 2-10 finish -- including an 0-8 conference record -- seems to be the likely result.

At least there will always be memories of the 2008 team, I suppose. No one ever said that life as a Vanderbilt football fan was easy.

Week Six Preview: #3 Alabama at #16 Ole Miss

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

"Quit throwing so many picks!"

Browse more photos »

The Alabama v. Ole Miss series isn't one filled with hatred quite like the Auburn or Tennessee series, nor is it generally a series that has a high degree of relevance on the national level. Nevertheless, over the course of the past four years, no series anywhere in the country has produced as many gut-wrenching, nail-biting contests as what we've seen when the Tide took on Johnny Reb.

The past four games in this series have been decided by a grand total of thirteen points, and that statistic alone does not even begin to adequately describe how close things have been. The 2005 game ended on a time-expiring kick, while the 2006 game ended in overtime. The 2007 game was decided on a controversial penalty with seven seconds remaining, and last year's game also went into the final minute. And most shockingly of all, somehow, someway, all of those contests have fallen in our favor. How we've had the good fortune from the Football Gods to pull all of those games out, I'll never know.

After Ole Miss rallied late last year, this game has been marked for months as one of the games of the year. Of course, though, Johnny Reb effectively wet the bed in its only real test thus far in the 2009 season, and that has knocked a lot of the luster off this game. Ole Miss was clearly overrated as a top five team, and had no real business being ranked that high. That said, however, the Rebels are still a quality team and a very dangerous opponent. This game is likely to be yet another close one that goes down to the wire, so let's take a closer look at the match-ups:

Alabama Offense v. Ole Miss Defense

Even with a slow start in the passing game and some questionable early play-calling against a good Kentucky defense, Alabama nevertheless managed to rack up 38 points and 352 total yards in Lexington. The Alabama offensive juggernaut has seemed to slow with each and every game the past three weekends -- largely because the quality of the defense faced has increased each week -- and things won't get any easier this week when we go to Oxford.

The strength of the Ole Miss defense is clearly at the point of attack. The defensive end rotation of Greg Hardy, Kentrell Lockett, and Marcus Tillman is easily the best we'll see all year long, and while Hardy has not been able to get completely healthy -- and thus he's really no longer an every down player -- he's still a dangerous weapon when he is in the game. The ends are also solid on running downs, and mixed with the size of the interior players, it forms a very difficult run defense up front when these guys show up to play. Interior tackles Ted Laurent and Lawson Scott are both over 300 pounds, and the monster 340 pound Jerrell Powe is quickly starting to show why he was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. You can make all the reading jokes you want, but literacy isn't really a core competency for playing nose tackle, and Powe can at times dominate interior offensive linemen like he's a man among boys.

At linebacker Ole Miss has had more than their fair share of struggles since Patrick Willis went to the NFL, but they've got a solid group there now. The unit is led by Patrick Trahan, the senior linebacker that Houston Nutt signed out of the JUCO ranks in his first class in Oxford. Trahan started his collegiate career as a safety -- he was a former track athlete in high school -- but he kept getting bigger and bigger so he was moved to linebacker. The end result now is a 6'3, 225+ pound 'backer with great athleticism, and he's tough on opposing offenses. He's big enough to play the run, but also versatile enough to play the pass and rush the passer. He's a legitimate three-phase linebacker. Jonathon Cornell and Allen Walker start alongside Trahan, and while they aren't quite the caliber of Trahan, both are upperclassmen who are more than adequate.

The real surprise of the Ole Miss defense to date, however, has been the defensive backfield. Ole Miss was almost universally expected to struggle in the secondary this year, but surprisingly enough they have allowed very little success through the air. That said, however, we really don't know anything about this group because they have yet to face a decent passing attack, so it could be all a paper tiger for all we know, and if nothing else the Alabama passing game will be easily the best this unit has faced all year. What we can safely say is that so far this year Cassius Vaughn and Marshay Green have been solid at cornerback, Johnny Brown and Kendrick Lewis have been more active than usual at safety, and the back-ups have generally been pretty adequate. But, again, we really have no clue as to whether or not this Ole Miss defensive backfield is a contender or a pretender.

Looking at how we match up against Ole Miss, you really have to worry about our running game. We ran the ball well against Kentucky on the meaningful attempts -- i.e. factoring out the garbage time, clock-killing carries late -- but Arkansas still shut us down, and frankly this is easily the best defensive line we've seen all year. Ole Miss shut down our running game last year better than any other team on the schedule -- we had 31 carries for only 107 yards, averaging a meager 3.1 yards per carry -- and it's going to be very difficult to run on these guys again this year. These guys can flat out whip you in the trenches, and we're going to have to show up ready to play at a very high level if we look to move the football on the ground in Oxford.

Hopefully we will be able to take advantage of Ole Miss in a couple of areas. Their defensive line features a solid, deep rotation, but the linebacker corps is very thin. The starting three are good players, and back-up Lamar Brumfield is a solid, versatile player who can play all three positions. After that, though, all you really have is true freshman D.T. Shackelford -- an Alabama native who the Tide passed over last, so extra motivation there -- and while he has been a bit of a freshman sensation, he is also slowed by a high ankle sprain, and he likely won't play a lot against the Tide. So, it's a thin unit already, and both Trahan and Walker also play extensively on special teams, so hopefully we can wear them down and take advantage of their lack of depth. Likewise, the Ole Miss secondary is also a very small unit -- all starters are 5'11 and under, and three starters are 190 and under -- so hopefully we can really take advantage of the size match-ups with the likes of Julio Jones, Mike McCoy, Earl Alexander, and Michael Bowman.

Now, along those lines, I do like how our passing attack matches up against the Ole Miss secondary, but of course success there is predicated upon us being able to protect Greg McElroy against a very good pass rush. If we can give McElroy time, we should be able to move the football through the air. On the other hand, though, if Ole Miss can legitimately rush the passer, this is not going to be pretty. Either way, this isn't going to be an easy assignment for the Tide's offensive line. Ole Miss is tough off the edge, and Nutt will likely be aggressive in blitz packages, so the offensive line has its work cut out for them.

All in all, this one is a tough match-up for the Tide. Hopefully we can have some success running the football and block Ole Miss off the edge, but that's a lot easier said than done. Ole Miss will be tough to run on, and if they can get to McElroy, we're likely to find ourselves in Oxford with an offense that cannot run or throw effectively. It's going to be one heck of a fight, and we're going to have to play very well to move the football against this defense.

Alabama Defense v. Ole Miss Offense

The good news for Alabama is that this match-up favors the Tide a bit more. The Ole Miss offense is no slouch, to be sure, but it is a unit that has struggled early. Jevan Snead hasn't played anywhere near well enough to justify the preseason hype, the loss of Mike Wallace has hurt more than its gotten credit for, and there has been nothing close to a comparable replacement for Michael Oher.

Really, the struggles of this offense have started up front with the offensive line. The run blocking has been good at times, but has also been terrible at times, too. Smashes at the point of attack that spring good gains have been mixed with whiffs that result in tackles for loss. Pass protection, though, has really been the Achilles Heel of this group. Left tackle Bradley Sowell was beaten to a pulp against South Carolina, and right tackle John Jerry hasn't looked very good either. The interior linemen haven't played much better, either. Houston Nutt and company have rotated in a lot of linemen looking for the right mix, but they haven't found anything yet, and making matters worse this bunch simply looks out of shape. When John Jerry was literally begging to come out of the South Carolina game, all that came to mind for me was Mike Dubose, 2000, and the infamous "Pankcake Posse."

With the struggles up front, the rest of the offense just hasn't been able to compensate. Jevan Snead has been decent at times, but he has generally struggled to complete a high percentage of his passes and he has turned the football over a lot -- only a completion percentage of 51% and five interceptions. With Mike Wallace gone, the Rebels really do not have the big vertical threat in the passing game, and while the likes of Shay Hodge, Markeith Summers, Lionel Breaux, and Patrick Patterson form a solid wide receiver corps, they haven't been able to make up for the loss of Wallace. Likewise, Dexter McCluster is a threat, but he has really been more of a cog than a game-changer thus far in conference play.

The true strength of the Ole Miss offense to date has really been in the backfield with the tailbacks. Brandon Bolden has played as well as any back in the SEC to date, and at 5'11 and 220 pounds he is an absolute load. Back-ups Cordera Eason and Enrique Davis were both highly-touted recruits coming out of high school, and with their raw talent they form one of the most potent backfields in the country. Combined with Dexter McCluster's ability out of the Wildcat, this is a very dangerous group if their offensive line can give them any help up front.

Defensively for the Tide, I'll be brief on the overview because most RBR readers are more than well aware of who we are as a defensive unit, but I will address that the biggest issue we face here is exactly what we will do to replace Dont'a Hightower. Based on the practice reports, it's clear that Cory Reamer will be back at strongside linebacker this week, and we're going to have to be bigger inside to take on an Ole Miss team that will clearly look to be physical at the point of attack and establish the run. Chris Jordan is going to get a lot of playing time this week, and look for both Nico Johnson and Tana Patrick on the field -- even though playing will cost Patrick him a redshirt year.

As a whole, we are going to have a good bit different look defensively this week. Again, Ole Miss is the physical, run-based attack that we've come to expect out of Houston Nutt, and we are simply going to have to play smashmouth football against these guys. Simply put, if our defensive line doesn't show up with more energy and intensity than they did last week in Lexington, it's going to be a long afternoon. This isn't a spread passing attack where we'll constantly be in the nickel; you're going to see a lot of base 3-4 this week with safeties coming into the box to stop the run. The Rebs are far from pass happy.

And with that in mind, Injuries may make an impact on Ole Miss' power running attack. Fullback Andy Hartmann, a senior, is one hell of a lead-blocking load at 5'11 and almost 250 pounds, and he may be the best lead blocker in the conference. However, Hartmann sprained a knee a couple of weeks ago and has missed time. He missed practice on Tuesday, and while he is going to play on Saturday, we don't know how effective he can be and we do not know how much he will be able to play. Likewise, tight end Gerald Harris missed the South Carolina game with a hamstring injury, and while he did return against Vanderbilt, he's probably not 100%. Their back-ups, Dan Hoffman and Ferbia Allen, are a good 20-30 pounds lighter than the first-teamers, so if Hartmann and Harris are at less than 100%, that is going to make it more difficult for Ole Miss to run the football.

Furthermore, we need to use our depth in the defensive front seven to our advantage. Even with injuries to Hightower and Damien Square, plus the suspension of Jerrell Harris, we are still very deep in the front seven, and if the South Carolina game is any accurate indicator, the Ole Miss offensive line isn't in very good physical shape. We need to rotate players all afternoon and wear these guys down. Few things can better insure a 'Bama victory than to have John Jerry once again begging to come out of the game in the second half.

All in all, we're just going to have to line up against Ole Miss and be able to stop the run. That has to be priority #1 going into this game, period. Jevan Snead is overrated, but he can still be a threat, and with Nutt at the helm you have to be adequately prepared for every trick in the book. Nevertheless, those concerns are secondary to stopping the run. Given Snead's turnover issues to date -- which is to say nothing of Ole Miss' struggles in pass protection and the struggles of the receiving corps -- Nutt and company will likely play a bit conservatively here and try to establish the running game. If Ole Miss does that, they can move the football effectively and that will allow them to selectively use Snead and the trickeration to their advantage. On the other hand, though, if we can stop the run, particularly on early downs, we get Ole Miss in a lot of obvious passing situations, which limits the use of the Wildcat and other trick formations, and which also gives our defensive line numerous opportunities to take advantage of their struggles in pass protection and tee off on a quarterback who will be forced to take a lot of seven-step drops while waiting for routes to develop downfield.

Putting It All Together

On the whole, this one looks to be much like the last four contests in this series... a very hard, physical game that goes right down to the wire. Yes Alabama has looked very good to date, and yes Ole Miss wet the bed in their only true test to date. And, yes, Ole Miss was overrated coming into the year, no arguments here. Nevertheless, this is still a pretty good Ole Miss team, and they are a dangerous opponent that is more than capable of pulling off the upset.

Furthermore, the West is still absolutely wide open right now -- three teams are still undefeated, and Ole Miss still controls their own destiny -- and that fact mixed with Nutt's love of playing the underdog role, not to mention the recent acrimony that is surely present in the Ole Miss roster thanks to how this game has turned out the past four years, you can bet your life that Ole Miss will show up to play football on Saturday like men possessed. For all of the talk of Ole Miss wetting the bed, if Johnny Reb can pull off the upset on Saturday, they will quickly vault back into the top 10 and they will once again establish themselves as the front-runners in the SEC West if Florida can beat LSU, as expected. And, of course, rest assured they are well aware of those facts. Make no mistake about it, there is a lot on the line here for Ole Miss, and they will play accordingly. Do not expect Colonel Reb to lay an egg Saturday afternoon.

I do think we are the better team here. We have a tad more top-end talent, and a good bit better quality depth throughout the roster. Nevertheless, again, this is a dangerous Ole Miss team that actually matches up with us pretty well thanks to the strength of their defensive front seven and their ability to rush the passer with a base four-man rush. If you think victory is a near certainty in this game, you really need to drink something other than the crimson Kool-Aid. This should be a close game, and if we play like we did last week in Lexington, we're probably in a lot of trouble. We are a better team here who is justifiably a slight favorite, but nevertheless we are going to have to play really well to go into Oxford and get this victory, and at the very least victory is unlikely to come without one hell of a fight.

Hope for the best.

Replacing Hightower

outsidethesidelines — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:57 -0000

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower (30) is helped off the field after an injury during the first half of the Arkansas game on Saturday. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Browse more photos »

When Dont'a Hightower went down this past Saturday against Arkansas, everyone feared for the worst. And, unfortunately, the worst fears were realized yesterday when the MRI results confirmed the initial diagnosis. The good news is that the injury seems to be your basic ACL tear with no additional structural damage to the knee. That likely means that, thankfully, Hightower should return to form by the time Penn State comes to Tuscaloosa for the "real" 2010 season opener, but even so we have now have to fight through the rest of the 2009 season without the services of a legitimate All-American caliber player.

And, frankly, there is no almost no way to overstate just how big of a loss Hightower is to this defense. Truth be told, I think he's probably the single best player on our defense -- even better than Terrence Cody and Rolando McClain, both likely All-Americans in their own right -- and there is no doubt whatsoever that Hightower is the most versatile player on the defensive side of the ball. He can easily play all four linebacker positions, and he was doing an outstanding job playing defensive end when the Rabbit package went on the field in passing situations. He could legitimately play five different positions, all at a very high level, and he was a legitimate three-phase player. It's rare to ever find a linebacker who can legitimately cover in space, stop the run, and rush the passer, but Hightower could do that. Again, there's almost no overstating what you lose with him on the sideline.

Fortunately, the good news is that we are deep at linebacker, and the Alabama defense played very well against Arkansas even in his absence. That latter point should not be underestimated, either. Given some of the struggles we have seen with Ole Miss and LSU thus far, a valid argument can be made that we will have to make it to Atlanta to find an offense as good as what the Hogs put on the field this past Saturday, and at the very least we will be hard-pressed to find many offenses from here on out that are legitimately comparable to the Arkansas attack. Given that, even without Hightower in the game, we nevertheless held the Hogs to seven points, barely 250 yards of total offense, and also caused arguably the best pocket passer we've seen in a long time to complete only 34% of his passes and average only 4.5 yards per attempt. Again, this point should not be underestimated.

In other words, put more simply, losing a player like Hightower is a huge loss, and there is no way you can fully replace a player of his caliber. However, the sky is not falling, black helicopters are not circling above 100 Bryant Drive, and the terrorists have not won. Even without Hightower, we still have a great defense filled with loads of both high-end talent and quality depth throughout the roster, and we still probably have one of top five defenses in the country.

Now, with that established, exactly how do we attempt to replace Hightower?

First, if you look purely at the depth chart itself, Jerrell Harris is listed as the back-up for Hightower at the Will linebacker position, so in a "normal" world he would be the one to step up and fill Hightower's absence. Of course, there is one slight problem with that: Harris has been suspended all year long, and is still unavailable. Now, the consensus of the rumor mill is that Harris will ultimately serve a six-game suspension and return for homecoming against South Carolina (i.e. he will miss two more games, the contests against Kentucky and Ole Miss), and in all honesty, just being completely speculative on my part with no first-hand information whatsoever on the matter, I figure that is probably the likely scenario. However, with that said, we still do not know anything official one way or the other, and Harris' absence could very well last longer than that (something that wouldn't really surprise anyone, I imagine). Hopefully he will indeed return by the South Carolina, but again he's effectively a complete unknown at this point and we cannot rely on him until we get definitive, positive word one way or the other on his status.

What we can say, however, is that when, or perhaps if, Harris returns this season, he will be a pretty big addition to the unit. Harris was a very highly-touted recruit coming out of Gadsden, and after bulking up since arriving on campus -- Harris arrived a bit on the lean side for a 3-4 linebacker at only around 205 pounds -- he had a very good Spring and Fall at the Capstone. Most initially thought that he would play outside at strongside linebacker, but Saban and company have moved him inside to the Will position, and he was the back-up to Hightower prior to his suspension. Harris is still a good 30 pounds lighter than Hightower and he is not a complete replacement, but he is a very talented player who is a fine player in his own right, and his return will help our defense regardless, particularly in coverage in passing situations and chasing tailbacks down on outside runs. Again, he's not a complete replacement, but he's nevertheless a fine player in his own right, and one that would likely start at just about every other school in the conference.

In Harris' absence, true freshman Nico Johnson has been the back-up to Hightower through the first four games of the season. Like Harris, Nico Johnson was also very highly-touted, a unanimous five-star, and I personally made the statement earlier this year that Johnson was the best linebacker prospect the state of Alabama has turned out since Cornelius Bennett some twenty-five years earlier. I still stand by that statement today, and Johnson will be a star at the Capstone. The concern, obviously, is his inexperience, but even so he can prove to be a very valuable player for us. Johnson is bigger and more physical than Harris, and you can rest assured that his name will be called upon much more often with Hightower out for the season and Harris still lingering in NCAA purgatory. Obviously you do not prefer that true freshmen have to take on meaningful roles, but Johnson is a very smart kid who is physically ready to play at this level, and if you think about it that was exact situation Dont'a Hightower found himself in last year.

And that is how things would shake out if the depth chart were an accurate indicator of what happens when a player goes out, but the problem is that is simply not the case. In the real world, many times a player's absence results not in his back-up ascending to fill his role, but instead a complete re-shuffling of players around him to fill his absence.

That is exactly what happened when Hightower went down against Arkansas. Instead of bringing Nico Johnson into the game, we instead took Cory Reamer, the starting strongside linebacker, and moved him inside to the Will position. To fill Reamer's absence, we moved starting Jack linebacker Eryk Anders over to strongside linebacker, and to fill Anders' absence at Jack linebacker, we put Courtney Upshaw into the game. And when we went to the Rabbit package, Upshaw filled Hightower's absence at defensive end. So, in other words, Hightower's absence against Arkansas caused a complete re-shuffling of the linebacker corps, sans Rolando McClain.

Moving forward, it's hard to exactly say how we will look to replace Hightower. Arkansas runs a pretty complex variation of the spread passing attack, and it's asking a lot of a true freshman to come in and take over a starting role in the middle of a game against an opponent of that caliber. Of course, though, that's not to say that we won't choose to simply use Nico Johnson as the starter at Will linebacker and move everyone else back to their original spot, now that we aren't facing such a complicated offensive attack and that Johnson will have more time to prepare. Or we may continue with the Anders, McClain, Reamer, Upshaw pas de quatre. I have no clue what we will do specifically, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the matter was hotly-debated amongst the coaching staff late Saturday night and through Sunday. Now, just being completely speculative on my part, I imagine we will probably stick with Reamer at Will linebacker, but again that is all speculation on my part. You'll have to tune in at 11:21 this Saturday against Kentucky to find out for certain.

Now, assuming that Reamer indeed does stay at Will linebacker, we can analyze a bit on what that will entail. Admittedly he played a fine game against the Hogs on Saturday, but unfortunately Reamer is really a fish out of water playing inside. He is naturally more suited to play outside linebacker, and he simply cannot really do anything as well as Hightower did. On the other hand, though, Reamer has always been the underdog, and frankly he really shouldn't even be here, objectively speaking. He was a lowly-recruited two-star safety coming out of high school who fought through serious knee injuries, and yet somehow nevertheless made the transition from undersized 3-3-5 linebacker on a bad defense into a starter on an elite caliber 3-4 defensive unit. Reamer simply doesn't fit the bill physically, but then again he never really did that in the first place. For lack of a less profane way of stating it, all Reamer does is work his ass off Sunday through Friday, and then play his ass off come Saturday. He's a career overachiever who will probably continue to be an overachiever the rest of his career, and even though he is clearly a step down from Hightower, we'll do well enough if Reamer sticks inside.

The real concern with Reamer playing inside, most likely, is not so much his play but the ripple effect that it will have at Jack linebacker. With Anders having to move to outside linebacker -- mixed with season-ending ACL injuries to Damion Square and Dont'a Hightower -- suddenly Courtney Upshaw is really all you have at Jack linebacker. Once you get beyond Upshaw, you have to scrape the proverbial barrel. You could play Ed Stinson, the Jack linebacker signee of the 2009 class, but the clear preference right now is to redshirt him, and while you could also move Tana Patrick over to Jack linebacker, again the clear preference is also to redshirt him as well. 2008 signee Glenn Harbin could be a possibility, but I really do not think we want him to be forced into a meaningful role right now; he's still developing as a player and likely still searching for a true position as well. Likewise, Alex Watkins spent his first two years at Jack linebacker, but he struggled greatly there and is seemingly doing much better in his role at strongside linebacker. Again, that's not an ideal solution. Bottom line, with Square and Hightower out for the year with season-ending knee injuries, keeping Reamer inside (which probably forces Anders to strongside linebacker), really puts us in a pinch for depth at Jack linebacker.

Now, just playing Nico Johnson inside at Jack linebacker would alleviate the depth concerns everywhere else. Anders and Upshaw could remain at Jack, the three-deep at strongside linebacker could remain unchanged, as well for the two-deep at Mike linebacker. Chris Jordan could continue to serve as the top back-up at both inside linebacker positions, which many think he is right now. Obviously the downside of doing this would be forcing a true freshman into a very difficult situation, and there would be growing pains, you can take that to the bank. Nevertheless, Johnson is a budding star and his time in Tuscaloosa is coming sooner rather than later. At some point, much like last year with Hightower, perhaps you can only allow your future star to stand on the sideline for so long, and perhaps that time has come now for the Andalusia product.

And furthermore, as an additional point, we shouldn't trick ourselves into being so myopic in viewing this situation. Truth be told, there are many more possibilities out than just the Cory Reamer and Nico Johnson possibilities analyzed previously. Saban loves for his linebackers to be versatile, and we actively teach them all of the positions, so we could be quite flexible here. We could keep Reamer at Will linebacker and, once (or if) Harris returns, let him start at strongside linebacker, which would allow the Jack linebacker rotation to be unaffected. Or, we could move Chris Jordan into the starting role at Will linebacker -- and again, many think he was the top back-up to McClain and Hightower at the inside linebacker positions anyway -- which likewise would leave the rest of the linebacker corps unchanged. Or, when / if Harris returns, we could let him start at Will linebacker. And there are even more possibilities, so again we shouldn't be so myopic to think that the solution here is simply an either / or scenario with Cory Reamer or Nico Johnson getting the starting nod in Hightower's place. We will probably get some indications this week in the practice reports, but again, we'll just have to tune in at 11:21 this Saturday against Kentucky to find out for certain.

Either way, the point remains that Hightower's loss hurts badly and his impact will not be fully replaced regardless of how we choose to address this situation. Nevertheless, we were a great defense with Hightower, we were a great defense without Hightower against Arkansas, and we should still be a great defense moving forward without Hightower. Again, it's a painful loss, but the sky is not falling, and for now we should just all confidently hope for the best.

Get well soon, Dont'a.

Warm-Up Sprints Is Ready to Get the Rest of the Season Started // 09.05.09

cocknfire — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:32:29 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Two great football minds confer.

Browse more photos »

A round-up of the pre-game headlines ...

Ryan Williams will start at RB for Virginia Tech

In a statement, running backs coach Billy Hite said all three running backs would play "early and often."

Looks like Jerrell Harris is out
Roll Bama Roll on a significant tweet from an Alabama sports writer.

If you think my prediction of 17 for Virginia Tech was too much ...
Wait until you see this INCONTROVERTIBLE COMPUTER EVIDENCE.

Cox says he will play
Whether or not he has the SWINE FLU. Just following up on Year2's earlier FanShot. (HT: Georgia Sports Blog)

The Golden Tebow committing an NCAA violation? Never
This is what happens when you wear Crocs.

This seems optimistic

Some won't be able to believe what they are about to read: Jonathan Crompton is an astute student of football.

Did you come to this conclusion after a MAC team showed it had mastered the 'Clawfense' that so confused him last year?

Will it be a 'real knockdown drag-out'?
And The Valley Shook reminds us of a quote from Les Miles that could provide some motivation for the Huskies. Maybe they'll only lose by 20.

AP: 'UW's Sarkisian not afraid to use freshmen'
Given last year's results, I'd be afraid to use anyone else.

The Virginia Tech Preview: Final Thoughts

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:00:51 -0000

Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment in a four-piece series that will give an in-depth preview of the individual unit match-ups, as well as a special teams preview, and finally ending on Friday with a final wrap-up before the two teams face off on Saturday night.

Part 1: Tide Offense v. Hokie Defense

Part 2: Tide Defense v. Hokie Offense

Part 3: Special Teams Preview

Now that we've taken an in-depth look at all three phases of the game in previewing the season opener against Virginia Tech, let's close things out by taking one final look at the game.

First and foremost, I feel it should be noted that this is not Clemson. Period. I think the overwhelming majority of Alabama fans understand that, but it's a point that should be reiterated just in case. Clemson was a 7-6 team a year ago that got their head coach fired, and for all their pre-season hype, they were a weak team at the line of scrimmage that we mowed over without them really giving much of a fight. Again, this Virginia Tech team is not Clemson, period. The Hokies are a better team from top-to-bottom, they love playing physical football, and Frank Beamer and company could coach circles around Tommy Bowden. And finally, if nothing else, rest assured this Virginia Tech won't roll over and play dead like Clemson did a year ago. If nothing else, I can guarantee you that this team will fight 'til they drop. That lunch pail you will see over on the Hokie sideline is a bit of a gimmick, to be sure, but there is a lot of truth to be found in what it represents.

Furthermore, don't underestimate the value of good coaching, and to that end don't underestimate Frank Beamer. He will likely never get the credit he truly deserves because he, probably, will never win a national championship, never coach a traditional powerhouse program, or never coach in a big media market. Nevertheless, what Beamer has done in his 20+ years at Virginia Tech is nothing short of amazing, and truth be told he's clearly one of the greatest college football coaches of his generation. Sure he wins ugly, but the goal of the game is to win and the aesthetic value of exactly how you achieve that end result is wholly meaningless. The only even somewhat negative thing I can think about Beamer is that I hate that our own fanbase was so adamant in 1996 that Mike Dubose be hired that it ended any legitimate chance we had of pursuing Beamer, but of course that is no actual criticism of Beamer himself.

Those two points established, however, I do find that the Hokies are still a difficult team to gauge. They generally play ugly football, but they still win a lot of games (10+ wins each year since 2004). Of course, though, playing in the ACC they rarely face an elite team -- truth be told, the ACC hasn't turned out an elite team since Florida State way back in 2000 -- and many of their bigger non-conference match-ups have not gone well. LSU annihilated them two years ago in Baton Rouge, a year that was capped off by a loss to Kansas in the Orange Bowl. They did have a big lead in the 2006 Peach Bowl against Georgia, but choked late and ultimately lost to a pretty mediocre Georgia team 31-24. A couple of years prior to that, in 2004, they lost to both USC and Auburn at neutral sites. The biggest win they have had lately, of course, came last year against Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl, but even that win is of suspect quality. The Bearcats earned a berth in the Orange Bowl thanks to winning the Big East -- though that had as much to do with the post-Petrino collapse of Louisville and the post-Rodriguez collapse of West Virginia than anything that the Bearcats themselves did -- but there is a legitimate question now as to whether or not the Big East even deserves a guaranteed BCS bid, and in any event Cincinnati's resume in 2008 is marred by blowout losses to Oklahoma and UConn, plus a squeaker win over Akron. Again, that's the biggest win, but even it's of suspect quality. And moreover, the Hokies weren't a flawless team even a year ago, as their resume is dotted with losses to East Carolina and Miami.

On the other hand, the sheer number of wins that the Hokies have been able to post for years on end cannot be underestimated, and for all of the SEC chest thumping, the ACC isn't as bad as many would like to make it out to be. No they never have any elite teams, but they do always produce their share of fairly good, quality teams, and consistently beating those team in the manner that the Hokies have certainly must count for something. Moreover, their can be no real questioning that the Hokies have been the premiere team of the ACC since it's expansion in 2004. Just look at the Hokies results the past five years:

2004: Won the ACC, finishing 10-3, and played in the Sugar Bowl

2005: Went 11-2, won the Coastal Division, and lost in the ACC Championship Game 27-22 to FSU (who the Hokies were favored to beat by two touchdowns)

2006: "Down" year, winning only 10 games, finishing a close second in the Coastal Division, and playing in the Peach Bowl

2007: Won the ACC, finished 11-3, and played in Orange Bowl

2008: Won the ACC, finished 10-4, and won the Orange Bowl.

As impressive as that five year run has been, the truth remains that the Hokies will probably make it a three-peat in the ACC in 2009. The overall schedule is very tough -- non-conference games against Alabama, Nebraska, and East Carolina -- but the conference slate looks very promising. They don't draw Florida State, Clemson, or Wake Forest from the Atlantic Division, and if they can just split games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina, they will probably end up in the ACC Championship Game for the fifth time in six years. Regardless of what happens in Atlanta, the odds are that the Hokies are playing in yet another BCS game come the first week of January.

And likewise, on the other side of the Dome, I'm not really sure what to make of Alabama either. Our defense should be very good, but predicting the offense is a crapshoot. I cannot even say for certain what we are going to try to do, and even if you can do that there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding performance. We have a new quarterback and a newly revamped offensive line, and if those two units struggle we're going to have some serious problems on offense. Sure the defense will still keep us in games, but bad offenses commonly ruin the efforts of very good defenses, and that could happen this year with the Tide as well. I know we would all like to assume that we are finally back to national powerhouse status year after year (and hopefully that is the case), but that is no guarantee. As much as I hate to admit it, seeing the Tide have a pretty middling year in 2009, while a bit unlikely, could not legitimately be classified as a major surprise. It happened to Saban in year three in Baton Rouge -- which started with them getting dominated by Virginia Tech in the season opener, ironically enough -- and it could very well happen in year three in Tuscaloosa.

And Greg McElroy is a concern, no two ways about it. I particular am haunted with memories of Brandon Cox' debut in 2005 against Georgia Tech. If you recall, Cox had a great year in 2005, and aside from the Tech game he completed almost 62% of his passes, averaged over eight yards per attempt, had a four-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio, and posted a gaudy passer rating of 144.4. Of course, though, in that debut against Tech, he completely only half of his passes, threw four picks, and took three big sacks, all of which combined for the Tigers to lose a game they should have otherwise won. And again, Cox had a great year in 2005, but the debut was just terrible, and that's a major concern here with McElroy. Even if he is a good quarterback and goes on to have a good year, you never know exactly how the first time out will go, especially against this caliber of defense. McElroy could be a good quarterback and have a good year in 2009, and still really struggle Saturday night in Atlanta.

In real terms, combined, I think what it all means is that it is going to be very difficult to accurately predict the outcome of this game -- and no I do not think the late news regarding Jerrell Harris' uncertainty, Ryan Williams being named the Hokies starting tailback, and Beamer suspending fullback Kenny Jefferson really does anything to change that either. I think it's most likely a toss-up that could legitimately go either way. Not too surprisingly, if you look at some of the "expert" predictions on this game, they are split, and it should be pointed out that the boys in Vegas, while having 'Bama favored, have the spread under a touchdown. Again, from the outset, it has the looks of a toss-up game with it being difficult to get a good read on either team.

At the end of the day though, for all the depth of the previews that we have had here on RBR, ultimately I think this game comes down to the performance of the Alabama offensive line. The 'Bama defense will contain their offense well enough, and if our offensive line can effectively establish a running game, we can get enough out of the offense to get the job done and emerge with the victory. On the other hand, if we experience any of the struggles and lapses like we did last year against Tulane or Utah, the Hokies front seven is absolutely good enough to eat our lunch, and we'll be in their fight of our lives trying to get the win. Bottom line, if James Carpenter, Mike Johnson, William Vlachos, Barrett Jones, and Drew Davis can control the line of scrimmage, you can effectively go ahead and fire up Rammer Jammer. If not...

Hope for the best.

The Virginia Tech Preview: Tide Defense v. Hokie Offense

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:00:18 -0000

Editor's Note: This is the second installment in a four-piece series that will give an in-depth preview of the individual unit match-ups, as well as a special teams preview, and finally ending on Friday with a final wrap-up before the two teams face off on Saturday night.

Part 1: Tide Offense vs Hokie Defense

The Virginia Tech Offense

Any in-depth analysis of the Virginia Tech offense must begin with proper consideration given to one man: Tyrod Taylor. What makes the Virginia Tech offense unique really has nothing to do with it's formations, it's passing concepts, it's run blocking schemes, or anything of the sort. No, what makes the Virginia Tech offense unique is because the entire offense completely and totally revolves around Taylor. When you watch the film of this unit, it's almost nothing short of amazing just how much of a linchpin that Tyrod Taylor is to the entire unit. Everything is predicated upon him; even when he performs the most fundamental of duties -- handing off to the tailback, direct snaps that go to other players, etc. -- the offense nevertheless somehow goes through him.

And with Taylor as the centerpiece, the Virginia Tech offense has changed quite a bit in recent years. Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring is still in Blacksburg -- he was given the title of defensive coordinator in late 2001 -- and has remained a constant for almost a decade, but his offense is fundamentally different with Taylor at the helm. In years gone by, the Hokies tended to be a run heavy team that operated out of very conventional formations. They spent much of their time either in the I-formation or with two tight end sets, trying hard to establish the interior running game, and much of the passing game became a by-product of the playaction pass. But again, that's all different now with Taylor at the helm. They still spend a good deal of time in the I-formation and also with two tight end sets, but they are not limited in that regard any more. With Taylor, they also really like to spread the field and put Taylor back in the shotgun, thus taking full advantage of Taylor's athleticism in space.

Given Taylor's extreme importance to the offense, we should take a closer look at him as a player. From the outset, Taylor was a bona fide super recruit coming out of Hampton, Virginia's Hampton High School, a dynasty in Virginia high school football circles, with seventeen state football championships. When he came out of Hampton High on 2007, Taylor had been a three-year starter and was a consensus five-star recruit. Rivals.com had him as the #1 dual threat quarterback in the country, and he chose to stay in-state with the Hokies, turning down a scholarship offer from the Florida Gators, whose head coach Urban Meyer recruited him heavily to run his spread option.

The reason everyone wanted the 6'1 and 215 pound Taylor was simple... his legs. In a day and age where 40 times are often outright lies, Taylor is a legitimate 4.40 player, and it is his unbelievable speed and athleticism that makes him the player that he is, and it is also what makes him the focal point of the Virginia Tech offense. Because of his ability to make big plays with his feet at any given time, opposing defenses must always be aware of his positioning on the field, and that is why the Virginia Tech coaching staff ensures that their entire offense runs through him. Stinespring and company love to always make you account for Taylor even when the ball doesn't go to him. For example, in simple dive plays out of the I-formation, after giving the hand-off, Taylor generally makes very, long sweeping retreats from the location of the exchange as if he's keeping the ball and going out for a run. This is done, of course, to ensure that one defender must account for Taylor, even though it's an inside hand-off to a tailback. This is just one of many ways in which the Virginia Tech coaching staff constantly keeps the offense running through Taylor, regardless of what is actually going on.

And no Alabama fan should underestimate just how deadly Taylor's athleticism can be. Many like to paint Taylor as a typical run-happy quarterback with no real passing skills, and in all fairness that might be true, and in many ways is true. Still, nevertheless, even if that is completely accurate, Taylor is nevertheless such an elite athlete that he is still a very dangerous player. In today's game we often have mobile quarterbacks playing the position with good athleticism, but Taylor isn't just a mobile quarterback, nor does he just have good athleticism. I've been following Alabama football closely since 1990, so this is my 20th year, and I feel confident in saying that we have never faced an opposing quarterback with the kind of ultra-elite speed and athleticism that Taylor brings to the table. Again, he's not just a mobile quarterback, he's the kind of elite athlete who will certainly play in the NFL one day -- and probably be a fairly high draft pick at that -- thanks to that athleticism.

Soundtrack Warning: Crunk

Fortunately, the good news for Alabama fans and our coaching staff is that for all of Taylor's frightening athleticism, he's still a very incomplete player as a pure quarterback, and the rest of the Virginia Tech offense is riddled with holes and shortcomings. This unit finished 90th in the country last year in scoring offense, and 103rd in total offense, continuing a downward trend in recent years in their ability to move the football. From 2005, when Tech finished 17th in the country in total offense, they have fallen to 49th, to 53rd, to 103rd. Far from being a one year anomaly, the Hokies are a team that has seemingly struggled to move the football almost forever.

The Hokie Offense: A Critical Look

Given the struggles of the Tech offense, you don't have to look far to find its weaknesses.

Since we gave Tyrod Taylor so much focus in the overview, perhaps it's best we start with him, because for all of his greatness as a runner, he really struggles throwing the football. Truth be told, as a passer, he's just not much, period. Last year as a passer he completed only 57% of his passes, averaged under 6.0 yards per attempt, threw two touchdowns against seven interceptions, and his QB rating of 103.2 put him somewhere around 110th in the country. Making matters worse, the coaches have really simplified the passing game as a whole to help Taylor, effectively reducing it to a smattering of dink and dunk passes. You watch the Hokie offense and you see countless curls, hitches, screen passes, square-ins, and the like, and even so he cannot complete 60% of his throws. Furthermore, the few times that Taylor did actually play pretty well as a passer, it was predictably against bad defenses. The four highest individual game quarterback ratings that he posted in 2008 came, not so surprisingly, against a Division 1-AA team (Furman), a team still trying to make the jump to Division 1-A (Western Kentucky), a 5-7 ACC team (Virginia), and a team that finished 89th in the country in pass defense (Nebraska). Factoring out those four games and looking at the rest of the season, Taylor had a paltry QB rating of 82.0, averaged under five yards per attempt, and didn't throw a single touchdown pass (though he did throw seven interceptions).

And the vertical element of the Hokie passing attack with Taylor in the game is simply non-existent. By my count, only about six of his passes went for more than 20 yards a year ago, and in the rarity that he does hit a deep pass, it's usually ugly and even then not exactly ideal. For example, in their Orange Bowl victory last year against Cincinnati, Taylor hit receiver Danny Coale for a 34-yard completion, but a closer look reveals that Coale had gotten wide open on a post, and a ball that even hits him remotely in stride is a touchdown. Unfortunately, the ball sails wide, Coales has to lay out to make the catch, and the sure touchdown turns into a 1st and 10 at the Cincinnati 14. Unable to pick up a first down from there, the Hokies have to bring on the field goal unit, and with a missed kick a sure touchdown becomes a turnover on downs thanks to an inaccurate, though still completed, pass.

The results, though terrible, shouldn't be the least bit surprising. This time a year ago, Frank Beamer announced that the Hokies were actually going to redshirt Taylor in 2008, so truthfully had the coaching staff had their way Taylor wouldn't have played at all last year. Unfortunately for Tech, though, Sean Glannon was terrible in the opener, and after a surprising loss to East Carolina in Charlotte, the Hokie coaching staff had to reluctantly take the redshirt off Taylor and put him into action.

Of course, as should probably be expected, many Hokie fans are drinking the Kool-Aid talking about the incredible progress Taylor has supposedly made this off-season. In an objective light, though, there's little reason to expect any real, considerable improvement. From the outset, Taylor has never been a particularly accomplished passer, even in high school. Even as the quarterback for Hampton High -- where, again, he was playing on a very high caliber team with a lot of talent surrounding him -- he still only averaged about 125 yards per game as a passer, and barely completed 50% of his passes. Moreover, in terms of physical skill set, Taylor doesn't have a great arm, and is not very accurate to boot, plus he's short for the typical pocket passer. His delivery is a tad bit odd, and he's very inconsistent with his footwork. And his route progression, well, there is no route progression. As a general rule, he looks immediately towards his primary target, and if he's not open he takes off running. Anything might happen, of course, but I see no objective reason to believe that Taylor will take a major step forward this year as a passer. He has never been a particularly good passer before, and truth be told he will probably never be one in the future either. All such Hokie hopes to the contrary are just that, hopes, unsupported by any other objective factual basis.

Unfortunately for the Hokies, the problems are even worse up front with the offensive line. As a group, the offensive line seemingly run blocks well (though that's somewhat up for debate, too), but the pass blocking has been so horrendously atrocious the past couple of years that even an Alabama fan who lived through the Chris Capps / Kyle Tatum era could not understand. Last year the Hokies gave up a whopping 42 sacks on a mere 291 passing attempts for an adjusted sack rate of 14.43%. That literally put them dead last in the country in terms of adjusted sack rate, 119th out of 119 teams. And it wasn't just a one year anomaly, either. The year before -- despite having Duane Brown starting at left tackle, who would be a first round NFL Draft pick the following April -- they gave gave up 54 sacks on 379 passing attempts, for an adjusted sack rate of 14.24%. I'm not positive that was dead last in the country, but for the sake of the all the other quarterbacks in the country, I certainly hope no one struggled to protect the passer more than that. And perhaps not too surprisingly then, offensive line coach Curt Newsome had to undergo a double bypass heart surgery on June 19th. He himself said stress played a role in the near 100% blockage of his arteries, and while he was almost certainly addressing that more towards the high amounts of stress inherent in being a collegiate football coach, I'm sure as hell that having to watch this unit play for two consecutive years did no favors for his health.

Moving forward to the 2009 season, three starters return, but returning starters from a unit that has been consistently that terrible is rarely a good thing. I wouldn't expect it will be for this year's Hokies, either. Ed Wang returns at left tackle, and Blake DeChristopher returns at right tackle, plus Sergio Render returns at guard (though he has swapped guard positions). Those guys look physically okay, but obviously something is not right. Jaymes Brooks, a redshirt sophomore, is taking over at right guard, with an undersized Beau Warren taking over at center. Warren is listed at 288 pounds, and frankly just looking at him that might be a bit of a stretch.

What the Hokie offensive line did well in 2008 was run block, or at least it would seem that way on the surface, even if it's not necessarily true. Darren Evans ran over 1,200 yards a year ago, averaging almost 4.5 yards per carry, and put together a great season. Before really watching the Hokies on film, I thought it was just the typical case of a decent back behind a good, mauling offensive line, but seeing Evans on film I was very impressed with him as a player. He displayed good speed and a good short-yardage bust, but he also had good balance and field vision to boot. Perhaps most impressive of all, he could consistently drive his hips low for a quick change of direction, something quite rare for a back of almost 220 pounds. To put it mildly I became impressed, and he exceeded my expectations.

TE Greg Boone

Which brings us to a pressing question, did he do well because of the Hokie offensive line, or did he do well in spite of the offensive line? In most cases I normally give the credit to the offensive line because their importance to the running game tend to get undervalued a bit, but if you look closer at the splits, the Hokies have a huge drop-off in rushing production when backs not named Darren Evans were given the ball. Kenny Lewis, Jr. and Josh Oglesby combined to get 102 carries for only 325 yards, right at 3.1 yards per carry, a significant step down from the production that Evans posted. On the surface, it seems like there was a very big gap between Evans and the rest of the tailbacks on the roster, and it certainly seems like Evans' torn ACL was indeed a huge injury for the Hokies. Perhaps Frank Beamer was being all too honest when he spoke of the impact that Evans absence would have on the Tech offense.

The rest of the Hokie offense looks to be generally solid, even if not spectacular. The wide receiver corps is nothing overly special, and there are no Julio Jones type players. That said, the group as a whole is a solid one, and several players have the ability to get the job done. Their biggest problem, honestly, more than anything else is that they simply haven't had a quality quarterback to be able to consistently get them the football. Also, one more weapon does exist on the roster, and he's one to keep your eye on, Greg Boone. A truly massive player, Boone is a 6'3 and 280+ pound tight end with good athleticism, and naturally he's as strong as a bull. The Hokies can often use him in a variety of ways, too, including even in the wildcat.

All in all, though, despite Taylor's elite athleticism, plus having a very unique player on the roster in Boone, this Tech offense simply isn't a very good one. Taylor can indeed be deadly with his legs, but aside from that there is just generally very little to fear. Taylor has the track record of a terrible passer, and the offensive line probably couldn't pass block competently if their lives literally depended on it. The running game would be pretty strong with Darren Evans, but he's not going to be playing this year, and if the track record from a year ago holds up, they may very well be struggling to run the ball this year. Not much else needs to be said... you finish at the bottom of nearly every statistical offensive category for a reason.

The Alabama Defense

Nick Saban brought with him to Tuscaloosa a reputation as a builder of big, physical defenses built on speed and aggression, and just over two years since he arrived, Saban is well on his way to building exactly that kind of monster. The roster that he inherited in January of 2007, built for Joe Kines 3-3-5 scheme, was nowhere near the type and / or caliber of personnel Saban needed to operate his 3-4 scheme at a high level, but thankfully a renewed focus on the S&C program and a recruiting juggernaut have allowed Saban to quickly construct his defense.

The Nick Saban 3-4 scheme is, for all of us 'Bama fans, are pretty well known commodity at this point. In many ways it's a typical 3-4 scheme, one that relies heavily on zone blitzes and the inherent lack of unpredictability built into the scheme. The 3-4 is a highly flexible scheme, and Nick Saban takes full advantage of that by constantly changing his fronts, cover schemes, and blitz packages. Making things even better, Saban's specialty of coaching defensive backs generally makes his unique version of the 3-4 that much more effective once it actually takes the field.

After experiencing some struggles at times in his debut 2007, the defense quickly came together for the 2008 season. Saban found the space eater he needed to play the nose in Terrence Cody, Rolando McClain carried his game to the next level, Dont'a Hightower made a huge impact as a freshman, and several other players improved as well. The impact of it all quickly became evident. The Tide run defense was nearly impossible to run on with a healthy Terrence Cody in the lineup, and very stout against the run even when he was out with less than 100% with his knee injury. The pass rush never materialized, but even so the Tide led the SEC in pass efficiency defense, and allowed a stingy average of 5.8 yards per passing attempt.

Moving into the 2009 season, things continue to be on the rise in Tuscaloosa. Eight starters return from the 2008 defense, and quality depth has increased dramatically everywhere. As of this writing, we legitimately have somewhere around 25 players who can legitimately be contributors to this defense. With little doubt, if we can stay even remotely healthy, this should be the most productive defense we've had in years.

The Alabama Defense: A Critical Look

At the risk of being deemed a homer, I must nevertheless objectively say that when taking a critical look at this defense, there are really just very, very few flaws to even legitimately address. Bottom line, it's a very well coached defense, and one that is loaded with not only experience and top-end talent, but quality depth throughout the roster at almost every single position. If you were looking for an ideal defensive unit, you'd be hard-pressed to find one much more attractive than this one.

In the short-term, the biggest problem the Tide has is overcoming the likely loss of Brandon Deaderick, who was tragically shot outside his apartment Monday night in Tuscaloosa. Fortunately for Deaderick and the Tide, the shooting effectively went as well as it reasonably could have -- just puncture wounds in the arm and hip; no damage to bones, arteries, or nerves, no surgery required, and released from the hospital approximately 16 hours later -- but even so I imagine he's unlikely to play against the Hokies. Deaderick was going to start in 2009, just like he did last year, at defensive end, and his loss is not what anyone hoped to see. Fortunately, if there was any year to have this sort of a tragedy, it was this year. His back-up, Luther Davis, is good enough to start for about any other SEC team, and he should transition into the starting role without any real trouble, if needed, but don't discount the possibility of Marcel Dareus -- who normally backs up Lorenzo Washington at the end-tackle combo position -- moving over and starting in Deaderick's absence. Dareus has the best long-term upside of any defensive lineman we have, and he is likely the #3 defensive end on the pecking order, regardless of position, so he may very well move over to the natural end position. Either way, as much as Saban and company rotate the defensive linemen, Davis and Dareus were going to see a lot of meaningful playing time regardless, so this won't be a major transition for either one. Darrington Sentimore now has a much better chance of playing as a true freshman, and Damien Square will likely be moved back from Jack linebacker, and both should provide quality reps at the position as well. Time will tell, but rationally speaking it seems we should be able to pick things up in Deaderick's absence with no major drop-off in production.

LB Eryk Anders

Aside from the Deaderick shooting, the Tide defense has remarkably few concerns. Pass rushing was a major problem a year ago, but even so we still played very effective pass defense, and things look improved this year. The linebacker corps is more athletic than a year ago, we're getting our best edge rusher (Eryk Anders) on the field more often, and Sal Sunseri has brought with him a renewed focus on pass rushing techniques. Thus, our pass rushing attack ought to improve this year, and frankly even if it doesn't, we showed last year that an inability to rush the passer was not fatal to the success of our overall pass defense.

Our biggest weakness, of course, assuming that we continue to be unable to rush the passer with any degree of consistency, is probably against spread teams with accurate quarterbacks who can consistently spread the field with quality receivers to boot. But again that may be a problem we fix anyway in 2009, and even if not, the Hokies don't have anywhere near the pieces in place to power such an attack. Yes they do spread things out occasionally, but it's to maximize Taylor's running ability, not to emphasize the passing game. Taylor isn't a very accurate quarterback, Tech might not have the receivers in place to do it effectively, and even if they did the offensive line probably wouldn't be able to hold up regardless, so even that is a moot concern in this particular game.

Aside from that, the rest of the concerns are really more nit-picking and the luxuries of riches than anything else. Many 'Bama fans would probably still complain about Marquis Johnson, but what is that really? At worse, it's a complaint that we only have a serviceable SEC level player (and a senior to boot) as our nickel corner, and a player that at any rate who will see his playing time getting major challenges from two five-star recruits currently on the roster. Geez... how will we ever manage to get by? Again, it's basically nit-picking from that point on.

The truth of the matter is that unless 'Bama gets unexpectedly hit very hard by a run of injuries, there is absolutely no reason to expect that the Tide won't field a great defense in 2009.

What To Look For

In the aggregate, this looks to be an good match-up for those who bleed crimson. The Hokies do not have a very good offense, and the Alabama defense should at the least be in the discussion with regard to who has the top defense in the country. It doesn't take any real, in-depth analysis to figure out that when two units of those respective abilities collide, it's likely to result in the offense scoring very few points and the defense dominating the day. When factoring out defensive and special teams scores, the Hokies offense only averaged 19 points per game last year, and it would probably be a surprise to see them score that many against what should be a very stingy Alabama defense. And making matters worse for the Tech offense is that the one true weakness of the Tide defense -- which, it should be said, is something that might not even be a weakness this year at all -- is something that the Hokies do not have the right personnel in place to exploit.

The Virginia Tech running game, in particular, seems to be in for a long night. With Darren Evans out for the year, it's a running game of arguably questionable quality to begin with, and going up against the Tide's incredibly stout run defense is a tough task for even a team with a strong rushing attack in their own right. The Hokies might try to run the football inside a good bit on the Tide -- then again, if Beamer and company think it's futile, they'll probably move away from it pretty quickly -- but it's highly unlikely that it will yield any real success. Beau Warren, at least 60 pounds lighter than Terrence Cody, will need help with the gargantuan nose guard, so Cody should command double teams every single time the Hokies plan to run inside. That alone plays right into our hands. Moreover, even without Brandon Deaderick, our deep rotation of big, strong, and physical defensive ends -- Lorenzo Washington, Luther Davis, Marcel Dareus, Damien Square, and others -- will be able to hold their own at the point of attack throughout the course of the game. That alone will eat up the bulk of the Hokies' blocking unit, and it will largely allow a great linebacker corps to roam free all night long, looking to make plays, and the same goes for two good run defenders at safety in Justin Woodall and Mark Barron. Making the match-up even more advantageous for the Tide is the Hokies' complete lack of a vertical threat in the passing game, which will allow the Tide to stack the box when needed. Bottom line, if the Hokies can have any considerable degree of success in the running game, it will come as a legitimate surprise to any objective observer.

The Hokie passing game looks to fare little, if any, better. The Tech passing game will likely be one of the worst in the country yet again, and the Tide pass defense will likely be one of the best. Again, do the figurative math. Taylor is a below average passer, and while the Virginia Tech wide receiver corps is a solid group filled with more than a few quality targets, they likely aren't as good or as experienced as their counterparts in the Alabama defensive backfield. All in all, it's simply a match-up that heavily favors the Tide.

All of the aforementioned, though, is pretty basic stuff. No real analysis is needed to discover that a very good defense is likely to shut down a bad offense. The real strategy in this game will be how the Tide chooses to defend Tyrod Taylor and his abilities as an elite runner.

Many would advocate playing man coverage on the receivers and trying to rush Taylor with all you have. Given how much Nick Saban loves to give different looks from his 3-4 defensive scheme, I'm sure we will do that a few times, but as a general strategy it's probably not as ideal as many would initially think. To begin with, from the outset, bringing a lot of pressure on Taylor isn't necessarily a good strategy. Taylor is unbelievably elusive, and if you bring a lot of rushers and he slips out of it -- which I can guarantee you he will do on more than one occasion -- you have very few defenders left downfield, and he's going to turn it into a very big play. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying... getting pressure on Taylor is a good thing, but having to bring a lot of defenders on blitzes in order to generate it quickly becomes a very risky strategy with a runner like Taylor that can get you burned. Furthermore, consistently playing man coverage against the Hokie wide receivers fails to exploit one of Taylor's biggest weaknesses as a quarterback, which is reading defenses. If you predictably play man on the outside, Taylor's almost complete inability to read a defense completely goes away because he can correctly assume the overwhelming majority of the time that he will be throwing against man coverage.

Spying Taylor is also an attractive option to many, but again it's probably not ideal as a general strategy. Putting a spy on a mobile quarterback is generally a good strategy, but that generality only holds up well against quarterbacks who have good mobility, not great mobility. Trying to spy such an elite athlete like Taylor is a fundamentally difficult task because you really don't have an equal caliber athlete to put on him. To be sure, we have some guys with Taylor's athleticism, but they are playing corner, and it's very difficult to spy with a corner. Corners are forced to line up so far away from the quarterback (and that goes even for the nickel corner) that the spy himself can effectively be eliminated by the offensive coordinator just sending the play in the opposite direction. What you need in order to have an effective spy is someone who is going to be able to consistently line up relatively close to the quarterback -- without giving away his responsibilities with his pre-snap alignment -- someone like a safety or a linebacker. But, again, who do we have at safety or linebacker that can legitimately go toe-to-toe with Taylor in the open field? Arguably no one. Jerrell Harris, Mark Barron, and Robby Green would probably be our best candidates, but even they would likely face a speed and agility deficit to Taylor. Again, it's an attractive option to many as an initial matter, but a closer look reveals such a strategy can be problematic when dealing with a truly elite athlete like Taylor.

A better strategy, and one I expect we will probably be using frequently, is to employ a wide variety of zone and rush packages. Playing a wide variety of heavy zones against Taylor is an ideal option because it great limits his ability to run with the football, which in truth is when he is at his most dangerous. At the end of the day, what we really want is for Taylor to throw the football, and even Rolando McClain explicitly said yesterday that the assignment of the defense is to contain Taylor and make him throw the football. Playing a heavy zone helps accomplish that because it largely removes the possibility of a big run, and also helps to ensure that when Taylor does take off to run, he'll quickly be met with a host of defenders arriving with bad intentions, both of which are incentives for him to stay in the pocket and throw the football. Furthermore, by constantly mixing up zone blitz packages, we can more effectively exploit Taylor's inability to read defenses. Also, it should be kept in mind that with Tech's complete lack of a vertical threat in the passing game, and it's reliance on short, dink and dunk throws, we can play heavy zones that almost solely attack the short and intermediate routes, thus creating some very narrow windows for Taylor to throw the football into, which can easily lead to a slew of incomplete passes and a chance at interceptions. Truth be told, we could probably play Cover Zero most of the night and still not give up a big passing play, and that alone provides us with a competitive edge over the Hokie offense.

Now, to be sure, I do imagine we will see some spying on Taylor, and I also imagine we'll see some heavy blitzes. The base defense, I think, will frequently use the heavy zones that I described earlier, but Nick Saban likes his defenses to be multiple in their approach and inherently unpredictable. That alone will ensure that Taylor sees a little bit of everything come Saturday night. Either way, in terms of individual assignments and responsibilities, three words must be effectively tattooed into the foreheads of every Alabama defender... contain, contain, contain. Keep Taylor in the pocket, limit his big runs, and make him beat you throwing the football. If you can consistently do that, you've won the battle.

On the other side, the Virginia Tech offense will probably have a few things up their sleeve, and they might not operate exactly how we think. Even though they haven't been a very good offense, the Hokies are a well-coached football team, and they are perhaps a bit more imaginative than you would at first think. If we really can shut down their interior running game with no problem, this isn't a staff dumb enough to keep futility running it straight into the line. They will mix things up and try something else, probably with Taylor operating almost solely from the shotgun. Moreover, again, they have used Boone in the Wildcat in the past (even with him throwing a pass once), and have at times lined Taylor up out wide and brought him down on jet sweeps. And, of course, with a mobile guy like Taylor, a bit of the option game is never out of the question. One way or the other, If things aren't going well, don't expect this coaching staff to just lay down and take it, they'll probably try a few things outside the box in an attempt to muster some offensive production.

That notwithstanding, though, it nevertheless looks to be a very tough night for the Hokie offense. For all of Taylor's dynamic athleticism and Boone's unique physical skill set, this is still a poor offense, and one that struggles to move the ball effectively. They have no real big play ability aside from Taylor's runs, and they cannot muster the kind of consistent production needed to methodically march the football down the field to put points on the board. Rest assured Taylor will make some big, incredibly frustrating plays -- at least frustrating for the 'Bama fans -- he's just too good an athlete not to. Likewise, Boone could be a tough match-up, and a few more guys in the Hokie rotation can get the job done. That will result in some good things happening, but again it's hard to see this unit having the consistent success needed to put any considerable number of points on the board. By all objective measures, this is a bad offense going up against a potentially great defense, and the strength of the Crimson Tide defense should dominate the night.

Wrapping Up Fall Camp

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:44:51 -0000

With the start of Fall semester at The University of Alabama, Fall camp finally came to a close for the Crimson Tide. The grueling two-a-day sessions are now over with, and with a return to the classroom, life for the football players returns to essentially the "normal" in-season daily grind of early morning workouts, followed by classes all day, and evening practices almost to dusk. The Tide will scrimmage once again tomorrow, once again the following week, and after the completion of the final scrimmage, all eyes will officially turn to the season opener against Virginia Tech. Believe it or not, kick-off in Atlanta is a mere fifteen days away. Before we focus in on tomorrow's scrimmage, however, let's do a final wrap on Fall camp.

On the positive side of things, the most surprising thing to me about Fall camp was Nick Saban's particularly positive demeanor. Yes he did complain about a lack of effort in a couple of practices, and he did go nuts on a reporter a time or two, but all in all when Saban spoke of his team as a whole, as well as with regard to individual players, he was much more positive and optimistic than I've ever seen him. Part of this should be expected considering the team as a whole is still improving over what we were when he arrived, but nevertheless the reviews given by the ol' Nicktator seemed to be particularly glowing. He consistently talked about how many players were doing very well, and how talented they were, etc. If nothing else, it's hard for me or any other observer to overly complain about this team considering how highly Saban has spoken about them to date. It goes without saying that Saban himself is notoriously a harsh critic, so to please him requires a player (and a team) to meet a particularly demanding standard.

On a more somber tone, Injuries, of course, are everyone's major concern during this period, as nothing is ever more disheartening that losing a player for any extended period of time when we are, frankly, just playing with ourselves. Unfortunately, as Lombardi said, football is a collision sport and injuries are not a possibility but a certainty. To that end, Jeramie Griffin went down for the year with a torn ACL, and his loss is an unfortunate one because he is a very talented player. Fortunately, aside from Griffin's knee injury, the rest of the Tide remained quite healthy throughout the course of camp. There were some nagging injuries, but nothing major, and nothing expected to keep anyone out for an extended period of time.

At the quarterback position, Greg McElroy is clearly the starting quarterback, but the back-up job is still very much up in the air. In the first scrimmage last Saturday, all three candidates vying for the back-up job received approximately the same number of reps, and there is little separation. If I had to wager right now, a decision has not been made, and likely will not be made until after the third scrimmage. With no disrespect intended to Thomas Darrah, the battle is likely between A.J. McCarron and Star Jackson, but in all fairness it would be no major shock to see Darrah win the back-up job. On way or the other, though, performance in the coming eight days will decide who is the back-up, and to date all Fall camp has done is to underscore the uncertainty that we have with regard to who is actually going to win the back-up job.

The tailback position is likely just as much of an uncertainty. Clearly Mark Ingram is the starter, but from there it's hard to figure. Roy Upchurch will see a lot of playing time in some capacity, but even if he can stay healthy all year (something that he has never done before), there will still be a lot of carries to go around to another back, and to that end both Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy have had very impressive showings to date in Fall camp. Moreover, Saban has even said that Terry Grant has also done well, so perhaps he can find a niche role here as well. One way or the other, it's just really hard to say how things will shake out from here. Ingram will start and Upchurch will play a lot, but aside from that we have a great deal of uncertainty. Both Richardson and Lacy look excellent, but one of those likely will (and probably should) get a redshirt this year, and right now we simply do not know how that will play out. They are two very similar players in terms of physical skill sets, and they have both impressed. It could go either way, and again Grant remains a bit of an x-factor. Much like with the quarterback position, once we get past the starter at tailback, we really do not know how things will play out from there.

The offensive line looks to be relatively set. There is no doubt that James Carpenter has locked up the left tackle job, and likewise there is no doubt that Mike Johnson will start at left guard. William Vlachos was thought to be in a position battle coming into Fall camp, but if all indications we have are even remotely true, he has won that battle and is now effectively the unquestioned starting center moving on to Virginia Tech. Furthermore, Drew Davis seemingly has the right tackle job locked up, and those four linemen seem to be pretty much set in stone. D.J. Fluker has looked solid thus far, but he still needs some refinement, and barring a late surge, he may very well be looking at a redshirt season. At the very least, a starting job does not seem likely for him early in the season.With others who were expected to compete for a starting job, like David Ross, they seemingly have not been able to make much progress one way or the other towards a starting job. That may be bad news for them, but in all honesty it's probably a good sign for the Tide. Our back-up line now consists of the likes of John Michael Boswell, David Ross, D.J. Fluker, Tyler Love,and others, and frankly the second string figures to be better than any we've had in Tuscaloosa in ages.

The big opening on the offensive line has been at right guard, where Alfred McCullough spent most of the early part of Fall running with the first unit, and where Barrett Jones has spent the latter part of Fall running with the first unit. As of right now, most expect that Jones will win the starting job, but I'll be brutally honest... all of this has came as a major surprise to me. Coming into the Fall, it was thought to be a three-way battle for the starting job between Chance Warmack, Bryan Motley, and John Michael Boswell, with the possibility of David Ross joining the fray if he moved back from center. McCullough wasn't even in the picture, and neither was Jones. In fact, I specifically wrote that I felt that Jones was still a year away from making a major contribution. I really have no idea as to what to make of this development, and I'm not even going to feign for one second that I do. For better or for worse, the starting line going to Atlanta will seemingly be (going left to right): James Carpenter, Mike Johnson, William Vlachos, Barrett Jones, and Drew Davis. That seems to be the starting five that we will sink or swim with.

The wide receiver position has underdone a massive overhaul in the past year, and the quality depth at the position is really starting to show off. Julio Jones will be the cornerstone of the corps, of course, but Marquis Maze, Darius Hanks, Earl Alexander, and Mike McCoy are all seemingly progressing very well in their own right, and the incoming group of true freshmen have been very impressive as well. This Fall, I think, has shown us that Chris Jackson probably had good reason for transferring... it's going to be very hard for anyone to crack this group and get some legitimate meaningful playing time in the near future.

Of the true freshman at wide receiver, seemingly the most likely to earn playing time at this point is Kevin Norwood. The Mississippi native has had a very productive Fall camp, and Saban himself even explicitly said after the first scrimmage that he was the most consistent of the true freshmen receivers. Moreover, in the media session shortly thereafter, Norwood was spotted working with the first unit at wide receiver, something that we have not seen out of any of the other three true freshman wide receivers, Kendall Kelly, Michael Bowman, and Kenny Bell. Now, to be sure, both Kelly and Bowman have impressed to date, and both are physically ready to play at the college level, but at some point a redshirt becomes an increasingly attractive option. In other words, those guys may play, but unless you figure that they can do enough to play a significant number of snaps, a redshirt is probably the better route to go. For now, Norwood seems to be the only true freshman wide receiver almost guaranteed to play from the start.

And speaking of Kenny Bell, expect him to redshirt. Saban recently said that he was suffering from shin splints and that he was going to be in a boot for about a week. That injury is particularly difficult for a guy like Bell who relies so heavily on his raw speed. Shin splints usually just need a lot of time off to heal, and I imagine that is what the doctor will order for Bell. Combine that with the inherent difficulty in cracking the line-up with the quality of this receiver corps, not to mention the unanimous opinion that Bell needs to add some weight in the S&C program, and I think you can almost be entirely certain at this point that Bell will redshirt.

The defensive line just continues to get better and better, and depth is just continuing to grow even further. The starting front three boasts three high-end players, and the back-ups at the end positions really do not consitute any real drop-off. Marcel Dareus and Luther Davis are probably the two best back-up defensive ends in the conference, and those two would probably be starting on at least half of the other SEC teams. Furthermore, the rest of the rotation has filled out as well. Damien Square continues to impress, and incoming true freshman Chris Bonds has finally gotten healthy (big news for someone with his raw ability). Darrington Sentimore has already drawn rave reviews from the upperclassmen, and Brandon Moore looks good as well. Furthermore, Kerry Murphy -- despite the setbacks stemming from the recent tragic murder of his brother -- has done a great job in the past year in the S&C program, and a role can be found for him somewhere. The truth of the matter is that this line looks incredibly good. Even with it being only a base three-man front, we nevertheless still have around ten different high-quality players that we can rotate in and out at will.

Despite talk of Dont'a Hightower moving to Jack linebacker, that does not look to be coming to fruition. He will be moving outside in passing situations, no doubt there, but his base alignment will nevertheless come inside at the Will position, where he will once again be starting alongside Mike linebacker Rolando McClain. Chris Jordan has continued his development this Fall, and with the addition of Nico Johnson at inside linebacker -- not to mention the possible contributions at the position from Tana Patrick and Jerrell Harris -- we have a deep rotation at the inside 'backer position.

With Hightower staying inside, that essentially creates a battle between Courtney Upshaw and Eryk Anders for the starting job at Jack linebacker. Without doubt, Anders is clearly the team's best pass rusher off the edge, and he is going to play a lot this year regardless. However, the smart money is probably on Upshaw being the starter and more of the every-down player. For all of his edge rushing abilities, Anders is definitely on the small side, and Upshaw likely presents a better option on running downs. And, of course, it should go without saying that Upshaw is a talented pass rusher in his own right. I doubt it matters a whole lot one way or the other considering that both are going to see a lot of playing time regardless, but from the looks of things, the smart money is probably on Upshaw being the starting Jack linebacker for the bulk of the season.

The Sam linebacker position, however, has been pretty quiet all throughout camp. Cory Reamer returns and he can certainly play the position, but honestly with guys like Nico Johnson and the continued development of Jerrell Harris, we have better athletes who can play the position right now. Reamer is a smart, hard-working kid who is going to get a good deal of playing time regardless, but I expected to hear more out of this position. Chavis Williams is likely facing a now-or-never situation, and the aforementioned Harris looked like the prototype player for the position this Spring. Again, I think Reamer will play a lot regardless, but I wouldn't be surprised to see his playing time get chipped away at somewhat throughout the course of the season.

The defensive backfield has largely remained the same, particularly with the corners. Kareem Jackson and Javier Arenas look to start yet again, and Marquis Johnson also looks likely to continue being the most underrated player on the team, as he continues to generally give solid play despite vast outcries from fans completely shocked that Saban hasn't forced him to transfer to the Institute of the Blind, Deaf, and Disabled. All three of those players are upperclassmen with a plethora of experience, and they will see lots of quality playing time this year, no doubt about it. However, do expect Dre Kirkpatrick to make a contribution immediately. The consensus opinion is that Kirkpatrick has, without doubt, had the most impressive Fall camp to date of any true freshman, and he's going to play a lot this season. I look at it this way: right now we have five good, quality cornerbacks on this roster... Kareem Jackson, Javier Arenas, Marquis Johnson, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Burton Scott. When was the last time we could legitimately say that?

The safety position also looks to be quite settled, as Coach Saban explicitly came out and said recently that we effectively have three starters at safety: Justin Woodall, Robby Green, and Mark Barron. Woodall will play the strong safety role, whereas Green and Barron will play free. And, frankly, based on what we have seen lately, I think that Barron will probably get the start over Green against Virginia Tech and for most of the year as well. Though Barron is a great athlete in his own right, his tendencies are likely suited slightly more to the run, while Green would specialize slightly more against the pass. Both will see a ton of meaningful playing time either way, but the smart money is Barron being in the game more in running situations, with Green playing more in obvious passing situations. Now, with that basic insight, do the math... Virginia Tech was a horrendous passing team last year, and probably won't be very good in that regard this year either. And most of the other teams on the schedule are likely not going to have great quarterback play either, and will also look to establish the run. I think that probably leads to Barron starting most of the time, and getting slightly more playing time than Green.

All in all, when looking back on Fall Camp '09, it's hard to complain too much about the things going on in Tuscaloosa. We probably have more raw talent on the field than we've had since 1992, and quality depth is emerging almost everywhere. The incoming true freshman class looks incredibly talented, and even Coach Saban is pleased. No one knows exactly what the 2009 season will bring, and make no mistake about it, success is still by no means guaranteed. Nevertheless, with Fall camp now in the rear view mirror, things have seemingly gone as well as we could have reasonably expected.

A Few Early Fall Observations

outsidethesidelines — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:13:14 -0000

Photo Credit: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News

As any long-time reader of RBR knows, none of us here claim (or have ever claimed) any legitimate amount of "inside" information. We do not have a best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend who heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. That is not who we are, nor is that what we pretend to be. Here are RBR, our football-related specialty is really commentary and analysis, and we leave the reporting to the professionals. However, that fact alone creates a legitimate problem with regard to reporting on the Tide's practice sessions simply because no one is actually allowed to watch practice, so it goes without saying that it can often be difficult to separate the truth from the fiction and discern exactly what is going on. So, the best we can really do with this is to compile all of the information possible from all of what we would consider credible sources, and do our best to piece things together from there.

With that in mind, to the best of my analytical abilities, here are a few early fall observations:

The off-season strength and conditioning program is clearly a success, and that can be confirmed via both photographic evidence and direct player quotes. The team as a whole is very impressive physically, and progress is being made in the right direction for all those that need to make progress. Those who needed to drop weight have, and those that needed to bulk up have added the mass as needed. For example, Jerrell Harris has added nearly 30 pounds in the past year, and Chance Warmack has dropped nearly 30 pounds since his arrival eight months ago. Even the players who were in good physical condition to begin with, like Mark Ingram, have noticeably improved. Rodney Orr went on the record last week saying that this was the most physically impressive freshman class he had ever seen. I'll go one higher... this is the most physically impressive Alabama team I have seen. Period. If Scott Cochran is not your favorite assistant coach, he ought to be.
Roy Upchurch has successfully recovered from his off-season surgery, and looks to be 100%. However, the notion that he is going to be "the" man at tailback are probably overstating his case. Mark Ingram beat him out for the back-up job last year, and all indications I have read lead me to believe that Ingram is clearly the number one back in the rotation right now. Ingram likely represents our best runner in between the tackles, and with his improvement in pass protection, he figures to be on the field much more often than a year ago. This is not, of course, to say that Upchurch does not have a role, because clearly he does. He is a highly talented player in his own right that can offer some things that Ingram cannot, he will play a lot of meaningful snaps in 2009 as long as he stays healthy, and he will likely be used in a variety of different ways as well. However, with that said, it seems clear right now that the starting tailback job is Ingram's to lose, and not Upchurch's.
Speaking of the tailback position, both Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy have impressed observers with their raw size and ability, and Coach Saban has also explicitly stated that they were doing well. And in fact, some people actually like Lacy a bit better than Richardson at this point. Gentry Estes of the Mobile Press-Register, in a chat session two days ago, said he thought Lacy was the most impressive freshman on offense to date. One way or the other, these two have looked very good, and they are going to see a good bit of meaningful playing time in 2009. If anything, the real issue that we are fighting here is the same one that Auburn fought back in 2003... too many talented tailbacks, only one football.
A year ago most expected that Alonzo Lawrence, the star cornerback signee from the 2008 class, would quickly snag a starting job as soon as he stepped foot on campus, only to have Lawrence became scout team fodder almost the second he arrived in Tuscaloosa. The star cornerback signee from the 2009 class, however, has had no such setbacks. Dre Kirkpatrick is a constant in the discussion for most impressive true freshman to date, and many dub him as the most impressive true freshman we have. Furthermore, we do know as a matter of fact from the open practice at Fan Day that Kirkpatrick is getting a lot of reps with the first team defense when we go to multiple defensive back sets, and specifically at one point we were even moving Arenas inside to the star position and putting Kirkpatrick on the outside. Simply put, he has blown everyone away with his sheer size, athleticism, and raw cover skills, and it seems clear at this point that he is going to play a lot as a true freshman in a lot of meaningful situations. At the very least, Kirkpatrick thus far has done all that he can do to justify the recruiting hype... this is not Alonzo Lawrence: Part Two.
Here's a real head-scratcher to me... today in his press conference Coach Saban said the following regarding Star Jackson: [He has been] making a lot of athletic plays. He's a guy that ought to have some kind of role for us on this team, this year.'' The emphasis is obviously mine, and with good reason. When Coach Saban is referring to him making athletic plays and then discussing how he should have a role for us this year, I highly doubt he's referring to him being a back-up quarterback. But what else? I've said before that I don't think Jackson is a good enough of a raw athlete to star at another position, and truth be told we have more experienced guys there anyway, so that seems unlikely. This is all complete speculation on my part, but I'll throw this out there... Is it possible that we see Jackson used some this year in some sort of a Wildcat-like package?
Michael Bowman has been the most physically impressive of the freshman wide receivers to date, and he probably has the best chance of any freshman wide receiver to earn early playing time. However, with that said, things are not going to come easy. Most reports have the top four receivers at the moment being Julio Jones, Marquis Maze, Mike McCoy, and Darius Hanks. Those who follow Alabama closely will be intrigued by the name of Darius Hanks. He was a star on the scout team as a true freshman and wowed everyone through Fall camp last year, only to fall of the face of the Earth after the Clemson game. Can he stick in the rotation this year?
William Vlachos is our center at this point, and to the best of my observations, it's not even a particularly close race. He had the slight edge coming out of Spring practice, and he seems to have locked down the job as well as anyone reasonably could. According to various reports from Fan Day, as well as some direct player quotes, Vlachos has held his own about as well as anyone can against Terrence Cody, and that's about as good of an endorsement as you can give for his abilities. And to be honest, almost nothing has been said anywhere of David Ross, who battled Vlachos for the starting center job this Spring, and that is probably not good news for the Homewood product.
D.J. Fluker has bounced around a bit, spending time at both left tackle and right tackle. He has generally been grouped with the third team to date, though he has seen some time on up the ladder as well. In fact, on occasion, we have put him at right tackle with the first team unit, and when we did so Drew Davis would move inside to right guard. One way or the other, the scenario I discussed earlier in the year about Fluker possibly starting out guard does not seem to be a legitimate possibility at this point. He looks to be at tackle one way or the other, and we will have to see how he progresses throughout the rest of Fall camp. He hasn't came in and taken the world by storm like Andre Smith did three years, but given the quality of competition that surrounds him now (compared to what Smith had to fight through) no one expected him to either.
Yours truly has some explaining to do about the right guard spot, but interestingly enough through most of Fall camp to date, Alfred McCullough has gotten the majority of the reps with the first-team unit. McCullough spent the spring backing up at tackle, but the staff has had him playing inside thus far, and he has impressed. Barrett Jones ran with the first team in the early morning practice on Tuesday, but aside from that temporary alignment, McCullough has been the man to date at right guard. For now, neither Boswell, Motley, Warmack, or Ross seemingly have anything on McCullough, and a lot of people think it is his job to lose at right guard. To date, the "typical" grouping of the first team offensive line has been, from left to right, James Carpenter, Mike Johnson, William Vlachos, Alfred McCullough, and Drew Davis. For what its worth, Saban did say yesterday that he had a "pretty good idea" of who four of the starters would be, and that probably only leaves the right guard position in play right now.

Photo Credit: Dusty Compton / Tuscaloosa News
Brad Smelley bulks up for more playing time.

Brad Smelley went on the record saying that he has bulked up to about 230 pounds in the off-season S&C program, which is probably fifteen or twenty pounds heavier than he was a year ago. And, for what it's worth, Smelley seems to be edging out Preston Dial for the best receiving threat from the position, but nevertheless we still need to find a blocker who can do many of the things that Travis McCall did last year. Keep your eye on two men: Michael Williams and Undra Billingsley. Also, don't sleep on true freshman Mike Marrow, who is quite a physically impressive player in his own right.
When Drew Davis spoke to the media on Monday, one of the players he specifically called out as impressing him was Darrington Sentimore. I've long since raved about Sentimore's raw abilities, and it seems like he reported in good physical condition as well. I know we are very deep at defensive end, but you have to imagine that Sentimore will find the field sometime this year. It's really rare to see sixth-year seniors calling out true freshman as impressive and then watch that same guy end up with a redshirt.
It seems like one of the themes of Fall practice is what I would like to call "Dont'a Hightower Watch." Everyone who is anyone is more than blown away by Hightower, and it seems like every single day there is yet another report of something amazing he did in practice that particular day. Now, it is a fact that he has spent some time working the Jack linebacker position, but nevertheless the bulk of his time has come working inside at the Will position. I do think that Hightower will largely play the Will position this Fall, and that he will play the Jack position situationally on obvious passing downs. My question is this... if all of this we are hearing is even remotely true, is Dont'a Hightower the best football player we have on the entire team not named Julio Jones? I'd say it's a distinct possibility.
Largely the reason I say that Hightower will mainly stay inside is the development of Eryk Anders. He came out of nowhere last year to be the Tide's best edge rusher, and if all accounts are to be believed, he has been even more impressive this Fall. At the very least, he's making a legitimate run at being the starting Jack linebacker, and he's going to play a lot in 2009.
The real issue with linebacker, though, isn't so much in finding the best player, but having to deal with a lot of guys legitimately being able to play and only having so much playing time to dole out. Jerrell Harris is really taking his game to the next level, and Chris Jordan has received praise for his play at inside linebacker. Courtney Upshaw is progressing immensely at Jack linebacker, Eryk Anders is playing better than ever, and that is to say nothing of Rolando McClain or Dont'a Hightower. Likewise, both Nico Johnson and Tana Patrick have been impressive to date, and Jonathon Atchison arrived much more physically ready to compete at this stage of his career than anyone expected. And that's not to say anything of Ed Stinson or Chavis Williams. Again, at this point with the linebacker position, it is really more of an issue of having a lot of guys who can legitimately get the job done, and nowhere near enough playing time to dole out to everyone. Much like the situation at tailback, it's an embarrassment of riches, really.
The best news to date? No injuries, and I mean none whatsoever. Nobody wearing a black no-contact jersey, nobody riding the exercise bikes, nobody watching in street clothes, nothing. To be sure, injuries will eventually come as certain as the morning sun rising, but as of right now things are off to a good start on the injury front, and we can only hope that it will continue to go that way.

That's all for now, but obviously more will be coming up in the following days. It should be pointed out that we are still very early in the game -- pads went on for the first time Monday, and today was the first of two-a-days -- and in particular it's very early for the incoming freshmen. Keep in mind that at this point last year, Julio Jones was just beginning to start working his way up from the bottom of the non-existent depth chart. Bottom line, everything is very volatile at the moment, and things are subject to change. The first scrimmage of Fall camp is scheduled for this Saturday, and by the end of that we should have a much better feel on how things are progressing.