SB Nation - Anthony Dixon

LSU In Review - Week Four Vs. Mississippi State

BSD — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:00:30 -0000

by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

2 months ago: LSU defensive tackle Al Woods (97) signals after the defense denied Mississippi State a last minute fourth quarter touchdown during an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. LUS won 30-26. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

View full size photo »

Final - 9.26.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
LSU Tigers	13	3	7	7	30
Mississippi St. Bulldogs	14	0	7	5	26

Complete Coverage >

The LSU offense did their best to lose their road game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in week four of the season. But the LSU defense and special teams were not going to let it happen.

Jordan Jefferson had a career game completing 15-of-28 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns of 4 and 58 yards to Brandon LaFell, who caught six passes on the day for 101 yards. But the LSU ground attack sputtered for just 30 yards on 31 carries. In fairness, the TIgers lost 18 yards on two sacks, and lost 37 yards rushing on special teams gaffs and in taking an intentional safety. But still. Russell Shepard was the leading rusher with 26 yards on 4 carries from the wildcat formation. Keiland Williams and Charles Scott combined for just 35 yards on 15 carries for the day. LSU converted only 2-of-13 third downs and only managed 12 first downs in the game.

But the Tiger defense bailed them out again. Patrick Peterson grabbed a tipped ball on Mississippi State's first pass of the game and scampered 37 yards for a touchdown. Then in what appears to be a recurring theme this year, LSU shot themselves in the foot. Peterson got flagged for unsportsman like conduct giving the Bulldogs a short field to work with on their drive. But first the holder and center couldn't hook up on the PAT, and they didn't covert. The Bulldogs took the short field and drove 66 yards for a score. They were aided by a pass interference penalty in the endzone that set up a first and goal at the two.

Later in the first quarter, with LSU up 13-7, a snap went over the LSU punter Derek Helton's head. Helton fell on it, but it set up a first and goal for MSU at the LSU 1 yard line. The Bulldogs punched it in to take a 14-13 lead at the end of one.

LSU was set up beautifully in the second quarter when MSU running back Arnil Stallworth fumbled on his own 25 yard line and the Tigers recovered. Shepard then picked up 15 yards on two successive running plays. But then the offense stalled, and LSU was forced to settle for a 22 yard field goal.

MSU took their next drive well into LSU territory before Brandon Taylor intercepted a pass from Tyson Lee at the LSU 17 yard line. After an LSU three-and-out, the Bulldogs were driving again right before the half. But they bungled their own snap on a field goal attempt just before intermission, and the score remained 16-14.

LSU came out firing on their first play of the second half when Jefferson hit LaFell on their 58 yard touchdown hookup. Later in the quarter the Bulldogs responded with a bomb of their own when Lee hit Marcus Green for a 50 yard touchdown to pull the score to 23-21.

On the ensuing drive, the Tigers would blow a chance for more points when a 40 yard pass to R.J. Jackson set up a first and goal at the MSU seven yard line. Jefferson threw two incomplete passes, and then on third and goal at the seven, Jefferson tried to run it in coming up short at the two. Then LSU kicker Josh Jasper missed the chip shot field goal and LSU came away empty allowing the Bulldogs to hang around.

With the game in the balance, it was becoming obvious the offense wasn't going to pull it out on their own. So the special teams stepped up on the first play of the fourth quarter. Chad Jones, who LSU fans will not hesitate to tell you is TEH AWSUM, fielded a punt at his own seven yard line. Then in a return that featured more cuts than a person sticking their arm in a bucket of broken glass, Jones returned the kick 93 yards for the score. The extra point was true and LSU took a 30-21 lead.

On MSU's next drive, the Tigers once again gave up a big play of 46 yards on a pass by backup quarterback Chris Relf to O'Neil Wilder to the LSU 21 yard line. From there the LSU defense held up, and MSU was forced to settle for a 22 yard field goal to pull within six points.

With just 10 minutes to go in the game, a long sustained scoring drive could have sealed the game for LSU. They started out promising gaining 29 yards on their first two plays. But then that was it. Four plays later, Helton punted into the endzone for a touchback, and LSU had only consumed two minutes on five plays. After a failed MSU drive, LSU got the ball with just under six minutes to play and a chance to ice the game. But this time they only gained 9 yards on 5 plays after consuming 1:55, and LSU had to punt from their own 12 yard line.

MSU took the ball at the 50 with 3:53 to play and drove down the field. An 18 yard rush by Anthony Dixon gave them a first and goal at the LSU 2 yard line and it looked like the Tigers were going down. Dixon ran for one yard on first down, and then he got stuffed for no gain on second down. Tyson Lee threw an incomplete pass that was broken up by Chad Jones. Then Lee tried to sneak it in on fourth down, but came up short. The LSU defense saved the game, and the Tigers advanced to the ugliest 4-0 record in the country. But it was good enough to launch them into the top five in the polls.

Drive Chart

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Quotes From The Game

"I still want to run the football. It’s too fundamental to me not to be important, and I want that. I want it for Charles Scottand that offensive line and Keiland Williams, and I want to be able to come off the football." - Les Miles

"Russell Shepard got into the game for a short series, and I really wanted to get him back in the game in the second half. The difference is that we wanted to be in two-back, and we wanted to throw the football, and that’s not necessarily what we want to do with Russell Shepard in the game." - Les Miles

"The offensive line flat out sucks right now. There's no nice way to say it. They suck. They know they suck." - And The Valley Shook

"After the TD to open the half, LSU's offense went into the tank. LSU only had three 1st downs from that point on. The defense wore down as the half went on, but that was due to an offense that simply didn't show up for the second half." - And The Valley Shook

All-SEC Ballot: Draft

Gamecock Man — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:04:08 -0000

The SEC Power Poll is hosting an All-SEC poll. Here is a draft that reflects my first impressions--let me know what you think, and we may revise a bit if necessary.

Offense

QB: Ryan Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks)

RB: Mark Ingram (Alabama Crimson Tide)

RB: Dexter McCluster (Ole Miss Rebels)

OG: Mike Johnson (Alabama Crimson Tide)

OG: Mike Pouncey (Florida Gators)

OT: Ciron Black (LSU Tigers)

OT: John Jerry (Ole Miss Rebels)

C: Maurkice Pouncey (Florida Gators)

TE: Aaron Hernandez (Florida Gators)

WR: A.J. Green (Georgia Bulldogs)

WR: Shay Hodge (Ole Miss Rebels)

Defense

DE: Cliff Matthews (South Carolina Gamecocks)

DE: Antonio Coleman (Auburn Tigers)

DT: Terrence Cody (Alabama Crimson Tide)

DT: Malcolm Sheppard (Arkansas Razorbacks)

LB: Eric Norwood (South Carolina Gamecocks)

LB: Rolando McClain (Alabama Crimson Tide)

LB: Rennie Curran (Georgia Bulldogs)

CB: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

CB: Patrick Peterson (LSU Tigers)

S: Eric Berry (Tennessee Volunteers)

S: Joe Haden (Florida Gators)

Special Teams

PK: Blair Walsh (Georgia Bulldogs)

P: Drew Butler (Georgia Bulldogs)

RS: Javier Arenas (Alabama Crimson Tide)

You've got some explaining to do...

Many of these choices go without questions; nobody, for instance, will disagree with me about Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain, or Eric Berry. However, I do have a few bones to pick with conventional wisdom. Here's how I see such cases:

Ryan Mallett / Tim Tebow

As most people around here know, I'm a pretty big Tebow fan. The guy has had a great career, and although his sanctimonious, humble-but-really-not attitude can get to you sometimes, overall I don't have too many problems with him as a media phenomenon. It is what is. However, while I've been as guilty as anyone when it comes to giving Tebow confidence by inertia, I've come to believe it has to stop somewhere: Mallett was just better this year.

By the way, Ryan, if you're reading this, go to the NFL.

Dexter McCluster / Anthony Dixon

OK. I believe Anthony Dixon had a better year than McCluster at RB. However, I also believe that McCluster was one of the best and most valuable players in the SEC. I'm talking about on a par with Tebow, Ingram, you name it. So, I think we have to get him on the list somewhere. This is where I'm putting him. Unfortunately for him, McCluster was probably never used in the right way enough; this guy really was a minor Reggie-Bush-like talent.

Cliff Matthews / Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap is a jackass that showed his true colors when he signed with Florida instead of Sou...wait, when he drunkenly fell asleep at the wheel before the biggest SECCG ever. He failed his team. Despite his talent, that failure will always make him worse than Matthews in my mind.

Rennie Curran / Brandon Spikes

What can I say? I know it's surprising to see an UGA player on the defensive first team, but I think Curran is a great player. That might have something to do with his success against USC, but whatever. If this guy had a halfway decent DC, he'd be the talk of the nation. Spikes is a great player, but he's also a cog in a machine to some degree.

Well, that's a wrap on this draft. Let me know what you think.

Dixon's Conerly Acceptance Speech

jeremyflint — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:40:47 -0000

Here is video of Anthony Dixon's acceptance speech after winning the Conerly Trophy.

Saturday Lessons: November 28

Year2 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:00:09 -0000

by Phil Sandlin - AP

The farewell was a success.

View full size photo »

"Decaying legend" is the best option for rivalry weekend.

While Alabama and Texas had issues of different sorts against their rivals, Florida had no problem is dispatching Florida State. Tim Tebow had five touchdowns in his victory lap, and Brandon Spikes' defense gave up no points and roughly 110 yards to an otherwise terrific FSU offense before the starters began to get pulled late in the third quarter. It was easily one of the three best performances the Gators have had against BCS teams, up there with the games against Kentucky and Georgia.

It would be tempting to declare that Florida is peaking at the right time. However, FIU is terrible and FSU hasn't played defense in about two or three years. It is true that Florida had much less trouble with the Golden Panthers than the Tide did, but if you're using a September and a November game against a Sun Belt doormat to compare UF and UAT, I don't have words for you. I want to try to make the peaking case in a parallel to 2006, when the Gators struggled a lot of the year but hit their stride in the year's final two games, but I can't really pull the trigger on it.

Alabama showed some cracks and still came up a winner.

The 14-0 first quarter deficit was Alabama's worst since their Sugar Bowl loss to Utah. The seven point second half deficit was their largest since being down five to LSU. Mark Ingram's 30 yards was easily his lowest total of the season, and he eventually went out with a hip pointer. The opponent was coming off of a bye week. Everything lined up against the Tide, and yet with under two minutes to go, they pulled the win out.

Auburn did help some with an extremely puzzling clock management strategy on its final drive, something which amounted to, "let's run off as much clock as we can early and set ourselves up for a 40 yard Hail Mary." Even so, you can't argue with the result as Bama polished off a second straight 12-0 regular season. They stared defeat in the eyes and didn't blink.

We have a nine game winner for the Capital One Bowl.

LSU may not have taken the preferred method for getting to the SEC's best non-BCS bowl, but they got the bid and its accopanying $4.25 million paycheck by edging out Arkansas 33-30 in overtime. Les Miles showed an ability to learn from his mistakes as he managed the clock with aplomb at the end, enabling Josh Jasper to tie it with four seconds to go.

It's been a trying year for LSU, as the Tiger offense finished the regular season in the bottom half of the conference in most offensive categories. They lost to the three toughest teams on the schedule. However, they didn't blow one against a lesser team, and they get to reap the rewards for doing just that since only two other teams in the league managed to avoid that same thing.

Georgia brought home the SEC's marquee non-conference win.

By taking out the ~~Nerds~~ Yellow Jackets, Georgia managed to get the SEC its best non-conference win of the season. Just about no one (myself included) gave Georgia a shot against Georgia Tech, but the Bulldogs not only won but flipped the script. Washaun Ealey and Caleb King each rushed for over 160 yards and combined for 349 on the day while no one on the home team managed more than 41 yards. It's a nice way to cap a disappointing season, but big changes still need to be made.

South Carolina didn't do so bad for itself either.

The Gamecocks made it a clean sweep over the ACC Championship Game participants with their victory over Clemson. It was Steve Spurrier's second over the Tigers in his five years and just the program's third in the last 12 games in the series. C.J. Spiller ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but the boys from Columbia took over from there, building a 24-7 lead before Clemson even scored again. The Gamecock rushing attack came alive, rolling up 223 yards in total with freshman Kenny Miles leading the bunch with 114. Combined with a bowl win, it could be a good sign for next season.

Your SEC East Runner Up: Tennessee.

It's been a long road since Phillip Fulmer's tearful farewell press conference, but thanks to owning the tiebreaker over Georgia, Tennessee finished second in the SEC East. It's not exactly an emphatic finish since the Vols needed that tiebreaker to do it and are one of four 7-5 teams in the division, not to mention they had to go to overtime to defeat Kentucky. Still, it's better to be second than third or worse, and Jonathan Crompton managed to mostly redeem himself over the course of the season. It will be tough to repeat the circumstances next year without all of this year's seniors and a complete question mark at quarterback, but that's for next year to worry about.

It was an interesting finish in Mississippi to say the least.

I know some cynics probably predicted doom for Ole Miss thanks to Houston Nutt generally not being able to stand prosperity, but I doubt anyone expected Mississippi State to run away with this game. Anthony Dixon and Chris Relf each went for over 130 yards rushing as Dan Mullen's spread attack worked to peak performance. If the Bulldogs find a workhorse to sub in for Dixon next year, State could definitely make some noise.

It's also probably time to assess where the Nutt experiment at Ole Miss is. The Rebels surprised to an eight win regular season last year, and they disappointed to an eight win regular season this year. Maybe it was a bit much to expect them to pass up Alabama this season, but they didn't even finish above LSU despite winning the head-to-head match up and the Tigers having a dysfunctional offense. Can he win the division there at any time despite this year having the perhaps the most talented team he's ever coached?

Rebel Roundup - 11/24/09

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:38:01 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

Do you think State has an answer?

Browse more photos »

Conerly Trophy finalists announced | The Clarion-Ledger
Dexter McCluster, Anthony Dixon, and Damion Fletcher are this year's three Conerly Trophy finalists. Red Cup Rebellion endorses Dex.

Tyrone Nix doesn't smile much... | The Clarion-Ledger
...But neither do the teams that face his UM defense, according to David Brandt.

Bowl Tickets Now Available To Season Ticket Holders | OleMissSports.com
According to the official Rebel athletics site, "Ole Miss football season ticket holders now have the opportunity to order their seat to the Rebels' bowl game by visiting the OleMissSports.com ticket office." As far as the rest of us are concerned, I dunno.

A Clear Win: The Real Story of the Ole Miss-LSU Game and Other Week 12 Action | Team Speed Kills
LSU's last-minute idiocy wasn't the only reason Ole Miss won Saturday's game. Per Cock 'n' Fire:

Make no mistake: For the second season in a row, the Rebels won this game along the line and were the better team on the field. It was not a fluke...Ole Miss outgained LSU 426-290, sacked Jordan Jefferson four times and averaged 4.3 yards per rush to LSU's 1.5. The Tigers were only in the game at the end of the first quarter, and for the rest of the game, because they blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown.

You see that, mainstream sports media?

Know Your Opponent: Arkansas Razorbacks

jeremyflint — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:07:35 -0000

Here we go with another round of Know Your Opponent. This time we are talking to fellow SBN bloggers Arkansas Expats. Here is what they had to say about the game this weekend. You can check out my answers to their questions as well.

1. Arkansas seems to be a Jekyll and Hyde team this year. They are near the top of the conference offensively, but rank near the bottom (or at the bottom) when it comes to defense. Why is there such a big difference between the two sides of the ball this year?

That's easy: talent.

Obviously everyone knows about Ryan Mallett at QB by now, but even beyond that Arkansas has really good players at every one of the skill positions on offense. Our eight TDs last week against Troy were scored by seven different people, and that's pretty much how it's been all season...lots of points of attack.

Unfortunately for us Hog fans, we don't have the talent on the defensive side to match. There are probably a lot of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that we just aren't as good on that side of the ball.

Also, that talent disparity includes our coaching staff, too. Bobby Petrino is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game even by his many detractors, and he's lived up to that reputation during his time at Arkansas. Although I'm sure defensive coordinator Willy Robinson generally knows what he's doing, my guess is that he's not in that league.

2. I have seen very little of Arkansas this year. I think the only games I watched was the loss to Alabama and the Georgia game, which I swear was really a couple of PAC-10 teams dressing up as SEC teams. Aside from QB Ryan Mallet, who are the playmakers on offense and defense that Bulldog fans should keep an eye on?

Well, as I was saying in the above answer, we have a lot of threats on offense. You never really know who's going to be the star in any particular game, but I'll start by calling out the receiving corps - WRs Joe Adams, Jarius Wright and Greg Childs and TE D.J. Williams are all really good, and you can count on some big plays by those guys. Our running game struggled in the earlier part of the season, but has improved lately. The starter is Michael Smith, but he's backed up by big back Broderick Green, sophomore Dennis Johnson (who also returns kicks), and freshmen Knile Davis and Ronnie Wingo, Jr.

Also as noted above, we don't have as many playmakers on defense. Malcolm Sheppard anchors our defensive line and will be a key part of our effort to stop Anthony Dixon. LB Jerrico Nelson is also usually in the middle of the action.

3. Mississippi State has never beaten Arkansas on the road (Fayetteville or Little Rock). Why do you think coming to Arkansas is such a tough road game for most teams in the SEC? Is it the travel? The atmosphere? The annoying pig calls?

Hard to say, exactly. Arkansas is pretty unusual this day and age in that we have two home fields. Most games are in Fayetteville, but the general feeling is that Little Rock actually offers more of a home field advantage - it's a louder stadium and the fans tend to be a little rowdier there. (Note: I'm from Little Rock, so there might be some bias in that statement.)

I have no idea what you're referring to by "annoying pig calls". If by some chance you're referring to the mighty "Woo Pig Sooie" Hog call - the greatest fan chant in all of sports - then yes, I'm sure that usually intimidates opponents into submission as well.

4. Give me some of the key matchups that you are looking for this Saturday on offense and defense.

The most important matchup for me will be the Hogs defensive line against Anthony Dixon. I expect Dixon to have a big day, but if he has a huge day Arkansas will be in trouble. Our nightmare scenario is a game where he cranks out about 220 yards and 3 TDs, and leads a bunch of clock-killing drives to keep the ball away from Ryan Mallett and the offense, while also opening up some possibilities in your passing game. If that happens, we're legitimately in trouble.

Next after that will be Ryan Mallett versus your defensive line. If they can constantly get in his face and force him out of his comfort zone then it will be hard to get on track offensively. If he has time to stand back there and find his receivers, then watch out.

5. How do you see this game playing out? Mississippi State is a run-based spread offense, with flashes of a passing game. Arkansas is allowing 132 yards on the ground and is ranked near the bottom in pass defense and total defense. Will the offense just rack up enough points to put the Bulldogs out of reach or will it be a close game that comes down to the last few minutes?

I think this will be a tough game for the Hogs. You guys have just missed out on beating some good teams, and will be fired up to get a step closer to bowl eligibility. I expect a tough, physical game that's close for most of the time. Mallett and the offense are playing really well right now, so they'll put up some points - but I also think Dixon will counter with a big game of his own (at least one 50+ yard TD run is pretty much guaranteed). In the end, though, I think the Hogs' "bend but don't break" defense will keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone enough times to pull out the win.

Initial Impressions from the MSU Game

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:40:01 -0000

A few thoughts from the initial aftermath of the Tide's 31-3 win over Mississippi State:

From the outset, you really could not ask for anything more than we did against Mississippi State last night. Considering that we control our own destiny, all we really needed to do was find a way to win, stay healthy, and if we could win in a route then that was all lagniappe. And, sure enough, we found a way to do all three of those things against the Bullies. Again, you really couldn't ask for anything more.
Credit Mississippi State for showing up ready to play with an intense crowd. It was the biggest crowd MSU has ever had in Starkvegas, and it was a very good atmosphere from the outset. Moreover, MSU came out firing on all cylinders and gave us some legitimate troubles early. We obviously took control as the game moved on, but it certainly wasn't from a lack of effort on their part.
Defensively, we had a really slow start to this game, and for whatever reason MSU gave us a lot of trouble. On their first two possessions, Mississippi State had 85 yards on only 11 total plays and had a few legitimate big plays to boot. I still don't know exactly what happened, but they gave us a lot of problems early and we were fortunate that they ultimately shot themselves in the foot on both occasions. Fortunately, though, after Mark Barron's interception, the defense simply became dominating. After that, MSU had four possessions the rest of the way in the first half, all of which resulted in three and outs (twelve plays combined for a net of four yards).
Speaking of Mississippi State shooting themselves in the foot, that was something they consistently did all night and it was to our great benefit. They had a touchdown on the first play of the game with a decent throw, they stopped themselves on the fourth down try on the first possession, and the interception was a terrible throw by Lee. And that was just in the first six minutes of the game. From there, it really didn't get any better. Bumphis stepped out on a would-be kick return for a touchdown, they missed a chip shot field goal, and had a busted coverage that led to an easy touchdown for 'Bama. All in all, we played pretty well for the most part, but MSU did a lot to help our effort.
Offensively it was really a boom-or-bust night. Overall things look very good -- 31 points, 440+ yards of total offense, and 7.7 yards per play -- but those numbers are inflated by a lot of big plays. We had five really big plays in this game that combined to generate at least 21 points and about 230 yards of total offense. Outside of those five big plays, we really had very little success offensively... around 53 snaps offensively for about 200 yards (fewer than four yards per snap). We were basically either hitting huge plays or getting shut down.

Largely the same story goes for Mark Ingram. His raw stat line of 19 carries for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns looks great, but he earned it the hard way last night. The big 70-yard touchdown run inflates everything, but when you factor that out he had 18 carries for 79 yards (only 4.3 yards per carry). He played very well, as is usually the case, but the stat line doesn't really do his performance justice. This was far from an easy romp for him, and far from it he had to fight like hell to get everything that he did.

And not surprisingly, the same thing goes for the passing game. We had three big plays in the passing game, but aside from that we had 15 passing attempts net only 57 yards (3.8 yards per attempt). Again, the general theme of the night offensively was that we were basically either getting huge plays, or MSU was shutting us down. No real in-between to be found.

The touchdown pass to Darius Hanks was a blown coverage by Mississippi State. We had two receivers to the left of the formation -- Hanks and Julio Jones -- and they blitzed a cornerback from that side. That left two defenders matched up against our two wide receivers, and for some reason the Mississippi State safety just kind of lingered out there in no-man's land and didn't really cover anyone. That left Hanks wide open, and a good throw and catch resulted in a touchdown.

Hat tip to Trent Richardson for good pass protection on that play. He came across from the other side of the formation and did a good job picking up the blitzing defensive back, and that allowed this play to develop. Without that, this play likely ends in a sack.

The touchdown pass to Julio Jones was a blown coverage, too, but it honestly wouldn't have mattered one way or the other. Even without the blown coverage, Julio would have been manned up on a safety and McElroy delivered an absolute strike. The blown coverage made it easier, of course, but in reality this would have been a touchdown either way.

Both touchdown passes came on a variation of the same play, and in both cases Mississippi State blew it. It was a post / corner route combo in both situations, and they couldn't cover it either time.

Marquis Maze had another good night, and we targeted him more often than any other receiver, something that is becoming a bit of a trend. His long catch and run was an absolutely incredible play, and it alone gave us three points. Even with Julio, he may very well be our best playmaker on the outside now.

Offensively, I really don't get why we aren't throwing the football down the field more often. We only threw the football beyond 15 yards from the line of scrimmage a grand total of two times all of last night -- both of which came on busted coverages -- and that really had a very big effect on us offensively. Mississippi State compressed the hell out of everything, and that was really the big reason that we struggled to move the ball outside of those big plays. I just don't get it at all, really. It's one thing to not be able to throw the football vertically, but to not even try to throw it vertically? That I don't understand.

One of the biggest positives for the offense was that we had a complete lack of negative plays. We didn't commit a single offensive penalty, did not turn the football over, and did not give up a single sack. Any time you can do that, particularly against a team with a struggling offense, you move a lot closer to victory.

Defensively, Anthony Dixon had a fair amount of success, but as a unit we did what we really needed to do. Any time you face a team with very few weapons offensively, all you really need to do is relatively limit what little weapons that they have, and we did that with Dixon. He had a decent amount of success, as expected, but again we did what we needed to do.

Something to keep in mind, we spent a lot of time in nickel package defending the Mississippi State version of the spread option. Keep that in mind when we face Florida.

Marquis Johnson played a fine game last night and made several big plays. Interestingly enough, though, MSU kept going after him time and time again, something we should all keep our eyes on. It is clear that opposing offensive coordinators generally consider him the weakest link we have at corner, and they try to go at him accordingly. That means that he will have to step up and get the job done in key situations, and that is exactly what he did against MSU. It's really just shows you what kind of a defense we have when a player of this caliber is the nickel back.

Kareem Jackson... I don't think MSU threw a single pass in his direction all night long. I think that speaks volumes about his level of play.

Justin Woodall had a rough night, and I hate to say it but he has struggled in recent weeks. We're going to need him to play better football against Auburn and Florida.

Mark Barron, on the other hand, is becoming an absolute standout at safety. He gets better and better each week, and his amazing athleticism is showcasing itself even more as he gets more and more comfortable with his role. He's already one of the best safeties in the conference, and at this point the sky is the limit for him.

Kick coverage... what kick coverage? We effectively gave up the equivalent of two touchdowns on kick coverage breakdowns, yet MSU shot itself in the foot to the point that they didn't get a single point out of either one of them. Again, MSU was its own worst enemy for most of the night. As for us, well, we'll never beat Florida giving up yards like that, and they've got a much better returner than anyone the Bulldogs put on the field last night.

P.J. Fitzgerald did a nice job punting last night. He netted over 40 yards per punt, had no touchbacks, and downed two inside the twenty yard line.

Another 10-0 start for the Crimson Tide, it's 17th in school history. If that doesn't tell you all you need to know about our tradition, nothing will. It's incredibly hard to win football games in this conference, and to reel off 15 straight wins in regular season conference play really is an incredible feat.

All in all, it was a good night for the Tide. As I mentioned from the outset, all we really need to do until we get to Atlanta is to win and stay healthy, and we did that against Mississippi State. Tennessee-Chattanooga won't seriously challenge us -- the only thing that can get us there is injuries -- and that really leaves only Auburn left. I do think that Coach Saban is right... our best football is still out there, and we're going to have to play up to that level if we are indeed going to knock off Florida in Atlanta. For now, though, it's all a matter of positioning, and we are doing the things we need to do in order to put ourselves in the position we want to be in come the first week of December.

Final thought... Again, it's hard to win football games in this league, very hard. And any time you can start off 10-0 and go on the road in conference play and spank someone 31-3 in a game that their entire program had marked on their calender, that's just a great night. Again, it's very hard to win in this league, and it's even harder to do what we're doing. We basically wandered the wilderness for eleven seasons from 1997-2007, so just be glad that we are back where we want to be. Enjoy the spoils of success while they last.

The Mississippi State Preview

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:30:25 -0000

More photos » by Rogelio V. Solis - AP

Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf (14) reaches for a first quarter snap as offensive linemen Addison Lawrence (62) and Craig Jenkins (75) lead the rush against Jackson State during an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. Mississippi State won 45-7. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Browse more photos »

With it's 24-15 win over LSU, Alabama officially clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game when the first week of December rolls around. The divisional race is over, and the Tide will get its long awaited rematch with the Gators in Atlanta. Of course, though, with three games left on the regular season slate, Alabama still needs to win out to ensure itself that a trip to Pasadena will be on the line once we square off against Florida. Even with the SEC West in the bag, 'Bama still has everything to lose with one misstep.

Mississippi State, on the other hand, has been one of the surprises of the conference in 2009. They were widely expected to be very bad in Dan Mullen's debut campaign, but in fact they have been very competitive. They currently sit at 4-5 with hopes still alive of making a bowl game, and to date their biggest problem has been a ridiculously tough schedule that has forced them to face five top fifteen caliber teams in their first ten games.

Let's take a closer look at the match-ups.

Alabama Offense v. Mississippi State Defense

With his performance against LSU, if nothing else, Greg McElroy -- and the Alabama offense as a whole -- took a step in the right direction. Things are far from perfect to be sure. McElroy still made a lot of mistakes, the red zone inefficiencies continued, untimely penalties remained, and we only scored two touchdowns. Even so, for the first time since Arkansas left town, the Alabama offense clearly showed signs of improvement over its previous performance. We moved the football all afternoon, hit a couple of big plays, and Mark Ingram remained his usual dominant self. Moreover, both Julio Jones and Marquis Maze looked to healthy again, a big addition to the offense.

Exactly what Alabama does in this game is hard to say. The performance against LSU was promising of greater offensive production to come, but there were still enough mistakes made to cause someone to be legitimately concerned at the prospect of regression. Of course we all hope that the offensive juggernaut is close to returning, but no one can definitively claim that to be the case.

Making matters even more difficult to project is that we really do not know how we will attack this weekend. In the first half against LSU we spread the field, went with an empty backfield a relatively high percentage of the time, and threw 25 passes. In the second half, though, we significantly altered our offensive attack. Even when you factor out the three kneel downs to end the game, we nevertheless ran the football on 22 of the 33 offensive snaps in the second half, throwing only nine passes in the process (one of which was a trick play out of the Wildcat). In short, we went pass happy in the first half, but after getting little success via the air (only approximately 140 passing yards on 25 passing attempts), we flipped poles and went run heavy in the second half. Which end of the spectrum will Alabama be on this weekend? No one really knows.

The good news is that the Mississippi State defense looks to be the easiest we've faced since Arkansas headed back to Fayetteville. It's not necessarily a bad unit, mind you, but it has been far from impenetrable. The pass defense has been fairly decent, but the run defense has struggled and they have been unable to consistently rush the quarterback. Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush -- 'Bama fans will remember him as Franchione's defensive coordinator in 2001 and 2002 -- has done a good job of putting together a functional defense despite having the terrible triage of inexperience, a lack of top-end talent, and a lack of quality depth.

The strength of this Mississippi State defense is clearly in the linebacker corps. Starting middle linebacker Jamar Cheney is probably the best defensive player in the conference that you've never heard of, and K.J. Wright is a great athlete. Chris White rounds out the group, and he's a solid player in his own right. The quality depth isn't there, but it's no mistake that the top three tacklers on this defense all reside at linebacker, and if nothing else the frontline guys are generally very good.

The problem is that in the trenches and in the defensive backfield, the horses just aren't there. JUCO transfer Pernell McPhee -- a prospect 'Bama coaches were very high on -- has been great at defensive end, but the rest of the line has been fairly ineffective. It's basically a hodgepodge of middling players, mixed with some guys playing out of position and some kids barely removed from high school. Largely the same story goes for the defensive backfield as well. The secondary had a good bit in talent in 2008, but graduation has forced almost a total rebuild and while Torbush has done a pretty good job with those guys, it's far from an outstanding unit.

All told, for all of the good work that Torbush has done to date in Starkvegas, again this is still the weakest defensive unit we've faced since Arkansas. Depending on how our offense performs this Saturday, Mississippi State has enough shortcomings to present us with some opportunities. If we play relatively well on offense and continue to improve, we ought to score more than our fair share of points.

Alabama Defense v. Mississippi State Offense

The real advantage for the Tide, however, comes when our defense takes the field. Dan Mullen will eventually run the spread option in Starkvegas, but he just doesn't have the kind of players he is looking for right now. He did a good job in recruiting some talented players in his first recruiting class, and the early returns are relatively positive, but this is a unit that still has a long way to go. The Alabama defense, on the other hand, has practically been an immovable object for most of the season, and few teams have been able to muster any real amount of success.

To be sure, Mississippi State has shown a few signs of improvement offensively this year. Mullen has done a good job of molding his ideal offensive scheme to fit the unique skill sets of the players that he has on hand, and the end result of that is the Bulldogs end up with the look of a traditional I-formation power attack masquerading in a lot of spread option sets. This is still not a very good unit, and one that is still near the bottom of the SEC in both point and yardage production, but it's a clear improvement over a year ago, and it's certainly nowhere near as bad as they have been the past several years.

The strength for the Mississippi State offense is clearly in its backfield, particularly with senior tailback Anthony Dixon. The Jackson native was a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school when he signed with Sylvester Croom, and he could have gone just about anywhere in the country. Eschewing the notion that there is no role for a big tailback in the spread option, Dixon has had a standout senior season. He's already over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, and he's the best power runner that we will face all season. Much like former Bulldog Jerious Norwood, a career in the NFL awaits Mr. Dixon, and he should be respected accordingly. Moreover, Christian Ducre also gets a lot of touches at tailback, and he's a fine back in his own right. His biggest problem is simply the quality of the player in front of him.

And in all fairness, the Mississippi State offensive line is a fairly decent group in its own right. Left tackle Derek Sherrod is a bit raw, but no one doubts his athleticism, and the rest of the group has a decent amount of experience. They are far from world-beaters, but they haven't been the complete liability that many MSU offensive lines were during their darker periods of this decade. It probably says a fair amount about this group that Dixon and Ducre have had the success that they have had, and that they should finish near the top of the SEC in Adjusted Sack Rate.

The real problem for Mississippi State has been at quarterback and wide receiver. Tyson Lee does as good of a job as he can running the spread option, but realistically he's just not the guy they are looking for. He's entirely too small to be a pocket passer in this league, and the arm strength isn't very good either. Moreover, while he's a pretty decent runner, he's nowhere near the kind of quarterback who can get by on his athleticism alone. He's a tough competitor, but he simply hasn't been very productive. He hasn't been able to generate a lot of big plays in the passing game, likewise on the ground, and he turns the ball over entirely too much.

The wide receiver corps is really more of the same. True freshman Chad Bumphis is the best of the group -- and he's yet another one that Saban recruited very hard last year -- but it's rarely ever a good sign when a true freshman is clearly your most productive wide receiver. Brandon McRae, O'Neal Wilder, and Leon Berry are the starters, but none of them have really able to do anything special. It says quite a bit when, through nine games in a season, your most productive wide receiver doesn't even have 300 receiving yards.

All in all, the raw firepower just isn't there for the Bullies. Alabama will certainly have its hands full trying to stop Dixon -- and I imagine he will have his fair share of success -- but if the Alabama defense plays anything like it has throughout the rest of the season, it's hard to see Mississippi State scoring very many points unless we give them a lot of freebies with turnovers or special teams breakdowns. For 'Bama, limiting Dixon likely means bringing the MSU offensive attack to a halt. Even though it's a somewhat better unit than what we have faced from MSU in recent years, none of the Tide's previous four SEC opponents have been able to generate more than 13 points offensively, and the Bulldogs likely won't be able to break that streak either.

Putting It All Together

On paper, Alabama is clearly the better team between these two. We have far more high-end talent than the Bullies, likewise for quality depth, and frankly it's not even close in either category. We're a good bit better than Mississippi State in almost every single capacity regardless of how you analyze things, even on special teams. Based on that, you would say that Alabama ought to win this game in a relative route.

Of course, Dan Mullen and his Bulldogs deserve a lot of credit. These guys do not look particularly formidable on paper, yet somehow they've been able to pull it all together and make things work. As I mentioned earlier, they have played four legitimate top-fifteen caliber teams -- as of right now, those four teams have a combined record of 33-4 -- and have kept it close and competitive in every single contest, even though on paper those games should have been lopsided routes. I really see no reason to expect that they wouldn't do the same thing against Alabama.

Moreover, while the Alabama defense looks to be able to be its usual dominating self, again we really do not know what to expect offensively. Hopefully the juggernaut will return, but if the struggles continue I don't think anyone should be overly surprised. Furthermore, we're probably pretty beat up after a physical game with LSU, and I'm sure Mullen used the off week to his advantage. And finally, for whatever reason, Alabama has historically played sloppy football against Mississippi State.

All in all, I think you have to feel pretty confident about our chances for victory in this game if but for nothing more than our defense. On the other hand, though, a blowout is far from imminent, and this game looks to be a relatively close one. 'Bama probably won't lose, but we probably won't blow MSU out of the water, either. One way or the other, though, this week is just like any other week in the SEC... you play at a high level or you risk defeat. Hopefully the offense will continue to make steps in the right direction, the defense will continue to play at a high level, and that we can leave Starkvegas with the win in hand and a healthy squad heading back to Tuscaloosa.

Hope for the best.

Know Your Opponent: Alabama Crimson Tide

jeremyflint — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:35:22 -0000

I did a Q & A exchange with the folks over at Roll Bama Roll. Here is what they had to say. The Bulldogs and Tide kick off at 6pm Saturday night in Starkville. The game will be televised on ESPN. You can read my answers to their questions over at Roll Bama Roll.

1. Alabama seems to be playing games closer and closer as the season progresses, which is different from the early blowouts of non-conference teams like Clemson and even SEC West foe Arkansas. Are injuries becoming an issue, or is it just the competition is getting stiffer?

We've had season-ending injuries develop with a couple of contributors and one of the absolute stars of the team, but injuries haven't really been our problem, per se. Certainly we have had a ton of guys banged up with minor, nagging injuries, and that has slowed us down with the stretch run of the SEC schedule kicking in, but our biggest problems have been offensively. The passing game practically went in the tank after the Hogs left Tuscaloosa, and still hasn't entirely found its rhythm just yet. The lack of a passing game matched with our complete inability to convert in the red zone has just kept things closer than we would like in several of the games recently. To blow someone out you have to score a lot of points, and that's hard to do when you only score four offensive touchdowns in your previous four games.

2. Offensive production seems to be down in the past few games. I think McElroy's touchdown pass against LSU ended a 16-quarter streak with no TD pass. Did he finally come out of his slump against LSU?

Greg McElroy played better against LSU than he has at any time since Arkansas left. It was clearly a step in the right direction, and we certainly hope that he continues to improve as we close out the season over the course of the next several weeks. Without doubt, having both Julio Jones and Marquis Maze looking healthy and effectively over the nagging injuries they suffered earlier in the year helped out the passing game.

On the other hand, as I have mentioned several times this week, McElroy was far from flawless against LSU, and in fact made a lot of really bad mistakes. He missed a touchdown pass to Maze deep, missed another touchdown pass to Julio, threw a dumb interception in the red zone to close out the first half, missed a wide open Brad Smelley deep on a trick pass out of the Wildcat, held the ball too long taking a safety, and also made another dumb decision to throw the ball on the controversial incompletion / interception with Patrick Paterson. Furthermore, his stats are inflated greatly by the 73-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones, which being a simple wide receiver screen is really a play that most any quarterback would make.

So, again, he looked a lot better than he had in recent weeks and he did take a step in the right direction, but he also still did a lot of bad things too. It goes without saying that we hope that McElroy plays really well from here on out, but I'm really not sure anyone really knows what to expect out of him.

3. Everyone knows that Julio Jones and Mark Ingram are great offensive weapons. Who else does McElory have at his disposal for getting in to the end zone.

The two guys to keep your eye on in the passing game are tight end Colin Peek and wide receiver Marquis Maze. Peek is a great possession receiver at tight end, and he was actually the team's leading receiver prior to suffering a knee injury in pregame warm-ups against Tennessee (he'll play against you guys, but likely won't be 100%). Maze is actually the team's leading receiver in terms of yardage and yards per completion, and he is easily the team's best deep threat. He's a small, shifty guy that can beat you deep and make something happen after the catch.

In the running game, keep your eye on both Trent Richardson and Roy Upchurch. Both have looked good in all three phases of the game -- running, catching the ball out of the backfield, and in pass protection -- but Ingram's general dominance and a high ankle sprain early in the year to Upchurch have kept their touches limited a bit. Both have played at a high level when given the change, though, and with Upchurch completely healthy now, both are guys to keep your eyes on when they go into the game.

4. Defense is obviously the strong point of this Tide team with Cody up front, McClain at linebacker and Arenas in the secondary. How will they match up against Mississippi State and Anthony Dixon?

I've talked about MSU previously as being a team that forces you to make some hard decisions at time with regard to how to respond to their offense. You guys spread the field, but at the same time really pound between the tackles in the running game. As a defensive coordinator, you have to either choose to play the run with your normal set and hope that the passing game on the outside doesn't get you, or play nickel and dime and hope that your interior players can limit the run.

For 'Bama, we're multiple on defense. Saban loves to give a lot of different looks and use players in a variety of different roles, all of which is the hallmark of his defenses. I imagine our coaching staff likes how we match up on the outside with you guys, so expect to see some stuffing the box with man on the outside, but again we're a multiple defense that gives a lot of different looks, so I would say expect to see a little bit of everything defensively.

5. I think the current line on the game is somewhere around 14 points. How do you think the game will play out?

The line is around 12 points now, and I think that is probably about where this game will end up. Before the season I thought MSU was going to be an absolute trainwreck, but you guys have been a surprise this year and have been very competitive. You've played four teams to date that are legitimate top 15 teams, and kept it close with all of them. I really expect the same thing to happen when we make the trip to Starkvegas.

My thinking is that you guys shouldn't have much success offensively against our defensively. That puts us in a position to where, unless we beat ourselves, if our offense can do anything whatsoever then we should win. My thinking is that there is a small chance that 'Bama loses this game, but by the same token also a small chance that 'Bama wins in a blowout. I'm expecting a relatively close, relatively comfortable victory for the Tide on Saturday night.

SEC Power Poll Ballot -- Week 9

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:19:23 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - AP

Kickin' them Bulldogs around is fun, coach!

Browse more photos »

As we all know, and have said over and over, Kentucky took a big step back on Saturday versus Mississippi State, the second time in three years that the Bulldogs have come into Commonwealth Stadium and left with a Wildcat scalp.

Naturally, that did not help Kentucky in the Power Poll ballot, but some other teams' poor performance did (or in the case of Vanderbilt, lack of sustained performance). The top spot keeps flip-flopping back and forth between Florida and Alabama, and Florida's abuse of the Bulldogs in the World's Largest Cocktail Party makes it hard not to put them in the top spot, even if the Elephants did not play last week.

South Carolina also benefits from the failure of other teams recently even though they were bitten in the hind parts by Ol' Smoky, and Auburn returns to the top half of my ballot with an impressive win over the Ole Miss Rebels on the Plains. All in all, the entire thing is a mess south of the top three teams, and there is very little separating 4-7 and 8-11 as discrete subgroups. Vanderbilt is clearly the weakest team, and Florida or Alabama clearly the best with LSU remaining in the conversation. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess.

The aggregated results from all voters are at Team Speed Kills, as always. My ballot follows the jump.

My ballot:

Team	cWL	W-L	bWL	SoS	This week	MoV	PF-PA	Next opponent	Polls	Remarks
Florida	6-0	8-0	6-0	47.11	Vanderbilt	25.0	288-88	at South Carolina	1,[1!]	Tebow took away the Dawgs bone, and sent them home from Jacksonville without any supper.
Alabama	5-0	8-0	6-0	48.51	LSU	20.4	254-91	at Mississippi State	3,(3)	Open date, drop a spot.
LSU	4-1	7-1	5-1	45.68	at Alabama	14.3	211-97	Louisiana Tech	9,9	Beat up on Tulane, but next week they get to pick on a pachyderm their own size.
South Carolina	3-3	6-3	4-3	41.80	at Arkansas	2.9	197-171	Florida	37,31,35	Okay, so they got ambushed on Rocky top. But the Gamecocks have to go somewhere, and I can't see them behind Auburn yet.
Auburn	3-3	6-3	4-3	48.37	Furman	5.8	287-235	at Georgia	28,29	Big win by the Plainsmen over a fading Rebel squad.
Tennessee	2-3	4-4	2-4	50.72	Memphis	11.4	233-142	at Mississippi	35,37,32	Had some Palmetto State pullet for dinner, and now they get a weak CUSA squad.
Arkansas	1-4	4-4	2-4	49.93	South Carolina	8.5	287-219	Troy	45	This team can score, but can they stop an SEC team from crushing their defense?
Georgia	3-3	4-4	4-4	52.09	Tennessee Tech	-3.6	206-235	Auburn		After the debacle at the Cocktail Party, the Dawgs are in a bad way. Is it possible that they could wind up with a losing conference record?
Kentucky	1-4	4-4	2-4	53.92	Eastern Kentucky	1.9	207-192	at Vanderbilt		Kentucky has no excuse – You have to hold serve in the SEC against similar foes. Kentucky must now work hard for a Pizza bowl bid.
Mississippi State	2-3	4-5	2-4	54.96	open	2.3	242-221	Alabama		Anthony Dixon trod the Wildcats into the grass beneath his cleated feet.
Mississippi	2-3	5-3	2-3	41.77	Northern Arizona	12.9	231-128	Tennessee	41	It's a long way down from where the Rebels were back in September to where they are now.
Vanderbilt	0-5	2-7	0-6	41.33	at Florida	-3.8	164-198	Kentucky		For a half, I thought the 'Dores were going to deliver a shocker. But alas, the Yellowjackets insisted on playing that pesky second half.

So there you have it. Some might quibble with my placement of a few teams here, and I am not at all sanguine about many of them, but I really don't care that much. Most of the teams in the SEC this year could as easily wind up in the bottom third as the middle.

Your comments are welcome and encouraged.