SB Nation - Lorenzo Washington

Oh, What Might Have Been!

Acid Reign — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:40:51 -0000

Alabama escapes from Auburn, 26-21.

War Eagle, everybody. It's time now for the Acid Reign Report on the 2009 Iron Bowl. I'm of two minds about this game. Honestly, I think we should have won this game, but a few mistakes held us back. However, there is no questioning that Auburn put forth a superhuman effort. If Coach Gene Chizik and his staff can summon forth that sort energy in future Iron Bowls, we will do well!

In my keys to victory post 10 days ago, I said that the Tigers needed to chiefly do three things: run the ball, stop the run, and play turnover-free. There was a little bit of success running. Auburn stopped the run emphatically. Turnovers were costly. Both Chris Todd turnovers, a fumble and an interception, set up Bama field goal attempts. Leigh Tiffin honked one of those wide right, but the other was good, pulling Alabama within 1 point. Had we not had those turnovers, Wes Byrum might have been attempting a 54 yard field goal at the end to send it to overtime. I like Byrum's chances a lot better than a Hail Mary! Auburn also gave up avoiding kicking to Javier Arenas, and that cost Auburn. A 56 yard punt return set Alabama up at the Auburn 33, which resulted in another field goal. We'd have been better off punting it out of bounds for no gain, on that one!

The Tigers came out with a wide-open offensive game plan, utilizing all sorts of misdirection plays, reverses, double passes, and swinging gates. The scheme really slowed down the Alabama pursuit, and forced them to attack more than they wanted. When Alabama started crowding the line, that opened up the Auburn passing game. Unfortunately, the Tigers did not do a good job of taking advantage. Tommy Trott was doing such a good job blocking on the corner that Tide defenders were avoiding being in the same zip code with Trott. We tried several slant passes to Trott, and missed them all. We had a number of opportunities to get running backs loose on screens, but didn't pull the trigger till 3^rd down, when Bama was sitting back in zone coverage. We managed to burn Alabama's corner blitz package with an out and up for a 72 yard touchdown, but never tried it again. Alabama secondary members totaled 5.5 tackles for loss. There was opportunity to throw over them, but we could not do it.

Special teams had a few good plays, but were not very good, overall. There were multiple kickoffs out of bounds, multiple fumbled punts, short punts, and line drive punts. We let Javier Arenas get 3 returns, and he burned us for 102 yards on those. The few bright spots were a successful onside kick, 2 punts killed inside the 20 by Clinton Durst, and 99 kick return yards on 4 kickoffs.

For the first time all season, Auburn utilized a run-blitz package, and it paid dividends! Bama was forced to operate from the shotgun and try mostly short passes. When you've held Alabama to 73 rushing yards, with a first year linebacker and two first year safeties, you've done really well! With good pressure, Greg McElroy avoided the costly turnover, but he was forced into drive-killing bad throws. I'd say defensive coordinator Ted Roof called a brilliant defensive game plan, except for one play. On third and nine from the Auburn 33 in the second quarter, we went with a safety blitz and left a linebacker in man coverage with Colin Peek. That decision resulted in an easy Alabama TD pass. You just don't call safety blitzes on 3^rd and long! ESPECIALLY if you're going to hand an all-SEC tight end off to a linebacker to cover!

Unit Grades, after the jump.

Defensive Line: A. There is little to find fault with, here. Auburn had their best day of the season, up front! Antonio Coleman and Antoine Carter both proved that they could sacrifice personal glory and stats, to play great contain on the Alabama running game. When it was an obvious passing situation, Coleman took James Carpenter and Drew Davis to school a few times. The tackle-end twist worked well too, with Nick Fairley able to turn the corner on Bama tackles. Mike Blanc and Jake Ricks stoned the Bama line, and plugged the middle. Points off on one Jake Ricks offside penalty.

Linebackers: B+. This might have been the best game of the season for the linebackers. It certainly was, against teams with a pulse! True freshman Jonathan Evans stepped up and did not back down against Heisman Trophy candidate Mark Ingram. Bama ran it right at Evans and Evans responded with 8 solo tackles! Josh Bynes was a force, with ten total tackles. Points off on Craig Stevens vs. Bama's Preston Dial, Brad Smelley, and Colin Peek. Bama blockers mostly handled Stevens. Points off also on Josh Bynes letting Peek loose for a second quarter touchdown. Bynes should have never been put in that situation, though.

Secondary: B. Auburn did a good job in two deep zone, taking the long pass away from Alabama. The Tide did try to force a couple into coverage, and both Walter McFadden and Neiko Thorpe responded with pass breakups. Run support from the whole secondary was good, but not great. On Alabama's last drive, the safeties got played a bit. The big 17 yard catch and run on the screen to Trent Richardson was on the safeties. Bates barely hung on at the ten. The fullback on the game-winning touchdown was Washington's man. As you might expect, that was a difficult adjustment to ask of a first year player.

A note on the Auburn defense this season: When Gene Chizik first arrived in Auburn in 2002, he had a very talented defense to work with, including future pro stars Carlos Rogers, Carlos Dansby, Dontarrious Thomas, Reggie Torbor, Spencer Johnson, and Jay Ratliff. Still, it took awhile before those guys "got it." We were diced pretty badly, in the first half of the season, including giving up record rushing yards to Arkansas at home in a 38-17 loss. The light didn't really come on till late in the year, against Georgia, Bama, and Penn State. This year, Chizik and Roof have had to deal with a sub-par interior line, and a woefully thin back seven. Against Alabama, the light came on for this defense. There now seems to be some chemistry, and understanding of what the coaching staff wants. When the light came on in 2002, we were treated to some awesome defense for the next few years. For the 2009 Tiger defense, the light is now on again!

Punting: C+. If Clinton Durst had kicked every punt out of bounds for a 30 yard average, I'd have given the punting unit an A! Auburn did that early on, but in the second half they gave Javier Arenas some chances. Overall it was a solid performance. I hated giving up the 56 yard return, but we are hardly the only team Arenas has done that to! We ended up averaging a mediocre 40 yards per punt, with only a 31.6 yard net. Two punts killed inside the 20 helps this grade.

Punt Returns: D-. On five punts, dropped two on the ground. I pass this unit only because Auburn got both bobbles back. Priority one in the offseason is recruiting, priority two is finding and grooming a new quarterback. But I'd say that next on the list is finding a punt returner. This has been the worst year for Auburn punt returners EVER. We've had some bad years before, but nothing like this!

Kick Returns: C. Demond Washington averaged 24.8 yards on four returns. If that stat is compared to team averages this season, Washington would be tied for 3^rd in the SEC. Not bad, but against the last-place kick coverage team in the league, I had hoped for more.

Kickoffs: B. Morgan Hull kicked deep 3 times, and two of them went out of bounds. Against Javier Arenas, that's a favorable result. I'm surprised Bama didn't make us kick it again, on those! The two out of bounders gave Bama the ball at the 40. When we DID kick it to Arenas at the goal line, he returned it to the 46. Should have kicked all three out of bounds! The Tigers had a perfectly executed onside kick. It was brilliantly conceived, with the team acting lackadaisical, and not even lining up before Byrum suddenly just bunted that ball, and raced with it. It caught Alabama totally off-guard. That cat's out of the bag, I think. We won't be able to catch anyone else on that for at least five years!

Placekicking A+. Wes Byrum continued a near-perfect season by hitting all of his extra points. Byrum finishes the season having converted 14 of 15 field goals attempts, and 100% of his extra points. Magnificent!

Offensive Line: B+. It wouldn't be an Auburn football game without a Lee Ziemba false start. At least he got it over with in the first quarter. Ziemba had a pretty good day blocking on Lorenzo Washington and Brandon Deaderick, as did Andrew McCain. The two Tide ends combined for only 4 tackles, none for a loss. Auburn had less success dealing with Alabama blitzers. Eryk Anders was particularly elusive, racking up 3.5 tackles for loss, and 3 quarterback hurries. The Auburn line basically held their own, but didn't generate much push. Nearly all of Auburn's successful running plays were on trick plays to the outside. Pass protection was decent, most of the time.

Receivers: A. You can't ask for much more than these guys produced. They had great downfield blocking, no drops, and got a lot of separation on a very good Bama secondary. The greatest failure in this game was not utilizing these guys more. Both Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachary looked FAST against the Bama secondary.

Running Backs: C. Ben Tate ran hard, as did Onterrio McCalebb, but that's about all you can say. Great catch early for a touchdown, by Eric Smith. Blocking was quite poor, in this one. The only times the backs slowed Tide defenders down was when Ben Tate picked up a holding call. Mario Fannin bobbled a screen pass away that had the potential to go for a long TD. This might have been the worst day by the backs all year. Bonus points for no fumbles. Still, we needed a LOT better production blocking.

Quarterback: C-. Auburn had a plan to exploit the Alabama defense. When it moved to phase two, and we had to hit some short passes, we couldn't. Chris Todd had some nice downfield throws to Darvin Adams, but none to any other outside receivers. Terrell Zachary can run down the field all alone, and Todd will never look his way. Todd completed a decent amount of screen passes, but these were usually on third and long, and ended up well short of the first down. Todd missed the slant to Tommy Trott three times way high, ending up with an interception on the last one. Todd missed the quick hitch three times. Todd had a sack-fumble. Sack-fumbles are somewhat excusable from the blind side, but Todd was hit from the front. Sometimes a QB just has to fall down and eat it. After the first quarter, Todd kept us in the game with the 72-yard pass to Adams, but did very little beyond that. A half dozen better throws would have given Auburn a double digit win over the Tide.

I hate losing to Alabama, make no mistake about it. At home, it's an even more bitter pill to swallow. This one is easier than the last two Iron Bowl losses in Jordan Hare, because we appear to be on an upswing with our program. This is a game a more experienced Auburn squad might have dominated. It also makes one wonder where we'd be if we had played like this against Arkansas, against Kentucky, against LSU. Carrying the momentum over will be a challenge for the returning players and coaching staff.

My hat's off to Alabama. They got a lot more than they bargained for on this road trip, but they didn't panic. They didn't turn the ball over, and they didn't give up. Perseverance gave the Tide their second perfect regular season in a row. I think the Tide folks also know that they'll need a LOT better performance in the SEC Championship game, if they are to defeat the Gators.

It will be an exciting bowl and off season, for Auburn, but we must temper our expectations with realism. As Pat Dye said last week, next year's team won't be much better than this one. Problems will have to be worked on, and newcomers brought in that will play immediately. Nowhere will Auburn be hit harder by graduation than on the defensive line. The loss of Antonio Coleman and Jake Ricks will be huge. The loss of Walter McFadden will be big, too. McFadden was a top-flight cover corner, AND a great leader. Auburn will be solid kicking the ball, but will have to find a new punter. Returns and coverage were an absolute mess this season, and should see a lot of work. The offensive line will have to replace a tackle, and the replacement of seniors Tommy Trott, Ben Tate, and Chris Todd will not be easy. The quarterback race will be critical. Unless Kodi Burns makes a dramatic comeback, we'll be starting a green QB, next fall. If we learned nothing this season, we know that Malzhan's offense is heavily tied to quarterback play.

War Eagle to all, and have a great finish to Thanksgiving Weekend!

Senior Day in Bryant-Denny

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:26 -0000

by Ed Reinke - AP

Kentucky running back Moncell Allen is tackled by Senior Eryk Anders, bottom, Senior Javier Arenas (28) and Rolando McClain (25) during the first half of the Crimson Tide's victory at Kentucky.

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Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa will feature more than just the game against Tennessee-Chattanooga, for Saturday will also bring Senior Day, and for the senior class this will be their final game in Bryant-Denny Stadium. After spending years and years performing at 100 Bryant Drive, this will be the final time that this senior class will strap it up in front of the home crowd.

Given such an occasion, I think it's only fitting that we should pause for a moment and take a bit of reflection on this class and just how they got here. Things haven't always been easy for this group, and far from it in fact it has almost always been difficult. Most of them weren't very highly-touted recruits, and most of them signed with Alabama when our program was struggling. Adversity has really been a constant for them almost throughout their entire time at the Capstone, and what these men overcame to reach this level should not be forgotten.

Eryk Anders was a one-star recruit coming out of San Antonio that played nose guard in high school at a mere 195 pounds. He didn't get a single offer before Alabama swept in late, and was actually planning on being a walk-on at Ole Miss before Alabama came along in late June of 2005. Coach Saban himself didn't think he'd ever be a contributor when he arrived, and Anders actually told his father he was going to transfer in his hotel room the night of the 2007 Independence Bowl. His father encouraged him to stick with his commitment and get his degree, and he died later that night in his sleep with a heart attack. And Anders not only stuck around, but he came out of nowhere to thrive.

Cory Reamer was a two-star safety out of Hoover who drew little interest from most BCS conference schools. He actually grew up an Auburn fan, but the Tigers signed two more highly-touted safety prospects in the previous class -- Tony Bell and Lorenzo Ferguson, both of which eventually became busts -- and never really gave Reamer much of a look. He signed with Alabama, and then proceeded to blow out his left knee as a true freshman, and when Saban arrived he looked to be the epitome of a player that would get caught in the crunch of systems turnover. Yet Reamer turned into a starter at outside linebacker on an elite defense.

Mike Johnson was a two-star offensive lineman out of Pensacola. He participated on the camp circuits, but no one really ended up biting. Alabama offered and he was Tuscaloosa bound, which was just about the only major school recruiting him. He came out of nowhere in 2007, and will finish his career as a three-year starter and an All-SEC player. A lucrative career in the NFL awaits him when his tour of duty in Tuscaloosa comes to an end.

Javier Arenas was a late signee in the 2006 class. His only other offers were from Florida Atlantic and Florida International, and not only was he not a big deal on the national scene, he really wasn't even a big deal in his hometown of Tampa. Then UA special teams coach Dave Ungerer argued vehemently on his behalf for a scholarship as a returner, and after we missed on some other guys like in that class -- Peanut Whitehead, Tim Hawthorne, and others, most of which turned out to be busts -- we signed Arenas. We signed him thinking he'd be a returner, but since he has became arguably the greatest returner in Alabama history, and an All-SEC defensive back who will play on Sunday.

Drew Davis was a two-star recruit in the 2004 class. He played at a tiny private school, and drew really no interest whatsoever on the recruiting trails. Alabama, in fact, only gave him a greyshirt offer, despite a complete lack of depth along the offensive line, and more than a few 'Bama fans questioned his viability as a legitimate SEC caliber player. And in the first four years of his career, he was an afterthought. But in 2008 he burst onto the scene as a starter, and in 2009 he has been an All-SEC caliber player who has kept at least two five-star prospects sitting on the bench. So much for his viability as an SEC player, eh?

Others went through much of the same. Tyrone King was a walk-on transfer from Grambling... we never recruited him, but he decided to chase a dream anyway. Roy Upchurch has fought through no less than three major surgeries including two season-ending ankle injuries that threatened to end his career before it ever began. Mike McCoy turned down both of his home state schools to play at Alabama, had a redshirt year wasted by the previous coaching staff, and then watched arguably the biggest recruit we've ever had take away his role. Lorenzo Washington spurned his in-state Georgia Bulldogs for 'Bama, then endured a tour of duty at Hargrave, a redshirt year in Tuscaloosa, a major injury, played out of position at nose guard, and found himself relegated to the bench when Terrence Cody arrived. And speaking of Cody, he had to overcome poor academics and poor physical care of himself to be a star, but he conquered both obstacles. Marquis Johnson became the pin cushion for the entire fan base after he was forced into a situation that he never should have been in against Florida State in 2007, but he persevered and turned himself into a fine football player. Justin Woodall was put through pure hell when the hometown homers in Oxford realized he wasn't going to sign with the Rebels. Leigh Tiffin has endured more criticism than any kicker ever should. Ali Sharrief lost his role in the coaching turnover, but he remained a valuable contributor nevertheless. Colin Peek spurned 'Bama the first time around, but nevertheless still ended up in Tuscaloosa. Brandon Deaderick passed up on in-state Kentucky out of high school and turned into a starter at 'Bama. And then he got shot. Twice. And he kicked ass in the Georgia Dome four days later.

Obviously a lot of things have changed in Tuscaloosa the past several years. Most of these players actually signed with Mike Shula. When Lorenzo Washington and Drew Davis signed with the Tide, Alabama was coming off a 4-9 season, ineligible to participate in bowl games, and playing in a stadium that held all of 83,000 people. It had been a mere eight months since Mike Price was fired for his actions with Arety's Angels. Nick Saban, fresh off of a national championship, had signed what most LSU fans hoped would effectively be a lifetime contract to stay in Baton Rouge. Most 'Bama fans at the time were just hoping we could show enough improvement in 2004 to get somewhere like Shreveport or Nashville.

Now, though, Alabama finds itself at the opposite end of the spectrum. Nick Saban now resides in Tuscaloosa, and we look to play for a spot in the national championship game for the second year in a row. At the very least, we'll end up with back-to-back BCS game appearances, and we may very well find ourselves back in Pasadena for the first time an SEC team has made the trek since Frank Thomas' War Babies wrapped up an undefeated season by crushing USC in 1945. Recruiting is better than it has been since the glory days of the Bryant years, and shows no real signs of slowing down any time soon. We've got more top-end talent and quality depth in Tuscaloosa right now than we've had since the late 1970's. And Bryant-Denny Stadium? It will hold over 100,000 people this time next year.

Again, the times have changed in Tuscaloosa, and we should all acknowledge the role that all of these young men played in delivering us out of the dark ages. Our newfound recruiting juggernaut has helped tremendously, of course, but realistically recruiting has a very long lag time before it translates into on-field success -- rest assured, even for an elite recruiting class, players like Julio Jones and Dont'a Hightower are very much rarities -- and if you are going to have success in the interim, you are going to need some otherwise unknowns to turn into high-end players in their own right, and that is exactly what many of these young men have done. It has never been easy for them, but they have persevered in the face of adversity and played an immeasurable role in rebuilding our program.

Moving forward, I have no clue where we will go from here. We will thump Tennessee-Chattanooga and these men will walk out of Bryant-Denny for the final time as winners, that much I know, but after that I really haven't the slightest clue. We'll probably beat Auburn, but who knows? Maybe we fall at the hands of Florida in Atlanta again, maybe we pull off the upset. Maybe we beat Texas in Pasadena, maybe we lose to TCU in the Sugar Bowl. Who knows? Only time will tell for certain.

Regardless of how the season ultimately plays out, though, nothing should take away from what this group has done. They have literally played an instrumental role in rebuilding the Alabama football program back as a national powerhouse, and all those who bleed crimson and white ought to be forever indebted to them for that. If we have had a better senior class than this one in my lifetime, I'm not aware of it. And, moving forward, we can only hope that the senior classes to come can legitimately match what this group has done.

Initial Impressions from the Ole Miss Game

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:59:26 -0000

A few initial impressions from the Ole Miss game:

First and foremost, this is a big victory for the Tide. I know that some of the luster was taken off this game with Ole Miss' loss against South Carolina a couple of weeks back, but even so this game received lots of national attention yesterday, and it was the game that the pundits had circled all year long. To come out and win this type of game, on the road, is a big victory.
Aside from the fact that it was a big victory, everything becomes more impressive in context. We beat a top 20 SEC team, on the road, 22-3 -- a pretty good shellacking in its own right -- and truthfully the game shouldn't have been that close. As good as we have been, we continue to be unable to fire on all cylinders, and we left a lot of points on the board yesterday afternoon. It was a 22-3 game that, truth be told, should have been even more lopsided. No doubt about it... we absolutely trashed this Ole Miss team physically. It was like watching a heavyweight fight where one fighter is destroying his opponent, but cannot quite get the knock-out blow he wants until the late rounds.
The strength of the defense carried the day once again, and it's literally impossible to overstate the efforts those guys displayed. We got after Snead, completely shut down the running game, playing very tight coverage, and fought like hell for the football on every snap. If you were a coach putting on a clinic about how defense should be played, this is the game film you would put on as an example. I said this in the game thread yesterday, and in the sober reality of the day after I will reiterate here... this was the best defensive performance I've seen by an Alabama team since January 1st, 1993.
Offensively, well, that was another story, particularly with regard to offensive playcalling. It just never made any sense whatsoever to me, or just about anyone else for that matter, and it's just entirely too much to get into with an initial impressions piece. I'm going to have a full column up on this later this week, probably around Wednesday.
Greg McElroy easily had his worst day in crimson to date. I do think he was hampered a bit by poor play-calling, but even so he played poorly. He never looked comfortable in the pocket -- though the protection was probably about as good as you could expect against a front four like Ole Miss has -- and the way that he forced the ball to Julio Jones at times was almost laughable. He just looked like a completely different quarterback than we've seen to date. He honestly reminded me of John Parker Wilson circa 2006 or 2007 yesterday. I hate to be so negative about the kid, but... 43% completion percentage, 4.3 yards per attempt... all the crimson Kool-Aid in the world doesn't make that look good. It goes without saying that McElroy needs to play a lot better moving forward.
That said, it just shows you good of an overall team we have when we can have such, um, shall we say "questionable" play-calling and quarterback play, and still win in a romp over a quality SEC team on the road. Teams that could do this are very much few and far between.

Mark Ingram had an incredible day all the way around. He ran over 170 yards on the ground, and had a big catch out of the backfield for a first down. He's really turning himself into a complete back with his pass blocking abilities and his ability to catch the football out of the backfield. Honestly, the only real problem was that he just didn't get the ball enough. The 28 carries is really deceptive when showing how we used him, because so many of those carries came very late when we were running the clock.

Cory Reamer had a career day, easily his best day in crimson. He looked a lot better at strongside linebacker, and he was a special teams standout with two huge plays. Likewise, Kareem Jackson had easily his best day to date. He looked like a legitimate shutdown corner yesterday, and that is the best performance we've had from a corner in ages.

Robby Green is getting almost no publicity, but he is doing an outstanding job at safety. He forced a turnover on a well-timed safety blitz, and he continues to have a knack forcing big incompletions downfield by ripping the ball out. He isn't getting much attention, but he is playing a lot of snaps and is making some big plays. He has quickly turned into a fine player. Glad we have him for three more years.

Is there a more underrated player in the conference than Lorenzo Washington? He starts on a defense where the starter designation alone more than justifies your plate at the table, and he's playing damn well. He's tough against the run, and he's probably our most underrated pass rusher. He was just punishing Ole Miss offensive linemen yesterday. You've got to love Lo', no doubt about it. He spurned in-state Georgia for us way back in 2004, barely eight months after the Mike Price strip club fiasco, fought all through the Shula era, overcame injuries, played out of position in 2007, watched himself become demoted to a back-up with the rise of Terrence Cody, and somehow overcame it all. The young man bleeds crimson, simply put, and someone should recognize what he has done. At the very least, I bet he has some NFL scouts watching.

Give credit to our defense, Ole Miss did everything they could to get McCluster involved, and we made him a total non-factor. Nine touches for 37 yards and a big fumble. Goodness.

Jevan Snead yesterday... 11-34 for 140 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, sacked twice. That's a completion percentage of only 32%, averaging 4.11 yards per attempt, and a 43.4 QB rating. I know Snead is overrated, like I've said for ages, but still... that is one damn fine defense. He isn't anywhere near that bad.

I hated the fake punt call. Not because of the ball, but because we absolutely wasted a good, converted fake punt. You pick up a big fake punt, and four plays later Fitzgerald is punting it out of the back of the end zone. It was a huge risk that basically got us nothing. Hate to see that.

The Trent Richardson fumble late was disappointing, but I'm not complaining. It was a good strip by the Ole Miss defender, and in all fairness it was a good run too. He's played fine at tailback this year, and he'll overcome it. Besides, the kid can definitely pass block, always a rarity for a true freshman, and he may very well be our best player on the kick coverage unit. He blows people up left and right.

After the early drop, Julio played very well. The production wasn't there, but again it wasn't his fault. He faced double coverage all day, and most of the throws in his direction were just terrible decisions by McElroy. Besides, he got hosed on at least one pass interference call. He's not 100%, but he's still unreal good.

Emmanuel Stephens played a fine game for Ole Miss today. We couldn't block him off the edge. And he's a back-up, which ought to tell you how good the rest of the Ole Miss defensive end rotation is. Thank goodness he's a senior.

Speaking of senior Ole Miss defensive ends, thank God Greg Hardy is finally gone. After three years, our long crimson nightmare is finally over. And the scary thing is, he's that tough to stop and clearly not 100%. If he ever gets completely healthy, he'll fill a graveyard with quarterbacks.

Lots of odd stuff today from 'Bama, play-calling aside. Why was there so little Terrence Cody? He was there, and he played damn well when he was in, but he barely played. He generally wasn't even in the game in obvious run situations, which is his specialty. I have no clue there. And what about Roy Upchurch, where was he? As much as we threw the ball, you would think he would get some time considering he is our best pass blocking back and our best receiver out of the backfield, but he never got off the bench. All in all, lots of odd stuff in Oxford.

Colin Peek... great catch early, but it went south quickly. He dropped a big touchdown pass, and cost us about 50 yards of field position on a holding on an Arenas' kick return. He's played great at times, but poorly at times too. If nothing else, he leads the team with dropped touchdown passes with three.

We are the kinds of pre-snap penalties on offense. I'm serious, we ought to get a trophy created for ourselves. Nothing gets you beat like pre-snap penalties on offense, and we are addicted to them.

Along those same lines, the red zone efficiency is terrible. Or better yet, I should say that red zone efficiency is decent. We do fine inside the 20, it's inside the 10 that we decide we're going to do everything in our power to keep from getting in the end zone.

P.J. Fitzgerald has looked much better this year on the whole, but he is still killing us with his inability to pin teams up deep. He's the king of hitting a 48-yard punt from the opponent 42-yard line. Unless Fitzgerald can do a lot better soon in this regard, we need to get a lot more aggressive in terms of going for it on fourth down. These punts netting 15 or 20 yards are killing us.

Big day from Leigh Tiffin today. I'm traditionally a big critic of Tiffin -- and I think rightly so -- but he did a good job today. He went 5-5 today, and while several weren't pretty, they got the job done. He came up big today, and if he had struggled, we would have been in a world of hurt. Kudos, Leigh.

Dear Pat Patterson and Bobby Massie, do you still feel good about picking Ole Miss? I hope you now understand why five-star recruits generally don't choose schools that haven't won their conference since the week after JFK got shot.

And speaking of Ole Miss' future, this team is going to be an absolute shell of its current self when it returns to Tuscaloosa next year. Snead returns, but from my count they are going to lose something like 14 starters. Jerry, Hodge, McCluster, Tillman, Hardy, Trahan, Green, Vaughn, and Lewis will all be gone, plus a lot of other starters on the offensive line. Anything can happen in any game, of course, but we've beat Ole Miss six straight years now, and this was clearly their best chance to get us for quite a few years. The Orgeron talent is quickly going away, and the recruiting hasn't been at a high enough level to not have a drop-off in the coming years. This was this their year -- both for beating us, and getting to Atlanta -- and we roughed 'em up good.

All in all, we still haven't played a complete game to yet. We're beating ourselves with dumb penalties, poor decision-making, and leaving points on the board. Nevertheless, we legitimately look this good even when not firing on all cylinders? All you can say is that we are one hell of a team, period. And if we ever can truly get it all together, we are absolutely going to smoke people.

Week Five Preview: #3 Alabama at Kentucky

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:15:10 -0000

More photos » by James Crisp - AP

2 months ago: Kentucky coach Rich Brooks looks on during the second half of their NCAA college football game against Florida in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

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Almost a year to the day after earning an ugly, 17-14 win over Kentucky in Tuscaloosa, the Tide now takes the return trip to Lexington for the re-match. Historically Alabama has dominated this series, putting it mildly, and the Tide is once again a heavy favorite as we go into Lexington. Of course, though, the Kentucky program under Rich Brooks is a far better one than the Tide has historically faced when going up against the Wildcats, and conference wins rarely come easy. Kentucky is a formidable foe in their own right, and they present the Alabama coaching staff plenty of challenges. Let's take a closer look at the match-ups.

Alabama Offense v. Kentucky Defense

Despite being a general juggernaut throughout the first four games of the season -- averaging over 35 points and about 500 yards of total offense per game -- the Alabama offense did encounter its first real problems of the season last week against Arkansas, as the Hogs were able to shut down the Tide's running game. Thankfully we still scored a lot of points because we had three long touchdowns, plus one short drive created by Lorenzo Washington's blocked punt, but the chink in the armor was nevertheless somewhat revealed. Simply put, the Hogs had a big, physical defensive front seven, they committed the resources necessary to stop the run, and we simply could not do much with it.

And in all fairness to Kentucky, the Wildcats do have a fine defense. Oddly enough, after spending years of having a prolific offense mixed with a defense that couldn't stop anyone, Kentucky now sports a fine defense, and it will easily be one of the best defenses we face all season. It's just a good group, top-to-bottom, with good coaching and a couple of legitimate star players to boot.

The defensive front seven, much like last week against Arkansas, does present some major issues simply because they are big and physical. The front four averages around 270 pounds, with a couple of 300 pound players in Corey Peters and Ricky Lumpkin anchoring the interior defensive line. The defensive ends are about as big as you will find for legitimate 4-3 teams, and the linebacker corps is big even by 3-4 standards. As a whole the corps averages around 240 pounds, while standout Micah Johnson comes in at around 260 pounds and Sam Maxwell is nearly as big. Bottom line, just like Arkansas a week ago, this is a very big, physical defensive front seven, and that will probably give us a lot of issues up front.

In particular, don't sleep on Micah Johnson. He is probably the best defensive player in the SEC you've never heard of, and it's only because he isn't playing for a high-profile program. He was a five-star recruit out of high school that could have legitimately gone to any school in the country, and he's practically been a standout player since first setting foot on campus. Truth be told, he's every bit as good as Rolando McClain or Brandon Spikes, and he will play on Sunday one day very soon. He can make a very big impact on a game, and we'll have to do all we can to limit his effectiveness. If he played for a high-profile program like Alabama or Florida, everyone in the country would know his name.

The biggest concern, though, that this defense poses as a whole is their ability to play the pass. Arkansas was big and physical in the front seven, but they couldn't rush the passer effectively, nor did their defensive backs cover well in space. Perhaps not too surprisingly, then, the Hogs shut down the running game with ease, but were torched in the passing game by Greg McElroy and company. Kentucky, on the other hand, faces no such limitation. Kentucky is big and physical in the front seven, but they can also effectively rush the passer, and they also have a fine defensive backfield to boot. Simply put, that's a big problem for 'Bama.

The pass rush itself is probably one of the best in the conference. The off-season loss of Jeremy Jarmon -- Jarmon tested positive for a banned supplement, lost a year of eligibility, and entered the NFL Supplemental Draft -- was a big one for the 'Cats, but the pass rush hasn't exactly struggled in his absence. Junior college transfer DeQuin Evans has played well in his place, and Collins Ukwu has been a force at times as well. Moreover, freshman Taylor Windham brings a lot of speed off the edge and he has already proven that he can rush the passer well (see the knockout blow on Tim Tebow last weekend). The Kentucky defense has racked up seven sacks this year on 79 passing attempts, so they have already showcased an ability to get after the quarterback.

That's bad enough for the Alabama offense, but making matters worse is the strength of the Kentucky defensive backfield. Cornerback Trevard Lindley is easily the cornerback in the SEC, and he will be a first round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. He's an impact player who opposing teams generally loathe throwing against, but unfortunately the rest of the Kentucky defensive backfield is a solid group as well. Paul Warford normally starts opposite Lindley at cornerback, but he is missing the Alabama game with an injury, and Randall Burden will play in his place. The good news for Kentucky is that Burden seems like a solid option, and if nothing else he can really dance. Likewise, Winston Guy and Calvin Harrison really aren't game-changers at safety, but both are decent players at this stage who can get the job done.

All in all, the Kentucky defense is a fine one, and they present a lot of problems for the Alabama offense. They are big and physical enough to stop the run, and once they stop the run, you have to throw the football successfully, and to that end they can rush the passer and cover in the defensive backfield. Again, it's a fine unit, and if they can stay healthy it's perhaps the best defense the Tide will face all year. Objectively speaking, points ought to be hard to come by.

Alabama Defense v. Kentucky Offense

Remember earlier when I talked about how Kentucky used to be a team with a prolific offense and a laughable defense? Well, now the roles have entirely reversed, and its the offense that suddenly cannot get out of its own way. The Wildcats finished 87th in the country last year in scoring offense, and if the early returns are any indicator this offense is likely to much more closely resemble the 2008 offense than it does either the 2006 or 2007 units.

The biggest problem that this offense faces is simply that they don't have a lot of high-end players, particularly at the skill positions. At quarterback, Mike Hartline is a big, tall quarterback with decent mobility, but that is generally where his positive attributes end. He can put up a good completion percentage when throwing a lot of dink and dunk routes, but he doesn't have the arm you would probably imagine given his frame, nor is he overly accurate. On the whole, most of the time he's just an average-at-best passer.

Likewise, there are really no true game-changers at the skill positions. Randall Cobb, the former quarterback, is really the only true playmaker on the outside, and in general Kentucky does absolutely everything in their power to get the ball in his hands (including putting Cobb in the Wildcat). Aside from Cobb, though, there is just really nothing of note on the outside. Chris Matthews and Matt Roark are both very big targets (at around 6'5), but neither are particularly athletic and they have struggled to get separation. Kyrus Lanxter has been slowed by injuries, and while T.C. Drake is a decent tight end, he's probably not as good as Jacob Tamme was back when the Wildcats could really light up the scoreboard. Truth be told, outside of Cobb, their best receiver is likely the speedy Derrick Locke, a tailback, coming out of the backfield.

And speaking of tailbacks, Kentucky has a decent group there that generally features a mix of size and speed. Derrick Locke is the speedster of the group, and he is one of the quickest backs in the SEC. Physically he is almost a clone of Arkansas' Michael Smith, and he brings to the table the same strengths and weaknesses. The Wildcats, however, do have some physical backs that they use to run inside, so they can attack you in more ways than one. Both Alfonso Smith and Moncell Allen are physical tailbacks well over 200 pounds that can pound the interior running game. Likewise, fullback John Conner -- not related to this guy -- is a legitimate threat at fullback as a runner, receiver, and blocker.

The biggest strength of this offense is clearly at the point of attack with the offensive line. This is the most experienced offensive line in the SEC, and they start four seniors. Left tackle Zipp Duncan and right tackle Justin Jeffries are probably the best two players of the group, but the interior linemen aren't exactly shabby in their own right. It's not a unit featuring any true standout players, per se, but it's a capable group. They aren't mashers in the running game, mind you, but they do generally do a good job of protecting the quarterback. Kentucky quarterbacks have only been sacked three times this year on roughly 90 passing attempts, so these guys can clearly get the job done in pass protection.

All in all, though, again, this Kentucky offense just isn't very good. There simply aren't enough playmakers at the skill positions, and the quarterback isn't a standout player either. The offensive line is a solid group, as are the tailbacks, but they don't do enough in their own right to be able to overcome all of the shortcomings everywhere else that would allow Kentucky to truly light up the scoreboard.

As a whole, you really have to feel confident about how the Alabama defense looks to match up here. Kentucky is a physical team that likes to run the football, but even with the absence of Dont'a Hightower, it's hard to see this team having very much success against the Alabama defense on the ground. Likewise, while the Tide may struggle a bit to get to the passer, it's hard to see Kentucky having a lot of success in the passing game considering they lack quality depth at wide receiver or a consistently effective passing quarterback.

Putting It All Together

In the grand scheme of things, you really have to like the Tide's chances of winning this game. I think it's clear that we are the better team here, and there is a legitimate reason that we are favored going into this game.

On the other hand, though, Kentucky is no pushover. They may struggle offensively, but this is a good football team, and I personally think that Rich Brooks is easily one of the most underrated coaches of his generation. These guys have made three straight bowl games, and they will likely make a fourth straight in 2009. Likewise, after getting embarrassed by Florida, expect this Kentucky team to show up Saturday morning in Lexington like they just ate nails for breakfast. They'll be ready to play a long, physical contest, rest assured of that.

The good news is that the Kentucky offense ought to have very little success in terms of point production, unless we really give them some cheap points via turnovers and special teams breakdowns (speaking of which, Locke had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown against Louisville). That said, unless we can really improve in terms of run blocking, the Kentucky defense may very well shut our offense down as well, and we could be in for another long, ugly, low-scoring game much like we had a year ago. Those who think that the Tide is simply going to walk into Lexington and come away with an easy win are probably in for a rude awakening come Saturday. Unless we suddenly play a lot better up front, or Kentucky decides to beat itself for the second week in a row, this is a game that is likely to be close going into the latter stages of the contest.

Hope for the best.

Box Score and Such: Alabama vs Arkansas

Todd — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:30:26 -0000


1st Downs	14	18
3rd Down Efficiency	2-14 (14%)	6-15 (40%)
4th Down Efficiency	1-3 (33%)	0-1
Total Yards	254	425
Passing	191	291
Comp-Att	16-41 (39%)	17-24 (71%)
Yards per Pass	4.7	12.1
Rushing	63	134
Attempts	26	41
Yards per Rush	2.4	3.3
Penalties	11-98	7-60
Turnovers	1	0
Fumbles Lost	0	0
Interceptions Thrown	1	0
Time of Possession	26:24	33:36

Snap Judgements:

Back below 50% on 3rd down (only against UNT have we converted more than half of our 3rd downs).
Rushing was horrible. We just aren't going to be lining up and running right down people's throats this season. Thank goodness we have some incredibly gifted backs that can make things happen on their own.
Penalties are rearing their ugly heads again, though honestly I didn't remember us being penalized that much from the game until I looked at the box score. Maybe I'm just used to it now?
The defense cut Arkansas's offensive production against Georgia almost in half (485 vs 254) and made Ryan Mallet look fairly pedestrian. Marcell Dareus says "you're welcome."

Players of the Game

Offense - Trent Richardson

vs Arkansas / 9.26.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Trent Richardson	9	65	7.2	1	2	16	8	0

Take away the 52 yard TD run and suddenly Richardson has only a 1.6 ypc on 8 carries, but in a game where we struggled to run the ball (Ingram carried the load with 17 rushes for a grand total of 50 yards and a 2.9 ypc), watching Richardson break four tackles and turn what should have been a three yard loss into a 52 yard score (the first of the game, no less) seemed to spark the offense out of it's funk and opened the floodgate of big plays to follow.

Honorable Mention: Greg McElroy

McElroy continues to be the engine that drives the offense, with a stellar 17 of 24 for 291 yards and three TDs. Considering his first three incomplete passes were drops, he's as accurate as we could ever hope for a QB to be. He is pretty much carrying this team while we continue to struggle on the ground.

Defense: Javier Arenas

Five total tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks (and likely more if he hadn't been held all game long). Javy hasn't done much as a CB this season with offenses throwing away from him and our remaining in that nickel/3-3-5 look with him at Star, but he's made an impact on defense nonetheless as a pass rusher.

Honorable Mention: Lorenzo Washington

Washington's blocked punt in the third quarter set up a 5 play, 35 yard TD drive to effectively end any chance of an Arkansas rally.

Week Four Preview: #3 Alabama vs Arkansas Overview

outsidethesidelines — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:00:33 -0000

More photos » by April L. Brown - AP

Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett is the best pure passer Alabama has faced this season.

Browse more photos »

The 49-14 thumping that Alabama put on Arkansas last year in Fayetteville was easily the most lopsided game this series has seen in a decade. Last year's game, however, was also an anomaly as this series generally sees close, hard-fought contests, and none should expect another crimson landslide for a second year in a row.

There are two majors reasons for that: One, Arkansas looks to be a much better team this year than they were a year ago, and two, last year's game was much closer than the scoreboard indicated. Lopsided score notwithstanding, last year's game was actually played pretty evenly by the two teams, and the massive disparity on the scoreboard resulted from four major players all going Alabama's way. Those four plays were Glen Coffee's long touchdown run, Casey Dick's two interceptions (while driving) that were returned for touchdowns, and Terrence Cody's goal line stand to end the first half, and all of them directly resulted in Alabama touchdowns. Don't expect all of the big plays to go the Tide's way this year, and thus a much closer game this time around.

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

Alabama Offense v. Arkansas Defense

On the surface, this seems like a lopsided match-up in the Tide's favor. The Alabama offense has been surprisingly effective to date -- 500+ yards of total offense in each of the first three games, and 127 total points -- and Greg McElroy has exceeded all reasonable expectations. The offensive line was a major question mark coming into the season, and while penalties have hurt them somewhat, they've still generally gotten the job done. Even with Julio Jones not even playing in more than half of the offensive snaps to date, nothing has really been able to slow down the Tide's offense. On the other hand, Arkansas' defense has been nothing short of abysmal to date. It was a very bad unit a year ago, and unfortunately for the Hog faithful it's one that has shown little or no improvement since.

So is it just a given that the Alabama offense is going to rack up points left and right against Arkansas? Perhaps, but let's not be so fast.

An objective look at Arkansas' defense yields a group that is very light on elite top-end talent and quality depth throughout the roster, but even so this unit may not be as hapless as many would make it seem. Clearly the Hogs had a disastrous performance last week against Georgia, but it is worth noting that performance came almost entirely without the presence of two of Arkansas' best defenders: middle linebacker Jerry Franklin and cornerback Rudell Crim. Franklin is the leader of the linebacker corps and he was ejected in the second quarter, and Crim is the team's best cornerback, but he went out with leg cramps early. And as if missing two of their best players wasn't a big enough issue in its own right, their replacements -- Terrell Williams and Greg Gatson -- were effectively outright disasters. Franklin will be back this week, however, and you can rest assured that the Arkansas medical staff will have Crim properly hydrated this time around, so their returns alone will go a long way towards improving this Arkansas defense.

The big concern for Alabama, most likely, comes in the running game. The offensive line is still a bit of an unknown commodity, and for all of the criticisms of the Arkansas defense, we really haven't been challenged in the way that this Hog front seven will challenge us. Given our proclivity towards using two-tight end sets, we practically lost five starters at the point of attack from a year ago (Andre Smith, Antoine Caldwell, Marlon Davis, Travis McCall, and Nick Walker), and the replacements for those five starters simply don't have the size that their predecessors did. Combined we are about 100 pounds lighter at the point of attack than we were last year -- which is to say nothing of the fact that the combination of Preston Dial and Brad Smelley isn't near the blocker that Travis McCall was, size differential notwithstanding -- and that alone probably means that we cannot dominate teams in the trenches like we did a year ago.

And that is where Arkansas really challenges us. For all of the criticisms of their defense, this is a big, strong unit in the front seven, and that is something we really haven't seen this year. Virginia Tech openly traded size for speed, and both Florida International and North Texas were clearly outmatched physically. Arkansas, however, is a very different animal altogether. They average nearly 280 pounds in the front four, the linebacker corps averages around 235 pounds, and with Malcom Sheppard manning the defensive tackle position, they will be able to match our physical style of play. In all likelihood, if the Arkansas defense is to slow down the Alabama offense, this is likely how they will have to do it.

Unfortunately, however, the rest of the match-ups for the Hogs simply do not look good.

Looking at the rest of the defensive backfield, even with a healthy Rudell Crim, the secondary is still one of the worst in the conference. Starting opposite Crim is Ramon Broadway, but Broadway has made news for three things this year, none of which are good for the Hogs: Getting arrested for not showing up to traffic court, running his mouth before the Georgia game, and ultimately getting lit up by A.J. Green. He's a below average corner in coverage, and the same thing goes for the rest of the rotation at cornerback. Highly-touted true freshman Darius Winston -- a consensus five-star prospect -- has not been able to make any impact whatsoever. Likewise, the safety play from Tramain Thomas and Matt Harris has impressed no one to date.

Largely the same thing goes for the linebacker corps as well. Jerry Franklin is a fine player at middle linebacker, but while the starters surrounding him, Wendel Davis and Freddy Burton, have a good bit of size, neither of the two look to be particularly good players right now. The aforementioned Terrell Williams struggled greatly last weekend trying to fill in for Franklin, and while Jerico Nelson is a good player against the pass, at barely 200 pounds he struggles to get on the field on running downs, thus limiting his effectiveness.

The best match-up of all may very well come against the Arkansas defensive line in the passing game, which has struggled to rush the passer. Jake Bequette and Adrian Davis start at defensive end, but neither are particularly adept pass rushers, and while Sheppard is more active than your typical interior player, there's only so much you can legitimately expect when you need your interior defensive linemen to generate the bulk of your pass rush. Despite Georgia being without its starting left tackle last week, Arkansas still couldn't muster any pressure whatsoever on Joe Cox, ultimately racking up only one sack and one hurry on approximately 30 passing attempts. Alabama may still have some issues protecting off the edge, but Greg McElroy ought to find himself with plenty of time to throw the football.

All in all, the Arkansas defense may be a bit better than it has been given credit for, and at any rate Alabama is still going to have to come out and execute successfully over the course of 60-70 plays to get the job done. Nevertheless, you still have to think that the Tide will put up more than their fair share of points this weekend. Arkansas may make running the football tough, but Arkansas' porous defensive backfield mixed with a lack of a consistent pass rush is likely a lethal combination in and of itself if Greg McElroy continues to play like he has so far this year.

Alabama Defense v. Arkansas Offense

While most expect the Alabama offense to have a big day against the struggling Arkansas defense, it's clear to everyone that it will be strength on strength when the Arkansas offense comes on the field. Both the Alabama defense and the Arkansas offense have the ability to be among the nationally elite with regard to their respective units, and making matters even more intriguing both units are led by two of the most advanced football minds in all of college football.

The Arkansas offense is a scary group, no two ways about it. Ryan Mallett has the arm strength of JaMarcus Russell, and he is easily the best pure pocket passer that Alabama has faced in years. The backfield is loaded with talented tailbacks that bring experience along with their unique mixes and matches of different physical builds. Tight end D.J. Williams is clearly the best in the conference, and back-up Ben Cleveland is a very valuable threat as a possession receiver. The wide receiver corps, too, is a good one from top to bottom. They don't have a true superstar ala Julio Jones, but they do have five or six high quality wide receivers who have good athleticism and who run good routes -- Greg Childs, Jarius Wright, and Joe Adams are good enough to begin with, and Lucas Miller is returning this week from injury. That alone makes the Hogs very difficult to defend on the perimeter, even without saying anything with regard to Mallett. Bottom line, at the very least, this is the third-best offense in the conference, and it could easily be the best.

The only real weakness of the Arkansas offense comes up front at the point of attack, where the Hogs offensive line is seemingly still a relic of the Houston Nutt era. All five starters committed to Nutt, and not surprisingly they are generally the big, physical mashers that Nutt loved so much in his run-heavy offense. The "smallest" player on the line comes in at around 6'5 and 305 pounds, and truthfully that fact is probably doing the Hogs few favors. This line is, on the whole, a fish out of water. They are more physically built to pave the way for a run-heavy offense, but with the coaching turnover they are now being asked to pass protect against highly athletic pass rushers in a pass-happy offense. On a fundamental level it's effectively a recipe for disaster, and not surprisingly it's a team that has struggled to a degree to protect the passer. Starting right tackle DeMarcus Love probably needs to be playing inside at guard, and starting left tackle Ray Dominguez was absolutely atrocious against Georgia with four penalties and one sack allowed. The left tackle of the future is Anthony Oden, the younger brother of basketball star Greg Oden. He'll be a star one day, and the Arkansas coaches have indicated he may play some this week against Alabama, but he's a true freshman and given Nick Saban's love for giving multiple fronts that confuse offensive linemen, I'm not sure exactly how eager the Arkansas coaching staff is to put him in front of 93,000 fans. Nevertheless, if Dominguez' struggles continue, the Hogs' hand may be forced.

And this is the weakness that the Alabama defense must successfully attack to limit the Arkansas offense. The performance of our defensive backfield has been solid but not spectacular to date -- the overall statistics look good, but safety play has been shaky and highly inconsistent, Kareem Jackson has been hit or miss, and Marquis Johnson had a key penalty against Virginia Tech -- but the simple truth of the matter is that if Ryan Mallett consistently has the time to throw, it's going to be a very long day for the Tide. The Arkansas wide receiver corps is too good and Ryan Mallett has too much arm strength and accuracy to expect to be able to consistently stop the Arkanas offense if we cannot get pressure on Mallett.

Fortunately for the Tide, however, you have to like how we match against the Arkansas offensive line. Marcel Dareus is having a breakout year, Lorenzo Washington is playing better than ever, and we've gotten great pressure from the linebacker corps with Rolando McClain, Dont'a Hightower, and Eryk Anders. Moreover, on obvious passing downs, we have been moving the defensive ends inside in a four man front, and then putting Hightower and Anders at end. The results have been very good, to put it mildly, and we have consistently harassed passers all year long. Given the struggles Arkansas has had at the tackle positions, all signs point towards the Tide having some success getting to Mallett.

Even with that said, though, expect the Arkansas offense to have a reasonable amount of success against the Tide regardless. The running game has the potential to be a very good one -- you mix a bunch of big, strong offensive linemen with a group of highly talented tailbacks, and that is usually what you get -- and unless the Arkansas coaching staff is blowing smoke, they plan to use the rushing attack more prominently this weekend. It could have some success, and realistically no matter how well you can pressure Mallett, all of the outstanding components of the Arkansas passing game will guarantee that the Hogs hit more than a few plays in the passing game. These guys are going to score points, period.

Putting It All Together

All in all, I don't think there is much questioning the notion that Alabama is the better team here. We have more top-end talent, more quality depth, and probably a tad bit more experience as well. As long as Greg McElroy continues to play like he has to date, you have to imagine that Alabama will score more than their fair share of points tomorrow, and we should come away with the victory. Nevertheless, this game is far from a given, and it is likely to be a closely fought contest that goes into the fourth quarter. Arkansas is at worst a solid SEC team, and the difference between the two teams is far from gaping.

While it seems like we should be able to take full advantage of the Arkansas defense, truth be told we are probably going to have to do just that in order to win this game. Bamagrad has talked about these spread passing teams before, and I think he makes a good point: You can have a good defense and play well, but at the end of the day they are still good enough offensively to put up 24-28 points on the board. That could very well happen to us on Saturday, and if our special teams breakdowns continue, we could very easily be needing to score 31-35+ points in order to be able to get the victory. Arkansas is an improved team over last year, and they pulled off some pretty big upsets even then -- another victory over LSU, and came within a hair of knocking off Ole Miss as well. Rest assured, the Hogs will collect some more scalps this year, and it won't be a shock if they head back to Fayetteville with a crimson scalp in their possession.

Hope for the best.

Initial Impressions from the FIU Game

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:51:37 -0000

Things weren't always pretty, but nevertheless everything generally worked out well in the end with the Tide knocking off the Golden Panthers of FIU 40-14 in the home opener in Tuscaloosa. A few initial impressions on the game:

After an impressive debut against Virginia Tech, Greg McElroy built on that foundation again today with his performance over Florida International. He ultimately went 18-24 for 241 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions, and frankly regardless of the opponent you can never complain when your quarterback completes 75% of his passes, averages 10 yards per attempt, and doesn't turn the football over. I'm sure McElroy will experience some pains later on down the road, but nevertheless he has gotten off to as good of a start as we could have hoped for, and frankly he's played better in the two games so far this than John Parker Wilson ever did at any point of the 2008 campaign.
The knee injury to Julio Jones has gotten a lot of attention, and rightly so. Obviously he must have been in some degree of pain for him to stay on the sideline, but I imagine it was more to do with the staff wanting to be cautious with him than anything else. Obviously we'll know more in the next couple of days, but the fact that he never went to the locker room, never went to get an MRI, an x-ray, or anything of the sort bodes well for the (hopefully) limited severity of the injury. Furthermore, keep in mind that Jones was injured on the end-around, and stayed in the game for several more players after the injury occurred. Again, we won't know anything definitive until another day or so, but for now I see no real reason to be concerned.

The good news is how well we've done in Jones' absence. After his critical drop on third and short early in the fourth quarter of the Virginia Tech game, we didn't throw in his direction the rest of the night, and the offense still put 18 more points on the board. Likewise, Jones really wasn't a factor today -- three balls went his way, and they included a nine-yard catch, a five-yard end around, and a dropped touchdown pass -- but in his absence guys like Mike McCoy, Earl Alexander, Darius Hanks, and others stepped up to fill the void, and we still put up 40 points on the board (and it should have been more). Obviously there is no replacing a player like Julio, and it goes without saying that we all hope his injury is nothing serious, but it is comforting to see that we can still field a solid, functional offense even when we aren't getting any real contributions from the Foley product.
Speaking of other injuries, the knee injury to Damion Square is particularly disheartening. The redshirt freshman from Houston had been playing really well, and the general consensus is that the severity of the knee injury will force him to miss the remainder of the season. Square had to be carted to the locker room, which is never a good sign, and I imagine it's some type of ligament damage involved. Nevertheless, he's a fine young man with a promising future ahead of him. Hopefully he can take things in stride and start getting prepared for 2010 (if the knee is as bad as feared), and then hopefully we can successfully petition the NCAA for a medical hardship waiver on down the road if it comes to that.
The rest of the injuries, fortunately, aren't as serious as Square's knee injury. Mark Ingram showed no signs of limitation from the knee injury he suffered late last weekend against Virginia Tech, and while Roy Upchurch's ankle sprain was a bit frustrating, Upchurch's fragility isn't exactly breaking news, and at this point you just have to be happy that it was nothing more serious, and from here on just count any production from Upchurch as a bonus. For what it's worth, the ankle sprain did look pretty serious -- Upchurch returned to the sideline in street clothes, and was sporting a protective boot on his lower leg -- and I imagine he either misses the next few weeks or is limited for the next few weeks. Hopefully that's not the case, but I'm afraid this wasn't just your typical minor day-to-day ankle tweak for Upchurch. Fortunately, though, there were no other major injuries reported for the rest of the team, so the news is good on that front.
With Ingram limited somewhat by the flu and Upchurch injuring his ankle early, the door was opened for the arrival of Trent Richardson and he did not disappoint. To date, Richardson has shown why he was so highly-touted coming out of Escambia. He is built like a bodybuilder and runs with great power, but he's no glorified fullback out there, he has a lot of top-end speed and overall agility to boot. Moreover, he did a decent job tonight in pass protection, and showed off his hands catching the football out of the backfield. He's still a true freshman and will experience some growing pains, inevitably, but he looks to be an asset for the Tide in 2009, and if Upchurch's injury issues continue, he's going to prove to be an invaluable asset at that. Prior to the season I said that he could probably get 150 carries on the year, and if Upchurch misses some time throughout the course of the year, Richardson will probably get near that mark. In particular, if Upchurch's sprained ankle indeed does keep him out or limited for a few weeks, expect Richardson to be a major cog of the offense.
As expected, we did see some more true freshmen in action tonight in addition to Trent Richardson and Rod Woodson -- both of whom played against Virginia Tech and played again tonight against FIU -- including Dre Kirkpatrick, Nico Johnson, Kerry Murphy, Michael Bowman, and Chance Warmack. The real surprises of the group were Michael Bowman and Chance Warmack, but in all fairness neither of those are necessarily big surprises. Bowman is supremely talented physically, and Warmack enrolled early and fought hard for a starting job this Fall. Of those true freshmen who didn't play tonight, most are probably headed for a redshirt season. Of the few possible exceptions, keep your eye on Tana Patrick, D.J. Fluker, and Kevin Norwood.
Thomas Darrah went into the game first tonight when Greg McElroy went out, but I wouldn't necessarily venture to say that he is the back-up at this point. Star Jackson was limited by the flu this week, and that had to hurt his chances against FIU. Truth be told, I still don't think anyone really knows who would take over if McElroy were forced out for an extended period of time.
Nobody will ever say that FIU has a dominating defense, but even so the offensive line did pretty well tonight. Greg McElroy was sacked only once on 24 passing attempts, and while FIU isn't exactly known for a fierce pass rush, the big uglies kept their quarterback upright, and that's all you can ever ask. Likewise, those guys did a pretty nice job in the running game as well. I think it's relatively clear that we cannot be the physically dominating unit like we were a year ago, but for the second week in a row these guys kept plugging at it and eventually got the job done. We didn't exactly annihilate FIU at the point of attack, but you can never complain about 42 carries for 295 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground. All in all, again, regardless of the opponent, all you can ask for your offensive line is to go out and get the job done, and our guys generally did that tonight.

The defensive line is continuing to perform at an extremely high level. Despite the disappointing injury to Square, the rest of the defensive line was nothing short of dominating. FIU ended up with zero yards rushing on the day, and the defensive line itself picked up three sacks, a particularly impressive figure considering that linemen in the 3-4 are more designed to occupy space and blockers and then let the linebackers run free to make plays. Marcel Dareus continues to have the look of a superstar in the making, and Lorenzo Washington is really playing at the level that so many hoped he would when he signed with the Tide way back in 2004 (Shula's first class).
The pass rush as a whole, moreover, continued to be particularly impressive. We ended up with five sacks on only 38 passing attempts, not to mention nine quarterback hurries and at least one intentional grounding penalty. I said in the preview that the FIU offensive line was nothing overly special, and admittedly they gave up a relatively high number of sacks a year ago, but the way we got after the quarterback was still impressive. Objectively, our ability to rush the passer in the first two games augers well for the stretch run.
The pass defense, generally speaking, had a good night, but in the first half we did struggle quite a bit and things got very frustrating. Admittedly, it is important to get perspective on the subject by pointing out that, while FIU had a 14-13 lead, seven of those points came on a kick return, and the following seven came after we spotted them the football on the 40-yard line thanks to a Leigh Tiffin kick sailing out of bounds. So it wasn't really that bad -- as maddening as it was at the time -- and in all fairness we really did shut down FIU in the second half with no problem. Their five meaningful possessions of the second half resulted in a whopping twenty yards of total offense, and it really became a non-issue. Perhaps our cover schemes were a bit vanilla in the first half, perhaps we struggled with the speed of their no huddle offense, but whatever the cause it was something that we fixed in the second half. I do think we still need to play better pass defense against solid spread teams, but I don't think I'd get overly worried about what we saw tonight. All told, the FIU passing game tonight went 18-38 for for 213 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. That's a completion percentage of only 47%, and a QB rating of only 97.8. Given that much of the production came on picking up third and long plays -- which generally tend to be a bit of a fluky occurrence -- I'm not complaining too much.
One guy who did struggle a lot tonight in the defensive backfield was Kareem Jackson. He gave up a couple of long passing plays, had a pass interference penalty that was key in a FIU scoring drive, and dropped what should have been an easy interception. Jackson played well against Virginia Tech, but he struggled a bit down the stretch in 2008, and tonight was probably one of his worst games. He can play well at times, but he's also a streaky player who can be a liability at times too. I just hope he works out whatever his issues are before the stretch run of conference play begins.
Also frustrating tonight was that we continued to leave points on the board. Leigh Tiffin was his consistently inconsistent self, which included a missed 39-yard field goal and a kick-off that went out of bounds. Julio Jones, though it's hard to say how much the knee injury was limiting him, nevertheless dropped a touchdown pass that he should have caught. The same goes for Colin Peek as well. Likewise, penalties continued to be an issue, and in particular a holding penalty on Drew Davis in the red zone likely took away a touchdown drive. It's hard to complain too much when you still put 40 points up on the board, but even with that kind of production we still left a lot more out there, and while we can get away with this against the FIU's of the world, this type of foot-shooting can very well result in a loss (or losses) in conference play. Hopefully we can improve offensive efficiency moving forward and stop leaving so many points on the board.
The biggest problem tonight, of course, was continued breakdowns by the kick coverage team, and that point I really do not even know what to say. We have some of the best athletes in the country playing kick coverage, and there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have one of the best kick coverage teams around. What I can say, however, is that unless we get this problem fixed immediately, it's going to cost us a game at some point. SEC play is just entirely too tough, and the margin of error against many opponents in conference play is so small that we will not be able to afford to allow our opponent to just race to the end zone on a kick return and still expect to win. Either we take care of this problem soon, or this problem will take care of us soon. Hopefully it's the former, not the latter.
At the end of the day, FIU looked pretty solid in this game. They aren't a great team, obviously, but again they are nowhere near the laughingstock that many of our fans ridiculed them for being prior to this game. They are a solid Sun Belt team with a lot of experience and a good young coach, and it's a team that may very well end up in a bowl game came late December. Best of luck to them.
For Alabama, it's hard to complain too much. If nothing else, we're pretty healthy, 2-0, and #4 in the country. If you are asking for much more than that, chances are you are simply being greedy. We're in pretty good shape, and you won't see me doing any real complaining. On the other hand, though, in all fairness, we aren't a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination. We have more than our fair share of flaws -- offensive line isn't dominating in the run game like a year ago, we're leaving points on the board, penalties are hurting us, special teams are killing us, and the pass defense has looked shaky at times against FIU -- and no destination is guaranteed for us, not even Atlanta. Nevertheless, things have pretty much gone as well as can be reasonably expected thus far, and for now we just have to focus on fixing the shortcomings that we have displayed to date. We aren't there yet, but we've gotten off to a good start and now we just have to focus on improvement.

Speaking of penalties...

outsidethesidelines — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:58:48 -0000

After being one of the least penalized teams in the country in 2008, Alabama began the 2009 season with an uncharacteristically high 10 penalties for 89 yards in the season opener against Virginia Tech. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at all of the penalties incurred and see if we can learn something moving forward. Let's start with listing all of the penalties themselves, with the specific foul and player who committed it in bold:

Holding penalty called on James Carpenter on 2nd and 10 in the first quarter. The penalty erased a two-yard reception by Mark Ingram, and created a 2nd and 20 situation. Fortunately, though, Darius Hanks made a spectacular grab on third and long to keep the chains moving, which ultimately led to an Alabama field goal.
False start penalty on Mike Johnson on 1st and 10 in the first quarter. The penalty put the Tide in a 1st and 15 situation, which forced Alabama to throw the football. After two incompletions, Greg McElroy was intercepted on 3rd and 15 after being hit while trying to throw.
Personal foul penalty on Tyrone King, who made a horse collar tackle on the Virginia Tech kick returner late in the second quarter. The tackle was a bit of a desperation one made out of necessity trying to limit the big kick return. This fifteen yard penalty gave the Hokies the ball at their own 49 yard line, a drive that ended in the McClain meltdown.
Pass interference on Marquis Johnson on a 3rd and 10 on the ensuing possession. Johnson jumped early on a hook route, and in the referee's determination he got there a tad bit too early. This gave the Hokies a 1st and 10 at the Alabama 48, where one play later Ryan Williams made the big catch on the busted coverage.
Personal foul penalty on Rolando McClain, which negated a forced fumble by Alabama's Lorenzo Washington. The situation without the penalty would have been second and goal from just inside the Alabama 20 yard line. The penalty yardage was half the distance to the goal line, which moved the Hokies just inside the 'Bama 10.
Personal foul penalty on Rolando McClain, the second penalty he drew for his actions on that one particular play. Again, it erased a 2nd and goal from just inside the Alabama 20, and with the penalty again being half the distance to the goal line, this moved the Hokies just inside the Alabama 5-yard line. Three players later, Ryan Williams scored to give the Hokies a 17-16 lead.
False start penalty on Barrett Jones on 1st and 10 early in the third quarter. The penalty created a 1st and 15 situation for the Tide, but that ultimately proved to be no issue. The following play Roy Upchurch raced for a long run, thus negating any ill effects of the penalty, but unfortunately he was stripped at the end and the Hokies recovered the fumble.
Personal foul penalty on Chris Jordan for a late hit on the Virginia Tech kick returner mid-way through the fourth quarter. Much like Tyrone King's horse collar penalty earlier in the game, this was a bit of a desperation penalty as we were trying to stop another long return, though it was not an egregious late hit. The Hokies would have had the ball at midfield, but the penalty gave them the ball at the Alabama 35.
Holding penalty on James Carpenter mid-way through the fourth quarter. This penalty occurred right after Mark Ingram's long run -- where, incidentally, Carpenter did a great job in opening the way by making a good block, in space, on the second level against a much smaller defender -- and negated a two-yard run by Terry Grant on first down. It set up a 1st and 20, but thankfully another good run by Mark Ingram and a 19-yard pass completion from Greg McElroy to Colin Peek meant the penalty ultimately did Alabama no real harm. The drive ended with McElroy's touchdown pass to Mark Ingram.
Delay of game on the Alabama offense, very late in the fourth quarter. This came on the last possession of the game, where Trent Richardson ran out of the clock with interior runs, and was a totally meaningless penalty.

And those were the ten penalties that Matt Austin's crew nailed the Tide for, so what can we learn from them?

First and foremost, we can see that many of the penalties didn't actually come back to harm the Tide. We overcame both of James Carpenter's holding penalties, plus the false start penalty on Barrett Jones. Likewise, the late-minute delay of game was a completely meaningless penalty that merely padded the stat line in a negative way. On the other hand, though, many of the penalties hurt us badly. The Hokies' late touchdown in the second quarter was almost entirely the result of four penalties on the Tide, and had Mike Johnson's false start penalty been averted, it's entirely possible (and perhaps likely) that we start with a run on 1st and 10 and stay out of the obvious passing situation that resulted in the McElroy interception. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of penalties hurt bad, some turned out to be harmless.

Now, moving forward, a few of the penalties are probably of little concern. The delay of game penalty, again, was meaningless in the first place, and as disturbing as Rolando McClain's meltdown was (and costly, too) it's highly unlikely that he (or anyone else on defense for that matter) does that again in the near future. Likewise, Marquis Johnson's pass interference penalty was a bit of a questionable call, and one that -- while a very slight technical violation of the rule -- was probably more the result of a trigger-happy referee than anything else. Moving forward, it's probably of little concern.

On the other hand, the penalties on the offensive line and on special teams are a major concern, and I'm afraid to say penalties that we may struggle with again moving forward. The offensive line committed four penalties -- and the two holding penalties on Carpenter do not include Drew Davis' tackle of Jason Worilds on a third and long that the Tide ultimately turned into a touchdown; a no-call that this Alabama fan readily admits that he has no clue how the referees missed -- and those penalties were the result of their struggles. Bottom line, they were committing penalties because they were having trouble handling the Hokies for much of the night, and if we struggle with an opposing front seven again, I'm afraid the penalties are going to return. We were really fortunate to largely overcome those penalties against the Hokies, not to mention the luck on the non-call on Davis, but there's no guarantee that we will be that lucky moving forward.

Likewise, moving forward, the special teams penalties are a concern. We had breakdowns in kick coverage all night long, and both Tyrone King's horse collar penalty and Chris Jordan's late hit penalty were the direct result of those players trying in desperation to avoid another long run-back for a touchdown by the Virginia Tech kick returner. Again, if you struggle severely in kick coverage, you are going to commit those type of penalties out of sheer desperation alone.

All in all, things weren't necessarily as bad as the raw numbers might tell you. Several of the penalties were of the likely non-recurring variety that we will not likely see in large volumes in the future, but there are some legitimate concerns here. If our offensive line continues to struggle like it did for much of the game against Virginia Tech, and if the kick coverage team continues its breakdowns, we are likely to continue to see penalty flags flying at a relatively high rate.

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.

The Crimson Tide's 2009 Graduates

kleph — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:41:34 -0000

From L to R: Walton, Thomas, Washington, Sikes, McElroy.

Summer graduation for the University of Alabama was held yesterday and five Crimson Tide football players walked the stage to receive their diplomas. They included Quarterback Greg McElroy (business marketing), defensive end Lorenzo Washington (human environmental science), wide receiver Travis Sikes (consumer affairs), defensive lineman Byron Walton and kicker Heath Thomas.

McElroy will finish his undergraduate degree in just three years with a 3.85 grade point average and graduate magna cum laude.

"It is a great feeling to get this first degree finished," McElroy said. "I made it a priority of mine to graduate in as short of an amount of time as possible, so I can focus on football and getting my masters degree in something that interests me."

According to the athletic department, no less than 11 Crimson Tide players will take the field in 2009 with degrees already in hand, including Drew Davis (marketing), Tyrone King (Health Studies), Eryk Anders (Health Studies), P.J. Fitzgerald (management), Mike Johnson (consumer affairs), Cory Reamer (finance), Chris Rogers (consumer affairs) and Ali Sharrief (human environmental science). On top of that another 10 players are on track to graduate in December.