SB Nation - Leigh Tiffin

If College Football Had a Playoff: #16 Troy @ #1 Alabama

Jeremy Mauss — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:00:25 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

So, starting each week day from now till the title game a 'What if Playoff' will occur here with readers voting on who should win the matchup.

Today's would be Sun Belt champion Troy @ Alabama. An upset is unlikely, but the way Troy plays against big time competition who knows how close this game would be. Yes, a playoff would feature home teams by the upper seed to give them an advantage for a better season. The bracket and stats on each team are listed below.

Just make sure to vote and the winner moves onto the next round. Voting is open for 24 hours, and look for these to be posted each day at 12 mountain time.

#16 Troy Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Levi Brown	12	60.0	248	386	64.2	3264	272	8.5	19	5	46	19	1.6	.400	1	-	-
Dantavious Parker	9	50.0	10	19	52.6	87	9.7	4.6	0	0	28	154	17.1	5.5	2	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Levi Brown	12	46	19	1.6	.400	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jason Bruce	10	2	11	1.1	5.5	0	20	260	26	13	2
Maurice Greer	10	34	244	24.4	7.2	3	6	59	5.9	9.8	0
DuJuan Harris	12	137	471	39.3	3.4	8	23	193	16.1	8.4	1
Josh Jarboe	8	2	9	1.1	4.5	0	14	236	29.5	16.9	1
Jerrel Jernigan	12	34	227	18.9	6.7	1	62	947	78.9	15.3	4
Nathan Nolin	2	1	9	4.5	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dantavious Parker	9	28	154	17.1	5.5	2	0	0	0	0	0
Chip Reeves	11	3	9	.800	3	0	22	363	33	16.5	3
Austin Silvoy	10	1	-15	-1.5	-15	0	13	182	18.2	14	0
Shawn Southward	12	100	574	47.8	5.7	10	10	94	7.8	9.4	0
D.J. Taylor	3	8	71	23.7	8.9	0	0	0	0	0	0

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Travis Boyd	2	3	41	20.5	13.7	0
Jason Bruce	10	20	260	26	13	2
Jonathan Chandler	1	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Cherry	11	20	260	23.6	13	1
Andrew Davis	8	13	149	18.6	11.5	2
Tebiarus Gill	11	44	553	50.3	12.6	6
Maurice Greer	10	6	59	5.9	9.8	0
DuJuan Harris	12	23	193	16.1	8.4	1
Josh Jarboe	8	14	236	29.5	16.9	1
Jerrel Jernigan	12	62	947	78.9	15.3	4
Zack Marcum	12	33	315	26.3	9.5	1
Chip Reeves	11	22	363	33	16.5	3
Austin Silvoy	10	13	182	18.2	14	0
Shawn Southward	12	10	94	7.8	9.4	0
Cornelius Williams	11	18	320	29.1	17.8	2

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Sam Glusman	5	-	-	-	-	-	7	9	80.0%	9	9	100.0%	30
Michael Taylor	8	-	-	-	-	-	9	10	90.0%	38	40	100.0%	65

#1 Alabama Stats

Passing

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
Star Jackson	2	70.0	13	18	72.2	116	58	6.4	0	0	6	3	1.5	.500	0	-	-
Greg McElroy	13	93.0	192	315	61	2450	188.5	7.8	17	4	47	110	8.5	2.3	1	-	-

Rushing

		Rushing					Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD
Demetrius Goode	3	16	108	36	6.8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Terry Grant	7	40	166	23.7	4.2	3	3	47	6.7	15.7	0
Mark Ingram	13	249	1542	118.6	6.2	15	30	322	24.8	10.7	3
Star Jackson	2	6	3	1.5	.500	0	0	0	0	0	0
Julio Jones	12	2	4	.300	2	0	42	573	47.8	13.6	4
Marquis Maze	10	4	7	.700	1.8	0	30	519	51.9	17.3	2
Greg McElroy	13	47	110	8.5	2.3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Trent Richardson	13	126	642	49.4	5.1	6	14	107	8.2	7.6	0
Roy Upchurch	10	46	290	29	6.3	2	12	72	7.2	6	1

Receiving

		Receiving
	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
Earl Alexander	3	4	52	17.3	13	0
Michael Bowman	1	1	7	7	7	0
Preston Dial	3	3	25	8.3	8.3	0
Brandon Gibson	2	2	25	12.5	12.5	0
Terry Grant	7	3	47	6.7	15.7	0
Darius Hanks	9	17	272	30.2	16	3
Mark Ingram	13	30	322	24.8	10.7	3
Julio Jones	12	42	573	47.8	13.6	4
Marquis Maze	10	30	519	51.9	17.3	2
Mike McCoy	3	10	149	49.7	14.9	1
Colin Peek	10	26	313	31.3	12	3
Trent Richardson	13	14	107	8.2	7.6	0
Brad Smelley	5	7	50	10	7.1	0
Roy Upchurch	10	12	72	7.2	6	1
Michael Williams	2	3	29	14.5	9.7	0

Kicking

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
Jeremy Shelley	1	-	-	-	-	-	0	1	0	1	1	100.0%	1
Leigh Tiffin	13	-	-	-	-	-	29	33	90.0%	39	42	90.0%	126

Poll

Who wins this matcup?

Kai Wins Groza, Bruins Rack Up More All American Honors

Nestor — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:11:59 -0000

brtishbruin and KSBruin were already on it last night. We have more major post-season awards news to share about few Bruins from the football team. Kai won the Lou Groza award last night beating out a two great kickers from amazing SEC programsn (Alabama’s Leigh Tiffin and Geogia's Blair Walsh). In addition to Kai accepting his award on ESPN, two more Bruins - Brian Price and Rahim Moore were named in the Second Team All America by the prestigious Walter Camp Foundation:

So, let's start with Kai Forbath. Here is the official release which identfied Kai as perhaps the best kicker ever to come out of UCLA:

In the long line of UCLA All-America place kickers, Forbath might just be the best ever. On the year, he has made 26 of 29 field goals and 22 of 23 PATs for 100 points. He ranks second nationally in field goals per game (2.17). He is perfect (23 of 23) from inside 50 yards and three of six from 50+ yards. His .897 percentage this year is No. 2 in the NCAA among players with 22 or more attempts.

Dating back to last year, Forbath has converted 39 of his last 42 field goals and had a string of 16 straight successes snapped at Arizona when he missed from 52 yards. He has connected on his last 35 straight field goal attempts inside 50 yards (his last such miss came on a 47-yard attempt in game six last season at Oregon).

Forbath's .864 percentage is the highest in school history among players with at least 20 career field goals (John Lee holds the current record at .850). He ranks second (tied) in school history with 70 field goals and No. 5 in career scoring with 283 points in just 37 games.

His school-record nine field goals of 50 yards or longer rank No. 1 among active FBS kickers. His 70 field goals rank second (tied) among all active players (the next junior is 20 field goals behind him) and his career percentage of .864 is No. 2 among players with at least 40 attempts.

Kai of course deserves this award. It also shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here when Kai puts his name in during the NFL draft's "testing out the water" process to see where he might fall. Although, there is a decent chance of him returning (unlike Brian Price).

I think I appreciated Kai more this season when I was watching other college footbal teams, seeing teams flail away with poor kicking and getting hancuffed during crunch time. That said, I wish Kai would come back for one more season, so that he would get to play for an offense, in which he would play an invaluable role by connecting on long game winning or game tying FGs, instead of drive settling ones he was booming in over and over again during last few years at UCLA. More on last night awards after the jump.

As mentioned in the beginning, in addition to Kai, two other Bruins - Price and Moore - were named in the Walter Camp's All America team:

Price, a true junior, has recorded 34.5 tackles for a loss in his last 21 games, including 4.0 against Arizona State and Tennessee, 3.0 at Washington State and 2.0 against Oregon and at USC. He has 22.5 tackles for loss in 12 games this season and ranks first in the Pac-10 (by 7.5 TFL) and is tied for third in the NCAA. He ranks second all-time in UCLA history with 43.5 tackles for loss, and is also second on the single season list with 22.5, trailing only Robert Thomas' 26.0 TFL in 2001.

Moore, a true sophomore, leads the nation with nine interceptions, averaging 0.75 per game. He also ranks fourth (tied) nationally, in passes defensed (1.33 per game). He tied the UCLA single-game record with three interceptions against San Diego State and also made two each versus Tennessee and Arizona. Moore has made 45 tackles on the year, including three for loss.

That was from the official site which also provided the data point re. only Alabama (six) and Florida (four) having more selections than UCLA's three (Texas also had three). That led the LAT to take the cheap shot about those three teams finishing with a combined record of 38-1 (in comparison to UCLA's 6-6).

Of course, anyone with a basic understanding of the personnel of UCLA football program (based on recruiting and talent flow from last 6 years) wouldn't make the basic argument about UCLA having the same talent as those three programs. But hey given what we have seen over the years, often basic coverage of UCLA football is too much to ask for from the Trojan lapdogs in charge of LAT's sports section. Whatever. The basic lesson is look everywhere else before looking to LAT for information on UCLA sports.

Congrats to all of our guys. Let's hope we get to see these guys at least one more time this season. GO NAVY.

GO BRUINS.

A Head-Scratching Snub.

Acid Reign — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

Auburn wide receiver Darvin Adams (89) frequently abused defensive backs! (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Browse more photos »

War Eagle, everybody. The post-season All-SEC teams are out now, and there aren't too many surprises. It looks like some reporters and sports information directors simply copied their preseason list over again. I guess they DID pay enough attention that Jevan Snead didn't get any votes.

I'd say the biggest surprise of the All-SEC voting was the complete absence of Auburn wide receiver Darvin Adams in the voting. The media voters select 5 wide receivers. Statistically, Darvin Adams was 5^th in receptions, 4^th in receiving yards per game, 3^rd in receiving yards, 2^nd in yards per catch, and tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns. In fact, there's not a single statistical category that Adams WASN'T in the top five. Somehow, Joe Adams of Arkansas made it in ahead of Adams, despite catching TWENTY fewer balls! Adams also finished behind Florida's Riley Cooper, despite having more catches, more yards per catch, and more touchdowns. A similar argument could be made against LSU's Brandon LaFell: fewer yards, and fewer yards per catch. Even compared to the starting All-SEC unit, Darvin Adams had a better yards per catch stat and more touchdowns than Shay Hodge of Ole Miss. When comparing Adams to Georgia's A. J. Green, Adams had more yards, more catches, a better yards per catch average, and more touchdowns. HOW does Adams not get AT LEAST honorable mention notice?

On the season, Darvin Adams finished with 48 catches for 855 yards and 10 touchdowns. War Eagle, Darvin Adams!

In another predictable but irritating snub, kicker Wes Byrum was left out of the all-star balloting. Byrum hit on 14 of 15 field goal attempts, and made all 49 of his extra point attempts. Byrum connected on 93.3 percent of his field goals. The selected All-SEC starter Leigh Tiffin was only good on 87.9 percent of his field goals, and missed THREE extra points. Second-team selection Blair Walsh only hit 90.5 percent of his field goals. What makes Byrum's snub easier to take is that he essentially lost because Auburn was scoring touchdowns in the red zone, rather than settling for 3. The Tigers converted 76% of their red-zone appearances into touchdowns, and got points 94% of the time overall.

There isn't an official offensive lineman stat page on the SEC website. But I'd take Auburn's Lee Ziemba over most of the 2^nd team offensive linemen, and a couple of the starters. Ziemba finished in the "honorable mention" category, surely a result of false starts. The sad fact is that Ziemba earned his reputation for jumping off in previous years. This year, he's actually been penalized less than you think! On false starts, Lee had 1 against La Tech, 1 against WVa, 1 against Furman, 1 against Georgia, and one against Alabama. That's a total of 5 false starts in a 12 game season, which is not many for a starting left tackle. Ziemba had no holding calls against him, all year. And the only other penalty was on his ineligible catch in the Georgia game. How many sacks did Ziemba give up? I don't remember but one, and it was when Ziemba was trying to get over on a corner blitz that was probably not even his responsibility. All in all, Lee Ziemba was the best lineman on a pretty tough Auburn unit.

Let's hear it for the left-out Tigers that led our team! War Eagle!

Other Musings from Championship Week, after the jump.

Once again, we see the need in the Football Bowl Subdivision for a post-season playoff. The argument against undefeated TCU and Boise State for playing in weak, non-BCS leagues is somewhat legit. Big East Champ Cincinnati plays in a BCS conference, went undefeated, and got left out. Rather than play for a national title, Cincy will be taking on a frustrated Gator group. Coach Brian Kelly appears to be headed for Notre Dame, and the Bearcats will be facing a fired up Gator group without their leader. It's a bitter end to a great Cincy season.

As to the Texas Longhorns, has there ever been a more disrespected number two team in the national title game? Oh, yes! I remember about 17 years ago the national press was moaning over a team that had a whole schedule full of single-digit wins, that would NEVER be able to challenge the top-ranked Hurricanes. I think we all remember how that 1993 Sugar Bowl turned out, with the Tide stomping Miami into goo. I'd suggest that the Tide not take Texas lightly. The book on the Longhorns is to contain McCoy and cover Shipley. However, the overlooked part of the 'horn team is their run defense. Alabama will have a tough time replicating their SEC Championship Game effort on offense, I think.

Fellow track'em writer War Eagle Atlanta posted an excellent question earlier this week: Will Auburn fans cheer for the Tide, or the Longhorns? If Alabama loses, I'll snicker and try to get glimpses of Nick Saban's face on the sideline. But there is no hairy way I really want the SEC to lose the BCS title game. We'll never hear the end of it, from the national media, if the SEC loses that game. Yes, I want Alabama to win. No, I absolutely will NOT be screaming "Roll Tide" at my TV that night. Hopefully, I'll be sitting quietly in my chair with a Klondike and a stinger, enjoying a good football game.

It's a difficult time to be a Florida Gator. One of the prices for success is that your assistant coaches become hot commodities. Florida's loss of Tim Tebow pales compared to the amount of talent and experience that has left the Florida coaching staff in the past two seasons. How Urban Meyer rebuilds his staff will be key. It could be a tough transition period ahead.

What a difference a year makes! This time last season, we were jeering the Auburn coaching search. This year, we're cheering a promising foundation, and lauding Jay Jacobs' pitch to the Outback Bowl. Well done, sir, well done!

Almost Perfection

outsidethesidelines — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:36:55 -0000

In the preview of SEC Championship Game this past Friday, looking at what it would take to beat the Gators, I wrote the following:

In short, what we really need is perfection. Of course, a football game (not counting kicks) usually consists of 120-130 snaps, and that's just entirely too many snaps to not expect some breakdowns, particularly against a team of Florida's caliber. Thus, as with most things, perfection is an elusive goal in football, and it is one that we will not attain tomorrow. Nevertheless, the harsh reality is that we are going to have to come very close to that level if we are indeed going to knock of Florida.

And as expected, perfection was indeed unattainable. We made some mistakes throughout the course of the game, obviously. Leigh Tiffin missed an extra point. Julio Jones had a key drop, and may have misplayed a potential big play on a deep pass.We missed a couple of sacks here and there. But it wasn't perfection only because achieving perfection is practically impossible even on a purely theoretical level.

In terms of the legitimate possibilities of human performance, however, our collective performance yesterday in Atlanta was probably as close to perfection as anyone could ever realistically expect. Just take a general look at the stat book... we racked up almost 500 yards of total offense. Mark Ingram had almost 200 total yards and three touchdowns. Greg McElroy averaged almost 14 yards per passing attempt. We held Florida to 13 points -- the fewest points an Urban Meyer team has scored since our 31-3 thumping of them in 2005 -- and pitched a shutout in the second half. We held Florida to under 100 yards rushing, and players not named Tim Tebow combined to run for all of 26 yards. We didn't have a single turnover, and we ended up with one penalty for all of five yards.

Even on a non-quantitative basis, yesterday was about as good as it gets. Greg McElroy played the game of his life, and made plays with both his arm and his feet. Mark Ingram may have won the Heisman Trophy with his performance. And Trent Richardson, really, was even more successful running the football than Ingram. Colin Peek had the best game we've had from a tight end in ages. Marquis Maze was a game-changer. Marquis Johnson found redemption. Terrence Cody dominated the Florida interior offensive line. P.J. Fitzgerald made a touchdown-saving tackle against an elite returner in the open field. Javier Arenas, fittingly enough, put the final dagger through the Gators heart not with his return abilities, but with a fine play on an interception as a defensive back.

Even the coaching staff was on fire. Jim McElwain constantly changed things up on offense, and the Gators were always a step behind the adjustments. Effectively everything that you could do on offense yesterday, we did it. And the same thing went for us defensively. Nick Saban and Kirby Smart constantly changed our defensive packages, and there was no inherent tendencies to anything that we did.

And remember that Friday post I referenced in the introduction? In that piece I outlined eleven different things that we needed to do in order to get the victory. In hindsight, we did ten of those things, and in many of those categories we far exceeded what I thought we needed to do. Regardless of how you analyze it, you really cannot heap enough praise on the way that we played yesterday.

Again, absolute perfection really isn't attainable, but our performance yesterday was probably as close to perfection as you could ever realistically get.

And in all fairness I cannot say that Florida was really anything less than I expected. They are a truly great team in their own right, and in many ways they were exactly what I feared. Their offense is still unbelievably good, they are outstanding in every aspect of the kicking game, and the defense is as tough as nails. If you look at their performance yesterday, it wasn't that they really did anything wrong. By and large they played a fine game in their own right, and their shortcomings were really more about great plays that we made than anything that they did wrong. Again, they are a great team and should be recognized as so. I imagine they annihilate Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, and should probably finish up #2 in the country.

All in all, we needed a great performance to win yesterday, and we went above and beyond that level. We didn't just play great football, we came as close to perfection as we probably could have gotten. In all honesty, given the quality of the opponent, this was the best game an Alabama team has played since January 1st, 1993 against Miami and perhaps even the best we've played since January 1st, 1966 against Nebraska. Bottom line, a performance of this caliber is extremely rare even on a historical level. We needed to play like this in order to win, and we rose to the occasion. With absolutely no doubt whatsoever, to date, yesterday was this team's finest hour.

Alabama & Florida Common Opponents: Tennessee

Year2 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:24:12 -0000

As a part of SEC Championship Game week, we're taking a look at Alabama's and Florida's common opponents in alphabetical order. In closing: Tennessee.

	Alabama	Florida
Game Number	8	3
Score	12-10	23-13
Passing Yards	120	115
Rushing Yards	136	208
Total Yards	256	323
Passing All.	265	93
Rushing All.	76	117
Total Defense	341	210
3rd Downs	5-14	8-13
3rd Down Def.	6-15	5-12
Turnover Margin	Even	Even

Alabama lined up against Tennessee as probably a tired team, as it was the Tide's eighth consecutive game and came the week before Bama's bye. It was a day for those who love kickers, as the teams combined for eight field goal attempts. Leigh Tiffin made all of his while Daniel Lincoln started just one of three, allowing Bama to build a safe-looking 12-3 lead. The Tide looked like it was simply going to run the clock out when the unthinkable happened: Mark Ingram fumbled, setting up the Vols 43 yards from pay dirt. Jonathan Crompton went 4 for 4 for 42 yards on the ensuring drive that pulled UT within 2. After recovering the onside kick, Tennessee played for a field goal but the try was blocked by Terrence Cody.

Florida faced off against Tennessee after winning two easy blowouts over Charleston Southern and Troy, but strangely not healthy for that early in the season. Deonte Thompson missed the game with a bad hamstring, while Jeff Demps and Aaron Hernandez were slowed by a flu-like bug that was beginning to sweep through the team. As a result, Urban Meyer put all the offensive burden on Tim Tebow, who passed or ran on 43 of Florida's 63 plays. UF was cruising up 23-6 when Tebow fumbled in the shadow of Tennessee's goal line. UT turned that into points, but an Ahmad Black interception with about two minutes to go sealed Florida's win.

I called the Alabama-Tennessee game boring at the time, and received a bit of flak for it. True, I don't appreciate defensive struggles as much as some folks do. In any event, this would have been a much different game had Lincoln made his field goals throughout. Cody actually blocked the final two of Lincoln's four attempts, and he didn't even leave the ground on the last one. That's a sure sign of a guy kicking it too low. Anyway, Tennessee wouldn't have had the chance to win it at the end without the first fumble of Ingram's career. Nick Saban said it best: "You're controlling a game, even though you may say it's winning ugly. We're still ahead 12-3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes, 29 seconds and the ball. That's how fragile a season can be."

Florida's game with Tennessee looked like it was going the way of the 2008 game. Tebow was about ready to put the Gators up 31-6 at the time of his fumble, a shade off of last year's 30-6 final score. Tennessee, and especially Crompton, was clearly not comfortable yet in its new offense, opting to go for a low risk, game-shortening strategy of heavy running. Florida's defense was ready for it, allowing just one drive of more than 50 yards and only three points that didn't come off of turnovers. We didn't know it at the time, but this game revealed what would become Meyer's strategy all season long: get a lead, play it conservative, and let the defense win games. It's worked out well so far.

Hard as it is to deny a moment that will forever be remembered in Daniel Moore's brush strokes, Florida had the better game against Tennessee. Bama was outgained by nearly 100 yards and needed heroics at the end to pull out the win. Florida allowed some points late that ultimately were cosmetic, making the score look better for the Vols, but the Gators outgained UT by more than 110 yards. Florida-Tennessee might have played out differently later in the season once the Lane Kiffin offense was fully operational and Crompton had regained his confidence. On the third week of the season, it was not to be for the Knoxville contingent.

Better performance: Florida.

See also: Arkansas, FIU, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina.

Alabama & Florida Common Opponents: LSU

Year2 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:20:01 -0000

As a part of SEC Championship Game week, we're taking a look at Alabama's and Florida's common opponents in alphabetical order. Now up: LSU.

	Alabama	Florida
Game Number	9	5
Score	24-15	13-3
Passing Yards	276	134
Rushing Yards	176	193
Total Yards	452	327
Passing All.	158	96
Rushing All.	95	66
Total Defense	253	162
3rd Downs	4-14	5-12
3rd Down Def.	5-14	1-9
Turnover Margin	Even	Even

Alabama went into its home tilt with LSU coming off of its near death experience with Tennessee. The Tigers were the first to score out of the gate, and though Bama would take a second quarter lead, LSU pulled ahead by five before the half. A Leigh Tiffin field goal pulled the Tide closer, but it wasn't until Julio Jones took a bubble screen 73 yards to the house with 10 minutes to go that Alabama would take the lead for good. A late field goal sealed the win. Alabama got some help thanks to injuries to LSU's Jordan Jefferson and Charles Scott during the game.

Florida went into its game with LSU off of a bye week, normally the best time to take on your toughest road task of the season. It was, however, Tim Tebow's first game back after sustaining a concussion against Kentucky. Tebow was sharp in what little passing he did, connecting on 11 of 16 throws. Of all the conservative game plans that Florida dialed up this year, this one was the most risk averse of all. Thanks to LSU having just one sustained drive and not looking good on offense whatsoever, Urban Meyer was content to let his defense win the game. The Gators' offense played its part by rushing for nearly 200 yards and gaining a 13 minute advantage in time of possession.

The game shouldn't have been as close for Alabama, as the Tide had a sizeable lead in yardage. You can see where some issues arose: third downs. Bama was just 4 or 14 on those, though the defense turned around and did about the same to LSU. Also, Greg McElroy didn't have one of his better days. He completed only about 55% of his throws, and absent the 73 yard touchdown from Jones that had nothing to do with the guy tossing the ball, he barely broke 200 yards on the day. Despite everything Bama had going for it, this one wasn't over until Jones' score. You somehow knew Jarrett Lee wasn't leading a comeback on that defense.

Florida's offense wasn't exactly at peak performance either. The Gators only punted once, but they also missed a field goal, turned it over on downs, and Tebow threw an interception. They went about as vanilla as possible, as this was the game where "dive play" became a dirty word to Gator fans. Meyer was just running clock all game, something that was frustrating to no end for those watching the game. LSU was never truly out of it until Florida's field goal with a little over seven minutes to go, but with consistently bad field position and no coherence on offense, LSU wasn't really in it for much of the game either.

It's tough to say who had the better performance. Alabama couldn't really take over until late. Florida led for most of its game, but the Gators were never more than a single defensive breakdown from getting tied up for most of it. UF probably could have tried to make the score a little prettier, but with a still recovering quarterback and a dominating defense, they never seemed to feel the need to. Alabama wasn't just running out the clock from the second quarter on because it was in control though, and that's the difference between the games. Plus, Bama was at home, Florida was on the road, and two key cogs for LSU went out injured during Alabama's game.

Better performance: Florida, but not by much.

See also: Arkansas, FIU, Kentucky.

Oh, What Might Have Been!

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

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

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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!

Somehow, Someway, 'Bama Survives

outsidethesidelines — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:38:42 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

Ugly efforts produce ugly scenes.

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For about three hours yesterday afternoon, all of the stars aligned for Auburn to pull off the biggest upset in Iron Bowl history. Alabama played very poorly, posting probably it's worst performance since the 2007 Louisiana-Monroe debacle. Auburn, on the other, easily played their best game of the season. And all of the little breaks that they needed to fall their way were doing just that.

For Alabama, it was effectively a trainwreck by the entire team. Heisman contender Mark Ingram was completely stuffed in the running game, missed an easy touchdown pass to Julio Jones on a trick play, and ultimately went out with an injury. The only thing he fared better than was the Thanksgiving turkey. Likewise, our offensive line was completely manhandled in the trenches by an inferior defensive line that they should have dominated. The passing game to receivers not named Julio Jones was completely non-existent. Greg McElroy passed up an easy first down on a scramble to throw an incomplete pass to a completely blanketed receiver in the red zone (a drive where we ultimately came away with no points). James Carpenter was whipped off the edge for a key sack late in the fourth quarter. The offense continued to fall apart in the red zone. They could not take advantage of great field position all day. There was no vertical element whatsoever in the passing game, once again, and the offense was almost wholly incapable of creating big plays. The Alabama defense was confused as hell all afternoon against Gus Malzahn's mad scientist offensive scheme. Eryk Anders made some terrible plays in run support leading to big Auburn plays. Nico Johnson dropped an easy interception at a crucial time. Mark Barron bought into a double move route by Darvin Adams like a dumb investor buying into the Bernie Madoff scheme. Justin Woodall played poorly, yet again, committing a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that cost us at least four points, and then capped it off by giving up a touchdown pass after biting on the playaction fake. We missed an easy, crucial sack in the fourth quarter that ultimately cost us about 40 yards in field position. P.J. Fitzgerald had one of his usual 55-yard punts that sailed out of the back of the end zone. We were completely unprepared for an Auburn onside kick, even though it was clear they had something up their sleeve with their unusual grouping. Leigh Tiffin missed a field goal, and had another kick-off sail out of bounds.

And then all of those little breaks that Auburn needed kept falling their way. They were able to recover two muffed punts deep in their own territory. They had a critical interception erased by their own incompetence, i.e. a display of the Human False Start Machine himself, Lee Ziemba. The umpire found himself in the way of no less than three dump-off passes over the middle, effectively ending our chances on all three occasions. Clinton Durst's punt took the perfect bounce to pin us up deep against our own goal line in the fourth quarter. Julio Jones seemingly good catch on the opening drive was called incomplete and was not reviewed by the booth.

Somehow, someway, though, 'Bama survived it all and lived to tell about it. We did just enough -- barely -- to hang on in the first 52 minutes to give ourselves a chance to win it in the end and that is what we did. The final drive was just about as ugly as it got. It had all of the aesthetic value of a 1978 Datsun. We had to convert several third downs, gave up a crucial sack, and were unable to generate any explosive plays. It was the epitome of an ugly, dink and dunk drive, but fortunately we got it all done in the end. It wasn't pretty, but it was nevertheless ultimately a 15-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that will forever be cemented in Iron Bowl lore. Sometimes it is about functionality, not aesthetics.

For the most part, though, it was an ugly effort by the Tide. Plain and simple, Auburn wanted this game more than we did. They showed up with more emotion and more intensity, and they sustained at a higher level throughout the game than we did. Maybe it was just the short week, with Thanksgiving being one of the days for preparation. Admittedly, that hurt our effort, especially against Malzahn's highly complicated offensive scheme. Maybe it was something else altogether, but either way Auburn showed up with a vengeance and we showed up with the indifference of Jerry Seinfeld. That's a damning deficiency, and one that there can be no legitimate excuse whatsoever for.

Perhaps we thought it was going to be a cakewalk like last year's 36-0 route. Maybe that was it, but if so I hope our players saw enough yesterday to remove their collective heads from their rectums. I don't care how lopsided things are in this series, this is still probably the most physical game in the country and a game probably played with more emotion than any other in the country to boot. Iron Bowl victories rarely come easy, regardless of the circumstances, and if our players legitimately thought otherwise, they were fooling themselves. Repeat after me: Iron. Bowl. Victories. Do. Not. Come. Easy.

Of course, stepping back from the ledge a bit, it should be noted that in many ways this game was a lopsided affair in both directions. Auburn absolutely dominated early, gaining a 14-0 lead after the first four possessions and out-gaining the TIde in total yards a whopping 138 to 5. But we survived the shitstorm, as Saban would later call it, and from there we effectively dominated the game, out-scoring Auburn 26-7 and out-gaining them somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 to 180.

It wasn't so much that we played poorly all day as much as it was that we got off to the worst start we've had in many, many years, and then despite generally controlling the game from that point moving forward, we shot ourselves in the foot just enough -- Barron's big play allowed, Leigh Tiffin's blocked kick, Mark Ingram's missed touchdown pass, and another failure to convert in the red zone -- to keep this one going right down to the wire. If we stop shooting ourselves in the foot after the terrible start, we win this one easily somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-14, but obviously it didn't happen that way.

For Auburn, their players played a fine game and their coaches did a fine job to boot. They should all be proud of their collective effort. And frankly if their fan base wants to bask in the comfort of such a supposedly great moral victory, let 'em. As our Tennessee friend so accurately pointed out in his meltdown last month, "There are no f*cking moral victories." We look to hold the advantage in this rivalry for years to come, and if they want to get all cheery and jolly over a close loss at home, that's their problem, not mine.

In any event, though, it was an ugly day and we should all feel very fortunate to be headed back to Tuscaloosa as winners. Being brutally honest, most of the time you go out and play in the SEC like we did today, a loss is almost an inevitability. We played with fire and somehow avoided getting burnt. Doing so is a rarity in the SEC.

From here, we just have to regroup and play better. Florida would kill us given the way we played yesterday, and that's the harsh truth. We're a team that clearly has some legitimate problems right now, but we're going to have to find a way to fix those things in the next seven days. Fortunately, I've said for the past several weeks that all we really needed to do down the stretch was to (1) win, regardless of the circumstances, and (2) stay healthy doing so. And as heart-attack-inducing as yesterday's Iron Bowl was, we did both of those things and we lived to fight another week. For now, we're 12-0 yet again, and we can put all of our sights on Florida. No one ever said it would be easy to beat the Gators, and nothing we saw yesterday changed that harsh reality, but then again we knew all along that we would practically need the perfect game in Atlanta to stamp our ticket to Pasadena. Anyone who ever legitimately thought otherwise was fooling themselves.

For now, though, today is an off day for the Crimson Tide. We got back to Tuscaloosa late last night and today is an easy, leisurely day in the Druid City. Tomorrow, all focus and efforts will turn towards Florida. Our Iron Bowl performance was ugly as hell, but we survived and I'm sure it will be celebrated as such. I say we do the same thing. Enjoy another great day of football, savor yet another Iron Bowl victory, and then all eyes can turn to the rematch we've been waiting on for twelve months.

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.

Countdown To Atlanta Death Match 2009

mlmintampa — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:03:38 -0000

It is a coincidence that Alabama and Florida are playing for the SEC Championship. Since divisional play began, Alabama has won seven SEC West titles and Florida has won ten SEC East titles, the top two in the Conference (including 2009). It is not surprising then that this will be the seventh time the teams have played for the SEC Championship, and the second time it has been in consecutive years (1992-94 were UF-Bama matchups as well).

It is fate though that the Gators and Tide are undefeated and ranked #1 and #2 in the BCS rankings. Both teams have their own pressures to deal with. Florida wears the crown of a champion, which at times has seemed to overwhelm their coaches and players. Alabama has the expectations of history, and the pressure seems to be gaining on them after the angst over their offensive woes, despite improving their total offense with a first year starter.

Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are both mercenaries, but have locked into posts where they can make or break their careers. Neither man can top their historic predecessors. But to a generation that will donate more money and follows college football with more passion and intelligence than their parents, they will be the pinnacle of their schools.

Florida does not have Mark Ingram and Bama does not have Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey or Emmanuel Moody. Bama does not have Tim Tebow and Florida does not have Julio Jones. Both teams still have defenses that prop up offenses that cannot score or kick too many field goals. Just like two heavyweights, it may not be pretty, but they will pound you into submission.

And just like two heavyweights, they will have to go through a few tomato cans before their unification bout. Florida, for all the talk about a terrible offense, has won 8 of 9 games this season by double digits. Now, they get a South Carolina team that hasn't scored more than 20 points in a month and lost 3 of their last 4. After a bye week against Florida International, they get FSU, which cannot win since they are too busy trying to pull a coup on their head coach.

Bama destroyed people in their first seven games, before needing Terrence Cody's big paws and Leigh Tiffin's big leg to defeat Tennessee. A bye week was supposed to fix all the offense's woes. Yet, the Tide was losing entering the 4^th quarter against LSU, before two field goals and a Jones TD and conversion sealed it for Bama. They face Mississippi State, who is not scared of anybody, then a bye week against Chattanooga. Bama then gets Auburn, who has scored 96 points in their last two games (wins) after scoring only 47 in their previous three games (losses).

Both fan bases alternate between various levels of panic and booking flights to Los Angeles on Orbitz. Both fan bases think the other is nothing but white trash or high and mighty snobs. Florida fans wonder if Bama fans will just drive their house to Pasadena, and Bama fans will reply that at least the bank doesn't own their home.

Of course, the Gators and Tide have to hold up their ends of the bargain and not slip before getting to the Atlanta Death Match 2009. Players have to avoid getting high on weed or tryptophan, and watch out for cousins giving them pills and NFL players recruiting for agents. Coaches have to game plan for everything or remove their head out of their ass. Florida has been under huge pressure all season. With the date set in Atlanta, Bama will get a taste of that same pressure too for the next three weeks.

The next four weeks will be cruel on fans and players. One loss will end a season, either now or in Atlanta. But we would not want it any other way. Only 27 days...