September 20th: Sunday Night Roundup
by outsidethesidelines on Sep 20, 2009 7:42 PM CDT
21 comments
All in all it was yet another great weekend of college football. Lots of news and storylines out there today, so here's a quick roundup of things of interest:
After watching the Tide dismantle his Mean Green, North Texas head coach Todd Dodge is fully convinced of the Tide's abilities. In the post-game he said we were, "as good as advertised," and furthermore said that we had "all the ingredients" needed to win a national championship. If nothing else, we made a believer out of him on Saturday.
Julio Jones dressed out for the game yesterday against North Texas, and Coach Saban said something to the effect of that he might play if we needed him, but obviously it never came to that. The smart money is on Julio playing had we been facing an SEC opponent, but even so Coach Saban has already said that Julio should be good to go next week against the Hogs. The news, however, wasn't necessarily so promising on Roy Upchurch. Saban said he was probably 80-85 percent right now, but did say that if he kept responding that he might play this weekend.
Demetrius Goode went down after his 14-yard run with an injury to his right knee and did not return. Coach Saban, however, later said it was just a hyper-extended knee and that he thought he should be okay. Goode tore an ACL two years ago in Fall camp, but this injury doesn't look anywhere near as serious.
Lost in the domination of the Mean Green was that Greg McElroy took a very hard shot on the opening play of the game. He hurt his left jaw during the impact, and was favoring it a tad bit afterward. I noticed him with ice on it at one point, and while the medical staff is telling him to keep ice on it the next few days it's nothing serious.
Alabama didn't get any sacks against North Texas, but Coach Saban couldn't have cared less about that fact.
Click here to watch highlights from the North Texas game, and click here to watch Coach Saban's postgame interview.
After USC's upset to Washington, Alabama moved up to third in both major polls, trailing only Florida and Texas. And in the AP poll, 'Bama received three first place votes.
Moving on to the Hogs, Arkansas starting middle linebacker Jerry Franklin was ejected from the Georgia game last night after bumping two UGA players and an official. Under a new rule passed this past year, whenever a player is ejected from a game due to a flagrant personal foul, the team's conference must conduct an automatic video review for possible additional sanctions to be added in the next game. Obviously I don't expect Franklin will miss any time in the Alabama game because of it, but it is nevertheless something to keep in mind.
Speaking of the Hogs, for those of you that like to bet or like me who just like the betting lines for their predictive power, Alabama opened as a 14.5 point favorite over Arkansas..
If nothing else, at least Arkansas has struggled in Tuscaloosa as of late. In the past five trips to Bryant-Denny, the Hogs are only 1-4.
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Defense strategy question
OTS,
do you think the 3-3-5 played by tennessee attributed to floridas lack of offensive prowess last weekend or do you think their lack of playmaking receivers was more prevelant? Don’t get me wrong, they shouldve covered the spread without a tebow fumble but it just appeared that the offense seemed vulnerable and not as much of a juggernaut.
by robalo216 on Sep 20, 2009 9:34 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Eh...
… honestly I’m not really sure. To be certain, Florida’s offense didn’t put up an ungodly amounts of points or yards against Tennessee, and while I do think they are missing that elite playmaker like Harvin, I honestly believe a lot of people are reading way too much into it.
Just being honest, it’s not like Florida struggled. The passing game was still very efficient, they averaged almost five yards per carry, and didn’t really commit any penalties. And keep in mind they did all of this against what was, at absolute worst, a national top ten defense, and the second best defense they will face all year. We should all be so lucky to “struggle” so much.
And frankly, this game was just like it was a year ago. Had it not been for the fumble by Tebow while Florida was driving late, this game would have ended up 30-6 just like it was a year ago.
Don’t get me wrong, I think there are a few chinks in the armor right now, but it’s still very early, and with Florida being surrounded with so much elite talent, they could easily catch fire at any time and be raining 50+ points on everyone in sight just like they did last year.
Now I do think the 3-3-5 is helping as a scheme against this spread, especially for teams with damn good nose play that can slow down the interior runs and at the same time get all of that speed on the field to defend against the spread. I think that’s why you saw Kiffin using it yesterday, and I think that’s why Saban is apparently using it so much this year as well. Still, though, even with that in mind, this is a potent offense that is likely to score a lot of points regardless of what you do. You’re legitimately going to have to put 30+ points on the board to beat this bunch.
And furthermore, I will also add for everyone saying that the lack of Percy Harvin is really hurting this offense, keep in mind that Florida put up 31 points against ’Bama and beat the Tide in Atlanta last year without Percy Harvin.
by outsidethesidelines on Sep 20, 2009 10:18 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah, I didnt mean to sound like Florida wasn’t putting up solid numbers, just that drives were being stopped at times. I think Danielson even mentioned the nose factor during the game, and Tennessee’s lack of a solid nose like our Mt. Cody. I believe Florida didnt pass as much and were doing more of the run option in the 2nd half, but that was just from a viewing perspective, havent seen anything on paper. You really think the Vols have a top 10 defense? I thought their talent level, especially on the line, was still in rebuilding mode and needed players besides the wrecking ball number 14.
After
watching the UT/UF game, I am convinced that Alabama is the team to beat Florida. I don’t think any defense can stop Tebow and the spread option game, especially with Demps, Rainey and Moody. But a really good defense can slow them down, force them to play perfect. A defense like Alabama has can do this. And it was obvious to me on Saturday had UT had any semblence of a functional offense, that game would’ve become very interesting. Alabama has the defense to slow down the spread option, and it has the offense to put up enough points to keep the game close until the final quarter. This is pretty much what happened in the ’08 SEC CG, only we fell short. Given another shot at Florida, I sincerely think we beat them if we play our best game.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
by Bens4vcobra on Sep 21, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
ditto
w/ there losses at WR and our vastly improved pass rush and passing attack, we should be able to move the ball with a little more consistency than we did last year, as well as hold their O back a little better.
i now firmly believe we are going to beat them. there’s no way in hell we bring anything other than our best game when we go back to atlanta.
welcome to the SEC kiffykins...
by tempebamafan on Sep 21, 2009 1:19 PM CDT up reply actions
UF's
defense wasn’t super-impressive to me on Saturday. Kiffin was calling basic run plays, counters, power iso, toss sweepts etc… and it was working until UT had to pass. With our QB and weapons we have on offense, Tebow can do his worst and I still say we’re in the game with a chance to win by the 4th quarter.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
I was glad for the win
over NTU, but I wish we could have played against their hurt QB, Dodge.
We are going to face a real big time QB this week. We need to be able to put pressure on him with a 3 man line.
14.5 pts. is crazy. Arky’s offense is for real. They are much more dangerous than VT. We will need to play our best game of the season to win by 7-10. We definitely need Julio at full strength. UGA would not have taken them without AJ Green. We also really need a good kicking game- punts and kick-offs. UGA’s punter, Butler, was very big in their win.
However, in a way, Julio not playing the past 2 weeks may help us because we got some balls to McCoy, Maze and others. Arky focused on Green, and although he had a big night, their TE and other the WR’s also got a lot of work. GMac needs to continue to spread the ball around which he has done with no Julio to look to.
I hate the NCAA more than UT & AU combined. At least with UT & AU you got a fighting chance.
At the same time, Arkansas allowed GA
to put up 50+ points on them – at home. Their defense, for all the talk of most starters returning, is terrible. The only thing that scares me at all about Arkansas is their deep threat, and frankly I am not sure we have the corners to stop them.
It is important to find someone who allows you to fulfill your dreams. It is luck if that person finds you, too - Isaiah Zagar
IDK why some folks are seriously afraid of competition.
Quality comp begets a quality product at the end of the season (i.e. when it matters).
Guess what, they haven’t beaten us until the damn game is over.
You never know how far you can go until you step outside your own self imposed boundaries.
Arky is one dimensional. They have an offense. Problem is their strength is on the field at the same time as our strength, the defense. Furthermore, our offense is light years ahead of their defense. We won’t hold them scoreless, but they damn well won’t outscore us.
Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant
by TheRedTideConsumes on Sep 21, 2009 8:19 AM CDT reply actions
I don't think anyone is afraid of competition
But I am worried about the deep ball.
It is important to find someone who allows you to fulfill your dreams. It is luck if that person finds you, too - Isaiah Zagar
by BamaReturns07 on Sep 21, 2009 9:59 AM CDT up reply actions
the probability for Akry to beat us in a shootout is very low
Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant
by TheRedTideConsumes on Sep 21, 2009 1:12 PM CDT up reply actions
Espcially
since Saban isn’t going to just sit back and give basic looks on D all day. We’re going to give Mallett hell for 60 minutes, if he completes a few bombs oh well.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
we gotta create
6 seconds of hell each play
"You have to create 6 seconds of hell each play..."
Coach Nick Saban
I seriously
think Julio Jones is gonna come back this weekend and go apeshit on the field. You know that guy is hungry to play and make a statement this year.
This upcoming season I'm gonna refer to Julio Jones as "The Magic Man" and Trent Richardson as "El Diablo"
by AlabamaTitans2009 on Sep 21, 2009 1:16 PM CDT reply actions
Not to mention
Maze is slowly but surely becoming the deep threat we all envisioned he could become. Also is it just me or did Mike McCoy tranform into a Julio clone over the offseason? He looks huge and breaks a few tackles now.
This upcoming season I'm gonna refer to Julio Jones as "The Magic Man" and Trent Richardson as "El Diablo"
by AlabamaTitans2009 on Sep 21, 2009 1:18 PM CDT up reply actions
I
tell you who looked big was Michael Bowman. I wish he would’ve caught a few more balls.
But yeah, I hear ya on Julio. After watching the games had by Michael Moore and AJ Green on film this week, he’s going to be licking his chops.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
which is why i was actually glad to see him out of the mix the last two weeks...
because there was a real danger mcelroy would get overdependent on jones given julio’s raw ability to make something out of the worst throws. but with the amount of double coverage he draws, that’s asking for trouble down the line.
but now defenses know that mcelroy can cut them to pieces using the other receivers if he wants and they’ll have to respect that. oh, and lets not forget the emerging ingram/richardson runningbeast threat. add it all up and you have a situation where a healthy julio can really start going to town.
by kleph on Sep 21, 2009 5:33 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
You had me at
ingram/richardson runningbeast threat.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
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