Your Wednesday Links and Such

by Todd on Sep 12, 2007 10:04 AM CDT

Since I spent most of last night watching The Office: Season 3, listening to the ATHFCMFFT soundtrack, and playing with my awesome new alarm clock/iPod thingy, all courtesy of the Girl and her giganto basket o' birthday fun (which also included, Abita, glass bottle cokes, Slim Jims, and some red hightop chucks, because I am so indie and awesome), I got no blogging done.

YOUR MOOOOONEY IS NOW OUR MOOOOONEY

So please enjoy these links, and I'll be back tomorrow with a look at the Arkansas Razorbacks with some help from the Hog Blogger.

Terry Grant is, for the second week in a row, the SEC Freshman of the Week:

Grant, a native of Lumberton, Miss., broke the 100-yard barrier for the second straight week with 173 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns. He accounted for 80 of Alabama's 86 yards on a drive in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory for the Tide.

Grant ranks eighth nationally and first in the SEC in rushing at 153.5 yards per game. His five rushing touchdowns tie him for first nationally, and he has led Alabama to a No. 12 ranking in team rushing.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Razorback linebacker Weston Dacus have a few things to say about Grant, too:

Arkansas middle linebacker Weston Dacus acknowledged Grant is a focal point for the defense this week. Stopping the run, Grant in particular, will be key to the Razorbacks' chances.

"He's a small, little guy, but he's explosive and he'll run over you if he has to," Dacus said. "He's got a lot of speed. We're going to have to, as a defense, step our game up this week. Alabama is going to be coming after us. Grant is definitely a talented running back. We're not going to overlook that."

Even after the poor showing of the Alabama passing attack last weekend, Wilson is still confident in himself and the offense:

"It wasn't too totally bad when we ran the ball like we did," Wilson said Tuesday evening. "We didn't put up the numbers passing that we want to, but we need to keep doing what we're doing. We're blocking well, we're protecting like we should and if we keep running like we did we're going to be fine."

Alabama's ability to take over the game on the ground definitely contributed to the lower numbers, unlike last year when the Tide almost never had the luxury of not throwing.

Nevertheless, the passing game, which was supposed to be the team's biggest strength this season, obviously wasn't clicking.

"I think I looked good mechanically, I just missed a couple of guys," said Wilson, who has yet to have a touchdown pass this season. "It wasn't anything read-wise; there wasn't an internal breakdown that we're going to have to go back to ground zero."

Memphis Tider takes a look at how the Tide's performance over the first two weeks has changed the betting lines.

The Decatur Daily talks about the significant change in the defense's mentality from week one to week two, and what that means for Arkansas:

"They've got a 1-2 punch, and their 1-2 punch is pretty powerful," Tide linebacker Darren Mustin said. "Both of them are fast. Both of them are strong. Both of them are quick. We've got to contain them, and if we get a chance, we've got to hit them."

Gilberry isn't looking at just hitting McFadden.

"I'm trying to destroy him," Gilberry said. "Not trying to be brutal, but that is my mind set."

According to The Arkansas Traveler, Saban has the Hog offense all figured out:

"They're basically [starting] from a spread-out offense running a lot of wishbone principles in their zone options, creating a pitchman with somebody going in motion, running a misdirection zone read," Saban said at a Monday press conference.

Basically.

Saban did admit that some people have problems tackling the Razorback rushing tandem that gained about 2,700 yards together.

"It's really important to keep leverage on them, tackle well, and get a lot of people around the ball so we don't have a lot of one-on-one tackles," Saban said.

Of course, the element of surprise is also a factor:

"We have a few more things," Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee said. "That's what an open week gives you, a little bit more time to polish some things you haven't shown the week before."

Saban said that there are obvious advantages to having an additional week of practice, that the extra week allows you to make changes that can counter the other team's preparation.

David Lee is praising the Alabama D:

According to Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee, Alabama's defensive prowess hasn't dipped in 36 years.

"I can't remember," Lee said after Tuesday's practice, "when they haven't looked good going all the way back to when I was a player at Vanderbilt. First Alabama team I ever saw in 1971 looked good and they've looked good ever since."

Lee saw no change viewing film of his alma mater getting rolled by Nick Saban's Tide.

"I thought they really shut down Vandy," Lee said, "Alabama's defense got after the quarterback and did a super job. They improved so much between Western Carolina (a 52-6 rout over an overmatched team) and Vanderbilt. I just hope they don't improve that much against us."