The Jumbo Package │09.23.14

Florida vs. Alabama, The Sunday Rundown: Pictures at an evisceration - Alligator Army

I looked this up Friday night, because I was curious and reminiscing: Friday was the five-year anniversary of Lane Kiffin's only other meeting with Florida, the exasperating 23-13 win by the Gators over his Tennessee in The Swamp that I remember as the single least satisfying win I've ever experienced. On that day, Kiffin's offense plodded around and did its damnedest not to embarrass itself, leaving the crowd in The Swamp, one that was thirsty for blood after an offseason of impudence from Kiffin, unslaked.

Five years later, the blood was everywhere. And it had everything to do with Kiffin. Kiffin has a lot of talent to work with at Alabama. I think Amari Cooper's the best wide receiver I've ever seen in the SEC. Alabama's third-string running back — Kenyan Drake — would start at upwards of 100 FBS schools. Blake Sims looked like a Heisman candidate on Saturday, and it wasn't just a matter of Florida's defense being a horror show.

But Kiffin called what was very nearly a perfect game.

Nick Saban loves Alabama's offense but stresses turnovers, penalties will get Tide beat | AL.com

"I love this, the way we play. I always want to play this way," Saban said. "I want to take what the defensegives. One of the things that we really like ... is try to eliminate the other team having the opportunity to give you a negative play because you don't have enough flexibility to either skip the ball out to a receiver or change the play and go in the other direction. And I think that's the one thing that we've done a really good job of so far offensively.

"I think Lane does a great job in planning that way, and the players have executed pretty well."

SEC Power Poll Week 5: Alabama Crimson Tide Still No. 1; Middle Gets Muddled - Team Speed Kills

We're in a strange place when the top three teams in a division can make a claim to being the #1 team in the country. Amari Cooper is going to be phenomenal in the NFL.

Alabama QB Blake Sims is awesome at his job ... and so is his OC - SBNation.com

Sims' passes don't have the greatest velocity in the world, and the fact that he didn't put the race away until fall might suggest that he isn't quite as good on average as he's shown so far. But his accuracy and delivery speed are phenomenal -- see receiver, throw ball on-target to open receiver, rinse, repeat -- and he can make all of the throws that Kiffin's system asks him to make.

He can catch the snap and throw leading passes to receivers on the perimeter, and his soft, pretty deep ball might be even softer and prettier than AJ McCarron's. His hands are strong enough for him to change his mind on a pass and bring the ball back down at the last second, and ... did I mention his accuracy?

Eddie Lacy needs to play better, Green Bay Packers coach says | AL.com

"We have an outstanding quarterback," McCarthy said. "The focus on our offense is always on making the quarterback successful. That approach will never change, and it starts with a healthy run game."

Is Lane Kiffin making a case to succeed Nick Saban at Alabama someday? | AL.com

But there may be an even better way to address what Kiffin has accomplished with the Alabama offense and quarterback Blake Sims during the Crimson Tide’s 4-0 start -- by asking a question: One week shy of one year since USC fired him as head coach at LAX in a nightmarish conclusion to his dream job, is Kiffin starting to make a case to one day succeed Nick Saban?

Looks like somebody was reading the RBR comment section yesterday...