Thanks to the shoulder of Marcell Dareus last night become something more than this years national championship. The 2009 national championship could easily have been a showcase game for the 2010 seasons and beyond. The devastating loss of Colt McCoy knocked the wind out of Texas for the majority of the first half, more than ever it showed how much Colt meant to the Texas offence. What those on 90,000+ in Pasadena and the huge television audience got to see was like looking into a crystal ball (pun intended). Alabama was already lucky this year to have an incredible number of talented underclassmen, the two running backs are prime examples, they also had the sprinkling of draft stock that played their last game yesterday. Texas on the other hand will be re-building on defence, especially on the line, but offensively the future arrived last night.
Alabama will be hurt most by the departure of linebacker Rolando McClain, defensive tackle Terrence Cody and cornerback Javier Arenas. It is simply outstanding what these players contributed the Crimson Tide this year, Cody provided the indelible image by blocking the two field goals against Tennessee at Bryant-Denny earlier in the year and keeping ‘Bama on the road to the Rose Bowl. It’s also widely reported what McClain brings to the defence. Tagged the ‘defensive quarterback’ he provides Kirby Smart and Nick Saban confidence in their defensive audibles as well as in the line backing core. He alone shows so much on defensive series that the Tide may have to play a 4-4 defence to compensate. Whilst Arenas is a shutdown corner it is on special teams that he will be missed most, it is here that he has broken various records for return yards and gave both Florida and Texas reason to game plan especially for his kick returning. The loss of McClain will be somewhat offset by the return of Dont’a Hightower, who missed the entire year through injury, will have had the benefit of a year watching and learning from McClain and should be able to move into the position reasonably easily. It is on offence that Alabama showed the brightest signs for at least the next 2 years. Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram is only a sophomore and went for 116 yards against the number one rush defence in the country, Trent Richardson is a freshman who rushed for 109 yards against the same defence. The admittedly underwhelming quarterback Greg McElroy who only threw for 58 yards on 6 completions from 11 attempts, but his performances against Auburn and Florida leave little doubt that he could be a senior star. This without mentioning the star wideouts, Julio Jones and Marquis Maze, who will both only be juniors next season. The biggest losses will be offensive lineman Mike Johnson and Colin Peek, the tight end transfer who become something of a comfort blanket to McElroy in the tougher times. Both will be replaced, Alabama is returning approximately 14 O-linemen and losing only 2, they will also have junior Preston Dial taking over the tight end position having seen action already this year. This is without even considering the number two ranked recruiting class in the country. Alabama could be stacked to dominate the SEC and BCS for the rest of this decade if everything goes according to the Saban plan.
The experience that Garrett Gilbert gained inside Rose Bowl stadium will be unmatched by no other sophomore starters next year. You could see him growing as the game went on, even seeming to read the complex ‘Bama defence. He wasn’t helped by receivers dropping the ball, but now that he’s going to have all spring to work with those same receivers who won’t be dropping balls next year. Ok, so all his big plays were to Jordan Shipley who won’t be there next year, but the others will learn to trust him just in a little longer time than it took Shipley. Greg Davies will get to know Gilbert’s strengths and weaknesses and by September he will have an offence tailored to Gilbert not McCoy. It was incredible to see the success of the Texas run game when McCoy went down. In all likely hood with Colt in the game the number of rushes would have been maybe half, as it was they recorded 27 rushes without him for 81 yards. Without huge success it was a lot better than it was expected to be and freshmen Tre’ Newton and DJ Monroe were to the front. Texas will start the 2010 season with a sophomore quarterback and two sophomore running backs. Add to that the 15 receivers returning, including every member of the receiving core from the championship game. Oh and Alabama came be happy with the number two recruiting class, Texas has the number one class.
Could these two meet in the national championship again? If next years rosters are anything to go by then some of the 2009 players could be playing against each other again. And that might be well before some play against each other in the NFL.
Showing posts with label Alabama Crimson Tide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alabama Crimson Tide. Show all posts
Friday, 8 January 2010
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Tiffin Hoping to Finish has a Kick
The headlines and stories this week have mostly been focused on Mark Ingram, Greg McElroy, Javier Arenas and Coach Saban. Thursday will be the last game at Alabama for the All-American, record-setting senior kicker Leigh Tiffin. Throughout the 2009 season Tiffin has been as big a factor in winning games as his quarterback and running back have. On November 7th against LSU Tiffin became Alabama’s all-time leading scorer, it was a week before then, however, that Leigh Tiffin proved his importance to the Crimson Tide. Terrence Cody got the headlines for his double field goal block against Tennesse but, with a neutered offence, someone had to score the points. Tiffin went 4 for 4 in the nail biting rivalry game, kicking goals of 22, 38, 49 and 50 yards. Amongst the excitement surrounding the successes of Ingram, McElroy and Cody the 21 year old from Muscle Shoals, Alabama has been lost in the mix.
Tiffin has improved as his college career has progressed. This year has been by far his best, making 87.9% of his field goals, that has been an improvement from 61% in his freshman year, 73% sophomore and 69% last year. This is what you expect from college players, improvement. Despite regressing last year he has shown, in his senior year, why he has been contending for the Lou Groza award. The stats show exactly how; the 18% success rate improvement shows his work on the practice field. It is even more impressive that because Tiffin has attempted 33 field goals, 4 more than last year and 1 less than his sophomore year. The only area he has dropped off is his extra point kicking, missing a career high 3 extra points. Despite this, in the biggest moments, when the clutch kicks have been needed is when Leigh has been at his best. The Tennessee and LSU games being the prime example.
He is also a very engaging young man. One of the forefront media figures on the Alabama roster he is always willing to give an interesting sound bite, something slightly unique. He obviously knows Alabama football, his dad Van was another record setting Tide kicker, and this shows. He cares for the team, university, fans and his team mates. He is clearly a young kid from northern Alabama living the dream of every Alabama born young man. If he remains as ice cool as he has been this year he could be living the biggest Alabama dream there is, a dream that’s been a 16 year nightmare. The nightmare could end, with Tiffin’s college career, in Pasadena tomorrow night.
Tiffin has improved as his college career has progressed. This year has been by far his best, making 87.9% of his field goals, that has been an improvement from 61% in his freshman year, 73% sophomore and 69% last year. This is what you expect from college players, improvement. Despite regressing last year he has shown, in his senior year, why he has been contending for the Lou Groza award. The stats show exactly how; the 18% success rate improvement shows his work on the practice field. It is even more impressive that because Tiffin has attempted 33 field goals, 4 more than last year and 1 less than his sophomore year. The only area he has dropped off is his extra point kicking, missing a career high 3 extra points. Despite this, in the biggest moments, when the clutch kicks have been needed is when Leigh has been at his best. The Tennessee and LSU games being the prime example.
He is also a very engaging young man. One of the forefront media figures on the Alabama roster he is always willing to give an interesting sound bite, something slightly unique. He obviously knows Alabama football, his dad Van was another record setting Tide kicker, and this shows. He cares for the team, university, fans and his team mates. He is clearly a young kid from northern Alabama living the dream of every Alabama born young man. If he remains as ice cool as he has been this year he could be living the biggest Alabama dream there is, a dream that’s been a 16 year nightmare. The nightmare could end, with Tiffin’s college career, in Pasadena tomorrow night.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
The more things change the more they stay the same
Everything was different. Tim Tebow was outplayed by an opposition quarterback. Urban Meyer was completely out coached and Florida was dominated. From the very first play it was obvious that this was a very different game to any we have seen for at least three years. Nick Saban is renowned for deferring when winning the coin toss, not Saturday. He grabbed that ball to make a statement. Alabama is very possibly the last college team in the country that doesn’t run a spread offence, first play Saturday they just did. That play was an indicator of how the rest of the game would go. Everything Alabama did was a statement, from the kick off, to the spread, to scoring first drive. The game plan was obvious, punch Florida in the nose and leave them bloody. Every time the CBS camera’s zoomed on Meyer or Tebow there was a concern I have never seen before. Did they panic? Get confused? or scared? Whatever, they had no answer. How did ’Bama blow away the reigning national champions? It’s a question that every member of ’Gator Nation has been asking since about 7pm in the Georgia Dome. Florida lost all the key match ups, and these a just some of them;
QB; Greg McElroy vs. Tim Tebow
If this was your first ever college football game and you were told the best player in the country was on the field, you would have thought it was Alabama’s number 12. On Saturday night it was. From the first pass to the when he ran off the field McElroy was in complete control of the football, almost every pass was where it needed to be. In fact McElroy attempted less passes than Tebow completed, but ended with only 8 yards less. Whether it was the coach who panicked or the player, Florida completely lost control, they lost perspective and forgot the game plan. Tebow had 10 rushing attempts to 35 passing attempts. Last week against Florida State he had 21 passing attempts and 15 rushing. Tebow looked like a wide eyed freshman not a senior Heisman winner. While McElroy made the big plays, either with his arms or legs, they were completely taken away from Tebow. As Pat Forde wrote for ESPN McElroy "out-Tebowed" Tebow, and this match-up boils down simply to that.
CB; Javier Arenas vs. Joe Haden
Arenas was supposed to be more dangerous on special teams than defence. Florida’s approach to Arenas on special teams was perfect he was shut down. As a defender he shut Florida down. This was not the predicted story line in regards to the two corner backs. It was predicted the Joe Haden could have a potentially huge game while covering Julio Jones. It was telling that it was against Haden Jones managed to get open on the very first play of the game. All game either Maquis Maze or Julio Jones were managing to get open, wide open. No receiver could consistently do this. You only have to compare two end zone passes, Arenas put himself in perfect position to steal Tebow’s last gasp heave. With 10 minutes left in the Third Quarter Colin Peek, the Alabama Tight End, escaped Haden’s coverage to catch McElroy’s perfect pass into the end zone. Arenas didn’t do what he was supposed to do, he did what he needed to do, Haden couldn’t.
WR; Julio Jones vs. Riley Cooper
This was supposed to be the big receiver match-up, like many predictions it didn’t happen that way. In fact this was the one key contest Florida won. That straight head-to-head shows Jones has 2 catches for 28 yards and Cooper had 3 for 77. Saying that negates the impact that Marquis Maze and Mark Ingram made as receivers for Alabama. Maze had 5 of ‘Bama’s 12 receptions and made 96 yards and Ingram went 2 for 76. Despite both Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez’s big games the Tide receivers all made big plays when it mattered and the Gators didn’t.
RB; Mark Ingram vs. Florida
Was this ever a real match-up? It turned out not. It’s impossible to measure Ingram against any other Florida rusher, Tebow is the Gators running back regardless of what he’s listed as. This, plus the fact Ingram alone ran the ball twice as much as the whole Gator team, shows the imbalance in this argument. Ingram had his Heisman game all over the Florida defence, whether catching or running it was all about Mark Ingram making big plays. He beat Tebow rushing, he beat Demps rushing and he beat the Florida defence in general.
Was there a defining match-up that won the game for Alabama? You could say it was Saban vs. Meyer and have a great case. But in the grand scheme of things it seems that on a day when the past met the present, a day when everything changed but stayed the same, the Crimson Tide as an entity was better than Florida, nothing more nothing less. It was the first time in a long time that Alabama emerged the bear shaped shadow, just for a day. If they win on January 7th there may be a new shadow looking over Tuscaloosa.
QB; Greg McElroy vs. Tim Tebow
If this was your first ever college football game and you were told the best player in the country was on the field, you would have thought it was Alabama’s number 12. On Saturday night it was. From the first pass to the when he ran off the field McElroy was in complete control of the football, almost every pass was where it needed to be. In fact McElroy attempted less passes than Tebow completed, but ended with only 8 yards less. Whether it was the coach who panicked or the player, Florida completely lost control, they lost perspective and forgot the game plan. Tebow had 10 rushing attempts to 35 passing attempts. Last week against Florida State he had 21 passing attempts and 15 rushing. Tebow looked like a wide eyed freshman not a senior Heisman winner. While McElroy made the big plays, either with his arms or legs, they were completely taken away from Tebow. As Pat Forde wrote for ESPN McElroy "out-Tebowed" Tebow, and this match-up boils down simply to that.
CB; Javier Arenas vs. Joe Haden
Arenas was supposed to be more dangerous on special teams than defence. Florida’s approach to Arenas on special teams was perfect he was shut down. As a defender he shut Florida down. This was not the predicted story line in regards to the two corner backs. It was predicted the Joe Haden could have a potentially huge game while covering Julio Jones. It was telling that it was against Haden Jones managed to get open on the very first play of the game. All game either Maquis Maze or Julio Jones were managing to get open, wide open. No receiver could consistently do this. You only have to compare two end zone passes, Arenas put himself in perfect position to steal Tebow’s last gasp heave. With 10 minutes left in the Third Quarter Colin Peek, the Alabama Tight End, escaped Haden’s coverage to catch McElroy’s perfect pass into the end zone. Arenas didn’t do what he was supposed to do, he did what he needed to do, Haden couldn’t.
WR; Julio Jones vs. Riley Cooper
This was supposed to be the big receiver match-up, like many predictions it didn’t happen that way. In fact this was the one key contest Florida won. That straight head-to-head shows Jones has 2 catches for 28 yards and Cooper had 3 for 77. Saying that negates the impact that Marquis Maze and Mark Ingram made as receivers for Alabama. Maze had 5 of ‘Bama’s 12 receptions and made 96 yards and Ingram went 2 for 76. Despite both Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez’s big games the Tide receivers all made big plays when it mattered and the Gators didn’t.
RB; Mark Ingram vs. Florida
Was this ever a real match-up? It turned out not. It’s impossible to measure Ingram against any other Florida rusher, Tebow is the Gators running back regardless of what he’s listed as. This, plus the fact Ingram alone ran the ball twice as much as the whole Gator team, shows the imbalance in this argument. Ingram had his Heisman game all over the Florida defence, whether catching or running it was all about Mark Ingram making big plays. He beat Tebow rushing, he beat Demps rushing and he beat the Florida defence in general.
Was there a defining match-up that won the game for Alabama? You could say it was Saban vs. Meyer and have a great case. But in the grand scheme of things it seems that on a day when the past met the present, a day when everything changed but stayed the same, the Crimson Tide as an entity was better than Florida, nothing more nothing less. It was the first time in a long time that Alabama emerged the bear shaped shadow, just for a day. If they win on January 7th there may be a new shadow looking over Tuscaloosa.
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