Clash Of The Titans
Notebooking Alabama vs Texas A&M
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| Photo Credit: Bamatime.com via Bing |
Much has already been said, much has already been written concerning today's colossal clash between the number one ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the number six ranked Texas A&M Aggies. When the dust has settled, only one of these proud teams will remain undefeated.
Just how do these two teams stack up against one another? How do the personnel involved fit into the X's and O's on that "chalkboard" that is so often talked about?
The Crimson Tide offers a balanced approach to college football this season, scoring touchdowns consistently even when the ball isn't in the capable hands of true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts. Alabama has produced 11 non-offensive touchdowns this season, more than any other college football team for 2016.
Of course most thought last weeks battle at Neyland Stadium was going to be a lot tougher than it actually was. The Tide went into Knoxville hearing that this was Tennessee's year and that Bama wouldn't leave town unscathed. Of course nearly six hundred yards of offense later, Alabama hung a 49-10 whoopin' and totally peeled the Big Orange. Hurts was masterful in running the game plan provided him by Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator, and former University of Tennessee head coach, Lane Kiffin.
Concerning Hurts, Saban commented this past Monday, "I
don’t think the plays that we run are that much different than we’ve
run before. I just think he adds an extra
element to it that makes the defense have to account for him, which
makes them, in some cases, a little softer on some of the things that we
do. I think all those things complement each other to help our
offensive team."
Alabama and Jalen Hurts have shown their mettle in defeating then-No. 16 Arkansas 49-30 and then the formerly No. 9 Tennessee Vounteers 49-10. Two teams there with national rankings that were supposed to slow down the Crimson Tide, yet allowed the Tide to showcase the true talent and moxie this team possesses. Hurts pranced his way to five touchdowns in those contests.
The great thing about this young quarterback is that Hurts knows he is only a true freshman in a game of juniors and seniors. He knows he has much to learn and welcomes the input of coaches and experienced players.
Saban commented, "There's nobody on our team that wants [to be critiqued] more than he does. He's very self-critical. So when you bring something to him, it's kind of like, maybe it's because his dad was a coach, I don't know, but he's one of the easiest guys to manage in that circumstance that I've ever been around, at his age."
Hurts is level-headed. With the help of defense and special teams, the young man remained cool and collected despite nearly having his head handed to him, fumbling the football and having it returned for a touchdown in the Ole Miss game and finding him and his team three touchdowns behind, before engineering a comeback to take a 48-43 victory at the Rebel's house.
Of course Texas A&M has their own play-maker at quarterback as well. He's faced Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide before. He has even engineered a defeated of the proud Bama team, although not wearing the maroon of the Aggies. That team was Oklahoma. In the 2014 Sugar Bowl, Knight’s No. 11 Sooners upset No. 3 Alabama, 45-31.
Concerning that Sooner win over the Crimson Tide and Knight's move to Texas A&M, Saban had commented (to the Houston Chronicle), "He was very athletic and was very accurate throwing the ball. I think he'll make a significant impact at A&M. He'll be a real challenge for us to contain, because he's a dual-threat kind of guy who's been an effective player, and has experience."
So far this season the young man's legs have carried him to 502 rushing yards on 65 carries and nine touchdowns, including a 62-yard touchdown scamper just two weeks ago against the Volunteers to help the Aggies remain undefeated in 2016. His rating as a passer, however, does not match his running abilities. He is ranked 84th in the country. So it is especially the run that Alabama will have to be looking out for, with the Aggies' rushing game ranked second in the nation in yards per carry, up from number 70 just a year ago.
This is the guy the Alabama defense must stop. And no one is better at stopping, and especially scoring touchdowns, than the Crimson Tide defense. Eight times the Bama defense has taken the ball and crossed the goal line for touchdowns. Add special teams to that and Bama has produced 11 non-offensive touchdowns in 2016, the most in the nation.
The Alabama defense is ferocious this season. The pass rush puts the quarterbacks in a pressure-cooker situation. The Tide leads the nation in sacks this season with 27, which has been a great influence on helping with those eight defensive scores.
Steve Palazzolo, Pro Football Analyst, has compiled some interesting stats for three of the Crimson Tide defensive monsters. He shows that between 2015 and 2016, Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen 20 sacks, 12 QB hits and 38 hurries in three seasons. He shows OLB Ryan Anderson with 15 sacks, 19 QB hits and 63 hurries. And Tim Williams? Palazzolo notebooks the young man at 323 pass rushes in three years providing 16 sacks, 15 QB hits, 63 hurries and accounting for pressure on 29% of rushes during his three-year tenure with the Tide.
Alabama is ranked first in several defensive catagories this season, but the top 10 across the board. This defensive unit as whole will be a force with which to be reckoned.
Let's take a look at some offensive numbers for the Crimson Tide. Alabama will have to move the pigskin offensively to win this football game. Yes, it is said that defense wins championships, and the Tide has that type of defense and has proven they can even score with it, but the offense must do their part today.
Alabama has rushed for a total of 2033 yards gained this season on 298 attempts resulting in 20 touchdowns. That's a 6.2 yard per rush average for the Tide. Passing, Alabama has averaged 239.0 yards per game, completing on 133 completions for 11 touchdowns. There are three interceptions to go along with those numbers.
The Crimson Tide needs to move the football to allow the defensive until to stay rested in this football game to be at its most effective. The defense must stop Knight and the offensive ground game of A&M that has been proven so effective this season.
Alabama and Texas A&M kick it off today at 2:30 p.m. CT in Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The game will be broadcast live on CBS.
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Tide's Eddie Jackson Out For Remainder Of Season
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Tide's Eddie Jackson Out For Remainder Of Season
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| Eddie Jackson suffered a fractured leg this afternoon Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
University of Alabama Crimson Tide senior defensive back Eddie Jackson has suffered a
fractured leg. The injury occurred during the Bama's win this afternoon over the Texas A&M Aggies. Unfortunely, Jackson will be out the remainder of the season because of an injury he received on a punt return in the fourth quarter.
To say this is a big loss for the Crimson Tide is an understatement, as he has provided not only points, but a spark for the Alabama defensive unit. More information will be forthcoming when it is available.
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How Vegas Views The Crimson Tide
The bookies of Vegas has been kind to the Alabama Crimson Tide, or, well, at least they believe the boys from Bama make up the team that you should consider putting "your money where your mouth is. Vegas is running the odds pretty high, no, very high in this Alabama versus Texas A&M contest. Double-digit victory seems to be the consensus in the gambling capitol of America. The odds-makers have the Tide listed as 20-point favorites today.
Looking toward a national championship contest, Vegas also believes that Alabama is the team to ride with, as far as your money is concerned. Just how would the odds look against the Top-5 teams in the national polls against the Crimson Tide?
As expected, the Ohio State Buckeyes are giving the best shot at besting Bama. Today Alabama would be favored by seven points in that contest. So that's number one versus number two. What about the others?
Against number three Michigan the Crimson Tide is an 8.5 point favorite. Vegas predicts the fourth-ranked Clemson Tigers would fall by 7.5. The only double-digit predicted win for Bama would be against the number five Washington Huskies with a 12-point victory.
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What Saban & Sumlin Said On College GameDay
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What Saban & Sumlin Said On College GameDay
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| Photo Credit: Bing.com |
Both Alabama Crimson Tide head football Coach Nick Sabana and Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin had interviews to air on ESPN's College GameDay this morning. Here's what the pair had to say.
Tom Rinaldi compared the two teams' stats talking with Sumlin, then asked concerning going after Bama's defense, "How do you attack it?"
Sumlin answered, "Well, to be honest with you, I'm happy you said strength on strength, you know. A lot of people think we're a finesse team. You know, we're going to have to use some strength, and we'll see where we are. We are who we are...we run the ball pretty well...play action. It'll be interesting."
Renaldi mentioned the bye week A&M just had. He asked the advantage versus the disadvantage. Sumlin said, "Well, for us, it came at a good time because we limped through the last two weeks. To be honest with you we went to South Carolina without four of our better players..." He added, "We're going to need all our bullets in this game."
Rece Davis then pointed out that Sumlin already has three road wins over AP Top-10, the most in Texas A&M history. He then pointed out that the Aggies were a big underdog in this one.
Turning to the interview with Nick Saban, the entire GameDay crew welcomed him...then the crowd behind broke out into a big applause and shouts of "Saban...Saban...Saban!"
Rece Davis asked the first question, referring to true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts. He asked Saban when he knew that Hurts had "won the team."
Saban said, "I think he won the team early on because I think the team had a lot of confidence in his ability. You know, the way the players always say it, 'He's got a little dog in him'. Alright, that always tells me that he's a great competitor, they trust and they trust and believe in him. We just wanted to give him the opportunity in some early games to see how he could play and develop some confidence, and he did a great job of that."
Kirk Herbstreit was up next concerning the challenges of the A&M offense. He said, "Just talk about the keys in defending them today."
Saban responded, "I think this team probably has as many threats, explosive play-type people on offense with the quarterback, running back and the receiver corp that they have, as anybody that we've played for a long time...so, its really important for the people in the back end to do a great a great job of covering. But you've got to control the line of scrimmage with the people up front, you've got to be able to get the gaps and you've got to be able to control the quarterback on the perimeter. And that's a pretty tall task for any defensive team. "
Desmond Howard then talked and asked about safety Eddie Jackson. The question was how he moved into that role as punter returner and what he means to the special teams and defense.
"Well, first of all Eddie got to be the punt returner because he was the most consistent guy catching the ball," Saban responded. "That's where it starts. Possession of the ball is the most important thing. But he's developed into a guy that's very instinctive returning the ball, does a great job of setting up the blockers...so he's made some explosive plays in the return game that we didn't really expect, but now we kinda do."
Lee Corso wanted to know who had been the most influential person in Saban's coaching career. Saban responded, "I think there's three who probably have had the greatest impact on me. First of all, Don James, who was my college coach got me started in coaching, who I was a graduate assistant for back at Kent State. And then George Perles at Michigan State gave me my first responsibility as a coordinator and position of leadership. And then, without doubt, Bill Belichick with the great organization...and that's where the whole process-oriented approach with me came from."
Herbstreit then talked about how meticulous Saban is, and asked him about what time he got to the office Tuesday through Thursday. Saban answered, "Every day about the same time...7, 7:15. Most days, except Wednesday and Thursday, it's after ten o'clock at night when you get home."
Howard then asked Saban what he liked to do to relax and unwind. Saban said, "Well really nothing during the season. I mean, I think that you have to look at the season, it's almost like climbing a mountain. Not everybody reaches the top. Few people that reach the top can stay on top. But the one thing that everybody realizes that's on top is that you've got to keep climbing. Those people can never arrive, you just never arrive. You've got to keep grinding...and that's what we do during the season. You have to do it. There's really nothing that you can do to get away from it. It's kind of a way of life but it's very enjoyable. The competition is great, the relationships that you have with the players are great."
Corso wanted to know how Saban coached the assistants to get the their units so ready every week. Saban responded, "First of all, I think we have a very good staff, great staff with lots of experience. We try to set up an organization, I hate to use the word process, where everybody knows exactly what we have to do in each minute of the week. The players have that expectation, the coaches have that expectation...so you're getting these things done in a similar fashion organizationally and I think that makes everybody a little more efficient and effective."
Herbstreit spoke of how consistent Alabama is. Herbstreit wanted to know how they maintained that. Saban said, "I think the first thing is the way we approach competition. You know we don't talk a lot about winning, we talk a lot about what you have to do to play your best on a consistent basis. That's what's going to benefit you most as a player, that's what's going to benefit the team the most. So that's what we really try to get the players to do - focus on a high standard of consistency in their play and understanding that they've never arrived. That the season is a grind, it's a long-haul and you have to be ready and prepared to play each week, especially in our league."
Davis then concluded with kidding Saban about (Mick) Jagger being the guest picker. In the process we found out that Saban had recently, in the past year, gone to see him in concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Responding to Davis, he said you go in after the lights are out to keep from being noticed. Davis then mentioned that Saban and Ms. Terry (Saban's wife) ride home after the game listening to the Stones and "Gimme Shelter." Saban confirmed.
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Fun For Bama, Fans At Supe Store Tide Tipoff
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| Judges for the Dunk Contest last night Jim Farmer, Gerald Wallace, Nikki Hegstetter, Allie LaForce & Mo Williams Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
In the golden age of newspaper publishing, especially in the society section of the paper, one would regularly read, "...a good time was had by all." That's sort of fitting, though, in this case as well.
Alabama men's head coach Avery Johnson said, "I'm pumped up. My heart's beating fast. This is what coach [Kristy] Curry and I were after in terms of fan enthusiasm, from our season ticket holders, from our students, mission accomplished. Great energy in the building. Our fan base, they've been asking for something different in this version of a midnight madness, so we gave them something different from last year. This year was more of an NBA All-Star Saturday Night-theme. Great energy in the building."
"It's awesome," Bama women's basketball coach Kristy Curry commented. "You want your kids to have fun. That's what it's about, having fun. We had an incredible turnout. It's a special atmosphere. We appreciate the support of our fans and look forward to seeing them in Coleman."
This thing was fun. Very fun. For fans, coaches and players alike. The night began with introductions of players for both squads as well as coaches and others, followed by a skills competition and a three-point competition. Each contest featured a men's player and a women's player paired alongside a student.
Get this for name-brand recognition for the festivities. Helping with judging the dunk competition were celebrity judges including former men's basketball greats Jim Farmer, Gerald Wallace and Mo Williams, former women's basketball standout Nikki Hegstetter and CBS sideline reporter Allie LaForce. ESPN College Gameday host Rece Davis also made a cameo earlier in the evening showing his trademark smile as well as his moves.
The event then drew to a close with a 45-minute performance by Metro Boomin.
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| Rece Davis of College GameDay gettin' his groove on Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
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| Having a blast! Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
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Alabama Volleyball Sweeps Arkansas
Coach Ed Allen Picks Up 50th SEC Victory
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Attaining its highest mark in conference play, Alabama (15-6, 4-4 SEC) hit .348 as a team while limiting the Razorbacks (3-17, 1-7 SEC) to a .097 mark over three sets. The Crimson Tide had 44 kills, its most in a three-set match this season. Bama was led by Krystal Rivers with 25 kills, just two shy of the entire Razorback offensive output. Rivers also recorded a season-high four service aces. Leah Lawrence added another two herself, giving her at least one ace in five-straight matches and a total of 12 during that span. Getting her ninth team-leading double double of the season was Shannon Mikesky. She paced the Tide offense with 38 assists and accounted for 10 digs on defense.
Coming up next for the Crimson Tide, Bama will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to battle the Ole Miss Rebels (12-9, 1-7 SEC) tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. CT.
