Bamasportsblog

Before They Hang Their Cleats

For the Alabama Crimson Tide, their defense has been the foundation of their football team. They have proven in recent years that defenses win championships. In 2009 Alabama had reached the final pedestal of collegiate athletics. Every football player at some point in their life dreamed of holding up the coaches trophy (BCS Champions Trophy.) They bleed and sweat only for the determination to succeed and be rewarded with a ring, a trophy, and hopefully a shot at the next level, the NFL.  Alabama returned 9 defensive starters and 6 offensive starters hoping for another chance to hold up the BCS Title. Never in history has a single state with two different teams win 3 national championships in a row. Alabamas defense stuck together this year knowing for most of them, it was their last chance to relive their glory they uplifted in Pasadena in 2009.They came to the school together, they bled and sweat together. They all stayed behind for one last shot before they move on to the NFL. Most of the 9 defensive starters had a spot in the first round of the NFL draft.

On April 27 2011 the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, Al instilled an image of weakness and heartbreak. So the team went out into the community and became brothers to enemies, and family to strangers. This brought the community together. When the sky cleared and the season began, those from Alabama decided to bring back the trophy to the home which was shattered. The players, the coaches, and the media, dubbed Alabama’s season as a “Destiny for Victory.” For long snapper Carson Tinker, the tornado took more than his image of home, or the idea of safety. During the tornado of April 27 he and his girlfriend layed in a closet, and out of nowhere he was sucked out and thrown out of the house while the tornado enveloped and destroyed the home. He awoke a few hundred yards away, his girlfriend nowhere to be found. Her body was found the next morning. To the players, this isnt just a season. Its a season that everyone is watching, and will always remember as the year Alabama brought home the gold. For Carson Tinker, his soul determination is to win it for Ashley. He says “I know she’s watching me, and I want to make her proud of me.” All the players have said “If we dont win it all, we lost everything.”

November 5th against #1 ranked LSU was their one way ticket to New Orleans for the National Championship, unfortunately for the the Crimson Tide they lost the game in overtime 9-6. But the BCS system allowed them to only drop to #3, and after a miracle week 10 all undefeated teams in the top 10 lost, which gave Alabama one last shot at a National Title in a rematch against LSU. Alabama and LSU have been the most even teams I have ever seen play in History. Take a look at the scores for when Alabama played the same team as LSU.

AL vs Miss State 24-7
LSU vs Miss State 19-6

AL vs Florida 38-10
LSU vs Florida 41-11

AL vs Tenn 37-6
LSU vs Tenn 38-7

AL vs Ole Miss 52-7
LSU vs Ole Miss 52-3

AL vs Ark 38-14
LSU vs Ark 41-17

AL vs Auburn 42-14

LSU vs Auburn 45-10

It will surely be a game we will never forget. So much emotion and backstories go into this season for both teams. For Alabama seniors its their last shot. If they loose they enter the NFL draft and hope for a super bowl. They already played their last game in Bryant-Denny Stadium in the win against Georgia Southern. For Trent Richardson however, he has the option to come back for his senior year but surely if he wins the heisman and BCS Title he wont come back for his senior year. Alabamas defense has played together for 4 straight years. They are brothers and best friends to the core. They will take the field for the last time in a Crimson Tide jersey together . They will end their legacy as one of the best defenses in Collegiate football history. But it wont mean anything if they have to walk away from their final game with a loss. They will only have one chance. One Shot. One Game. One last opportunity to win it for the Bamanation before they leave for their NFL future, their last chance to be a national champion before they hang their cleats.

Alabama or LSU?

November 5th. The day every Alabama and LSU fan has marked on their schedule. It not only decides the  winner of the SEC West; it decides who will play in the National Championship. There will never again be a game more physical. The identical defenses of Alabama and LSU.  The season so far for both teams, has been like lightning in a bottle, set to strike on November 5th. The mere thought of these two teams colliding is mind-boggling. The players know that they’ve worked, sweat, and bled for the Crimson and white..Or the gold and purple. For the seniors its their last chance at holding the BCS National Champions trophy. Alabama’s offensive demon Trent Richardson is set to face one of the best defenses in college football. The tests will continue throughout the game for both sidelines. AJ McCarron has the advantage of playing in Bryant Denny Stadium. This, however is  a factor that will play against LSU. Though, LSU has been on the national stage all year, it will be nothing like the crowd and team they face when they come to Alabama.

(Keys To Game)

For Alabama, Pass Attack offense is going to HAVE TO work. They need to establish themselves and PASS EARLY. LSU is built to stop the run more than stop the pass. and Offensively you have GOT to spread the ball around to DeAndrew White. I’ve said it since the Pre-season that White will be the replacement of Julio Jones by the end of the year. That means taking his spot on screen plays. Marquise Maze and Darius Hanks are the best two blocking WRs I’ve ever seen. But, when Maze catches the screens he cant run far because the blocking isn’t as developed as it is when he blocked for Julio. Im predicting a screen pass that goes for around 50+ yards for a TD. With LSU being so aggressive in blitzing Alabama’s screen plays will  work beautifully. We saw it two years ago with Julio Jones.

For LSU Alabamas defense is one of the best that has ever come through the University. The only weaknesses for the Tide (if you want to call it a weakness)  is offensive line, and kickoffs.  LSU has a proven kickoff returner and if LSU starts every drive from the 40 Bama could see trouble early. But going back to Offensive Line, Alabama has struggled all year with defending their QB in the pocket. When the defense rushes 5 or more McCarron gets pressure quick and has to throw the ball away. LSU is on of the most aggressive defenses in the country and will blitz Alabama all night. If Alabama comes out with less than 5 sacks I will be amazed. We will more than likely see Jordan Jefferson play. Alabama has injured almost every QB they have played all year.

The defense from Alabama is being led by Dant’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Josh Chapman, and Mark Barron. This defensive unit for Alabama is the most physical team out there. They have been said to be like a NFC south defense. Alabamas strength comes from their secondary and linebackers. If Alabama hopes to win they will need to ultimately develop a pass-rush. This is hard with their Defensive ends..that arent very fast. The main way Alabama  forces pressure is from the linebackers. Hightower and Upshaw both are incredible pass rushers off the edge and Alabama will need them in order to be successful.

Ultimately, I believe Alabama will come out the victor. 16-20 LSU kicks 4 field goals due to their field position, with only one TD.

I also think that LSU will give up 2 interceptions (Barron, then Menzie)

Alabama will fumble once (Lacy)

And Finally Alabama throws one INT Morris Claiborne
PLAYERS TO WATCH

                               Tyrann Matthieu -LSU

                                  DeAndrew White- Alabama

Thank you for  your time and feel free to comment your opinions!

God Bless

Bama Loses Top Stars

Three top Crimson Tide players have decided to leave college and head for the pros after their junior year.  Wide receiver Julio Jones, defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, and former Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram.  All three are sure to be great NFL prospects, but the Tide fans and the team will dearly miss them.  In 2010, Julio Jones had more than twice the amount of receiving yards than the next man on the list, Marquis Maze.  Maze had 38 receptions for 557 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Jones had 78 receptions for 1,133 yards and 7 touchdowns.  Crimson Tide definitely have something to look forward to at the running back position in Trent Richardson, who is a great running back in the making, but needs a little more experience.  While he is much faster than Ingram, Richardson does not contain as much power or elusiveness as Ingram.  The Tide ended the season on a good note in the blowout in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan State, but the Tide will have a hard time recovering from a blow that takes away many of their great players, called the off-season.

Julio Jones and Mark Ingram have decided to leave the Tide and enter the 2011 NFL Daft

Alabama Preview Part 6

This will be the best segment of the series. We lose all of our secondary this season besides Mark Barron. Kareem Jackson, Javier Arenas, Marquis Johnson, and Justin Woodall. The first three were all drafted. They will be a big loss. Mark Barron will be an all-American this year. He was one one of the top defensive backs in the conference last year with seven interceptions. He also broke up a lot of passes. He is also a good tackler. Robby green was projected to start this year, but could be suspended for up to a calendar year. Saban commented that it would be premature to talk about the situation before due process. Which scares me. Because due process usually means due process of law, and unless your player is joining the military, law is probably not a good thing for his name to be around. Battling for his spot will be Robert Lester, who led the spring scrimmage game in tackles with eight. Also battling for the position will be Rod woodson. Two words: heat seeker. He flies to the ball and knocks heads off. If you want to better visualize what I’m saying, you can find his highlights on YouTube under rod woodson olive branch. Dre Kirkpatrick will be great as a starter for two reasons. 1) He has the talent and effort to make plays on the ball. 2) He brings a Javy-like personality to the game. Just look up his signing day video. B.J Scott has made the transition from receiver to cornerback. He has done well in practice and is surprisingly battling Kirkpatrick for the number one cornerback spot. We also will have great depth at cornerback in a couple of years with John Fulton and Demarcus Milliner My next segment will be on the tight ends.

Alabama Preview Part 5

Today I will be talking about one of our most troublesome positions. Special teams.

We lost everybody on special teams this season. Lrigh Tiffin has to be replaced. P.J fitzgerald is gone. All-star returner Javier Arenas is gone. Those are some big shoes to fill.

I feel pretty confident about our return game this year. There’s no way it can match what Javy did, but it won’t be too bad. I’m assuming that Julio Jones will be our primary kick and punt returner. Either Trent Richardson or newbie Demarcus Millliner will likely be the backup.

Leigh Tiffin will be replaced by either Cade Foster or Jeremy Shelley. Shelley held his own in the Spring Scrimmage game, but it looks like Foster will get the nod. Ther’s something I absolutely love about Foster that has nothing to do with his kicking ability. He played middle linebacker in high school. So the stereotype of frail kickers does not apply. Returners will have a harder time getting past this kicker. Besides that, he has a very powerful leg, and kicked one into the end zone in spring scrimmage. I don’t know much about his field goal kicking abilities.

P.J. Fitzgerald will be replaced by true freshman Jake Williams. I haven’t gone back to look at his high school stats, but I’m a little worried about not seeing this guy yet. He will be thrust into the full college game his first year here. He’s our only option. Let’s hope he comes through.

And I thought I’d just throw this out, though most people don’t think about this part of special teams, I thought Dre Kirkpatrick was great on kickoff and punt coverage. He seemed to be around the ball every play. Look for him to stuff the return game this season.

Tomorrow’s segment will probably be the best. The secondary. Find out which player might miss the season tomorrow.

Alabama Preview Part 4

Today’s segment is linebackers. I did some research and found out some information that’s quite interesting.

We lost our smartest player this year to the NFL. Rolando McClain controlled our defense and made tons of great plays for us. He always seemed to be around the ball, and could break up and intercept passes. It’s going to be hard to fill his shoes.

We also lost Eryk Anders. He wasn’t a great player, but he stepped in for Dont’a Hightower last season and still kept us in the national championship hunt. He’s best remembered for his hit on Garrett Gilbert that forced a fumble, leading to a TD that sealed the national championship.

Cory Reamer was another decent player that stepped up and played well last season.

Dont’a Hightower recorded 62 tackles in his first season, fourth on the team. Last season, he played in three games before tearing his ACL, MCL, and Meniscus. The recovery was supposed to take a year. He was participating in spring training six months later. He is back to about 90% and was not witheld at all in the Spring Scrimmage game. He will be ready to be back on the field come fall. His injury may have proved to be a blessing in disguise.

It forced freshman Nico Johnson to start for the Tide in the last 11 games. And Bama’s defense didn’t skip a beat. Now Dont’a will return and Johnson will have a year of experience.

Jerrell Harris. There is a lot of speculation about this player. He was a backup last season, but was suspended for most of the games. He got some game experience in his freshman season, but not much. He is reportedly good in practice. We’ll get to see what he can do in a game this season as he will start for the Tide at SAM linebacker.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Chris Jordan………… Anyone?……….. Me neither. I actually have almost no analysis for you on this player, besides that he led the team in tackles against North Texas with six on special teams and defense combined. But he will start at WILL linebacker for the Tide. This is straight from Nick Saban himself.

Courtney Upshaw showed great flashes last year as backup linebacker. He will be really good for our rotation. He was also featured on bleacherreport.com’s “Most Unknown SEC Defensive Weapons.”

Alabama Preview Part 3

This article will be one of the best in this series so pay attention. The other great article will be on the secondary in a couple of days.

Alabama runs a three man front. All three men are gone. That’s right, every starter on our defensive line has to be replaced this year. But when you hear about our new guys, you might realize, it’s not so bad.

First of all, we need to look at who we lost. Our biggest loss, both literally and figuratively, is Terrence “Mount” Cody. The massive nose gaurd did not garner a lot of stats, but he was well known in the Tide fan community for his immense size. This size forced a double-team, freeing our linebackers to run around unblocked. He was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens.

Lorenzo Washington played end and wasn’t extremely popular, but he recorded 2 sacks and 21 total tackles over the season.

Brandon Deaderick missed some games after being shot in the leg, but was an above average end and went in the seventh round of the NFL draft.

Replacing Mount Cody at noseguard this year will be Josh Chapman. Chapman is 6″1′ and weighs 310 pounds. He has the highest bench press at well over five hundred pounds, and the highest squat, barely beating Trent Richardson, with well over six hundred pounds. He runs a 4.9 40 and has more stamina then Cody, which should allow him to generate some pass rush.

Rotating with Chapman will be Kerry Murphy, a space-eater like Cody. However, Murphy also show good athleticism and footwork where Cody was slightly lacking. Murphy is also considerably smaller than Cody was, weighing in at 330 pounds, 55 less than Cody. Also, for fans of Jason Pierre-Paul, Murphy can reportedly do backflps, probably meaning back handsprings.

Marcel Dareus. The man you’ve all been waiting for me to write about as you read this article. I take a small sense of pride in calling this player as one to watch early last year. He led the team in sacks and has the ability to generate a great pass rush. He’s best known for his fumble/interception TD run in the second quarter of the National Championship. It showed his amazing athleticism. He also had two more huge plays in the game when he knocked out Colt McCoy, and he and Eryk Anders forcing a fumble near the goal line. He is now one of the top prospects for the 2011 NFL draft. Nick Saban recently told reporters they were double-teaming Dareus in practice. They still couldn’t stop him.

There are questions surrounding Luther Davis and  whether he will play or not. A senior, he is the only player who could truly offer experience. Saban said Davis had some personal issues that were keeping him out of spring training and was uncertain wether he’d play in the fall.

On the other end, it looks like we’ll be starting Damian Square. This guy should be a superb athlete at defensive end. He played linebacker and quarterback in high school. He is 6″3′ and weighs 284 pounds. He is described to be strong, big, fast, and overall atheletic. He suffered a knee injury last season but was reported to be ready for action in the past Spring Training.

Speaking of knee injuries, did we have a linebacker that suffered a knee injury last season? See why it may be a blessing in disguise in tomorrow’s linebacker segment.

Alabama Preview Part 2

Today I’m going to talk about a slightly hotter topic, our wide receivers.

The Obviouis number one wide receiver is Julio Jones, when he’s healthy. Or is he? I think I’ve seen a lack of hustle or desire in him, that has nothing to do with his health. Or was it really just his injury? Either way, there’s no disputing his raw talent once he catches the ball. He WILL run someone over. He may also return kicks and punts this season.

Marquis Maze is actually rivaling for the number one spot, at least for me. Why? He’s consistent. He doesn’t have Julio’s pure talent, but he’s a speedster that can catch the ball for good yards. Look for him to establish himself next season.

Darius Hanks may be another nice surprise this season, having developed for his first two. Shows good route running and hands. Our third wide receiver.

And then we have a slew of other receivers to choose from. Earl Alexander being the first one that comes to mind. They’re all relatively average at this point. But they will get oppurtunities to show if they’ve improved.

Tommorow I’m switching to our more and less worrisome prospect, defense. I will be focusing on the line, which may not be as much of a drop off as you think.

Alabama Preview Part 1

Since the season is still a good ways out, I’ve decided to write this in a series, breaking down the main positions and players on the Alabama roster. Hang in there my fellow fans, the season will be here soon enough.

Runningbacks: With most teams, I may have opened this series with quarter-backs, but with the Heisman last year and Alabama’s long history of running-backs, I figured this was the only place to start.

Of course, this may not be the most interesting preseason topic to talk about, as we pretty well know what we’re getting next year at this position. Obviously, Heisman winner Mark Ingram should be a great runningback yet again, both running the ball up the gut, and doing a little more receiving out of the backfield. As we’ve seen, the Heisman is an award hard to win twice. It just so happens, Ingram may share the backfield with his greatest Heisman obstacle.

Trent Richardson will not win the Heisman in 2010, you heard it here first. But, he is developing into an amazing player that will rival Ingram for carries and the spotlight. Then again, he could also push Mark Ingram right back to New York next year. Trent Richardson served as a valuable asset last year for the tide, reaching considerably less numbers than Ingram, but bringing a dynamic dimension to the game. Now, with a year of experience under his belt, Richardson is developing into a superstar, waiting to fill Ingram’s shoes for his chance to shine. We’ve seen his speed, strength, and footwork in his first season. This season, he looks to be a bigger receiving threat and a better player overall.

Roy Upchurch is gone, in my mind, a much overlooked help to this Alabama team. The Senior was overshadowed mostly by the two afore-mentioned backs until his game-winning catch in the Iron Bowl. He may not have had the talent of the first two, but he was clutch, and he will be missed.

As for the other backs, it’s really a mystery. I’ve heard good things about Eddie Lacy, but We’ve yet to really see what he can do behind two stars. Demetrius Goode looks to be a consistent and helpful back.

To make a long story short, I think we have things pretty well locked up at the runningback position for a while. I promise tomorrow’s article on the Wide Recievers will be a bit more interesting.

Second Verse

The stage is set and the upcoming match up will be the most anticipated wars in recent college football history. Actually the SEC championship was of no great surprise even for the casual NCAA follower. In fact after the Alabama win over LSU you could already hear the soft singing of repeated destiny. Everyone knew that there was no turning away from the path to another SEC Alabama and Florida collision.

The real question is, if defense wins championships, what happens when two of the best defensive teams in college football meet? This of course is just one of the many factors to consider in this game. Yet it is the defense that will be a top factor in determining the outcome.

The most points given up by the crimson tide came in the first game-September 5-still only allowing 24 points. As for the Gators, all of their challengers were held to a mere 20 points or less the entire season. This is really to close to call so one would have to look at the other side of the ball.

On the offensive side, the Gators are scoring an average of 34 points per game or 33.9 for you technical buffs. The Crimson tide averages about 31 points per game or 30.9 for…well you get the picture. Very close, but could easily be swayed in either direction by the ever so emerging factors that keep the outside analyst guessing and college football fans watching.

The Tim Tebow story will be played up like a summer blockbuster James Cameron movie. Born in the Philippines to missionary parents, from home schooled to Heisman, and two time ESPY male athlete winner Tebow is a walking sports movie. Believe me the marketing media are licking their chops waiting to get this guy to smile in their commercials. Truth be told, I know if my company had the means and opportunity, I would jump at the chance. You can rest for sure that T2-like always-will leave it all out on the field.

Standing on that very field will be the best defense he has ever had to face. This will be the only major counter balance in the Alabama arsenal. Along with that will be the equally prevailing factor of revenge. A revenge that has surly been simmering in the deep psyche of every single Crimson Tide player.

All in all this will be the one to watch. After personally reviewing this match up I came to a definite conclusion. For every possible known result, there are about 2 or three unknowns. One thing is for sure, this will not be the same match up that occurred last season. That song ended with the crimson tide letting their dreams float away in lost lyrics. This second verse will not be…. the same as the first.

Carl Henegan You can find Carl Henegan at www.betonmysportsteam.com were he owns and operates IGB.