Tide Tidbits – September 24, 2009

Class of ’08 fuels Tide’s roll
If you want a turning point for the rejuvenation of Alabama football, focus on Feb. 6, 2008, the day 32 players signed scholarships with the Crimson Tide. One was Lake Worth, Fla., quarterback Star Jackson, who spoke at the time for his new teammates: “You’ve got to start somewhere. All the national championship teams start from somewhere. We’re going to start from here and hopefully win a couple of national championships.” Nearly every recruiting Web site judged Alabama to have the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2008. Out of 32 prospects, 22 were four stars or better on the Rivals.com five-star scale. Alabama has won 15 of 17 games since National Signing Day 2008.

Saban says no need to panic
Alabama freshman Dre Kirkpatrick wearing walking boot at practice Wednesday, but coach Nick Saban said that was no need to panic. A teammate stepped on his foot during the last drill of Tuesday’s practice, causing a bruise. Saban expects him to return to the practice field today as third-ranked Alabama prepares for Saturday’s SEC opener with Arkansas. The prognosis for two of the high profile names in the Tide offense. Julio Jones (bruised knee) and Roy Upchurch (high ankle sprain) practiced for the third straight day after missing last week’s game with their relatively minor injuries. If they continue to progress, Saban said, “hopefully both guys can play in the game. Julio practiced today and didn’t have any issues. Roy is getting better but probably isn’t 100 percent at this point.”

Tide’s Anders is pushing back
Eryk Anders knew right away — things had changed. When the University of Alabama linebacker trotted onto the field on Sept. 5 against Virginia Tech, he left the “specialty role” label on the sideline behind him. Undersized or not, he was finally a starter. “I’ve always been undersized anyway. I played D-line in high school,” said Anders. A year ago, the senior’s playing time was limited to third-down passing situations that allowed him to specialize as a pass rusher. With his size (6-foot-2 and 227 pounds) being significantly less than what is typical at his ‘Jack’ linebacker position, he was out of the lineup on early downs when the opposition was more likely to run. It’s no place for a small guy. But according to University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, Anders doesn’t play small.

No. 3 Alabama’s overhauled O-line still effective
No. 3 Alabama’s offensive line lost 50-plus pounds, its two biggest stars and the bulk of its experience from last season. Don’t pity ‘Bama’s blockers, though. They’ve still managed to pave the way for a running game that ranks fifth in the nation and keep defenders off quarterback Greg McElroy going into Saturday’s Southeastern Conference opener against Arkansas. “I don’t think we’re the same type of offensive line we were a year ago,” coach Nick Saban said. “But for what this offensive line does, they’ve been very functional, played extremely well, played with a lot of toughness.”

With higher expectations come higher goals
The Crimson Tide silenced its critics with 60 minutes of explosive football, as they thrashed the North Texas Mean Green 53-7 in front of 92,012 at Bryant-Denny. It was the highest-scoring game for Alabama since a 56-7 win over UTEP in 2001. Saturday afternoon, the Tide competed better on special teams. The best is yet to come. The one constant you can expect from SEC competition is the skill-guys are going to be better. The conference has many of the top return specialists and coverage units in the nation. Alabama will need to ramp it up a notch in terms of how they continue to improve. Overall, special teams improved. I firmly believe this is a key component that is instrumental to Alabama’s success.

Crimson Tide likes to keep the ball on the ground
The University of Alabama football team has run the ball on first down more than it has passed by a better than 3-to-1 ratio. What the Crimson Tide has done most of all on first down is move the ball. Alabama is averaging better than 7.8 yards per play on first down through the first three games of the 2009 season. ‘We’ve always felt like it was real important here to be able to run the ball … and create positive down and distance situations, but there’s more ways to create positive down and distance situations than just to run it, and I think you have to have that kind of balance with the passing game to keep any defense off-balance,’ UA coach Nick Saban said.

Roll Tide!

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