Tide Tidbits – October 12, 2009

Tide topples Texas for No. 2 spot in AP poll
Alabama’s steady rise in the rankings has left the Crimson Tide with a clear view of No. 1 Florida. Alabama jumped Texas into second-place behind top-ranked Florida in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, giving the Southeastern Conference the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the country. The Crimson Tide moved up one spot after rolling over Mississippi 22-3. Texas, which had been No. 2 all season, slipped a spot after sputtering early in a 38-14 victory against Colorado. The Gators and Tim Tebow beat LSU 13-3. They have been an overwhelming No. 1 since the preseason, but support for Alabama has steadily grown. Florida received 50 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel, a season low. The Crimson Tide received 10 first-place votes, up from five last week.

Chris Smelley has vested interest in Tide’s game with South Carolina
University of Alabama student Chris Smelley figures he may send a few text messages to South Carolina players before Saturday’s game. As for him, he wouldn’t miss it. He “definitely” plans to be in Bryant-Denny Stadium at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, watching his brother Brad’s team take on his former one. “It’s going to be a really good game,” Chris Smelley said. And a good clash of conflicting emotions. Second-ranked Alabama represents the school that the Tuscaloosa native wanted to attend all along. No. 22 South Carolina is the program he actually represented, having started 15 games at quarterback — winning nine — during three seasons under Steve Spurrier. He abruptly transferred in early January, choosing to return home and continue college as a catcher on the Crimson Tide’s baseball team.

Spurrier: The past is past
When Alabama went shopping for a new coach in 2007, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier was one of the names reportedly on the list. Speculation fell on Spurrier weeks before the Crimson Tide landed Nick Saban. But Spurrier ended it quickly, telling players he wasn’t leaving the Gamecocks. Nearly three years later, Spurrier wasn’t interested in reliving the details of Alabama’s latest coaching search Sunday, six days before the Crimson Tide hosts the Gamecocks. It marks Spurrier’s first return to Bryant-Denny Stadium since his tenure at Florida. Spurrier isn’t relishing a shot at Alabama this week, saying “we’re a team that hopes we can get it in a close game. Obviously, it’s the best team we’ve played by far. We’re certainly not going to be favored against Alabama, but we’ll have a plan in place. We’ll be excited about it. We’ll be loose and relaxed going there.”

SEC titans roll on
Maybe the BCS folks simply should declare the SEC championship the national title game and save everyone the trip to Pasadena. No. 1 Florida (5-0) and No. 2 Alabama (6-0) cleared their respective highest in-season hurdles Saturday, both posting double-digit road victories to maintain their collision-course arcs toward Atlanta on Dec. 5. Alabama was actually more impressive than Florida in its systematic 22-3 dismissal of Ole Miss in Oxford. Nick Saban probably did feel like kissing Rebels slinger Jevan Snead, who seems unwaveringly committed to becoming the most overrated player in college history. After staggering through his first four games of the season, Snead authored a disasterpiece against Alabama, completing 11 of 34 passes for 140 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.

Crimson Tide’s physical plan pays big dividends
Alabama’s plan for containing Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead was pretty simple. Hit him and hit him hard. “We hit their quarterback just about every time in the first half and I think it affected him,” coach Nick Saban said. Did it ever. The game was effectively over by halftime after the second-ranked Crimson Tide rocked the Rebels’ leader and Alabama (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) wiped away any lingering questions about performing against a top offense. “You could tell by some of the passes he was throwing” that Alabama’s defense rattled Snead, said Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain, one of four players to intercept a pass from Snead on Saturday. “We know what type of quarterback he is and what he is capable of. We were trying to get some hits on him and get him rattled. We could tell the difference in passing decision making.”

Roll Tide!

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