Tide Tidbits – October 13, 2009

Now that Tide’s Harris can play, Nico Johnson might stand in the way
The “wait” of the world has been lifted from Jerrell Harris. He missed six games while his Alabama teammates played. For most of the past three games, he was missed after standout inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower suffered a season-ending knee injury. Now that a suspension has been served, his season will start Saturday when Alabama plays host to South Carolina. He will start the 6:45 p.m. homecoming game. Right? Not if Nico Johnson can help it. “There’s a lot of competition out there,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday. “Those two guys will compete and get reps this week, and later in the week we’ll have to make a decision as to who’s most ready to play, in certain roles, relative to how both guys can contribute. And I think both guys can contribute.”

Ingram focused on improvement
Following a 22-3 road win at Ole Miss in which the sophomore rushed for 172 yards on 28 carries, Ingram was focused more on what he failed to do than on what he accomplished. “(Sunday) night I’m up here, it’s 6:45 and I’m watching some film, just watching on my own, watching some South Carolina and watching a little bit of the Ole Miss game,” quarterback Greg McElroy said. “Mark walks in and turns on one play, and it’s the one where I got sacked, I believe we had a short field, it was right after the fumble and I think I had a negative 9-yard (play) or something like that. “I got hit pretty good and Mark just got beat a little bit, and Mark said ‘You know, that’s the only play I’ve been thinking about. That’s the only play that’s been bothering me, I’ve been thinking about that play since it happened.’ I just said, ‘Shake it off.’ That’s what’s great about Mark, that he can look at the 15 great plays that he made in the game, and he can look at the one play and that’s the play that’s going to stick with him.”

Tide’s homecoming a night affair
Alabama has traditionally turned down television for its homecoming game to keep it in the afternoon time slot, making this weekend’s game against South Carolina the first-ever night homecoming contest for the Crimson Tide. The modern-day idea of putting teams on every network got its start in the mid-1980s. So Alabama’s first televised homecoming game wasn’t until 1988, a 22-12 loss to Ole Miss on WTBS. The morning start did not agree with the Tide as they generated an NCAA-record zero passing yards in the loss and head coach Bill Curry was left to explain a brick through his office window later that weekend.

One-on-one with Alabama Coach Nick Saban
Rivals.com visited with Saban about a range of topics as the Tide rolls toward a probable SEC title game rematch with Florida. Q: What’s the most difficult aspect about being the Alabama coach? A: “I just think we have to keep it in perspective. Who you are is more important than what you do — the kind of person you are, the kind of character you have, the kind of attitude you have. We try to help our players be more successful in life with the personal-development programs that help them be successful people. We have a good academic support program to help our guys get a quality education. And we have a football program where they have a chance to compete for a championship. As long as we win, it’s great. But as soon as you lose, you’re not so good. So you have to keep that in perspective.”

Roll Tide!

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