Tide Tidbits – October 19, 2009

Tide rises to No. 1 in AP poll
Alabama’s football team climbed atop The Associated Press poll on Sunday and gained ground in the other major rankings, leaving the Crimson Tide a solid second in the season’s first Bowl Championship Series standings. Defending national champion Florida (.989) was ahead of Alabama (.953) in the BCS numbers, although the Crimson Tide jumped the Gators in the AP poll to reach No. 1 for the first time since last season. A total of 39 media members — including the Press-Register’s Mike Herndon — voted Alabama No. 1 in this week’s AP ballots after the Crimson Tide’s 20-6 win Saturday night against visiting South Carolina. Alabama received 10 first-place votes in last week’s poll.

Bobby Skelton excited about Bama’s chances for national title
Former Alabama quarterback Bobby Skelton couldn’t have picked a better time to speak to the Montgomery Quarterback Club. His alma mater just moved to No. 1 in the Associated Press rankings and trails Florida by a scant few points in the first BCS poll of the season released Sunday. “That’s pretty exciting,” Skelton said Sunday afternoon when informed Alabama had overtaken the Gators in the AP poll. “I’m sure the Alabama folks will be pumped up Tuesday night. And it’s a good time to be pumped up. I haven’t watched any team on TV who I think can beat Alabama,” Skelton says candidly. “It looks like we’re going to play in the game in Atlanta (the SEC title game) and it looks like it’ll be against Florida. And I just don’t think Florida can beat Alabama right now.”

Tide defense unaware how good it is
That’s two straight games for the Alabama defense without allowing a touchdown. “I didn’t know that stat,” defensive end Lorenzo Washington said. “I guess we’re doing our job.” Indeed, the defense was dominant again in the 20-6 win over South Carolina. And the beauty was in the details. The Tide played without cornerback Javier Arenas, who missed the game with sore ribs. And including injured linebacker Dont’a Hightower, that’s two starters who didn’t play.

Ingram runs into Heisman dialogue
What do Nick Saban and Alabama have in common? Neither has ever had a Heisman Trophy winner. That might be about to change. Tailback Mark Ingram effectively jumped into the fray Saturday night with his 246-yard performance against No. 22 South Carolina. That came on the heels of a 172-yard effort against then-No. 20 Ole Miss. What might have been a longshot notion in September – when receiver Julio Jones was supposed to be Crimson Tide’s offensive star – isn’t so much of one now. Ingram is now the leading rusher (129.3 per game) in the nation’s leading conference. He’s doing so while sharing the load with true freshman Trent Richardson, who’s averaging 51.3 yards of his own.

Tide can throw its weight around
Tennessee’s open date might have come two weeks too soon. Never mind that the Vols will have had two weeks to prepare for No. 1 ranked Alabama. A team also could use an extra week to get over the Tide. In fact, some teams could use a week off between the third and fourth quarters against Alabama, which has become the most physical team in the SEC under coach Nick Saban. Last October, UT was one of those teams. Alabama didn’t run away from the Vols. It wore them out one hit at a time in a 29-9 victory. No wonder most UT fans abandoned Neyland Stadium before the fourth quarter. The outcome was inevitable. Is it just as inevitable this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium? The talent gap would suggest so.

Roll Tide!

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