Tide Tidbits – October 26, 2009

Poll drops Alabama; team eager for week off to rest
Alabama’s close call with Tennessee caused the Crimson Tide to slip from first to second in this week’s Associated Press poll, falling to the same position the Crimson Tide was at in the Harris Interactive Poll, the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Bowl Championship Series standings. “I really think (the open date) came just in time because we have a lot of players that are dinged up,” said Cody. “This bye week is going to help us get back to full health.” Actually, the Tide may get freshman Rod Woodson back for the kickoff coverage team, but the status of tight end Colin Peek, who suffered a sprained knee ligament in pre-game warmups, remains unknown. “I don’t think we have much gas left in the tank,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think our players played hard, they played physical, they played with a lot of toughness and I think we’ve had three really tough games in a row.”

Tide offense needs answers
Something has gone terribly wrong for Alabama when they have the ball. Sure, they’ve played good defenses in the past few weeks. Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee all rank in the top 25 nationally in defense, but these are also squads who have shown enough weakness defensively to be exploited by an offense of Alabama’s capabilities. Where then, does the problem lie? The Tide has an outstanding running back, more than worthy of Heisman consideration, in Mark Ingram. They have arguably one of the best wide receiver talents in the country in Julio Jones. The quarterback, Greg McElroy, while certainly not the darkhorse Heisman candidate some rabid fans were touting early on in the season, has not played terribly. A retooled offensive line has shown the ability to wear teams down throughout a game, beating and battering defensive fronts into submission by the fourth quarter. Where the Tide has started to falter has been in the method and strategy of its offensive play calls.

Alabama has work to do during bye week
The list of things Alabama must improve for the Crimson Tide to compete for a national championship is longer today than before the Tennessee game. The Vols completed more passes (21), threw for more yards (265) and held the ball longer (32:18 overall, 20:53 in the second half) than any team has against the Tide this season. UT receiver Gerald Jones’ seven completions, which included an 11-yard touchdown with 1:19 remaining, were the most by an individual against Alabama through eight games. No other team held Alabama without a touchdown. In fact, Alabama’s last game without a touchdown came in a loss at Mississippi State in 2007. Only one opponent this season, Arkansas, gave up fewer rushing yards than the 136 the Tide gained against the Vols. Nobody else was able to wear down the Alabama defense. Those areas can and will be improved. With an open date, Alabama has a chance to work on its fundamentals, improve on its tackling and get back to some basics on offense.

Saban concerned about mental state of team
Coming down from the high of Saturday’s thrilling 12-10 win over Tennessee, the reality set in just minutes after Terrence Cody swatted another Vol field goal and saved Alabama’s perfect regular season. This team is exhausted. Mentally, physically, emotionally ― the Crimson Tide put itself through the ringer three straight weeks. Now they can rest. The annual off-week couldn’t have come at a better time for Alabama as the progressively tighter victories took a toll on everyone wearing Crimson. “I didn’t want to say this, but I felt like our team was really tired this week psychologically, probably more mentally than really physically,” coach Nick Saban said after the UT win. “We had a lot of guys beat up, a lot of guys missed practice and a lot of guys struggling to do what we need to do, but there are a lot of positives in this game today.”

Why Cody wasn’t penalized for removing his helmet
Several people contacted me wondering why Cody wasn’t penalized for removing his helmet after the block, saying that Tennessee should have gotten the chance to re-kick the ball. Nice idea. But incorrect. It’s true that a player removing his helmet in the field of play constitutes a 15- yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. And while a game can’t end on a defensive penalty, Alabama also recovered the ball after blocking the kick. Removal of the helmet also is considered a dead- ball foul, so since the game was over and there was no time for another play, there was no penalty to mark off. Yes, this time, the SEC officials actually got it right.

Roll Tide!

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