Tide Tidbits – November 28, 2009

Tigers ‘threw everything they had’ at Tide in hard-fought Iron Bowl
Alabama was only 10 minutes into Friday’s Iron Bowl and its top-ranked defense was already on its heels. With little to lose, the Tigers pulled out all the stops on their first two possessions. They opened the scoring with a 67-yard reverse by Terrell Zachary, then recovered a gutsy onside kick and used a 22-yard completion on a double pass from Chris Todd to Darvin Adams to set up Todd’s 1-yard scoring pass to Eric Smith. It wasn’t unexpected. But that didn’t mean Alabama could stop it. “I knew it would be tough at the start,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. “When these guys go off the script, they have all kinds of formations, all kinds of plays – double passes, reverse passes and all kinds of stuff. Most of it is stuff you haven’t seen before. We knew we were going to have to play through it.” [More]

Classic ending gives Iron Bowl a much-needed new beginning
The ball was in the air, and so was the game, and there was other baggage on that final flight. The state championship. An undefeated season. One spot in the national championship game, perhaps. There was so much riding on Chris Todd’s final pass, it’s a wonder the Auburn quarterback was able to lift it, let alone sling it high into the night sky toward the end zone. His last pass was exactly what a Hail Mary should be. It was high enough and it was long enough and it gave his teammates a fighting chance, until Alabama safety Justin Woodall rose above the crowd and the noise to spike the ball and end the game. And then players from both sides fell to their knees. And then the outcome and the meaning of the 2009 Iron Bowl were no longer in doubt. Alabama 26, Auburn 21. [More]

Bama’s fourth-quarter drive will loom large in series lore
It was the sort of drive that gets immortalized in artwork and hung proudly on walls all over the state of Alabama. A play-action pass to Roy Upchurch for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:24 remaining not only sealed the University of Alabama’s 26-21 victory over Auburn and a second consecutive unbeaten regular season, but also ensured that the march would go down in series lore. In short, it was 15 plays, 79 yards and 7 minutes, 3 seconds of Iron Bowl history. “That may have been one of the greatest drives that I’ve ever been associated with in the fourth quarter to win the game,” UA coach Nick Saban said. “I just can’t say enough about how proud I am of our team.” [More, Similar]

Alabama’s Arenas sets SEC record for career punt return yards
With a 56-yard punt return in the third quarter Saturday, Alabama senior Javier Arenas became the most prolific punt returner in Southeastern Conference history Saturday, breaking a decades-old record belonging to Vanderbilt’s Lee Nalley. Arenas returned two punts for a total of 67 yards and now has 1,725 yards for his career. Arenas is within striking distance of former Texas Tech star Wes Welker for the NCAA record of 1,761 yards, needing 37 more yards over the final two games of his career to break that mark. “It is great to get the record, but even better to win the game,” said Arenas, a starting cornerback for the Tide defense. “To go into Auburn and get the win, as a senior, and then also get the SEC punt return record will be something I can look back on after the season as something special. Records are something that you can sit back and enjoy when you are old and gray. Right now, all I’m worried about is next week.” [More]

Ingram suffers hip pointer
A rough Iron Bowl got worse for Alabama tailback Mark Ingram, who sustained a hip pointer in the fourth quarter that took him out for the end of the Crimson Tide’s game-winning drive. “I kind of got a helmet right on it and bruised it a little bit,” Ingram said, “but I’ll be all right.” [More]

Game proves to be one of the best ever
The Tigers played with passion and confidence all day just for a chance to put the game in the hands of Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy in the final minutes. They did just that, but McElroy responded like a champion, driving the Crimson Tide 79 yards in 15 plays for the winning touchdown. McElroy completed his final seven passes on the final drive, including three clutch third-down conversion throws. [More]

Alabama earns brief break before preparing for Gators
The Crimson Tide will have plenty of lessons to take from Friday’s 26-21 comeback victory over Auburn. But first, Alabama coach Nick Saban said his team needs some time off. “I actually think the players need a little emotional break,” Saban said. “I didn’t like it that we had a short week this week, but I like that we have an extra day. It was hard to get our players back last year after a very emotional game in the last game of the season and then go right into the SEC championship game for another big emotional game. We’re going to give them tomorrow off and do stretch and stride on Sunday, which is an optional thing for the players to do, and try to give them some time to recover.” [More]

Upchurch had to politick for winning play
Cody-5 is the play Alabama’s coaching staff called for the winning touchdown. The Tide lined up in a goal-line formation with defensive tackle Terrence Cody playing his role as a fullback/blocker. But instead of running the ball – as Alabama has done all season out of that formation – quarterback Greg McElroy faked a handoff, rolled right and fired a quick pass to Upchurch for the touchdown. Cody-5. As in Terrence Cody and Upchurch’s jersey number is 5. On third-and-3 at the Auburn 4, Alabama originally called a running play. And if it didn’t result in a touchdown, Leigh Tiffin could kick a short field goal for the lead. But coach Nick Saban didn’t want a field goal. He called a timeout, told his coaches he wanted to throw a pass and somebody finally heard Upchurch screaming for “Cody-5.” [More, Similar]

Tide remains upright in national title fight
Finish. That’s what Nick Saban preaches. That’s what his players espouse. If it’s not already on a T-shirt, it will be soon enough. That’s what second-ranked Alabama did Friday as the late afternoon shadows on the field turned bright under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It finished. After seemingly being finished off. [More]

Roll Tide!

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