Tide Tidbits – December 22, 2009

Saban doesn’t see Texas as underdog
The notion that an undefeated team from the Big 12 Conference is a decided underdog in a national championship game might be hard to swallow, but that would appear to be the role Texas coach Mack Brown would prefer leading up to his team’s BCS National Championship Game against the University of Alabama. “You look at the way they ended against Florida and the way we ended against Nebraska. And I watched their film against Florida — they dominated. They played great,” Brown said Monday. “They’ve got all those All-Americans. So I told our players, I think that (underdog status) is fair. You look at it on paper last ballgame, last two ballgames for us, and the last one for them. I would think everybody would pick them.” [More]

FORMER PUPIL NOW FOE
The moderator of the conference call pronounces the city’s name incorrectly, like all of Mobile could sprout legs and walk away. Texas defensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp is quick to correct: “That’s Mo-BEAL.” It’s with recurring nods to his past that Muschamp now approaches the biggest game of the near future. He’s taking on Alabama. That, of course, means he’s taking on Nick Saban, his former boss at LSU, a storyline sure to make the rounds between now and the Jan. 7 BCS national championship game in Pasadena, Calif. He’s also taking on Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. This year’s Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach, Smart is Muschamp’s former teammate at Georgia, a former coaching colleague and currently a “very close friend,” just like Saban. “Being under a guy like Nick Saban certainly helps in your development as a coach,” Muschamp said. “It’s certainly helped and accelerated mine, and I think it’s doing the same thing for Kirby at this point.” [More]

Texas assistants provide valuable info about Tide
Alabama and Texas haven’t played in football since the 1982 Cotton Bowl. But they’re learning about each other very quickly. Texas assistants Major Applewhite, the running backs coach, and defensive coordinator and head-coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp are providing as much insight as possible into the Crimson Tide. Mack Brown said he feels that both former Nick Saban assistants will be valuable resources leading into the national championship game. “It helps in that we have a pretty good feel of at least their juniors and seniors,” Brown said. “Major was there as an offensive coordinator, and he knows those kids. He knows how they’ll think. He knows how they’ll practice.” Brown said what he’s learned from his two assistants are how similar the programs are. [More]

Long layoff a challenge for both teams
The biggest challenge for both Alabama and Texas in the Citi BCS National Championship Game is returning to top form after more than a month layoff. Alabama coach Nick Saban said Monday that the Crimson Tide have used these first few practices more as a means to get back into football shape and have gone heavy on fundamental work. Not surprisingly, there’s been some rust, especially on offense. Keep in mind that Alabama played perhaps its most efficient game of the season offensively against Florida in the 32-13 SEC championship win back on Dec. 5. The Crimson Tide had nearly 500 yards of total offense, committed one penalty, didn’t have any turnovers and only allowed one sack. [More]

Tide’s Greg McElroy plans to apply for Rhodes Scholarship
Alabama junior quarterback Greg McElroy has been asked to apply in the hopes of becoming a prestigious Rhodes Scholar. And McElroy will pursue it — after his college football career is finished. “I’m actually applying next year,” McElroy said. “I didn’t want to apply and miss a year of football if I was picked. But we’ll see what happens. I wanted to obviously approach it and look into it because it is such a great honor.” Approximately 90 students are selected each year for the Rhodes Scholarship, which allows a person to study for a year or two at Oxford University in England. McElroy, who has already attained an undergraduate degree in Marketing and has made only one ‘B’ in his collegiate career, makes a fine candidate. [More]

Roll Tide!

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