No. 2 Alabama cruises to 29-9 win over Tennessee
By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer Oct 26, 12:25 am EDT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Nick Saban has turned the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry back to Alabama’s favor, and left Phillip Fulmer with yet another ugly loss to explain to Tennessee’s many disgruntled fans.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide cruised to a 29-9 win over the Volunteers on Saturday night for its first back-to-back victories since 1991-92.
“This is a great rivalry with great tradition with two outstanding universities, and I’m really proud of the way our players played,” Saban said.
While Alabama (8-0, 5-0, Southeastern Conference) remained in the heart of the national championship race, Tennessee’s season grew sorrier. A lopsided loss to a bitter rival will only increase the pressure on Fulmer, who’s been a prime target for critics and disgruntled Vols fans this season.
This was a rivalry he dominated early in his career, winning seven straight 1995-2001. Alabama has won three out of the last four contests, and Saban owns a 4-1 record against the Vols (3-5, 1-4).
“It’s just a special rivalry and a special game to all of us involved in it in different ways. I’ll be back up tomorrow. I’m not down. I just got a lot on my mind right now,” Fulmer said.
Alabama, the SEC’s best rushing team, went to the air in the first half, gaining 117 yards compared to 32 on the ground.
Alabama started its final first-half drive on the Tennessee 34 after Daniel Lincoln missed a 51-yard field goal attempt. John Parker Wilson didn’t miss on the drive, completing passes of 19 and 35 yards to Julio Jones and a 4-yarder to Glen Coffee.
On fourth-and-1 at the 3, Coffee punched the ball into the end zone to give the Crimson Tide a 13-3 lead with 2:41 before halftime. Alabama is 5-for-5 on fourth down attempts this season.
Tennessee drove to the Alabama 14, but back-to-back penalties for illegal formation and pass interference pushed the Vols back 20 yards, and Lincoln missed a 43-yard field goal attempt to close the half.
“Them missing a field goal before the half was a real momentum thing,” Saban said.
After that, it was all Alabama for two quarters as the trademark Tide rushing game returned.
Roy Upchurch ran 35 yards of a 79-yard drive before Wilson drove the ball 1-yard for a touchdown to put Alabama up 22-3 with 6:25 in the third quarter. Wilson missed a 2-point conversion pass to Nick Walker.
Upchurch ran for much of the subsequent Crimson Tide drive and scored on a 4-yard run to make it a 29-3 game with 9:43 left. He finished with 86 yards rushing.
Alabama outgained Tennessee 366-173, and finished with 178 yards rushing. Jones caught six passes for a career-high 103 yards, and Wilson finished 17-for-24 for 188 yards.
The Vols’ defense gave Tennessee plenty of chances to stay in the game, limiting Alabama to its lowest first-quarter score of the season with six points. The Crimson Tide has outscored opponents 101-6 in the first 15 minutes.
Tennessee stopped Alabama twice just outside the red zone and once inside. Leigh Tiffin kicked field goals of 39, 43 and 30 yards.
“We didn’t start off the way we’ve been starting off,” Wilson said. “We kind of got behind and had to come back and score in the second half, and I think we did a really good job.”
But the Vols struggled to put together drives, reverting back to the inept offense which has plagued them much of the season. Tennessee went three-and-out seven times in 11 drives and missed two field goal tries.
The closest Tennessee got to the end zone in the first half was when Dennis Rogan recovered Javier Arenas’ fumbled punt return at the Alabama 5, but the Vols went backward 9 yards on the drive. Daniel Lincoln kicked a 31-yard field goal to tied the game at 3 with 6:28 in the first quarter.
Two Alabama pass interference penalties kept a Tennessee drive alive in the fourth quarter, and Nick Stephens found Josh Briscoe on a 10-yard pass to make it 29-9 with 7:26 left, well after the game was already out of reach.
Stephens finished 16-for-28 for 137 yards.
“I felt like we had every chance in the world coming into the second half the way our defense was playing. We stopped ourselves like we have in past weeks,” Stephens said.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Musclebound Chapman replaces Cody for ‘Bama
By JOHN ZENOR, AP Sports Writer Oct 20, 9:19 pm EDT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Opposing offenses won’t have to scale Mount Cody to get through the middle of No. 2 Alabama’s defensive line for a while.
Now, they get “The Incredible Hulk” instead.
With mammoth nose guard Terrence Cody out for at least two games with a knee injury, musclebound Josh Chapman will start for the Crimson Tide Saturday at Tennessee.
What that means for opponents: They will face Alabama’s strongest player instead of the biggest. The 6-foot-5, 365-pound Cody is expected to miss at least the next two games with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Coach Nick Saban is hoping Cody will return in time for the Tide’s game at No. 11 LSU on Nov. 8.
The junior college transfer has been a formidable presence manning the middle of the Tide’s defensive line all season, earning the nickname “Mount Cody” and becoming a fan favorite.
“The impact was obvious,” cornerback Javier Arenas said. “Losing him won’t be so obvious, because we’ve got a guy stepping in who’s just as capable, a tad bit smaller. We’d really love to have Cody in there, as any team in the country would. We’ve just got to adapt and play our game.”
Chapman, a 6-1, 305-pound sophomore, has been a regular presence on Alabama’s defense, too. He has typically rotated in for a few snaps every five or six plays.
Cody has 15 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss. Chapman has six tackles, three of them behind the line, but knows he doesn’t quite present the same intimidating sight to opposing linemen.
“I think any opponent would be glad to see me instead of Cody,” he said. “That’s a whole big load.”
Both have been important fixtures in the league’s No. 2 rush defense, which has allowed only one touchdown on the ground in seven games.
“He plays with strength,” coach Nick Saban said of Chapman. “He’s got good power. He plays run blocks very well. He’s a true nose guard for what we want. He’s played all year. It’s not like you haven’t seen him. He’s out there on probably a third of the run down plays in every game.”
Whereas Cody has been notable for his size and impressive agility, Chapman’s strength is what draws attention from his teammates. He bench presses 485 pounds, squats 600 and draws a crowd in the gym whenever it’s time for the Tide strength coaches to measure how much each player can lift.
That’s why Arenas calls him “The Incredible Hulk” in the weight room.
“We don’t have enough space on the bar to put another weight on when he gets on it,” Arenas said. “When we’re maxing out everyone crowds around him. He’s a monster.”
Chapman said he benched 315 pounds as a ninth-grader at Hoover High School, when Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson was a senior at the state powerhouse.
Wilson saw him play whenever he went to see his little brother, Ross, play in Hoover games and said Chapman was already the Tide’s strongest player as an incoming freshman.
“He’s not as big as Cody but I think he’s stronger than him,” Wilson said. “I don’t think we’ll fall off much at all. He lifts more than anybody on our team and an absurd amount of weight. The bar starts bending. He squats more than all my lifts combined.”
Behind Chapman, Saban said defensive end Lorenzo Washington could at times move over to the position he manned last season. Sophomore Nick Gentry is a smaller (254 pounds), quicker player at nose guard who has mostly played special teams and doesn’t have a tackle this season.
Saban indicated he might even consider taking the redshirt off freshman Damion Square.
Chapman, meanwhile, is drawing unfamiliar attention in his role replacing Cody, who even lined up as a lead blocker on a touchdown run against Mississippi.
“I guess I could try to bring the same things he brings,” Chapman said. “He brings a lot of energy out there. Like him being big and funny; he’s a funny guy. I can throw a few little jokes in there for the team.”
He said coaches replayed a scene where Cody jumped on a celebratory pile a couple of times. Chapman isn’t likely to try to match it.
“Not like he did,” he said. “The way he jumped on the pile was like a frog out there. A big frog.”
And when he’s not doing that, Arenas said it’s fun to stand even with the line of scrimmage on the sideline and watch Cody work.
“If you watch from the sideline, you will see two guys on the line get pushed back 3 or 4 yards and there’s really nothing they can do about it,” Arenas said. “All-America, All-Globe, I don’t care what they are. It’s fascinating to watch them get pushed back because they’re huge but then you’ve got this huger guy putting them in the quarterback’s lap.”
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—Opposing offenses won’t have to scale Mount Cody to get through the middle of No. 2 Alabama’s defensive line for a while.
Now, they get “The Incredible Hulk” instead.
With mammoth nose guard Terrence Cody out for at least two games with a knee injury, musclebound Josh Chapman will start for the Crimson Tide Saturday at Tennessee.
What that means for opponents: They will face Alabama’s strongest player instead of the biggest. The 6-foot-5, 365-pound Cody is expected to miss at least the next two games with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Coach Nick Saban is hoping Cody will return in time for the Tide’s game at No. 11 LSU on Nov. 8.
The junior college transfer has been a formidable presence manning the middle of the Tide’s defensive line all season, earning the nickname “Mount Cody” and becoming a fan favorite.
“The impact was obvious,” cornerback Javier Arenas said. “Losing him won’t be so obvious, because we’ve got a guy stepping in who’s just as capable, a tad bit smaller. We’d really love to have Cody in there, as any team in the country would. We’ve just got to adapt and play our game.”
Chapman, a 6-1, 305-pound sophomore, has been a regular presence on Alabama’s defense, too. He has typically rotated in for a few snaps every five or six plays.
Cody has 15 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss. Chapman has six tackles, three of them behind the line, but knows he doesn’t quite present the same intimidating sight to opposing linemen.
“I think any opponent would be glad to see me instead of Cody,” he said. “That’s a whole big load.”
Both have been important fixtures in the league’s No. 2 rush defense, which has allowed only one touchdown on the ground in seven games.
“He plays with strength,” coach Nick Saban said of Chapman. “He’s got good power. He plays run blocks very well. He’s a true nose guard for what we want. He’s played all year. It’s not like you haven’t seen him. He’s out there on probably a third of the run down plays in every game.”
Whereas Cody has been notable for his size and impressive agility, Chapman’s strength is what draws attention from his teammates. He bench presses 485 pounds, squats 600 and draws a crowd in the gym whenever it’s time for the Tide strength coaches to measure how much each player can lift.
That’s why Arenas calls him “The Incredible Hulk” in the weight room.
“We don’t have enough space on the bar to put another weight on when he gets on it,” Arenas said. “When we’re maxing out everyone crowds around him. He’s a monster.”
Chapman said he benched 315 pounds as a ninth-grader at Hoover High School, when Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson was a senior at the state powerhouse.
Wilson saw him play whenever he went to see his little brother, Ross, play in Hoover games and said Chapman was already the Tide’s strongest player as an incoming freshman.
“He’s not as big as Cody but I think he’s stronger than him,” Wilson said. “I don’t think we’ll fall off much at all. He lifts more than anybody on our team and an absurd amount of weight. The bar starts bending. He squats more than all my lifts combined.”
Behind Chapman, Saban said defensive end Lorenzo Washington could at times move over to the position he manned last season. Sophomore Nick Gentry is a smaller (254 pounds), quicker player at nose guard who has mostly played special teams and doesn’t have a tackle this season.
Saban indicated he might even consider taking the redshirt off freshman Damion Square.
Chapman, meanwhile, is drawing unfamiliar attention in his role replacing Cody, who even lined up as a lead blocker on a touchdown run against Mississippi.
“I guess I could try to bring the same things he brings,” Chapman said. “He brings a lot of energy out there. Like him being big and funny; he’s a funny guy. I can throw a few little jokes in there for the team.”
He said coaches replayed a scene where Cody jumped on a celebratory pile a couple of times. Chapman isn’t likely to try to match it.
“Not like he did,” he said. “The way he jumped on the pile was like a frog out there. A big frog.”
And when he’s not doing that, Arenas said it’s fun to stand even with the line of scrimmage on the sideline and watch Cody work.
“If you watch from the sideline, you will see two guys on the line get pushed back 3 or 4 yards and there’s really nothing they can do about it,” Arenas said. “All-America, All-Globe, I don’t care what they are. It’s fascinating to watch them get pushed back because they’re huge but then you’ve got this huger guy putting them in the quarterback’s lap.”
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