Well the tide took care of business Saturday night and now its time to get back to work for this week. Next up: Tulane Greenwave
Here are some details about their 2008 squad ... bear in mind they lost quite a few players to graduation & this is their OPENING game so no game last week to draw info from.
Scouting The Offense:
A new quarterback and new tailback have the benefit of a veteran offensive line that returns four starters, including Lombardi Trophy watch list member Michael Parenton (6-2, 287) at center. Offensive coordinator Dan Dodd says the team has a much better understanding of his intricate West Coast package than they did when it debuted last season.
Scouting The Defense:
Seven starters return under new defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert. Senior FS David Skehan had 66 tackles, four interceptions and 10 pass breakups and senior DE Reggie Scott registered four sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles last year. Tulane ranked 37th nationally against the run (132.6 yards per game) and 113th against the pass (287.7).
Quote To Note:
“The thing he’s doing, as opposed to the other guys, is he’s not getting tackled. That sounds crazy, but a lot of the young guys get hit and they go down right away. I tell them they’re not tackled until both of your feet are up above your head.”—Tulane head coach Bob Toledo on junior tailback Andre Anderson.
Strategy And Personnel
THIS WEEK’S GAME: Tulane at Alabama, Sept. 6—The Green Wave hasn’t defeated the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa since Nov. 3, 1900. Alabama owns a 26-11-3 edge in the all-time series, but the programs haven’t met since 1994. The Crimson Tide is coming off a season-opening 34-10 thumping of Clemson.
Players To Watch:
QB Kevin Moore—The 6-5 sophomore completed 30-of-54 passes for 432 yards and two touchdowns in parts of eight games last season. He secured the starting spot during the offseason when Anthony Scelfo elected to pursue a baseball career full-time.
RB Andre Anderson—The junior carried 14 times for 91 yards and one touchdown last season and has the nearly impossible task of replacing record-setting rusher Matt Forte (2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2007).
CB Josh Lumar—Tulane’s most experienced defensive back faces a tough challenge in the season opener. The 5-10 senior will likely spend a lot of time opposite Alabama’s 6-4 freshman phenom Julio Jones, who caught four passes for 28 yards and a touchdown in the win against Clemson.
Roster Report:
• Head coach Bob Toledo has suspended sophomore TE Tyler Helm (two games) and sophomore WR Alan Mitchell (three games) for unspecified violations of team policies.
• In the last week of August camp, Tulane moved offensive lineman Oscar Ponce de Leon back to defensive tackle. The 6-2, 302-pound sophomore played there exclusively as a freshman in 2006 before being moved to the offensive side and taking a redshirt year in 2007.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seems although they have some players of the future this team is in rebuilding mode. I could be wrong of course but I think this will be just another scrimmage type game for the tide offense & perhaps julio jone's coming out party. I hope the tide doesnt look past these guys but I dont expect this to be a dangerous game.
L8ter All
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Week #1 = Big W .... ROLL TIDE!!!!!!
Completely Awesome game! If our defense can play like that against all of our opponnents this year who in the world could stop us? I never expected in my own wildest dreams that this years team would dominate BOTH offensive and defensive line play the way they did! GO FROSH'S GO ... Big ups to all the freshman & especially our new secret weapon ... YOU GO NICK!
Anyways .... Big ups as well to JPW for the 22 outta 30 with no INT's night .... great job & what else can we say about our RBS????? Look out SEC ... we are going to run over ALL OF YOU!
Here's the yahoo story on the game .... for those that wanna read what the professionals yap about.
================================================================
Sweet Dome, Alabama: Tide roll past Clemson
By PETE IACOBELLI, AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP)—Nick Saban’s plan to bring No. 24 Alabama back to prominence looks way ahead of schedule. As for No. 9 Clemson, another big game ended with the Tigers on the losing end.
The Crimson Tide had little trouble rolling past Clemson 34-10 at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, the biggest victory in coach Saban’s two seasons at Alabama.
Alabama’s defense held Clemson to zero yards rushing and John Parker Wilson threw two touchdown passes as Alabama beat a top-10 opponent for the first time since topping No. 5 Florida in 2005. That was part of the last hurrah for former coach Mike Shula, who followed that 10-2 season with a 6-7 campaign that ended his time with the Tide.
Alabama lured Saban from the NFL last season to lead the 12-time national champs back to glory. Based on the opener, Saban and the Tide are on their way.
“Nobody can be satisfied with a one-game performance,” Saban said. “This will be a challenge for our team and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.”
Wilson finished 22-of-30 for 180 yards and, with his career total completions now at 500, surpassed Brodie Croyle’s old record of 488.
The Crimson Tide defense held the Tigers’ heralded “Thunder and Lightning” backfield of James Davis and C.J. Spiller to 20 yards combined.
The Tigers managed only 188 yards, way off their 403-yard average from last season.
Saban’s latest recruiting class included such high-profile prospects as receiver Julio Jones, an Internet sensation who fans have buzzed about for months. Still, Alabama didn’t figure to hang with the Tigers, an experienced bunch who entered the season with higher hopes than just their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 17 years.
Right from the start, though, Alabama showed it matched up fine with the ACC’s favorite.
The Tide ran the ball easily on Clemson’s defense, which was ninth in the country a season ago. At one point, Alabama had outgained the Tigers 114-1. By the time, tight end Nick Walker had slipped behind three defenders for a 4-yard TD catch, Alabama was ahead 20-3 midway through the second quarter.
Just for good measure, Jones collected his first college TD pass, a 4-yarder from Wilson that put Alabama up 31-10.
Leigh Tiffin added four field goals, including a 54-yard kick that was Alabama’s third longest of all time.
Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper, voted the favorite to win ACC player of the year, was continually pressured and off target throughout.
The Tigers, down 23-3 at the half, got a burst of life when Spiller broke for a 96-yard kickoff return TD to start the second half, then forced the Tide into their first punt of the night a series later.
Clemson could get little going.
“Maybe we needed a wake up call,” Harper said. “We’ll have to keep working hard this week and correct our mistakes.”
So, for the second time in eight months, left the Georgia Dome with more questions and answers.
The Tigers just can’t help but stumble whenever they close in on success.
They lost to a lightly regarded Maryland in 2006 at home, 13-12, when victory would’ve sent Clemson to the ACC title game.
Then last year, the Tigers were beaten 20-17 by Boston College in a showdown for a spot in the league’s championship game.
Clemson concluded the season with a 23-20 overtime loss to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, missing out on its first 10-victory season since 1991.
This was the year, many thought, that Clemson and embattled coach Tommy Bowden would shake off their reputations for not winning the biggest games. Alabama was where it was supposed to start.
Instead, Bowden again must refocus a team filled with veterans and leaders running out of time.
Clemson’s loss also concluded a demoralizing day for the ACC. Earlier, defending league champion Virginia Tech fell to East Carolina, while Virginia was defeated at home by No. 3 Southern Cal 52-7.
For Alabama, it’s a win sure to fuel talk of Southeastern Conference success. The Tide don’t start down that road for three more games, the opener against SEC Western Division rival Arkansas following home games against Tulane and Western Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide have won 12 straight against Clemson, although the team’s hadn’t met since 1975 when the late Bear Bryant laid a 56-0 humiliation on the Tigers.
Maybe Alabama and Saban will soon have more in common with the Bear’s championship teams.
Anyways .... Big ups as well to JPW for the 22 outta 30 with no INT's night .... great job & what else can we say about our RBS????? Look out SEC ... we are going to run over ALL OF YOU!
Here's the yahoo story on the game .... for those that wanna read what the professionals yap about.
================================================================
Sweet Dome, Alabama: Tide roll past Clemson
By PETE IACOBELLI, AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP)—Nick Saban’s plan to bring No. 24 Alabama back to prominence looks way ahead of schedule. As for No. 9 Clemson, another big game ended with the Tigers on the losing end.
The Crimson Tide had little trouble rolling past Clemson 34-10 at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, the biggest victory in coach Saban’s two seasons at Alabama.
Alabama’s defense held Clemson to zero yards rushing and John Parker Wilson threw two touchdown passes as Alabama beat a top-10 opponent for the first time since topping No. 5 Florida in 2005. That was part of the last hurrah for former coach Mike Shula, who followed that 10-2 season with a 6-7 campaign that ended his time with the Tide.
Alabama lured Saban from the NFL last season to lead the 12-time national champs back to glory. Based on the opener, Saban and the Tide are on their way.
“Nobody can be satisfied with a one-game performance,” Saban said. “This will be a challenge for our team and it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.”
Wilson finished 22-of-30 for 180 yards and, with his career total completions now at 500, surpassed Brodie Croyle’s old record of 488.
The Crimson Tide defense held the Tigers’ heralded “Thunder and Lightning” backfield of James Davis and C.J. Spiller to 20 yards combined.
The Tigers managed only 188 yards, way off their 403-yard average from last season.
Saban’s latest recruiting class included such high-profile prospects as receiver Julio Jones, an Internet sensation who fans have buzzed about for months. Still, Alabama didn’t figure to hang with the Tigers, an experienced bunch who entered the season with higher hopes than just their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 17 years.
Right from the start, though, Alabama showed it matched up fine with the ACC’s favorite.
The Tide ran the ball easily on Clemson’s defense, which was ninth in the country a season ago. At one point, Alabama had outgained the Tigers 114-1. By the time, tight end Nick Walker had slipped behind three defenders for a 4-yard TD catch, Alabama was ahead 20-3 midway through the second quarter.
Just for good measure, Jones collected his first college TD pass, a 4-yarder from Wilson that put Alabama up 31-10.
Leigh Tiffin added four field goals, including a 54-yard kick that was Alabama’s third longest of all time.
Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper, voted the favorite to win ACC player of the year, was continually pressured and off target throughout.
The Tigers, down 23-3 at the half, got a burst of life when Spiller broke for a 96-yard kickoff return TD to start the second half, then forced the Tide into their first punt of the night a series later.
Clemson could get little going.
“Maybe we needed a wake up call,” Harper said. “We’ll have to keep working hard this week and correct our mistakes.”
So, for the second time in eight months, left the Georgia Dome with more questions and answers.
The Tigers just can’t help but stumble whenever they close in on success.
They lost to a lightly regarded Maryland in 2006 at home, 13-12, when victory would’ve sent Clemson to the ACC title game.
Then last year, the Tigers were beaten 20-17 by Boston College in a showdown for a spot in the league’s championship game.
Clemson concluded the season with a 23-20 overtime loss to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, missing out on its first 10-victory season since 1991.
This was the year, many thought, that Clemson and embattled coach Tommy Bowden would shake off their reputations for not winning the biggest games. Alabama was where it was supposed to start.
Instead, Bowden again must refocus a team filled with veterans and leaders running out of time.
Clemson’s loss also concluded a demoralizing day for the ACC. Earlier, defending league champion Virginia Tech fell to East Carolina, while Virginia was defeated at home by No. 3 Southern Cal 52-7.
For Alabama, it’s a win sure to fuel talk of Southeastern Conference success. The Tide don’t start down that road for three more games, the opener against SEC Western Division rival Arkansas following home games against Tulane and Western Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide have won 12 straight against Clemson, although the team’s hadn’t met since 1975 when the late Bear Bryant laid a 56-0 humiliation on the Tigers.
Maybe Alabama and Saban will soon have more in common with the Bear’s championship teams.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Deja vu customs.com
Deja Vu Customs Myspace!
