McElroy showcases arm; Tide defense works to stop the spread
By Shane from Centerpoint
One thing was clearly evident as I watched three years of Nick Saban recruits take the field for the University of Alabama’s annual spring football game — this team is blessed with abundant depth and major talent, especially along both lines of scrimmage. With ESPN airing the Tide in their prime Saturday spot, Saban seized another unique opportunity to showcase his program and the national television exposure should only enhance his out-of-state recruiting. The second largest crowd (84,000) to ever witness a college football spring game, who loaded the stands despite the ESPN television deal and the threat of potential rain, had to come away impressed with the overall effort. The Crimson Tide players gave everybody their money’s worth.
One very important question was answered. We now know that new offensive captain Greg McElroy (G-Mac) can throw a strike 40 yards downfield under pressure and hit superstar receiver Julio Jones in stride so he can blow by defenders and take it to the house. By the way, G-Mac said that Jones was his third read on the touchdown play. McElroy also displayed his ability to find other receivers by hitting Mike McCoy and Marquis Maze numerous times throughout the game for big yardage. Greg also threw a beautiful touch pass behind the defender’s back to McCoy for a touchdown.
Actually, this game was all about passing the football and defending the pass. The offenses threw a combined 65 passes while only running the ball 43 times. Considering that “air war†was a major problem for Alabama on both sides of the ball last year in the two late season losses, they needed the work. The running game was virtually nonexistent Saturday due to the absence of starter Mark Ingram, back-up Roy Upchurch, and the fall arrival of Trent Richardson.
The defensive front seven (really fourteen) is as packed with big, fast, quality athletes as I’ve seen since the mid-seventies when Bryant used to round up most of the best talent available in the South almost every year. Saban now has 22 or more athletes who are comfortable operating in his very complex system. Teams will find it virtually impossible to run the football consistently on Alabama’s defensive front when they play the Tide.
One glaring weakness from last season’s defensive meltdown was the defense’s inability to handle the high-powered “spread†offense. According to senior linebacker Cory Reamer, Alabama has taken corrective measures. He said, “We’ve been putting emphasis on working on different plays to stop the spread, because we got exploited by Florida and Utah. We gave up more points than we had given up all season against those spreads, so we came in this spring with the understanding of what we needed to do to get on top of the situation.â€
I also asked him if the depth in the front seven was where it needed to be. He said, “We have a bunch of good defensive linemen who’ll provide constant pressure. That’s the big thing with the “spread†offense — making sure somebody is always in the quarterback’s face. We’ve got guys — we can run them in and out all the time.â€
It is evident by Cory’s answer that defending the “spread†is now a priority for Coach Saban.
Some other unanswered questions were seemingly solved Saturday as well. Two wide receivers stepped forward with big games to complement Julio Jones. Senior Mike McCoy turned in a solid performance, and sophomore Marquis Maze is looking more like Tyrone Prothro every day. Both are SEC-caliber wide-outs.
I asked McCoy about being a go-to guy for McElroy. He responded, “Last year I intended to be the guy, but my hamstring situation was difficult. This year is my last go-around, so I’m ready. I’m back. Greg and I came in together and we’ve been hanging out — he comes to my apartment and I go to his. He’s a people person and easy to talk to — like family.â€
Maze spoke of his desire to be a main weapon in the offense. He said that the timing is getting better and he believes he can catch anything thrown his way. I believe Marquis is a rare talent, comparable to the likes of David Palmer or Freddie Milons.
The offensive line was impressive and very effective early in the game, after being shut down for much of the spring by what this sportswriter believes will be one of the top three defenses in the nation next season.
Realistically, the legitimate information that can be gleaned from a spring football game is limited at best. However, Alabama’s intensity Saturday was on par with the level they display when then face-off with a major rival. Every player seems to be buying in to the “process†as well.
Coach Saban surprised the media in the post-game news conference with his declaration that, “We can be an outstanding team.†That says a lot coming from a man who rarely shows his hand. It is even less often that he will raise expectations. A statement like the one above should serve as a warning shot to the rest of the SEC — that Saban believes Alabama is going to be very good in 2009. By the way, I do too. I said they would win the national championship this year. I didn’t see anything Saturday that would change my mind. —Shane writes a weekly column for the Capstone Report.
All photographs by Chris Hyde. Click to enlarge.
75 thoughts on “Shane: 2009 A-Day report & photos”
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hey inbred those pictures of denny
stadium looks like crap. try again next year retard.shorty saban is one short demlib.
“…..defending the ‘spread’ is now a priority for Coach Saban.”
Can anyone say S-C-A-R-E-D??!! Long known fact that an effectively run spread offense, similar to one’s coached by Malzahn, is shorty’s achilles heal. Shane believes the spread offense is an overrated fad that has no place in the NFL, much less college ball. It only won several conference titles, including the SEC, and several bowl games, including the Sugar. Oh yea, and the NC. Yep, no place for a ridiculous idea like that.
I realize that Bama walked a mudhole dry with Auburns pathetic version of the spread last year. But Shane, will you finally admit that its for real? Your own coach whom you worsip the gound on wich he walks says its Bamas #1 priority defensively. If Saban considers it legit, then it must be legit …………Am I right ? Yessss.Im right.
By the time Auburn limped into the Iron Bowl last year, the “spread” had degenerated into back yard ball. Not even close to what we should see this year……..hopefully.
Boy you Barner turds sure love to get down on Shane don’t you? True, sometimes he kind of goes off on a tangent, and he’s not always accurate with his info. Such as today, McElroy didn’t throw any passes to Maze cause Maze was on the White team. Well I guess that since there’s not one positive thing that you could discuss on a Barner forum, I guess you have no choice but to come over here and Bitch! Ha, ha! RTR!
Cool read But DUDE! it was an A-Day game…. He threw 2 Picks. and I like the other white guy DAREUS he looks like he has more potential than “G-MAC” :)JMO…
But you said 10-3 last year So im not trusting your Gambler Type Judgement No more Mr. Shane good luck on your Sylvia Brown Shit!
WAR POLYTECH BABY!!!
Dareus Hanks is a reciever. ‘The other white guy’ is Thomas Darrah, a 3* walkon from Georgia. Unfortunatly he’s 6′-6 and not a running threat which CNS needs to compliment the offense. You ignorant McElroy bashers don’t have a clue! Mac will lead his team to 2 national championships and be in the Heisman race before he finishes. There is not one top 20 qb that had the single year stats that Mac had in High School. He has more potential than any of them, and potential is all any of them had coming in to college. Now he finally gets to show it. For Crist sake, he didn’t play for Littletown Baptist Academy in Hoo Ha, South Dakota! He led his team to an undefeated big school Texas state championship and the mythical national championship! He smashed all of Chase Daniel’s records in just 1 year! He set the state record with 56 td passes. He threw 451 passes with only 9 int’s. for 4600+ yds. He rushed for 700+ yds with 12 more tds. Nobody has done more – nobody. Hell. Michigan is drooling all over themselves because Paulus wants to play his final year there at qb! Paulus was the 5* #1 qb and #1 player overall coming out of high school. He only averaged 4000 yds passing and 52 tds a year. Both less than Mac! Get a life Barners, you’re fixing to meet the Mac Attack! RTR!
Another thing. Mac only threw 1 pick against the #1 defense in the nation. The other pick was a pass falling incomplete out of bounds when a defender dove under it and slapped it back up in the air where an acrobatic catch was made. It had nothing to do with Mac what-so-ever! You Barner Bas___ds go home at night and masturbate while praying that Bama will get the death penalty because probation is the only time the Barn can win! The hell with you! RTR!
Barnies,
Tony “they guy who was supposed to obliterate Saban and the SEC” Franklin surely did follow through will all the junk you guys promised, or did he?
I’ll just ask a 5-7 Arkansas team, or ECU how to defend Gus’ spread, or even Mike Shula considering his offense didn’t tear Shula apart.
You can’t run a successful spread without the talent, and dear God your offense is in the same category as Arkansas State in terms of talent. Please tell me how the dreadful talent on the offensive side of the ball is going to perform ANY DIFFERENTLY than it did under Franklin.
I’d LOVE to hear those typical barnie delusional responses. If your hopes are this high with Gus, I’m afraid to say you guys are going to be in a world of hurt whenever the season starts — it’ll be even more painful than the Tony Franklin era. Remember I said it and midway through the 2009 season, I’ll be HERE saying “I told you so”.
And by the way, I feel sorry for your defense. Alabama may not even have to start Mcelroy or the entire first string when it comes time to play you guys in November (remember our ENTIRE second string beat your first string last year as well). I just hope you Wire Road incests finally have a PAVED parking lot for yourselves and opposing fans to park in instead of BLOODY HAY FIELDS!
40 IS COMING!!
YO! BamaBrando, Ballplay, Bamasgreat and Ominpresent, I want to THANK ALL OF Y’ALL for the LAUGH PARADE that y’all provided for Shane’s previous column! I haven’t laughed like that in a while. FUNNY STUFF! KEEP IT COMING! Now, on to current events. I really appreciate Shane’s optimism about the upcoming 2009 campaign, but sadly I can’t share the kool-aid just yet. I AM OPTIMISTIC about Bama’s chances of winning the SEC, but I don’t see us winning it all in ’09. I believe that a National Championship is definately in ‘Bama’s near future, and I HOPE that it happens in 2009 but I STILL think there are too many mysteries about the offense. Will we have an effective running game? We should, but there is INEXPERIENCE in some spots along the O-Line. The recieving corp is very strong, one of the strongest as a whole we’ve had in quite a while. I don’t care what some of my BAMMER BRETHREN say, I’m still concerned about the QB position. Greg McElroy is a talent and I support him WHOLEHEARTEDLY, but he is NOT as battle-tested as I would like. Moving on, the DEFENSE has the potential to be VERY SPECIAL. Every link in that chain is STRONG. I honestly believe that the Tide can win the SEC and I realize that the SEC Champion is usually in the mix of NC hype, but I have my concerns. Shane, I hope you prove me wrong. Later!
eggwhite…………..What sounds like the intellegent thing to do ? Wait and see how McElroy works our. Or. Proclain a Heisman for the first year SEC starter. Tebow didnt even do that. Youve heard of him right ? You know, Tebow. Probably the best college QB EVER ?! We all know that High school success leads to college success. Thats a given right ?
Hayfeilds……….Look at your coveted rivals rankings and see where Auburn stackes up in the last four years against the likes of Arky St. and Troy. You cant have it both ways. Either the rankings mean something , or they dont. I know yall aint giving up the back to back CROOTIN’ national championships. Auburn is in the top 10 -15 or better the last 4 -5 years. The talent is there.
St Clair…….I fully agree with your assesment. You are the most level headed Bammer on this site…
defense wins championships (see 92 and every chokelahoma team in the BCS game in recent memory)…..If Mcelroy works out its not impossible this year (see Tennessee the year after Peyton left). Just a lot of ?????????? Bama and FLorida will have the #1 and #2 defenses in the country. And believe it or not , Auburns D wont be too shabby.
Boys, we got a live one on the message board. A few more posts should have egg white totally seperated.
Bamsux………..Did you catch the part where he is saying that Shane is the one who goes off on a “tangent” ? While that is true, Shane is almost the voice of reason compaared to this guy…..Did I just say that ?
Eggwhite is the new “Official spokesperson for the Crimson Tide”..He took the crown from daddy Shane.
Yo Free Parking…..I’ll take parking in a hay field over driving through the tuscaloosa “hood” any day.
At least Tuscaloosa’s big enough to have a ‘hood’! Auburn hasn’t yet grown out of the cotton fields. Ya’ll still have slavery over there??? Anyway if you drove in through the ‘hood’ you came in the wrong way. Hell, we even have a Wal-mart Supercenter! RTR!
E.G is Shane!!!
and I look here ROOKIE I never bashed McElroy I just said the other Guy Looked like he had more POTENTIAL, which at this date thats all any of them have.Lets throw a name ummmmmm Tom Brady
Google him, Oh Boy probably even nailed some cheerleaders while he was in high school too But that doesnt make hima porn star! We will see And I think anyone will tell ya I will give him his Do!
Have you forgotten that Floridas secret weapon is coming to Bama. Sabans #1 recruit Trent Richardson. Averages almost 10 yds per carry. He and Ingram are going to be the 1 2 punch. Sorry Terry Grant. He had 2 400+ yd games. Folks, we haven’t had a RB like this. Has said he wants to be SEC freshman of the year; he will be.Bench presses 380.Squats 560.4.35 40, 10.3 100. Get the picture. This kinda Juice aint gonna sit on the pine.Sabans gonna turn this monster loose. It’s gonna get interesting and I can’t wait.
I’ll bet he dont! He didnt turn Julio(the tides real stud) loose did he?
Nope and hes not gonna turn this guy loose. What I love is how you guys take a HS kid and think hes gonna Be the MAN!
Just because he RUN OVER every lil kid who thought he was a FOOTBALL star in every lil small town in AMERICA… But hey We will see in the Spring
EG, Auburn does have a hood. It’s called Opelika! 😀
The remaining parts of Aubarn (AL) is cow pastures, hayfields, trailer parks, and condemned buildings. 😀
EG, Aubarn (AL) does have a hood. It’s called Opelika! 😀
The remaining parts of Aubarn (AL) is cow pastures, hayfields, trailer parks, and condemned buildings. 😀
Trent R. may be the next big thing. Whos to say. He may be a total bust. Let him play a couple of games. You better have a great passing game or youll be one dimensional. Which isnt good. Yall have the recievers. I think your O-linw will probably be adequate. Its all about the quarterback. We will see how McElroy does when he has a 275 pound end trying to rip his head off his shoulders.
It aint like practice. And nothing they do at practice prepares these guys for that. Ask Brody.
“At least Tuscaloosa is big enough to have a ‘hood’!”
Damn, you are a moron.
Hell Mobile has 5 HOODS!!!
You wont see any of these uatittie babies around em…
I like titties OMNIPRESENT!
When it comes to Trent Richardson you will see assholes and elbows; I have seen it with my own eyes. He is more than ready for the SEC and he knows it.Sorry Urban, St Nick is the MAN!
Not going to trash talk just going to tell you the truth.This BAMA team will be in the hunt just like 08 while you barnies are on the out side looking in..Just the plain bona fide truth.
omnipresent and ballplay, my comments were aimed more at pluto and julio than at you. A few points: Yes CNS did turn Julio loose. Witness true freshman annhialating Clemson in the first game of the year. Same for D’onta Hightower, Terrence Cody and Mark Ingram. All, stars in their first game ever. Yes we fully expect Trent to come out the same way and CNS has implied the same too. Richarson is an animal and Urban tried his best to get him away from Bama! He’ll be running behind ‘Mr. Alabama’, D.J. Fluker. Oh yes there will be a running game and Mac, he’s dead accurate on the longball, something JPW was not. There was bad blood between the O and D Saturday. If Bama’s D couldn’t rattle him – nobody can. Did you see him flatten D’onta Hightower? Mac has no fear! Anyway, we may not need an offense this year. Maybe we’ll just be everybodys’ nightmare and let the opponent have the ball on every series so our defense can pound them to dust. Coach has already said the second string is pushing hell out of first string. There’s no dropoff. That’s bad news for a Florida team that beat a tired defense in the 4th. quarter. And Hell, Dre’, Nico, Tana and others aren’t even on campus yet! Ha, ha, ha! I almost pity the rest of you. Almost! RTR!
Damn E G ; Do you work for St Nick? You got this sh*t figured out. Do people really think Trent Richardson will Redshirt? #1 player in Fl. Talent galore stacking up itching to whip ass. This is the PROCESS in its finest. F**k you barners; can’t you see what Saban is doing. I saw the Bear do and GD, Saban is the terminator personifide. You Tiders better believe what he is building. It’s gonna be awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Eggwhite………You and southernjimmy need to get a room.
You two are who Saban was speaking of in his “please bammers get a clue” speach.
We have the clue; Blue chip players foaming at the mouth to f**k up every team in the way. VT will not move the all against our defense and Gmac JJ Trent Richardson , Ingram and hopefully Upchurch , peet mccoy ;Sh*t the ga dome is gonna rock as Bama gets its first taste of blood and gets it done. The Defense is a chomping beast.
Trent Richardson looks like he could just skip college and go straight to the Pro camps.
Get a pen and write it down.
1 Auburn goes 5-7 again this year.
2. Bama slaughters Auburn in Lee County.
3.Gus Malzahn will be replaced next year at this time. Next year at his time Aubbo fans will be singing the praises of a new High school offensive guru.
4 Auburn will resume its rightful place in football as Bama’s tune-up game for whatever Bowl Bama will be attending.
Good-bye auburn.
If the powers that be at Auburn haven’t completely lost their minds they will give Cheeze Wiz and Malfeasis at least 2 years to get things going. Even the lowest lifeform in the Auburn Family knows they don’t have the proper athletes to run an effective spread yet. Bama fans, don’t expect a 36-0 beatdown every year. It’s always been close. Even ‘Bear’ had problems with’em from time to time. RTR!
Egghead………Where does this arguement keep coming from ? We have plenty of athletes. Athleticly we are lightyears past that UTAH team that spanked that butt in the Sugar Bowl. We just dont have coaching, yet. Hopefully with the entire staff aboard they will get the coaching they need. Vandy had a good season with about half the talent Auburn did. Difference ? The coaching staff. We had 1.5 people on board with the spread last year. With about 4.5 against it. Tubbs didnt go all out with it. Had he done that, hee wouldve canned the other 4 coaches that were dead set against it. JMO based on what Ive heard.
TMC ……..5-7 will not happen again. Im not saying a ten win season yet. But 8-4 or 9-3 isnt at all unattainable.
IMO if julio would have been turned loose TRULY loose he may have won the SEC freshman award…But then again JPW wasnt eventt he 2nd best QB in the SEC last year so He really couldnt have turned him loose, Lets just see what OL “GMAC”(I luv that shit)can do.
Well let’s see. I may be wrong but you have too many rb’s on the team for a spread and this means you have too little depth at the reciever positions. Some rb’s were recruited for power running and for blocking ability to protect the qb. This is all unneccesary except in Florida’s version of the spread. Normally the rarely used rb is a scatback and just a glorified reciever. You also have heavy tight ends and heavy wide receivers for blocking in the previous pro set type offense and that hurts the ultra quick purpose of the spread. Now must I even mention the qb’s? What a joke. You’re new spread qb’s won’t be ready for at least another year! I know you love you’re school, but you need to get out of you’re fantasy world. RTR!
Julio was turned loose as much as he could be in McElwains JPW limited offense. He would have had half again as many catches and twice as many td’s if JPW had had a more accurate long ball. I hate to think of all the times he was overthrown or had to catch the ball out of bounds. The bad throws to Julio alone would have won the Florida and Utah games. What planet are you from dude? Julio was NCAA freshman most valuable player, much more important than only SEC. While he was runner up to Green as SEC freshman reciever, in the same poll he was SEC freshman most valuable player. And in another poll he WAS SEC freshman receiver. What’s more, head to head he kicked Green’s ass, so we know Green’s award was bullshit! RTR!
You ll have to Pardon my ignorance But after last year I just wanted to watch Bowl games and Really had no Clue julio Won it ….. The planet is called The BIG DIVORCE! and Its a Female planet so Pardon my Ignorance! I ve lost more to than a Memory ta know!
Why they don’t just go ahead and cancel Auburn’s athletic program?
Guys – you will have to excuse the Barners. They where all fired up that
they would be getting a world class coach
that would be a household name after they fired Tubby.
Instead they got Cheezit, a nobody with
a worse record. They only way they could have done worse is if they had
hired the boy blunder.
Will Bama win the NC?? Who the hell knows? But I will guarandamntee you the
Barner’s won’t.
Egghead……..You dont know what the hell your talking about, as usual.. Auburn version (this year) is a more power run oriented version. Much like Florida. Last year was a complete meltdown. Yes , we heard the sam power running speach . But looking at Tulsa is an indicator of what will happen at Auburn. Lots of running plays down the gut. with play action off the run. IN THEORY it sounds great. After the high expectations and the even lower results of last year Im being cautios of what I say. You , on the other hand have learned NOTHING from your teams suckage….
Well excuse the hell out of me! I said I might be wrong! I don’t make it a habit to dwell on Auburn like ya’ll dwell on us. Didn’t realize that Malfeasance was going to run a hybrid at Auburn! Whatever. Didn’t work so good when Tulsa went against the other worst team in the SEC though did it?
Honostly………….The first two weeks of your presence on this site was nothing but rude, crude, cursing, homo laden rants.
Now your gonna get all offended when you get nutkicked for being wrong. Please. You have to be a little thicker skinned if your gonna play in here.
But dont misunderstand me. I could be wrong. All this same crap was said last year by the staff at Auburn. I just hope that (and I believe) they mean it this time.
TO: E G White/Southern Johnny
The reason the the mighty Florida Gators didn’t sign Trent Richardson is because he knew he wouldn’t be able to start for a couple of years and redshirting would be enevitable and he’d be only the 4th fastest running back on the team.
He made a wise choice, he should play alot for the Tide this year, he’s really got no competition.
I usually have some respect for Alabama and Tide fans, then I got on this blog. If you guys are a representation of the fan base, my respect for Bama is gone forever! Does this guy (Shane Sez)really believe Bama has a chance at winning a National Championship next year? Does he realize they would first have to win the SEC West, then the SEC Champ. game against the Mighty Florida Gators, the team that started thier current 2 game losing streak. Christ, they can’t even beat a weaker, smaller, slower, less talented Utah team. And please don’t give me that crap about them not caring about that game. What a joke! Florida does have that effect on people, ask Florida State.
BAMA FANS, ACT LIKE YOU’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE! You have you know, just not this century!
3 outa 4….yea, this a pretty good representation of the fan base. Now you may have some understanding why the bammers are hated so much by the mighty Auburn tigers. They think everyone is jealous, but no, it’s just a hatred of the most pompous, arrogant fan base in college football.
Think i will have another cup of koolaid.ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDEEEEEEEEEEEE
Gatorpeckerhead, we are hated so much the Aubs like Bamasgreat live here, it is not hatred it is called obsession. Gatorman what will yall look like with Tebow gone next year and Meyer at Notre Dame? Crow while you can and I am sure yall didn’t even want TR, that’s why Meyer spent six hours at his house the day before signing. We don’t want your respect, we will take your fear.
Ballplay, do you realize what the team that spanked our butt would have done to yall? It would have been much worse than 36-0 even against your lightyears ahead talent.
G_dd__m, we got a prehistoric lizard turd infesting our forum. Somebody hurry and call the exterminator. Get outta here boy. This is a homer site. We don’t want any uptown slezebags from Floruba on here. Sure dork, no doubt you have 3 backs faster than 4.25. Ha, ha! See you cocky turds in Dec. Pack light fool! RTR!
Dumb lizard breath. We have a 100+ years of tradition as the 4th winningest team of all time that gives us the right to be arrogant. Where do you get off johnny come lately? You turds have become in 15 years more arrogant than we ever were. Want us to lend you back some of the ass whippins we gave you so the W-L record looks more respectable? Come Dec. we’re gonna make you irrelevant forevermore just like we did to you’re bretheren ‘Miami’ in ’92.
By the way swamp gas, whats with the pathetic 50,000 that showed for your spring game? And how about those soup kitchen homeless Urban gathered up for the defense that Tebow could only manage 95 yds against? Any more injuries and come Dec. those pussies are gonna arrive in Atlanta in a Red Cross Ambulance. RTR!
Gators , they act like the time span from 93 to 08 never happened. They still think its 1973. You obviously havent spent much time around them. Zf you had the term “respect” would have never been brought up.
Photo,s are great nice job.. The one thing I see is a bunch of great players that will put a beatdown on aubarn this year and the next and next and next ect ect ect.. Hope u opees enjoyed your recent victory,s cause the tide is high…Rollin Rollin RollTide …
Hey DICK HURDER,
@ least bring something Original But hey way to kiss Shanes ass. What about finebum do you call him on a daily basis and virtual blow him too?
Come on OMNI Don’t be so hard on the fellow.
OK JW , For you Sir! I am sorry Richard.
Really I am the Site …..??????……
Ummmmmmmm Jester??? I dunno Im sorry dude!
Bamamanboy,
Thank you for the response, I’m beginning to see how this works! Some one throws out a few deniable facts and people like yourself spew nothing more than drunken(?) rants back. My guess is it’s an attempt at humor somewhat like Bama attempted to be a great team yesterday…just didn’t happen. Yea, Urban spent a little time with JR, (how long did Shula stay down here with Tebow? Couple of weeks wasn’t it?) I said he (TR)was good but not good enough for Florida Fans to flood blogs with accolades that he’s gonna take us to the National Championship. We’ve got plenty of them to do that. Florida is definately going to look differently without Tebow after this year’s National Championship. He’s the best college QB to ever play the game. But we got a pretty good stock pile of QB’s, probabaly won’t take 3 of 4 NC’s maybe just 2 of the following 3. I see Nick Saban leaving Bama before Urban ever leaves Florida. We got him for another 12 or 15 years. He doesn’t like cold weather.
E.G. Nitwhite,
100 + years of tradition…just not much good tradition in the last 15 years or so because all the issues and because of the UF domination and a better LSU, AUBURN, GEORGIA and even Tennessee program. You should print some bumper stickers up that read: “Alabama Tradition, filling stadiums for spring games! We rock ourselves! YEEHA!” Get a life E.G.
nutkicked again.
Not really Ballplay. I’m talking about 100+ years of tradition that’s already being exemplified again. Everybody has their down periods. He’s talking about the only 15 years the lizards have ever had. And while I don’t think they’re going to fall into a 7-5 funk anytime soon, their short reign on our throne is about to come to a screeching halt! If they don’t find a way to prep for the season without killing the whole team (I think 9 starters are already injured) they’re going to have the unimaginable horror of losing to Lame Kitten! Forget the MNC! They tried to insult us last year with statements that their team had far more talent and speed than ours. But we put it on them for 3 quarters. All they had was more depth. They are saying the same stupid crap this year and everybody knows CNS has brought home the best that there is. They aren’t even close to being more talented, deeper or significantly faster and sure as hell not bigger! Witness their 11 starters returning on defense. We’re still rated above them in everybody’s mind but their’s. We’ll send em packing in Atlanta – if they get there. RTR!
Are you saying that everyone BUT Florida believes that Bama is going to win the SEC ?
Surely you dont believe that?
You have it Backwards my Crimson Kool-Aid drinking little buddy.
Everyone BUT Bama ( and even a lot of you) believes that Florida will win it all again.
They lost ZERO defensive starters. And yes thier defense is better than yours. Not by much , but still better. They lost Harvin but that isnt all that bad , as they have the fastest team on the planet. They lost 2 O-lineman. Remember the MNC they won in 06? That was with a lot less depth at O-line than they have now.
Oh yeah. TEBOW. You know , the Heisman winner ?
They will be better THIS year than they were LAST year.
Oh yeah, McElroy hasnt started an SEC game yet. I can see why your so confident. You also lost 2 All American O-lineman and a great running back.
Yes, Florida is skeered.
Bam is great.
Roll tide.
No, I clearly said everybody rates our defense over theirs in spite of them having 11 starters returning. And most people that count do rank ours #1. Funny, I don’t think you’ll find SEC mentioned anywhere in my post. But now that you mention it, we’re also the team favored to win the West and play them for the SEC. And this in spite of our poor, poor inexperienced qb. Only the fantasizers think Ole Miss will win it. If you’re gonna fantasize on that, you may as well fantasize that Georgia without a dozen starters lost from injuries as last year – will win the East. As for speed, it didn’t do them much good last year and Grant, Maze, Green, Scott, Arenas and later Trent, Nico, Dre’ and Tana have just as much speed at their positions as Florida does. Tebow is another story. Don’t have an individual answer for him. But our defense controlled him for 3 quarters last year, and the starting 11 won’t have to play themselves into fatigue this year. True Florida should be better than last year, but if Carpenter and or Fluker hold up the O Line and McElroy performs better than JPW, Bama will be far, far more dangerous than last year. RTR!
Show me a link or a site that has Bamas defense ranked ahead of Floridas. If your talking about BOL or Capstone report as “everybody” well, I guess I get it, but Ive yet to see it. Bamas defense will be great no doubt. But every thing Ive read has Florida at number one. Right where they should be. You know , the defending BCS champs ? Look up total defense from last year. Wasnt Florida ahead of Alabama ? Why would they drop ? Because they lost NO ONE from last year ? Rashaad was a team leader and will be missed. But other than him I dont see any one that will affect yall much.
Your offense is the weak link. Floridas offense will be lights out. They will kill Alabama if you make it to the SEC champ game.
Ole Miss will have a pretty good offense as well. A proven winner at quarterback..
And about 6 or seven posts up YOU mentioned beating Florida in the SEC champ game.
Auburnisajoke…
Wouldn’t E.G. have to have nuts in order for them to be kicked? I guess Bama is a 75% team. Three quarters means something? Maybe not because I don’t remember them standing up to Utah for even 3 quarters…broken spirits I guess.
Bama will finish 3rd in the West at best and they will have to beat lowly Auburn to get that high. Mark it down, carve it in stone. 3 out 4 for GATORS said it first!
Have a great weekend losers…tradition my ass!
E.G.
I remember 2003, I know what ya thinking That was AUTARD! Nope that was a GOOD TEAM!!
GL
WPB!!!
Tim PUNCH DRUNK TEAPOT the best college QB of all time,,,bullshit.Joe Namath,,Joe Montana,,even Doug Williams,,the list could go on and on but sir i beg your pardon, and i know every one and there mama think that he is.But to me he could not hold up these QBS jockstraps that i mentioned and dam sure will not be a professional QB in the NFL.But i am glad all you gator lovers think so. LOL
J.W. The Gators arent the only ones that think it. Most CFB analysts are saying the same. There is a real possibiliy that Tebow could win the 2nd Heisman of his career and the 3rd national Championship. If he does that He will be the UNDISPUTED all time best. Name another player that has done anything close. You cant. There are only a couple that can claim what hes already done. 1 Heisman and 2 Nat. Champs. In my opinion he should have won the H. last year for how he singlehandedly took the team on his shoulders and marched through everyone after the Ole Miss loss.
As far as Montana Williams and Namath go………..Yes , in thier day they where great. But if they tried to do what Tims done in the conference the way it is today, they would have been killed . Tebow is not only amazing what he does on the field , but what he does off of it. Hes a natural born leader , and an example of how to behave. JMO .
And he said CFB quarterback , not pro. But keep doubting Tebow. He has a habit of proving people wrong. It wouldnt suprise me one bit if he was a succesfull pro Q.B. Heck , hes at least as good a passer as Stafford and he went #1………..
Tebow is Far and Away better than DOUG WILLIAMS! and Namath Well hes Close as well as TB but Damn its called HaTING
when you hate someone else success. I second what BI blogged! Tebow is a Hell of a PERSON/MAN even if he doesnt go pro.
I said it before I enjoyed watching Jay
Barker and Tim Tebow is MAster of PUPPETS!!!
Namath, who are you kidding?
from Wikipedia:
Between 1962–64, Namath played for the Alabama Crimson Tide football program under legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. A year after being suspended for the final two games of the season,[3] he led the Crimson Tide to a National Championship in 1964. During his time at Alabama, Namath led the team to a 29–4 record over 3 seasons.
I don’t know what he was suspended for but I would bet in todays world he could go to jail for it!
3 years: Namath completed 54% of his passes, threw for 25 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, they lost the Orange Bowl to #5 Texas and still managed to pull an AP national championship out of thier butt.
If the rules were the same in those Bama glory days as they are today, they’d be lucky to even have a hand full of NC’s
Namath better than Tebo, that’s pretty damn funny! John Wilson Parker was a better QB than Namath
Those QBs of yore have legend status, for their day. They probably would not make a D-II school today. The entire game has gotten better, more athletic, and faster today. If you watch the old videos of those years (if they haven’t been put into slow motion to increase the dramatics) everyone looks like they are running in sand. Slooooooooow.
Enjoy Tebow while you can. Be a while before another comes along.
3 outta 4…..beware of “lowly Auburn”. They have proven they can beat national championship caliber teams in the last several years.
YO! Looks like I’ve clicked on the History Channel! “3 OUTA 4 FOR GATORS,” let me share some WISDOM with you; its IMPOSSIBLE to compare players from other eras with the players of today because ALL you have to compare are STATISTICS. Sure, that’s a measuring stick but you have to take into consideration so many variables that it becomes a PRACTICE IN FUTILITY. I could make the argument that STEVE SPURRIER was a better QB in his heyday than Tim Tebow but it would be irrelevant because of all the factors that would have to be included in a process such as that. I made a JOE MONTANA fan mad a few years ago; this guy believed that Montana was the greatest ever. My opinion was and still is that Montana was the best of his era not only because of his talent but also because of the SUPPORTING CAST that he had while he was with the 49ers. They had great players and a great coaching staff. The dude got mad and stormed out of the room. The fact of the matter is this; we should NEVER lose sight of the fact that football is a TEAM SPORT. Tim Tebow is good NOT ONLY because of obvious talent. He has a lot of talented players to throw to and a great coaching staff to help him showcase what he’s capable of. OH, ONE OTHER THING: concerning the NC that was won by Alabama in 1964. In those days the NC was awarded BEFORE THE BOWL GAMES WERE PLAYED. Furthermore, the outcome of that ORANGE BOWL between Alabama and Texas is still DISPUTED. On 4th & Goal at the 1 in the waning moments of the game Namath ran a QB sneak and claims to this day along with many of his teammates that he scored. Its interesting to note that the referees of that game was a mixed crew of SEC & Southwest Conference officials. The head referee was from the Southwest Conference. The controversy that surrounded the end of that game led to bowl games using complete crews from other conferences that had no ties from conferences that the individual teams represented.
Alabama Football…fabricating excuses for losses since 1964. This IS Alabama Football!!
Newsflash to BFSC…the outcome of that game isn’t “disputed” in the slightest. Bama lost and Texas won. If you don’t understand that, then look at UA’s official record book, UT’s official record book, and the NCAA’s official record book.
The Bammer from St. Clair:
Still waiting on the WISDOM part. I understand how different eras relate to current situations. I’m guessing “wisdom” in Tuscaloosa translates to “obvious” in the real world of College Football. You can slice it up however you want but Joe Namath in his era is never/will never be the athlete, person, QB, leader, MAN that Tim Tebow is.
As far as the Texas game…again I know how the National Championships were divied out (prior to bowl games). Thank you for making my point! Had Bama beaten the mighty Gators in the SEC Championship last year, should they have automatically been awarded the NC like they did in the “Olde Days”? It is so much harder to be a National Champion now, this decade, than ever before making Tebow’s 2 NC’s and Heisman (soon to be 3 NC’s and 2 trophies) even more amazing. Those are the stats that you can compare.
With your mentality, I guess I can say the 2006 National Champion Florida Gators went undefeated because the outcome of the Auburn game is still being disputed by a few blinded Gator faithful. I think the ref that called the fumble on Leak once knew a man that had once dated a girl who’s brother had played at Auburn. DISPUTE!
No wonder Saban thinks you Bama fans are a bunch of goobers!
I kinda like this GUY and I said it in my last post just not as clear as I am about to! I watch that Press Conference after the Miss. Game. Yea that one were he had a GRIP on that Podium…. I watch that one before I HAVE SEX!!!! That boy said it , he meant it and HE DID IT!!! PEriod!!! NO better COllege QB in history thanMR. TEBOW….
WAR POLYTECH BABY!!!
Let’s hear some more of Aub’s excuses from Julio about crying for not getting to play in the NC game in 04 because the number one and two teams did not lose a game during the season. Newsflash Einstein Julio, if USC had not have whipped Aub’s ass so bad in 03 you would have played in the NC, but let’s hear some more of your excuses about fat sports reporters being unfair to poor wittle Aubun. cry cry cry you whiny maggot.
See BM, the wonderful thing about CF is that every season is a new season that is to be judged on its own merits. Otherwise, your team would pay the following year for your coach’s gross incompetence for doing pathetic things like losing to some Sunbelt team like La-Mo. Hell, you can even go 6-6 in the regular season and move up to #1 the middle of the following season PROVIDED that the teams ranked in the top 5 lose (see Tex, Okla, Fla, USC, and UGA last year)(and yes, I know that Bama is one of the teams that beat UGA. Lucky for Bama that they got the chance to play them head to head during the season.) Now here’s a little “newsflash” for you: Had USC and Okla both finished the season undefeated last year (sound familiar?), then Bama would have still been playing in the Sugar Bowl even if they had beaten Fla in the SEC Champ. game (also sound familiar?).
See Julio your little usual reasoning for Bama is that it is always luck on Bama’s side(see your comment above) or some biased voters that wins rankings, titles, etc for us, while Aub is just as good, they just don’t get the lucky breaks Bama does, yeah right. You can what if all you want to make your biased points, it means nothing if in the end you cannot hoist the crystal football which Aub will never do.