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Alabama Football Stuff (injury updates, quotes, etc.) - October 20th
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:14 am
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:14 am
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Since he arrived at Alabama, it has been widely known that Jacob Coker possessed a cannon for an arm. But in the Crimson Tide's recent games, dating back the Ole Miss contest, Coker has revealed a second weapon in his arsenal.
Coker has morphed into a bit of a dual-threat at the quarterback position, using his legs to make plays, pick up first downs and even punish opposing defenders. In seven games, Coker has only amassed 103 yards on the ground, but that includes the yards he's lost on sacks. The senior has averaged five carries per game and has found the end zone twice.
In Alabama's SEC games, Coker absorbed some hard hits instead of sliding, which is customary for quarterbacks. Saturday against the Aggies, the 6-foot-5, 232-pound quarterback reeled off a couple of tough runs that ended with contact.
"He's a tough guy," Saban said. "What, do you want him to run out of bounds? Well, I'm just telling you, sometimes I wish he wouldn't take the hits, aight. But I kind of like the other team's reaction when he does that. Does it bother you when Derrick Henry does it? It doesn't bother me. I kind of like it when he runs over them.
"It's the personality of the player. Jake's a tough, competitive guy, he's a big, physical guy. He's getting better and better every week, aight. So I don't want to take his aggressiveness away because we're fearful something bad's gonna happen. I just don't coach that way."
But Saban isn't the only one that enjoys seeing Coker truck defenders. His defensive teammates like it, too.
"We love it," linebacker Reggie Ragland said. "Anytime he takes off out there, he takes the hits and gets back up. We call him a baby Roethlisberger. Anytime he does that, like, that gets guys on the team (hyped up) 'cause we'll be backed up, probably like third and 10, he takes off and then gets the first down. The guys on the sideline see that and its gets us all hyped up more and more, and the guys in the locker room love it since he started making plays like that. It helps us out."
Nicknames like that have floated around the Crimson Tide's locker room since Coker decided to unveil his hidden ability to run the football. When he spoke to reporters, he said one that stood out to him the most was "Vanilla Vick."
"I don't know, it is what it is," Coker said Monday afternoon to local reporters. "These guys are coming up with some pretty creative nicknames for me. ... It's getting out of hand."
Coker also pointed out he isn't the only player on the team that has embarrassed an opponent this season. Henry has done it on a series-by-series basis in his 152 attempts, 901 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns through seven games.
"I think everybody does get a little excited, but at the same time, when Derrick breaks off a long run and starts drilling people, it's the same attitude," Coker said. "It's always good to see guys that really just care about the team and do everything they can to get first downs, touchdowns, just win the game."
Coker quickly denied the crown for the most bulldozing runs on the team in favor of the 6-foot-3, 242-pound tailback.
"He's got me, that's for sure," Coker said of Henry. "That dude's an animal."
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This post was edited on 10/20/15 at 1:17 am
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Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:17 am to TideSaint
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Alabama head coach Nick Saban provided a couple of injury updates on senior running back Kenyan Drake (thigh bruise) and senior center Ryan Kelly (concussion) during his Monday press conference.
"Kenyan Drake will practice today," Saban said. "Ryan Kelly is under concussion protocol. When he's normal, which he's very close, we'll allow him to resume activity. That's not gonna be today, unless something changes between now and practice. We feel like he'll be OK. It's not that bad right now. We feel like he'll be OK in a few days, but the medical staff has to make that decision."
Both players sustained their injuries in the first half of the Texas A&M game. Kelly did not return to the field after that.
Drake saw five carries for 11 yards and two receptions before sustaining his injury. He returned in the second half.
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Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:18 am to TideSaint
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The Southeastern Conference released its Week 7 Players of the Week on Monday morning, and two Alabama players received the league's weekly honors following the Crimson Tide's 41-23 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies.
Junior running back Derrick Henry and freshman defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick were recognized as the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively, for strong performances in Alabama's road win.
Henry rushed for a career-high 236 yards on a career-best 32 carries, scored two rushing touchdowns and added one reception for 18 yards while averaging 7.7 yards per touch and 7.4 yards per rush attempt. It marked the fifth highest single-game rushing total in school history. Henry also extended his school record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown to 12.
Fitzpatrick returned two interceptions for touchdowns, going 33 and 55 yards for scores. He is the only player in Alabama history to return two interceptions for scores in the same game. He also added two solo tackles as the Crimson Tide limited the Aggies to one offensive touchdown and 316 yards of total offense, 164 yards below their season average.
SEC Football Week 7 Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama
Defensive Player of the Week: Lewis Neal, DE, LSU
Special Teams Player of the Week: Marshall Morgan, PK, Georgia
Freshman of the Week: Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Vadal Alexander, OT, LSU
Defensive Lineman of the Week: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M
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Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:20 am to TideSaint
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The Alabama-Tennessee game is “a special game to a lot of people,” and Nick Saban knows it.
But Saturday’s installment of the Third Saturday in October will be the Crimson Tide’s fifth home game of the season, and games played inside Bryant-Denny Stadium have not benefited Alabama like they should and have in recent years.
The Crimson Tide has arguably played its best football away from Tuscaloosa this season, posting big games on the road in Arlington, Athens and College Station. At home, UA has given up 67 points (compared to 50 on the road) and owns a 3-1 (1-1 SEC) record.
One of the reasons for that is something new for Saban and Alabama, and it stems from the plethora of external distractions that home games present to the Crimson Tide players.
“I don’t know, I never thought it was an issue until this year but probably the three best games that we’ve played this year have all been on the road, whether it was Wisconsin, Georgia or this past game with Texas A&M,” Saban said. “I think it’s a matter of what I talked about before, being able to stay focused on what you need to do to do your job play in and play out. Just because you’re at home, whether it’s family, friends, the atmosphere, the distractions that that can create – as a mature competitor, you can’t be affected by external factors.
“I’ve talked about friendly fire before but I look at our team and I’m like, we play different when it’s 28-6 than we do when it’s 0-0. Well, there’s not supposed to be a scoreboard. You’re supposed to have enough killer instinct to keep playing at a high level and execute and do your job. It can’t be the scoreboard. It can’t be playing at home. It can’t be the fans.
“All those things should be positive things that enhance your chances of competition, affects the other team. Something that we’ve just got to continue to address and try to get the players to focus better, and do a better job.”
Outside of distractions, though, there isn’t much explanation for the slight shift in play at home and on the road for Alabama, outside of quarterback play. Jacob Coker has thrown for nine touchdowns and six interceptions with a 57-percent completion percentage, while tossing two scores and zero picks with a 72.6-percent completion percentage away from campus.
One thing, though – that was apparent at Georgia – is the pregame talking that has seemed to heighten the players’ senses in unfamiliar territory and supplemented their play.
“I guess it’s the luck of the draw how a guy’s playing, I guess,” linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “I’m just doing my job. Anytime you go into a hostile environment, you gotta play at your best because everybody in the stadium is against you. … You hear the fans talks all that trash, and once you hear all that trash, it makes you want to go even harder.”
The Crimson Tide will play at home and in its eighth consecutive game this Saturday when it hosts the Vols for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff, but fatigue shouldn’t be an issue.
“We try to control the work load so that our players can get ready to play each and every week,” Saban said. “We gave the players two days off a few weeks ago so that they could get some rest and recovery. It goes back to ‘How bad you want to do what you want to do?’ Everybody controls their focus. If you can’t jump … You can’t? …We can’t fix it. We can fix your ability to focus. That’s something you choose to do. Anybody can choose to do that.
“You can stay focused in this meeting or you can daydream in this press conference. You can do whatever you want. But that is something that you can get people to do, aight. So if you assume you’re tired and you assume you can’t focus here, then you probably won’t. But if you can stay locked in and do what you want to do, then it’s not an issue and it’s not a problem, because most of that stuff is right here in your head, aight. It’s not anything wrong with you physically.”
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:21 am to TideSaint
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SABAN ON TARGETING CALL ON SDH
Sophomore linebacker Shaun Hamilton was flagged and disqualified from Saturday’s game at Texas A&M for targeting in the second quarter. Hamilton earned the penalty on an Alabama punt return and was forced to spend the remainder of the contest in the locker room. He will, however, be available to play against Tennessee this weekend.
On Monday, Saban provided his thoughts on the penalty and Hamilton’s demeanor on the play.
“You’ve got to see what you hit,” Saban said. “I don’t think he intentionally hit the guy helmet to helmet. He was playing with toughness and being aggressive, but I think especially an unprotected player in a situation like that, what we tell players, ‘You’ve got to see what you hit, and you have to lower your target.’ And all you can do is learn from it.
“It was not intentional. He’s not that kind of person. The guy has played well for us on special teams and he’s played well for us when he’s had to play and he’s a good person and I think that’s the lesson to be learned.”
Later in his noon CT press conference, Saban gave his opinion on the newly-added rule in college football.
“I think we should continue to have increased emphasis on player safety, and anything that we do that enhances player safety – which I think the new targeting rules have done,” Saban said. “They’re probably not perfect and I know there’s a lot of good people working on trying to improve them and will continue to do that.
“Look, I don’t want to see any of our players get hit in the head and I don’t want any of our players to hit somebody else’s player in the head. I think these are good rules and I think it makes us coach better in terms of trying to make guys aware of how they should block and how they should tackle for player safety.”
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:21 am to TideSaint
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SABAN ON TENNESSEE QB DOBBS
Last season, when Alabama traveled to Knoxville, everyone was introduced to Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs when he was forced into action against the Crimson Tide. Against Alabama on Oct. 25, 2014, Dobbs threw for 192 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and ran for 75 yards on 19 attempts in a losing effort.
But he now has a year of experience under his belt heading into Saturday’s game inside Bryant-Denny.
“Well, he had a good game against us last year,” Saban said. “I mean, we played the whole game against him except the first three plays, so maybe it wasn’t his team but we had to play against him all day. He’s gotten better. You can tell he’s got a great understanding of what the expectation is for him and what he needs to do on offense.
“I think he’s, it looks like he’s a good leader. I’ve seen the players responding positively to him. I don’t think there’s any question about the fact that the guy is really playing well. I think he’s had a great year so far.”
This season, Dobbs has passed for 1,101 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions in six games. He’s also rushed for 368 yards and five scores on 73 carries.
Despite the team’s 34-20 victory a season ago, Ragland and the defense want to bottle Dobbs up early and not allow him to fill the stat sheet like he did at Neyland Stadium.
“He’s a great player,” Ragland said. “Heck, he came in when the guy got hurt or whatever and he did his job. He came in and he gave us fits and trouble. So we’re gonna to do our job this year to try to contain him.”
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:23 am to TideSaint
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Alabama hit the practice field Monday afternoon, as the Crimson Tide players practiced outdoors and in helmets and shorts -- no shoulder pads -- on a sunny, 72-degree afternoon in Tuscaloosa. It was UA's first practice of Tennessee week.
Here are several tidbits from the media viewing portion of Alabama's Monday practice session:
- Senior center Ryan Kelly (concussion) was at practice but wore a black, no-contact jersey and did not participate in drills, as Nick Saban said he would not be earlier Monday. Kelly, who sustained a concussion in the first half of the Texas A&M game, is still in the team's concussion protocol.
- With Kelly on the sideline, for now, JC Hassenauer appeared to be taking reps at the first-team center position.
- Senior running back Kenyan Drake (thigh bruise) appeared to be fully participating during the one media viewing period.
- Freshman quarterback Blake Barnett missed another day of practice Monday. Barnett was hospitalized last week.
- With one less quarterback on the field, outside linebacker Jamey Mosley (6-foot-5, 221 pounds) was wearing a white, No. 11 scout-team jersey and warming up his arm during the viewing portion of practice. Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs wears No. 11 and stands at 6-foot-3, 207 pounds. Mosley played quarterback at Theodore (Ala.) High School.
- Tennessee freshman linebacker Austin Smith also wears No. 11 and has played in six games (two tackles).
- Running backs Ronnie Clark and Derrick Gore sported Nos. 1 and 6 scout-team jerseys Monday, representing Vols tailbacks Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, who is a former Alabama signee and running back.
- An NFL scout from the Dallas Cowboys watched Monday's practice from the sideline.
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Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:26 am to TideSaint
Posted on 10/20/15 at 1:37 am to TideSaint
You're the man, TideSaint. 
Posted on 10/20/15 at 2:00 am to FourThreeForty
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FourThreeForty
Posted on 10/20/15 at 2:02 am to TideSaint
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Week 7 of the season was billed as Separation Saturday by some, and that didn’t turn out to be hyperbole when Sunday morning rolled around across the country.
The script in many conference races was flipped, several surprising upsets happened, and a number of closer-than-expected games turned out to be laughers. And let us not forget that one team only needed 10 seconds left in order to capture a victory.
Keep all that in mind as we enter a Week 8 slate that doesn’t have all that many enticing matchups but still presents the opportunity for some teams to get back in the College Football Playoff race or fall out for good.
Buckle up, folks: The season is on the downslope and it’s rolling along quite quickly.
Now on to the bowl projections. A hearty disclaimer that these are projecting out the rest of the season and as such are not completely reflective of the state of college football at the moment.
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After that "Separation Saturday," we saw a pretty big shake-up among the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six teams. The biggest change involves a conference being shut out of the final four that would have one part of the country up in arms and likely delight the rest. Yes, the SEC is out of the playoff. It is entirely possible the league’s champion has two losses by the end of the year, and while that may not completely eliminate the SEC from the playoff, it does present an uphill battle. Alabama looks again to be the top dog but it remains in the realm of possibilities that the Tide would have just a single Top 10 win (at Texas A&M) and only one other Top 20 victory (LSU) by the end of the year depending on how things shake out. A loss to Ole Miss isn’t looking too hot either. While the team has flashed at times, there are still quite a few holes on both sides of the ball (and special teams) to not be quite sold on Alabama.
They have us playing TCU in the Sugar Bowl.
The four teams in their CFP projections are Baylor, Ohio State, Stanford and Clemson.
Posted on 10/20/15 at 4:42 am to TideSaint
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Alabama
National Championship Odds: 15-2
There's a good chance college football fans will look back at Alabama's Week 3 loss to Ole Miss in the same fashion as Stanford's defeat to Northwestern—odd results for complete title contenders.
Alabama took a huge step forward in the SEC West race Saturday by knocking off Texas A&M by a score of 41-23 in College Station, and the Tide's national championship odds improved as a result.
Offensively, bruising running back Derrick Henry continues his touchdown-scoring ways, and quarterback Jake Coker seems more settled in the quarterback position thanks to some breakout players out wide. Nick Saban's team is one of the best in the nation up front, and a much-improved secondary is coming off a performance in which it scored three pick-sixes on the uptempo Aggies.
"The loss to Ole Miss hurts, but Alabama has been here before," Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote. "They're hitting their stride at the right time, seem to have solved its pressing issues and has a showdown with LSU looming early next month."
Barring some surprises in the next couple of weeks, Alabama will be favored in that home matchup against LSU. All the Crimson Tide need is for Ole Miss to drop another conference game—which looks like a good bet at this point—and they'll be back on the inside track for a championship run.
Posted on 10/20/15 at 7:10 am to TideSaint
Great stuff TS as usual.
We'd beat TCU by 50. Baylor and Climpson by not much less than that.
We'd beat TCU by 50. Baylor and Climpson by not much less than that.
Posted on 10/20/15 at 8:34 am to TideSaint
Yeah, because Stanford's loss to Northwestern is so much better.
Posted on 10/20/15 at 9:53 am to TideSaint
I'm wondering when we'll eventually see Kiffin start using the read option on 3rd and short and draw plays. McElroy actually called a lot of draw plays himself when they went to a 5 wideout set and left the middle open. I think wuth Coker's power and ability to evade a few tacklers, he could change up the DC's game plan that'll open up some other passing opportunities to Kiffin's advantage.
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