re: Bama Football Tidings

ESPN's Matt Barrie spoke to the C Spire 1st & 10 Club in Mobile on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. (Creg Stephenson/cstephenson@al.com)
LINKBy Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com

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Two of the four spots in the 2019 College Football Playoff are effectively spoken for, leaving everyone else to compete for the other two, ESPN’s Matt Barrie said on Monday.

Barrie, who will serve as studio host for the network’s coverage of college football every Thursday, Friday and Saturday beginning this season, spoke Monday night to the C Spire 1st & 10 Club at the Mobile Marriott. He identified Alabama and Clemson as “near locks” for the playoff again this season, with the other two spots coming from the SEC’s Georgia and LSU, the Big 12’s Oklahoma and Texas, the Big Ten’s Ohio State and Michigan, plus one popular “darkhorse” contender from the Pac-12.

“When I talk dark horses, I try to stay out of the Top 10,” Barrie said. “When you talk about the Top 10, everybody’s a playoff team. LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, some of those teams can fight their way in. But if I go down to (No.) 14, Utah has a schedule that fits them, that has the skill coming back to go undefeated in the Pac-12, that’s what you have to find. You start in the teens and find that team that has everything go their way and has the schedule go their way. If you’re looking for that of criteria, Utah is who I would look at.”

Speaking of the Pac-12, one of that league’s best teams opens the season against No. 16 Auburn on Aug. 31 in Arlington, Texas. No. 11 Oregon is widely regarded as the preseason Pac-12 favorite, but isn’t likely to beat the Tigers, Barrie said.

The Oregon game is considered a key one for Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, who will turn his offense over to either redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood or true freshman Bo Nix. Barrie said the national perception of the job Malzahn is doing is probably more generous than how he’s viewed in this state.

“I do like Auburn against Oregon,” Barrie said. “Oregon has a good offensive line, but they haven’t seen a (defensive) front like Auburn’s. Whether it’s Gatewood or Nix, they’re extremely talented players or they wouldn’t be at Auburn. … As a freshman quarterback, I think it’s imperative you find the guy that can make the offense work. You don’t have to win games, you just can’t lose games.

“Auburn has talent — they’ve got speed, they’re always good up-front. I say this all the time with coaches — are you competitive? Are you recruiting? Are you close? And it’s not like Auburn hasn’t been competitive, they’ve just been judged by the other side of the state. That’s not fair to anyone. For Auburn this year, people are looking at eight wins. I can see Auburn easily going 9-3, 10-2, pulling off an upset and watching those quarterbacks grow in front of your eyes. Because Auburn certainly has the talent in other places.”

“Close” describes Georgia in its games the last two seasons with Alabama. The Bulldogs led the Crimson Tide in the second half of both the 2017 national title game and the 2018 SEC championship game, only to see Alabama rally behind a back-up quarterback — Tua Tagovailoa the first year, Jalen Hurts the second.

However, whatever gap their might have been between the two programs prior to 2017 no longer exists, Barrie said.

“They’re there,” Barrie said. “There’s no close — they’re there. If you look at two years ago, they should have won the national championship, and then the Tua thing happened. They were every bit as good in the SEC championship (in 2018) and probably should have won that one, and then Jalen Hurts happened. They just need to finish games. Talent-wise, it’s there. Jake Fromm’s an NFL quarterback. D’Andre Swift is going to be a Heisman candidate. They have the skill to compete, now it’s just about finishing.”

Alabama is ranked No. 2 nationally behind only Clemson, and has either won or played for the national title in each of the last four seasons. The Crimson Tide is the only team has made the College Football Playoff all five seasons the current postseason format has existed.

When asked about a potential “Achilles heel” for Alabama, Barrie went with the obvious and identified its banged-up linebacker corps. He added that he wants to see a better performance from the Crimson Tide’s offensive line as well.

“Last year it was the secondary, but I don’t think that’s going to be an issue this year,” Barrie said. “Probably the linebackers. If you look at their linebackers, they tend to send a lot of guys to the NFL, and Saban always reloads. Is there ever going to be a year where reloading hits a bit of a snag? It’s not going to be offensively, maybe offensive line early on trying to protect Tua. In the big games last year, he got hit a lot. Early on, watch them, because it could be something that manifests itself later in the year against teams like Clemson or Georgia.”

Tagovailoa is still under center for Alabama, though Hurts has moved to Oklahoma. Sooners coach Lincoln Riley on Monday named Hurts his starting quarterback for the season-opener against Florida Atlantic.

Oklahoma has had the last two Heisman Trophy winners in quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, both of whom where the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft the following year. Barrie said he expects Hurts to get the job done in Norman as well.

“I think the thing with Jalen is, he didn’t have to be an arm guy at Alabama,” Barrie said. “I know there was talk that in Kiffin’s offense, he’d miss wide-open receivers. He really wouldn’t get in the flow of the game because he knew he had his legs. At Oklahoma, he’s going to be forced to throw first, run second. … You’ll see out of him, what I think will surprise a lot of people, the kid can sling it. If Lincoln Riley can turn him into the next great Big 12 quarterback, he’s probably the best offensive mind in college football. I wouldn’t expect Heisman Trophy, No. 1 overall pick out of Jalen, but I’m expecting an Oklahoma-level offensive team.”

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