Bamasportsblog

For the Alabama Crimson Tide, their defense has been the foundation of their football team. They have proven in recent years that defenses win championships. In 2009 Alabama had reached the final pedestal of collegiate athletics. Every football player at some point in their life dreamed of holding up the coaches trophy (BCS Champions Trophy.) They bleed and sweat only for the determination to succeed and be rewarded with a ring, a trophy, and hopefully a shot at the next level, the NFL.  Alabama returned 9 defensive starters and 6 offensive starters hoping for another chance to hold up the BCS Title. Never in history has a single state with two different teams win 3 national championships in a row. Alabamas defense stuck together this year knowing for most of them, it was their last chance to relive their glory they uplifted in Pasadena in 2009.They came to the school together, they bled and sweat together. They all stayed behind for one last shot before they move on to the NFL. Most of the 9 defensive starters had a spot in the first round of the NFL draft.

On April 27 2011 the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, Al instilled an image of weakness and heartbreak. So the team went out into the community and became brothers to enemies, and family to strangers. This brought the community together. When the sky cleared and the season began, those from Alabama decided to bring back the trophy to the home which was shattered. The players, the coaches, and the media, dubbed Alabama’s season as a “Destiny for Victory.” For long snapper Carson Tinker, the tornado took more than his image of home, or the idea of safety. During the tornado of April 27 he and his girlfriend layed in a closet, and out of nowhere he was sucked out and thrown out of the house while the tornado enveloped and destroyed the home. He awoke a few hundred yards away, his girlfriend nowhere to be found. Her body was found the next morning. To the players, this isnt just a season. Its a season that everyone is watching, and will always remember as the year Alabama brought home the gold. For Carson Tinker, his soul determination is to win it for Ashley. He says “I know she’s watching me, and I want to make her proud of me.” All the players have said “If we dont win it all, we lost everything.”

November 5th against #1 ranked LSU was their one way ticket to New Orleans for the National Championship, unfortunately for the the Crimson Tide they lost the game in overtime 9-6. But the BCS system allowed them to only drop to #3, and after a miracle week 10 all undefeated teams in the top 10 lost, which gave Alabama one last shot at a National Title in a rematch against LSU. Alabama and LSU have been the most even teams I have ever seen play in History. Take a look at the scores for when Alabama played the same team as LSU.

AL vs Miss State 24-7
LSU vs Miss State 19-6

AL vs Florida 38-10
LSU vs Florida 41-11

AL vs Tenn 37-6
LSU vs Tenn 38-7

AL vs Ole Miss 52-7
LSU vs Ole Miss 52-3

AL vs Ark 38-14
LSU vs Ark 41-17

AL vs Auburn 42-14

LSU vs Auburn 45-10

It will surely be a game we will never forget. So much emotion and backstories go into this season for both teams. For Alabama seniors its their last shot. If they loose they enter the NFL draft and hope for a super bowl. They already played their last game in Bryant-Denny Stadium in the win against Georgia Southern. For Trent Richardson however, he has the option to come back for his senior year but surely if he wins the heisman and BCS Title he wont come back for his senior year. Alabamas defense has played together for 4 straight years. They are brothers and best friends to the core. They will take the field for the last time in a Crimson Tide jersey together . They will end their legacy as one of the best defenses in Collegiate football history. But it wont mean anything if they have to walk away from their final game with a loss. They will only have one chance. One Shot. One Game. One last opportunity to win it for the Bamanation before they leave for their NFL future, their last chance to be a national champion before they hang their cleats.

November 5th. The day every Alabama and LSU fan has marked on their schedule. It not only decides the  winner of the SEC West; it decides who will play in the National Championship. There will never again be a game more physical. The identical defenses of Alabama and LSU.  The season so far for both teams, has been like lightning in a bottle, set to strike on November 5th. The mere thought of these two teams colliding is mind-boggling. The players know that they’ve worked, sweat, and bled for the Crimson and white..Or the gold and purple. For the seniors its their last chance at holding the BCS National Champions trophy. Alabama’s offensive demon Trent Richardson is set to face one of the best defenses in college football. The tests will continue throughout the game for both sidelines. AJ McCarron has the advantage of playing in Bryant Denny Stadium. This, however is  a factor that will play against LSU. Though, LSU has been on the national stage all year, it will be nothing like the crowd and team they face when they come to Alabama.

(Keys To Game)

For Alabama, Pass Attack offense is going to HAVE TO work. They need to establish themselves and PASS EARLY. LSU is built to stop the run more than stop the pass. and Offensively you have GOT to spread the ball around to DeAndrew White. I’ve said it since the Pre-season that White will be the replacement of Julio Jones by the end of the year. That means taking his spot on screen plays. Marquise Maze and Darius Hanks are the best two blocking WRs I’ve ever seen. But, when Maze catches the screens he cant run far because the blocking isn’t as developed as it is when he blocked for Julio. Im predicting a screen pass that goes for around 50+ yards for a TD. With LSU being so aggressive in blitzing Alabama’s screen plays will  work beautifully. We saw it two years ago with Julio Jones.

For LSU Alabamas defense is one of the best that has ever come through the University. The only weaknesses for the Tide (if you want to call it a weakness)  is offensive line, and kickoffs.  LSU has a proven kickoff returner and if LSU starts every drive from the 40 Bama could see trouble early. But going back to Offensive Line, Alabama has struggled all year with defending their QB in the pocket. When the defense rushes 5 or more McCarron gets pressure quick and has to throw the ball away. LSU is on of the most aggressive defenses in the country and will blitz Alabama all night. If Alabama comes out with less than 5 sacks I will be amazed. We will more than likely see Jordan Jefferson play. Alabama has injured almost every QB they have played all year.

The defense from Alabama is being led by Dant’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Josh Chapman, and Mark Barron. This defensive unit for Alabama is the most physical team out there. They have been said to be like a NFC south defense. Alabamas strength comes from their secondary and linebackers. If Alabama hopes to win they will need to ultimately develop a pass-rush. This is hard with their Defensive ends..that arent very fast. The main way Alabama  forces pressure is from the linebackers. Hightower and Upshaw both are incredible pass rushers off the edge and Alabama will need them in order to be successful.

Ultimately, I believe Alabama will come out the victor. 16-20 LSU kicks 4 field goals due to their field position, with only one TD.

I also think that LSU will give up 2 interceptions (Barron, then Menzie)

Alabama will fumble once (Lacy)

And Finally Alabama throws one INT Morris Claiborne
PLAYERS TO WATCH

                               Tyrann Matthieu -LSU

                                  DeAndrew White- Alabama

Thank you for  your time and feel free to comment your opinions!

God Bless

This will be the best segment of the series. We lose all of our secondary this season besides Mark Barron. Kareem Jackson, Javier Arenas, Marquis Johnson, and Justin Woodall. The first three were all drafted. They will be a big loss. Mark Barron will be an all-American this year. He was one one of the top defensive backs in the conference last year with seven interceptions. He also broke up a lot of passes. He is also a good tackler. Robby green was projected to start this year, but could be suspended for up to a calendar year. Saban commented that it would be premature to talk about the situation before due process. Which scares me. Because due process usually means due process of law, and unless your player is joining the military, law is probably not a good thing for his name to be around. Battling for his spot will be Robert Lester, who led the spring scrimmage game in tackles with eight. Also battling for the position will be Rod woodson. Two words: heat seeker. He flies to the ball and knocks heads off. If you want to better visualize what I’m saying, you can find his highlights on YouTube under rod woodson olive branch. Dre Kirkpatrick will be great as a starter for two reasons. 1) He has the talent and effort to make plays on the ball. 2) He brings a Javy-like personality to the game. Just look up his signing day video. B.J Scott has made the transition from receiver to cornerback. He has done well in practice and is surprisingly battling Kirkpatrick for the number one cornerback spot. We also will have great depth at cornerback in a couple of years with John Fulton and Demarcus Milliner My next segment will be on the tight ends.

Today I will be talking about one of our most troublesome positions. Special teams.

We lost everybody on special teams this season. Lrigh Tiffin has to be replaced. P.J fitzgerald is gone. All-star returner Javier Arenas is gone. Those are some big shoes to fill.

I feel pretty confident about our return game this year. There’s no way it can match what Javy did, but it won’t be too bad. I’m assuming that Julio Jones will be our primary kick and punt returner. Either Trent Richardson or newbie Demarcus Millliner will likely be the backup.

Leigh Tiffin will be replaced by either Cade Foster or Jeremy Shelley. Shelley held his own in the Spring Scrimmage game, but it looks like Foster will get the nod. Ther’s something I absolutely love about Foster that has nothing to do with his kicking ability. He played middle linebacker in high school. So the stereotype of frail kickers does not apply. Returners will have a harder time getting past this kicker. Besides that, he has a very powerful leg, and kicked one into the end zone in spring scrimmage. I don’t know much about his field goal kicking abilities.

P.J. Fitzgerald will be replaced by true freshman Jake Williams. I haven’t gone back to look at his high school stats, but I’m a little worried about not seeing this guy yet. He will be thrust into the full college game his first year here. He’s our only option. Let’s hope he comes through.

And I thought I’d just throw this out, though most people don’t think about this part of special teams, I thought Dre Kirkpatrick was great on kickoff and punt coverage. He seemed to be around the ball every play. Look for him to stuff the return game this season.

Tomorrow’s segment will probably be the best. The secondary. Find out which player might miss the season tomorrow.

Today’s segment is linebackers. I did some research and found out some information that’s quite interesting.

We lost our smartest player this year to the NFL. Rolando McClain controlled our defense and made tons of great plays for us. He always seemed to be around the ball, and could break up and intercept passes. It’s going to be hard to fill his shoes.

We also lost Eryk Anders. He wasn’t a great player, but he stepped in for Dont’a Hightower last season and still kept us in the national championship hunt. He’s best remembered for his hit on Garrett Gilbert that forced a fumble, leading to a TD that sealed the national championship.

Cory Reamer was another decent player that stepped up and played well last season.

Dont’a Hightower recorded 62 tackles in his first season, fourth on the team. Last season, he played in three games before tearing his ACL, MCL, and Meniscus. The recovery was supposed to take a year. He was participating in spring training six months later. He is back to about 90% and was not witheld at all in the Spring Scrimmage game. He will be ready to be back on the field come fall. His injury may have proved to be a blessing in disguise.

It forced freshman Nico Johnson to start for the Tide in the last 11 games. And Bama’s defense didn’t skip a beat. Now Dont’a will return and Johnson will have a year of experience.

Jerrell Harris. There is a lot of speculation about this player. He was a backup last season, but was suspended for most of the games. He got some game experience in his freshman season, but not much. He is reportedly good in practice. We’ll get to see what he can do in a game this season as he will start for the Tide at SAM linebacker.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Chris Jordan………… Anyone?……….. Me neither. I actually have almost no analysis for you on this player, besides that he led the team in tackles against North Texas with six on special teams and defense combined. But he will start at WILL linebacker for the Tide. This is straight from Nick Saban himself.

Courtney Upshaw showed great flashes last year as backup linebacker. He will be really good for our rotation. He was also featured on bleacherreport.com’s “Most Unknown SEC Defensive Weapons.”

Today I’m going to talk about a slightly hotter topic, our wide receivers.

The Obviouis number one wide receiver is Julio Jones, when he’s healthy. Or is he? I think I’ve seen a lack of hustle or desire in him, that has nothing to do with his health. Or was it really just his injury? Either way, there’s no disputing his raw talent once he catches the ball. He WILL run someone over. He may also return kicks and punts this season.

Marquis Maze is actually rivaling for the number one spot, at least for me. Why? He’s consistent. He doesn’t have Julio’s pure talent, but he’s a speedster that can catch the ball for good yards. Look for him to establish himself next season.

Darius Hanks may be another nice surprise this season, having developed for his first two. Shows good route running and hands. Our third wide receiver.

And then we have a slew of other receivers to choose from. Earl Alexander being the first one that comes to mind. They’re all relatively average at this point. But they will get oppurtunities to show if they’ve improved.

Tommorow I’m switching to our more and less worrisome prospect, defense. I will be focusing on the line, which may not be as much of a drop off as you think.