Alabama shows why they are the No.1 team in the nation, pushing past Arkansas, 24-20

Alabama is a great team -the best team in the nation- and they showed it Saturday in Fayetteville. In the opening moments, the entire Arkansas team was fired up to be at home and get the chance to knock off the No. 1 team. If there are still any doubts about Ryan Mallett, please put them to rest. He threw for 250 yards in the first half, and finished the day with 357 yards through the air. You have to be special to do this against an Alabama defense, albeit a young and inexperienced unit. But I tip my hat to Mallett because he is the real deal. The Razorbacks picked on cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick all game long and exploited his inexperience for a few big plays by Arkansas wideout Jarius Wright (6 catches, 131 yards). In the first half, the upset alert was going off as the wheels were falling off of the Crimson Tide. Greg McElroy was not his steady self in the first half and that had to do with a couple of bad passes and a fired up Razorback team. The second half was when Alabama stuck to their bread and butter: the running game with Mark Ingram (157 yards and 2 TDs) and Trent Richardson (85 yards, no rushing TDs, 1 REC TD), perfect strategy to keep the potent Arkansas offense off the field and wear away at the Razorback defense. Nick Saban’s boys showed resolve and true grit in the face of adversity. McElroy orchestrated drives that put his team in position to win; there was a sense of been-here-done-that attitude by the Crimson Tide. There was no point where I saw this team panic being down for the majority of the game, taking the lead with 3:18 left in the game. Three interceptions by the ‘Bama defense was the key factor to thwarting the Razorbacks. Robert Lester had two interceptions on the day, one very important one, setting up Alabama to take the lead; and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick picked off the last interception to seal the game and put an end to any chances for an Arkansas comeback. I feel in my gut that the Crimson Tide faced their biggest and stiffest test they will see all season. This team will be undefeated and have a chance to be back-to-back national champions. I really believe it and you should too. Greg McElroy will continue to improve, and he’s no longer a game-manager, maybe last year he was but not anymore; he comfortable with the offense and the playmakers around him. McElroy will end up being the most efficient passer in the SEC, or out of the BCS conferences. Arkansas really needs to work on establishing a running game to become more balanced with the passing attack. It’s a lot for Mallett to carry the offense with his arm for four quarters. But this team might just get the majority of their wins in shootouts; and the defense needs to improve as well. There are still signature wins to be had against Auburn, South Carolina, and LSU. And how Mallett performs in these games will put him right in the thick of the Heisman race, but no better win would have been bigger than downing Alabama.

Alabama is more than deserving of the No.1 spot in the nation

Wow, is all I can say about Alabama. I must say that I actually thought Greg McElroy would be the Achilles heel of this team. However, I’m wrong about that. McElroy might be the most efficient passer of the SEC, forget about Ryan Mallett and John Brantley and Cam Newton. They can put up those gaudy numbers, but McElroy will spread the ball around to his receivers and he as the best running back tandem in Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. Against Penn State, McElroy stood tall in the pocket, checked down to his 1st and 2nd receivers and let the ball fly or broke the pocket for a run. He is more confident in his second year with his playmakers. The only problem might be the young secondary, but with good coaching they might not be that vulnerable as everyone thinks. During the offseason, I was adamant that the Crimson Tide could not repeat as national title winners, but it is looking to me that they have the best shot out of anyone to reach the title game and win. Before I drink their Kool-Aid, I will let them take a bite of their conference pie, first. However, the way things are now, they will be a dominant force in the Southeastern Conference. September 25th @Arkansas and October 9th @South Carolina will be pivotal games. If Alabama beats both teams then they will play for the national title, no bones about it. I can realistically see a rematch for the SEC title game between the Crimson Tide and South Carolina, unless the Gamecocks implode down the stretch and Florida sneaks in through the back door. I’m starting to believe that Florida has legit problems on offense and with Chris Rainey being dismissed from the team, they could be in trouble. In my mind, Alabama is a more complete team than last season, and they are serving notice to everyone in the nation that they are going back to Glendale to take another crystal trophy home with them.

We hope for a speedy recovery...well, Alabama does

It was reported today that Mark Ingram, Heisman-winning running back for Alabama, suffered a knee injury and has underwent surgery. He is expected to miss the opener against San Jose State and likely the Penn State game on September 11th. Alabama is will make an effort to see how he is progressing after the surgery and determine what the timetable is for his return. It was made clear that he will not be rushed back into action, and his future is a concern and priority to them. The Crimson Tide will have his backup, Trent Richardson take on the starting position, so they will not miss a beat with Ingram sidelined. Last season, Richardson ran for 751 yards with eight touchdowns and it is documented that his number of carries would increase with this year as to keep the rotation of him and Ingram with fresh legs. We will watch this story and see how it unfolds as the first weekend of college football kicks off this Saturday.

Mark Ingram is Primed for the Heisman

On Saturday, the Heisman Trophy will be given out to the “most outstanding player” of the 2009 season. Is there a clear-cut candidate that has trumped everyone and showed dominance throughout this season? Before the season, I wrote about how it will be a three-way dance for the Heisman: Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford. However, Tebow has had a down year, nothing close to his 2007 Heisman year, McCoy has been up and down this season and pretty much killed his shot with a poor display against Nebraska, and Braford re-injured his shoulder, that required surgery, and he is off to the NFL. I know everyone is clamoring over defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh from Nebraska; rightfully so, he finished the season with 12 sacks (four coming against McCoy) with a total of 82 tackles (47 solo). But the Heisman has only been won by one defensive player and that was Charles Woodson in 1997. I have a hard time seeing a defensive player winning the coveted award unless that player does something really exceptional every game and has the backing from the media. I have to say that the trophy will be contested between two dynamic running backs: Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford. If I had a vote, it would go to Ingram. He has meant the world to an Alabama team that has been struggling on offense for much of the season. Quarterback Greg McElroy has been shaky throughout the season and has benefitted from his sophomore running back. Ingram finished the season with 1542 yards and 15 touchdowns. On the other hand, Gerhart finished with an outstanding 1736 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground. If you look at the stats, Gerhart gets the nod. Mind you, I love Gerhart and his tough no-nonsense approach of running over and through defenders. But he is on a Cardinal team that has four losses and the team is on the West Coast. People outside of the West Coat do not get to see Pac-10 games, or they are aired very late. Ingram benefits from playing in the SEC which is probably the most watched conference. Pac-10 games are showed on Versus (which is not available to DIRECTV owners anymore) and FSN. But you have many replays of SEC games on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, CBS network, and CBS College Sports channel. The sheer availability of SEC games allows the nation to fall in love with Ingram. Ingram’s defining moment was in the SEC Championship game against Florida, a game where Alabama dominated the Gators for four quarters. Coming off a disappointing game against Auburn (30 yards of rushing), he had to prove to the nation that he is an elite-caliber running back and he did. He had a 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns with 76 yards receiving. And Gerhart’s defining moment was the ABC primetime game against a very game Notre Dame team. He finished the night with 205 yards and three touchdowns. Clearly, we see Gerhart again trumping Ingram, but the level of competition comes into play as well. Florida is a better defensive team than The Fighting Irish, and no one can dispute that and also the number of athletic kids in the Southeastern Conference allows for a higher level of competition. But if you average out the run defenses that Ingram and Gerhart have played against, it comes out to: Ingram has played against rush defenses that average 66th in the nation, and Gerhart has rumbled against rush defenses that have averaged 59th in the nation. This shows that the SEC has not been that dominant in defense, especially rush defense this year and it also shows the how good the Pac-10 teams have been at defending against the run. However, I stick to my guns and say that Ingram deserves it. Even last year, running behind Glen Coffee, he was dynamic. He sports a good blend of speed and power. No, he does not running a blazing sub-4.3in the 40 like Chris Johnson (former East Carolina player now with the Tennessee Titans), but he gets those tough yards and has breakaway speed as well. Think about it, when a kid practices against a top 5 defense, he cannot help but be a tough running back. Ingram has willed his team to stay undefeated and get that revenge match with Florida and go to the national title game. And he was the prime reason that Alabama accomplished all those feats. It is really nice to see two young gentlemen being represented for their hard work: Ingram is the quiet guy who has been deflecting Heisman talk all season long, and Gerhart is the humble kid that never thought his name would be in the same sentence as “Heisman.” Ingram has a chance to be the first ever Alabama player to hold this prestigious award.

Alabama pulls ahead in the AP Poll to No. 2

Alabama has been playing really well since the season kicked off. On Saturday, they downed an overmatched Ole Miss team to get the victory, 22-3. Later that night, Tim Tebow came back after suffering a concussion against Kentucky to pull the Florida Gators ahead of an LSU team that has no identity on offense. A turn of events in the polls (AP Poll) have the Crimson Tide No. 2 behind Florida; and rightfully so, they have looked far better than Texas. There is no denying that ‘Bama has the best defense in the SEC from the games I watched. They are ranked 2nd nationally in total defense, allowing on average 220.50 yards per game. The national leader in total defense is Florida, but Alabama’s wins over Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ole Miss is far more impressive than Florida’s resume at this point in the season. The Gators have wins over Charleston Southern (total offense ranks 34th in the FCS), Troy (total offense ranks 50th), Tennessee (total offense ranks 48th), Kentucky (ranks 89th), and LSU (total offense ranks 109th). Alabama sports a top 10 rushing defense that only allows on average 65.67 yards per game; Florida’s defense allows twenty yards more on the ground. With a stellar running game spearheaded by Mark Ingram and his understudy Trent Richardson, the Crimson Tide are ranked 11th in the nation in rushing with an average of 223.50 yards per game. Ingram is averaging a whopping 5.9 yards per carry and Richardson is, right up there with him, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Junior quarterback Greg McElroy has been a surprise to everyone, except the Alabama coaching staff. In a recent interview, Nick Saban mentioned that he knew what McElroy had to offer by watching him in practice. McElroy shows he has the arm to make all the throws and you can see that he is highly competitive. He has to try to make better decisions and realize that he needs to spread the ball around to all his available weapons. At times, he tries to get the ball to Julio Jones (their playmaker at wide receiver) in double coverage or triple coverage and that is very dangerous. ‘Bama has had trouble in the red zone because of trying to find the jump ball for Jones, but there are other options that are open: Tight end Colin Peek, who is a big target (6’6, 255 pounds), play-action is an option as well, and screen passes to the running backs. McElroy is completing 61% of his passes so far and has passed for 1233 yards with nine touchdowns and one interception. Alabama sits at No. 2 in the AP Poll while the USA Today coaches ‘poll has them at No. 3. I really feel like Florida and Alabama will meet again in the SEC Championship game; and who knows, there might be a different outcome this season. Florida’s receiving corps has suffered a rash of injuries, and they do not have that X-Factor at wide receiver like they had in previous years with Percy Harvin. If Alabama continues to win, there is no doubt they will be No. 2 in both polls, and the showdown with Florida will be big or bigger than last year’s meeting. Texas has not look that impressive and Colt McCoy has not been himself: McCoy gets in the groove in the second half and in the first half he has not been accurate with his throws; you can see him settle into the game when the third quarter rolls around. The Longhorns matchup with Oklahoma in the Red River game next Saturday will be telling. Texas must be careful because they face an Oklahoma team that has two losses and has all to gain if they beat the Longhorns. If Texas beats Oklahoma, it does nothing for them because of Oklahoma’s 20th ranking in the AP and 18th in the USA Today poll. A loss by Mack Brown’s team will surely kill their national championship hopes. After the Red River game, Texas will face only two top 20 teams, so it is crucial they continue to win and look impressive. One loss by the Longhorns will be detrimental to their cause unless other teams falter at the top; a one loss SEC team will still be in the mix because of the strength of the conference. Nick Saban will have his boys ready to play every Saturday, but they are only kids and they have a lot on their plate. And there is even more pressures for these players to balance everything going on in their lives, especially at a strong football program like the University of Alabama. But this season sets up nicely for Alabama to be the most consistent team in college football. All that lies ahead is that caped crusader named Tebow.