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Alabama Weekly
October 28th, 1998 -- Issue #15 --
Volume #1
AW Web Site: http://TideFans.com
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Tennessee Rolls over Bama,
35-18
written by J P
With Bama trailing 14-11 in the third quarter, Alabama kicked off deep
to Peerless Price who raced 100 yards for the score and the back
breaking play that ended Alabama's hopes for the win.
Sure there was plenty of time left, but Alabama had just took the
momentum from Tennessee, the crowd was silent and a chance for a Bama
upset was in place. Price's return broke that momentum, brought the
crowd back to life, and ended Bama's upset hopes, while handing them
their 3rd loss this season. Tennessee moves to 6-0 on the year.
Although Bama got beat, a lot of good did come out of this game: Shaun
Alexander rushed for over 100 yards, freshman Freddie Milions had a
break through game and Zow gained some much needed big game experience.
But it is still a loss and it doesn't get much easier next week as
Southern Miss comes to town, fresh off blowing out East Carolina.
-- J P
Alabama Weekly Editor
Southern Miss Preview
written by Jess Nicholas
After playing Tennessee a tough ballgame, Alabama gets no rest this week
as it takes on Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles, long reknowned
for
their liberal use of Alabama players to inject life into complicated
offense
schemes, are coming off three straight wins and looking for blood. USM
boasts a potent offense, but their defense has holes. Bama is starting
to
achieve the offensive balance that coaches and fans have wished for.
OFFENSE
Southern Miss runs most of its plays from a one-back, three-wideout set
similar to the one employed by East Carolina. The difference is that
Southern Miss will not run as much option stuff as the Pirates did.
Alabama continues to set up the run with the pass, a gameplan that
worked
against Tennessee.
QUARTERBACK
Southern Miss has a good one. Senior Lee Roberts went 12-of-20 for 193
yards in a 41-7 rout over East Carolina last week, and his season stats
are impressive: 117-for-199 (58.8%) for 1,609 yards and 14 touchdowns
against 9 interceptions. Roberts is not overly fleet of foot, but he has
done this act for four years and has savvy. His teammates have
confidence
in him, and he plays within his limitations. Alabama counters with
Andrew
Zow, who took a beating in the pocket against the Volunteers but never
lost his poise. One day, Zow could easily be as good or better than
Roberts. Not today. Advantage: Southern Miss
RUNNING BACKS
Interesting angle here: Southern Miss will start Derrick Nix, a freshman
from Attalla who selected USM over Alabama and Florida. Bama wanted him
for a linebacker, but Nix thought he could play RB on the college level.
He was right. Nix carried 27 times for 116 yards against ECU and has 107
carries for 607 yards on the season, a 5.7 ypc average. However, he has
only 3 touchdowns. In addition to Nix, USM will use a combo of Dawayne
Woods, Kelby Nance, and Brandon Francis to mix things up. Francis
(41-for-120 on the ground, 14 catches for 69 yards) is the best of that
bunch. Alabama counters with--who else?--Shaun Alexander, who can beat
opposing defenses any number of ways. Fullbacks Dustin McClintock,
Marvin
Brown, and Montoya Madden give Alabama a first-rate blocking package,
something the Golden Eagles lack. Advantage: Alabama
WIDE RECEIVERS
Southern Miss has a solid bunch, led by Sherrod Gideon (41 rec, 692
yards, 16.9 avg, 9 TD's on the year) and Todd Pinkston (26-434-16.7-3).
In addition, Eddie Shaw (11-97-8.8-0) and Raymond Walls (10-127-12.7-1)
provide depth. Alabama counters with a unit that started the season as a
strength and is improving daily. Quincy Jackson has been a stalwart, and
freshmen Eric Locke and Freddie Milons are doing things freshmen aren't
supposed to do. For once, Alabama holds a slight edge in the Tight End
department. Although USM's group has better stats, Alabama has slightly
better ability and the threat of the big play looms. Close, very close.
Advantage: Alabama
OFFENSIVE LINE
Southern Miss will start four seniors and a junior along the offensive
front, and they'll have their work cut out for them defending against
Alabama's sack-happy defensive front. While the Golden Eagles boast more
experience, they have uneven size (two 350+ pounders and three 260
pounders) and are prone to make mistakes in run blocking. Alabama's
group
did a very good job blocking for Shaun Alexander versus Tennessee, but
pass protection could improve somewhat. Another close call, but I'll
take
the word of a Tennessee defender after the game when he said,
"Those guys
are gonna be good as **** soon." Advantage: Alabama
DEFENSE
Both the Tide and the Golden Eagles operate from a 4-3 front. Both teams
have playmakers, and both have distinct weaknesses. While Southern Miss
is allowing fewer points per game, they have struggled against physical
opponents, and Alabama has and will always display a physical style of
play.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Southern Miss has one ture star in sophomore John Nix. Beyond that,
however, the depth is shaky and the other starters have been hot and
cold. Cedric Scott and Deric Scott have shown flashes, as has
Adalius Thomas. Alabama's line got good push most of the time last
Saturday,
and they showed that they could play against bigger lines. They'll need
to take it up another level Saturday, in order to pressure Lee Roberts
into making a rare mistake. This one is quite close, but Alabama has
better depth. Advantage: Alabama
LINEBACKERS
If this were the first game of the season, I would pick Bama in this
category hands down. However, Alabama's linebackers are both banged up
and not playing smoothly at this point of the season. The Tennessee game
could have gone miles better than it did. Southern Miss has two mean
ones
in Ty Trahan and T.J. Slaughter. Brian Bell and Royal Bell are capable,
and they will all hit you. Alabama has, of course, Travis Carroll and
Trevis Smith, but Carroll is hurting and Smith is being forced to play
too many minutes. Alabama got virtually no contribution from the
strongside position Saturday, and things must get better NOW. Currently,
USM is simply playing better. Advantage: Southern Miss
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Talk about tossups. USM has struggled against potent teams, especially
in
the area of run support. Alabama, meanwhile, is without Kelvin Sigler
and
has trouble at right cornerback, where Reggie Myles might just start
this
week. The only area that is decidedly in one team's favor is depth,
which
Alabama controls. That makes the difference. Advantage: Alabama
SPECIAL TEAMS
The week after I gave Bama an "A" in special teams, they miss
three field
goals and let Peerless Price run amok on returns. Southern Miss has a
definite edge in kicker, while Alabama has a big edge in the punting
department. Both teams are equal in the return and return coverage
areas.
The difference? You score more with your placekicker than with your
punter. Advantage: Southern Miss
OVERALL
Alabama leads in five categories, Southern Miss in three. There isn't
any
one category that either team dominates in; many could go either way. So
what are we likely to see?
Well, for starters, USM has not played well in big games this season.
Against the three ranked opponents on their schedule, the Golden Eagles
went 0-3 and were outscored 79-19. Of course, in their last three games,
USM is 3-0 and has outscored the opposition (Louisville, Army, East
Carolina) 134-41. The best bet is to decide whether Alabama belongs in
the relative company of Tulane, Penn State, and Texas A&M or in the
company of UL, Army, and ECU. The answer is probably somewhere in
between.
Southern Miss has been in this situation before. They are a good,
disciplined football team coached by a competent, fundametally sound
coach, Jeff Bower. Their players want to beat Bama in the worst way, as
many of them were told they didn't measure up to SEC standards, thus
sending them to C-USA school Southern Miss. Frankly, they have more to
play for than does Alabama, even though the Tide needs this win to move
towards a bowl bid.
This is the most evenly matched opponent left on the Tide's schedule.
LSU
is struggling, but has a far more physical team with a better upside.
Mississippi State has probably been a little bit overrated, proving to
be
a dog (no pun intended) against ranked teams in terms of one-dimensional
offensive play. They are also weak defensively for the first time in
recent memory. Auburn is struggling to find any identity whatsoever, and
if Bama plays its game, should win. Southern Miss, however, is a
volatile
unknown quantity. I will be disappointed if the Tide loses, but I
wouldn't be surprised. Still, it's a home game, and Alabama boasts
better
depth. Hopefully, that will be enough.
Alabama 27
Southern Mississippi 21
-- Jess Nicholas
Alabama Weekly Columnist
The Tennessee Game
written by John Hinds
The rollercoaster ride continued for the Crimson Tide this past Saturday
against Tennessee. But for four missed field goals by Ryan Pflugner and
a 100-yard kickoff return by Peerless Price it would have been a
one-point game.
But as was predicted in this column last week as the game rolls on the
Tide slows down and as the saying goes fatigue makes cowards of a lot of
good men.
This week Bama faces a must win game in Bryant Denny against a evenly
matched foe in Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles’ three losses were
against Penn State, Texas A&M and Tulane. Those teams are all ranked
in the Top 20 in the Bowl Coalition poll.
Featuring a strong running game with Derrick Nix from Etowah County High
carrying the load the Golden Eagles also have a formidable passing
attack. In fact Mike Dubose, a former assistant coach at Southern Miss.,
says this might be the best passing attack they have had since Brett
Favre led them to an upset win over Florida State. Nix has rushed for
607 yards and had consecutive 100-yard games against Louisville, Army
and East Carolina.
East Carolina is the one team both the Tide and Southern have faced this
season. But Southern blew the Pirates out of the water 41-7 while
Alabama struggled to a 23-22 victory.
Twenty players on the Golden Eagles roster come from the State of
Alabama so there will be plenty of inspiration to pull an upset.
I see the Tide fired up in front of the home crowd and pulling out a
close one to creep, on Halloween, to within one win of a bowl game.
The reasons are Bama has been making strides offensively. Andrew Zow has
settled down at quarterback and effectively utilized the option attack.
Bama was nine of 18 in third-down plays and ran 76 plays to the Vols.
65. Shaun Alexander had a fine afternoon 132 yards on 26 rushes against
a tough Tennessee defense. This offense will only get better as the
season rolls along. It appears the line is in synch and protected well
along with opening some nice holes.
Defensively the ranks are thinning out. With Kevin Sigler out Fernando
Bryant was banged up in Knoxville and may not be 100 percent.
Linebacker’s Trevis Smith and Travis Carroll have struggled with
injuries all season. The defensive line is young but getting a lot
better and defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson seems to have mastered
the art of calling the right plays.
No this isn’t one of the Tide’s best teams. No we won’t be playing
for the SEC title in Atlanta at the end of the season but two maybe
three wins will come this year.
The first one will be Saturday in front of the Tuscaloosa faithful.
-- John Hinds
Alabama Weekly Columnist
A Thought on Auburn
written by Jess Nicholas
It is not often that I sit down to write about anything other than
Alabama football. About as far as it ever gets is when I get to write
the
SEC Preview column, which is more of an exercise in humor than anything
else. For years, I've played Pick-Em with SEC teams and come up with a
.500 record. This year, fate is smiling on me, and I know better than to
assert that I actually know what's going on.
But for one week, I'm going to suspend that attitude. Because I, for the
first time, am going to write a column about AUBURN football, not
Alabama. That may not be considered kosher in these circles, but the
events of the week bear more than just a casual mention.
In case you missed it, Terry Bowden quit this week. Just quit. Walked
into David Housel's office and demanded a vote of confidence. When he
didn't get it, he took his ball and went home. Literally. Quit a team of
over 100 football players who, unlike their coach, had given blood,
sweat, and tears to make themselves winners.
Bowden is not all to blame for his actions, though. The owner of a
sparkling-new seven year contract, Bowden deserved better. He at least
deserved to finish out the year. If nothing else, Housel should have
lied
to him. I know that sounds ludicrous, but look at what happened instead.
Auburn humiliated herself before a national stage, and Terry Bowden,
Bobby Lowder, and David Housel shared the spotlight in a tragedy of
errors than included botched relationships, horrendous recruiting, poor
coaching, unrequited episodes of megalomania, and a backstabbing
incident
that only Brutus could love. Et tu, Lowde?
The play by play is just too surreal. Bowden beats Bama. Bowden wins SEC
Western Division Championship. Bowden gets bowl victory and ten total
wins. Bowden gets seven year contract. Bowden goes 1-5. Bowden gets his
walking papers.
The new head coach of Auburn is Bill Oliver, who has gone back and forth
between Auburn and Alabama so much that part of his contract will
proabably include a limited-access expressway between Lee and Tuscaloosa
counties. Lowder should be able to provide that. And while Lowder is at
it,
ask him for a list of current NCAA coaches who would be willing to step
into the vacuum that is Auburn Football. It'll come up snake eyes, I
promise you.
Bill Oliver now has a job I that I expect he doesn't want as much now as
he once did. He has an incredible burden on his shoulders; he must win
out, or at least win three more games and beat Alabama, or the hot
breath
of the dragon monsters will be upon his neck as well. There have been
many rumors that Pat Sullivan will return to at least coach
quarterbacks,
and maybe even to be the head coach. Good luck, Pat. You'll need every
bit of it. And while you're at it, get an unbiased, outside assessment
of
your team's talent level. You might wish for TCU again.
What keeps striking me over and over, like a razor-studded whip, is how
totally embarrassing this whole shebang was. When was the last time a
head coach stepped down in midseason for anything less than major health
problems or a lurid scandal? I can't remember it. Nobody else probably
does,
either. What does that say for job security? What will the next head
coach think during negotiations? Can he take Housel seriously?
"Here's
your new seven year contract, Coach. By the way: Rent, don't buy."
The fallout from this event has been of the nuclear variety. A Tennessee
fan I know was overheard to say, "I've heard of some crazy stuff in
college football, but this one takes the cake hands-down." Will
this
become a trend? Win your first six, or it's goodnight, sweet Caroline?
Do the words "contract" and "commitment" mean
anything anymore?
There is plenty of blame to go around. Bowden should be ashamed.
Quitting
on a team is not a good resume-builder. Housel should be ashamed. He
allowed a small group of meddling trustees to make a ill-timed decision.
Bobby Lowder should be more than ashamed. He should get the
you-know-what
out of the picture immediately, and leave the decisions up to the
decision makers.
Shame on you, Auburn. Shame, shame, shame.
-- Jess Nicholas
Alabama Weekly Columnist
SEC Preview for 10-31
written by Jess Nicholas
Here are the games involving SEC opponents for this week:
Last week's record: 4-2 (.667)
Cumulative record : 31-13 (.705)
--Jess Nicholas
GEORGIA VS FLORIDA (Neutral Site)
Georgia has been up and down all year. Last week was an "up"
week, as the
Bulldogs survived a last-second scare in Lexington to chalk up a 28-26
win over Kentucky. This week, the Bulldogs will dance at the Cocktail
Party with the Florida Gators, who enjoyed an off-week to recoup.
Georgia
has the talent to beat Florida, but Florida has more guns and will be
looking for revenge. Georgia QB Quincy Carter has yet to display any
consistency. He had composure problems against Tennessee's front seven,
and Florida's are better.
Florida 31
Georgia 17
TENNESSEE AT SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks lost to Vanderbilt, for crying out loud. "Crying out
loud"
is exactly what most Cocks fans are likely to be doing after this brush
with death. I should follow my heart and pick this upset special, but
South Carolina has shown me nothing resembling a killer instinct and
Tennessee is on a mission.
Tennessee 30
South Carolina 19
DUKE AT VANDERBILT
Vandy avoided a winless season by upsetting South Carolina last week.
Can
they make it a streak? It all depends on your opinion of Clemson, who
Duke beat last week. So far this season, I've picked Vanderbilt to win
twice against lesser opponents and they've disappointed me both times.
As
the song goes, "We won't be fooled again." So of course,
Vanderbilt will
probably win just to spite me.
Duke 23
Vanderbilt 17
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AT ALABAMA
Check our extended preview!
ARKANSAS AT AUBURN
This one gets my vote for Most Intriguing SEC Game of 1998. Arkansas is
6-0 and should stomp a hole in Auburn, but the Tigers came out of the
gate firing against Lousiana Tech and beat them soundly. Jimbo Fisher
looks more apt at playcalling than the Rodney Allison/Terry Bowden
two-headed monster, and Auburn still has a terrific defense. Arkansas
had
an off-week last Saturday, and if they handled their off-week the way
Alabama handled theirs, this one could go contrary to all logic. That's
how I see it happening.
Auburn 19
Arkansas 17
LSU AT OLE MISS
Let's see: LSU is supposed to win, right? Rebels fans, place your bets.
Seriously, LSU is much deeper and more physical than Ole Miss, a team
that defines the term "finesse." Ole Miss has the home field
advantage,
but LSU plays better on the road, probably because they don't worry
about
that stupid daytime jinx and the whole uniform color squabble. Ole Miss
is due for a good ol' whoopin'.
Louisiana State 34
Mississippi 21
-- Jess Nicholas
Alabama Weekly Columnist
Depth Chart for Southern Miss
OFFENSE
SE 15 Freddie Milons 84 Shamari Buchanan 80 Jason McAddley
WR 7 Quincy Jackson 83 Calvin Hall 8 Tim Bowens
FL 22 Michael Vaughn 2 Eric Locke 81 Wes Allen
TE 82 Terry Jones,Jr. 85 Rhett Crutchfield 86 Joe Yount
RT 72 Will Cuthbert 63 Sage Spree 56 Kenric Lott
RG 70 Jason McDonald 69 Michael Moore 71 Marico Portis
C 74 Paul Hogan 55 Brooks Brodie 57 Ty Babcock
LG 75 Griff Redmill 68 Sam Matthews 62 Mal Waldrep
LT 60 Chris Samuels 78 Michael Barfield 77 Bart Raulston
QB 5 Andrew Zow 12 John David Phillips 14 Tyler Watts
FB 30 Dustin McClintock 6 Marvin Brown 21 Montoya Madden
RB 37 Shaun Alexander 26 Arvin Richard 33 Shontua Ray
PK 42 Ryan Pflugner 32 Mark Wisniewski 11 A.J. Diaz
---
DEFENSE
RE 98 Reggie Grimes 91 Clint Waggoner 53 Granison Wagstaff
RT 88 Kenny Smith 90 Jamie Carter 50 Rob-E Staten
LT 97 Cornelius Griffin 51 Carlos Stennis 67 Kelvis White
LE 54 Kindal Moorehead 38 Shawn Draper 92 Shaun Williams
RLB 48 Trevis Smith 1 Chris Horne 47 Eddie Hunter
MLB 44 Travis Carroll 89 Tito Smith 9 Victor Ellis
LLB 58 Canary Knight 4 Steve Stanley 99 Darius Gilbert
RCB 23 Reggie Myles 13 Kecalf Bailey 16 Chris Reier
FS 24 Tony Dixon 39 Antoine Hunter 35 Owen Winston
SS 41 Marcus Spencer 17 Warren Foust 10 Miguel Merritt
LCB 25 Fernando Bryant 3 Michael Feagin 34 Chad McGehee
P 40 Daniel Pope 11 A.J. Diaz 84 Patrick Morgan
Newsletter by: JP and Brett Young
Guest Article by: None
Special Thanks to: Jess Nicholas and John Hinds for their articles.
PLEASE VISIT BAMANATION AND ALABAMA WEEKLY.
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