Blog: Latest Bama News 11/24/14

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Auburn’s team leader in sacks likely to miss Iron Bowl-sds


An already weak Auburn pass rush may be weaker as the Tigers head to Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

Defensive end DaVonte Lambert left the game against Samford on Saturday night on the defense’s first play of the game. The team leader in sacks suffered an injury to his left knee.
Details of the injury haven’t been disclosed yet, reports AL.com, but at this point, Lambert is expected to miss this week’s game against Alabama.
“I don’t know the details on all the stuff on the medical thing,” defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson told reporters on Sunday. “Gus [Malzahn] will have to tell you on Tuesday. He’s probably out this week, we don’t know for sure.”
Lambert has produced more than any player at defensive end. His 3.5 sacks are a team-high. In addition, Lambert has recorded 24 tackles and seven tackles-for-loss.
The junior averages 40 snaps per game, and if he can’t go against the Crimson Tide, that leaves Johnson fishing for options for a suddenly-thin defensive line.
Elijah Daniel played in place of Lambert on Saturday night, as did freshman Raashed Kennion.
“Kennion came in the other night and got almost basically his baptism as far as getting to play some,” Johnson said. “Whether he’ll be up for this or not, I don’t know.”
Jeff Whitaker has missed the last two games at defensive tackle, leaving Gabe Wright to pick up some snaps on the interior. If Lambert can’t go, that could leave Wright playing at both end and tackle.
“We’ve had Gabe and Montravius out there before,” Johnson said. “If Pee Wee (Lambert) can’t go, then we’ll probably have to probably double-work Gabe at tackle and at end and be prepared for that rotation.”
 

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Rookie Rewind: How the SEC’s true freshmen fared in Week 13-sds


Let’s take a team-by-team look at some the true freshmen who made a difference around the SEC in Week 13:

Alabama: Buddy Pell rushed for 15 yards on two carries. Cam Sims caught three passes for 33 yards. Rashaan Evans had two tackles.
Arkansas: Josh Liddell recorded three tackles. Henre’ Toliver had two tackles. Dwayne Eugene finished with one tackle.
Auburn: Roc Thomas rushed for 26 yards and a touchdown on five carries. He also caught two passes for two yards. Tre’ Williams had two tackles. Nick Ruffin recorded two tackles.
Florida: Treon Harris threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns on 4-of-12 passing, while rushing for eight yards on five attempts. Gerald Willis had five tackles. Qunicy Wilson finished with three tackles. Jalen Tabor recorded two tackles. Brandon Powell had one tackle.
Georgia: Nick Chubb rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on nine attempts. Sony Michel had 21 yards on five attempts. Shakenneth Williams caught two passes for 26 yards. Jeb Blazevich had one catch for 20 yards. Isaiah McKenzie returned one kickoff for 12 yards, two punts for three yards and had one tackle. Malkom Parrish recorded four tackles. Dominick Sanders finished with one tackle. Christian Payne had one tackle.
Ole Miss: Eugene Brazley had 20 yards on four attempts and one catch for 13 yards. DeVante Kincade threw one pass for 13 yards and rushed for 10 yards on five attempts. Jordan Wilkins recorded five yards on five carries. Gary Wunderlich punted three times for 126 yards and averaged 42.0 yards per attempt. A.J. Moore had one tackle. Marquis Haynes recorded one tackle.
Mississippi State: Jamoral Graham had one catch for nine yards. Logan Cooke finished with seven kickoffs for 434 yards. J.T. Gray recorded three tackles.
Missouri: Ish Witter had three yards on one attempt. Thomas Wilson recorded two tackles, including one for loss.
South Carolina: Chris Lammons finished with four tackles. D.J. Smith had two tackles.
Tennessee: Jalen Hurd rushed for 40 yards on 11 attempts and caught six passes for 40 yards. Evan Berry returned four kicks for 121 yards. Aaron Medley went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts (38, 39), Derek Barnett had eight tackles, including an assisted tackle for loss, Todd Kelly Jr. recorded six tackles, Emmanuel Moseley had three tackles, Jakob Johnson finished with three tackles, Owen Williams had two tackles, Cortez McDowell recorded one tackle.
Vanderbilt: Dallas Rivers rushed for 12 yards on seven attempts, one reception for seven yards and one tackle. Trey Ellis returned one punt for five yards. Nifae Lealao had one tackle.
 

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Assessing the CFP threat level: Fourth playoff spot still a mess-sds

Each week, we’ll take a look at the credible and not-so-credible threats to the SEC’s playoff aspirations, based on the now-retired Homeland Security Advisory System.

Not much changed this weekend among the playoff contenders, and that’s no big surprise — Boston College may have been the most difficult opponent any of the top teams faced.

Until further notice, Florida State, Alabama and Oregon are three of the four College Football Playoff teams. None are guaranteed to win out, but if they do, they’re in. From there, Mississippi State is trying to fend off TCU, Ohio State and Baylor for the final spot.
In other words, we’re in the same place we were one week ago.
Scanning The Good Guys: The SEC will enter the final week of its regular season with two strong College Football Playoff contenders.
Alabama is two wins away from a guaranteed inclusion in the four-team field, first against Auburn in the Iron Bowl and then in the SEC championship game against Missouri or Georgia. But will the Tide be healthy enough to compete at that level after losing player after player against Western Carolina?
Mississippi State collected its sixth SEC win of the year against Vanderbilt on Saturday and now is one win away from an 11-win regular season. (The Vegas win total before the season was over/under 7.5).
Now for the terrorists.

THREAT LEVEL: SEVERE

Severe risk of terrorist attacks.
Florida State: A game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter? Yawn. That’s where we are with this team. The Seminoles never put away Boston College and Florida castoff QB Tyler Murphy, needing a late field goal to claim 27 consecutive wins. Now the Gators get their own shot to send Will Muschamp into his soft landing with a huge victory. FSU will turn its attention back to the SEC from here, as Jameis Winston and friends likely have at least two games against teams from the conference if they winning.
Oregon: Marcus Mariota spent the weekend sending Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon a message through his play: you’re going to have to pry the Heisman from my not-dead-at-all hands. The Ducks should quack to the Pac-12 championship at 11-1 — the South Division still needs to sort itself out and name a champion — and barring an upset, Oregon will be back in the national championship picture for the first time since a loss to Auburn and Cam Newton.
TCU/Baylor: Why do I have a sneaking suspicion one of these teams is going to lose before the season is over? A reviving Texas hosts TCU on Thanksgiving night, trying to to its part to prevent any team from the Lone Star State from making the inaugural playoff. Meanwhile, a Horned Frogs win here and a Mississippi State loss all but guarantees TCU a spot in the playoff. The committee seems to have deduced that TCU is better, head-t0-head loss be darned. And with lowly Iowa State left on the schedule (and no conference championship game), it should be pretty easy to secure the fourth spot, the lack of a Big 12 championship game aside.

THREAT LEVEL: HIGH

High risk of terrorist attacks.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are the one team that can spoil the party, especially if the committee values conference championship game wins. That’s likely to be Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and … you guessed it — Ohio State. A lot of eyes will be on the Wisconsin-Minnesota game next weekend, as it determines which team will play the Buckeyes in the Big Ten title game. The Badgers would represent a more respected opponent and a better resume-builder. Wisconsin getting an extra game also would mean Melvin Gordon could make a serious run at the Heisman Trophy and Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. It also would mean that Minnesota, a strong non-conference win for TCU right now, would be diminished.

THREAT LEVEL: ELEVATED

Significant risk of terrorist attacks.
UCLA: The Bruins control the Pac-12 South, which Danny Kanell on Sunday called the greatest division in college football. On the one hand, Oregon already smothered UCLA, so that may not be the ideal rematch for the SEC. On the other hand, the Bruins just shredded the USC Trojans in the battle of Los Angeles. More than a few thousand UCLA fans asked themselves where this performance was earlier in the season against Utah. For now, it looks like the best Jim Mora’s team can do is play spoiler.
Minnesota/Wisconsin: That the Badgers are in this position with a quarterback situation more dire than Vanderbilt and LSU is a testament to the ability of Gordon and that offensive line. Golden Gophers running back David Cobb got snubbed as a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, then apparently tweaked his hamstring against Nebraska. Could Wisconsin benefit from playing its two toughest division opponents when the star running back isn’t his best?

THREAT LEVEL: GUARDED

General risk of terrorist attacks.
Marshall: The Thundering Herd weren’t very thunderous against UAB, which may not fund a football program in a few years, but nearly ruined a perfect season Saturday. In one of the most run-down, terrifying stadiums in America (Legion Field), the Blazers came within a fourth-and-1 of first-and-goal with less than one minute to play in a 23-18 loss. Marshall remains a strong contender to nab the Group of Six spot to one of the featured New Year’s bowl games. But not since the initial College Football Playoff Poll (East Carolina) has the committee ranked a non-power conference team in the Top 25. Regardless, Marshall is one of two unbeaten FBS teams in addition to Florida State.
Colorado State: The Rams are one win away from an out-of-nowhere 11-1 regular season. In spite of that, Boise State (9-2) is in position to win the very good Mountain Division of the MWC. It will be up to Utah State (9-3), installed as a 10-point underdog, to pull the division upset and elevate CSU to the MWC championship game. In that case, coach Jim McElwain and company have a great shot to overtake Marshall.

THREAT LEVEL: LOW

Low risk of terrorist attacks.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies lost to Wake Forest. 6-3. In DOUBLE OVERTIME. That’s right, neither team scored in regulation. That’s the first time that’s happened in an FBS game in eight years. The good news is maybe — just maybe — that could provide the impetus for change at head coach, where Frank Beamer just doesn’t get the job done any more. Public service reminder: this same 5-6 team beat Ohio State earlier in the season. The Hokies will face the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday with the loser forced to skip the experience of a mediocre bowl.
SMU: We can’t mention four of the worst teams in the country without including the Mustangs. The American Athletic Conference clearly is a league of haves (Memphis, UCF, Cincinnati, East Carolina) and have nots (Connecticut, Tulsa and Tulane). But SMU stands out above all those teams at 0-10. The Mustangs lost to the Knights, 53-7, on Saturday to move back to last in all of FBS in points per game allowed and points per game (44.1-9.7). And to think June Jones bailed on this team after two games. Hard to say whether he’s a prognosticative genius or a jerk/captain who bailed on the sinking ship early.
Iowa State: The Cyclones secured the title of worst Big 12 team on Saturday with a three-point home loss to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (2-6 Big 12) and Kansas Jayhawks (0-7) are awful, but Iowa State is worse thanks to a pair of one-possession wins. The Cyclones gave up 41.6 points per game in the last seven games and still must trudge through two more games losses.
Georgia State: It’s almost worse that the Panthers won a game — by one point against Abilene Christian, the first and possibly the worst game involving an FBS team in the 2014 season. Georgia State is 0-10 since, including shutouts at Appalachian State and Clemson in two of its last three games, all miserable and all on the road. GSU even lost by 24 to a Troy team that’s otherwise 2-8.
 

kyallie

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Upon Further Review: Western Carolina at Alabama-sds


A big reason why the University of Alabama scheduled Western Carolina for this past Saturday was that it was almost like having an extra week to prepare for its next opponent, Auburn.

The offenses are similar in approach, with a mobile quarterback who can pass and a big talented receiver who is tough to match up against.
Granted, Troy Mitchell still got his passing yards, completing 23 of 39 attempts for 221 yards, and 6-foot-4 Spearman Robinson caught two touchdown passes. But Alabama, which has faced a spread offense every week but two this season, left Bryant-Denny Stadium believing that it’s already much better prepared to face Auburn than it was a year ago.
“Yes, sir,” junior safety Landon Collins said.

  • Play of the game: Take your choice between sophomore running back Derrick Henry’s two rushing touchdowns. On the 10-yard score he seemed to go through the heart of the Catamounts’ defense, and on the 23-yadrer he went around it on fourth-and-1.
  • Player of the game: Collins led the defense with seven tackles, snuffed out both an end run for a tackle for a loss and the fake field goal, and didn’t have a pass completed against him in coverage.
  • Hit of the game: Collins definitely gave Richard Sigmon something to remember when he leveled the Western Carolina kicker on the fake field goal for no gain.
  • Statistic of the game: Mitchell had just 10 rushing yards on four carries, and minus-17 including the two sacks. Overall, the Catamounts finished with 19 rushing yards, -8 with the sacks.
  • Did you notice? After Nick Saban made it very clear on the sideline that he didn’t like the play-calling on Alabama’s second trip into the red zone, followed by WCU’s interception (when a receiver appeared to run a wrong route), eight of the nine plays on the subsequent drive were runs including Henry’s 10-yard touchdown. Also, freshman JK Scott had nine kickoffs while filling in for sophomore Adam Griffith, but no punts.
Here are 10 more things of note from Saturday’s 48-14 victory over Western Carolina.
1. Explosive plays: Saban defines them as a run of 13 or more yards, or a pass of 17 or more yards. Alabama’s goal is nine per game. It had 11, but its biggest gain was the 27-yard by junior wide receiver Amari Cooper when he got hurt.
Game leaders
Chris Black 3
Tyren Jones 2
Amari Cooper 1
Derrick Henry 1
O.J. Howard 1
Cam Sims 1
ArDarius Stewart 1
Altee Tenpenny 1
Season leaders
Amari Cooper 28
T.J. Yeldon 17
Derrick Henry 12
DeAndrew White 8
Blake Sims 6
2. Officiating: We’re just going to say that Ken Williamson’s crew, which yes was from the Southeastern Conference, had a bad day. The inadvertent whistle on the fumble obviously never should have happened, there was a clear push-off on the subsequent 21-yard reception that led to a touchdown, and the receiver never had control of the ball on the 12-yard touchdown. The last one may be the most troublesome because two officials were standing right there and instant replay apparently didn’t see it in time. The late hit call on senior linebacker Trey DePriest was pretty questionable as well.
3. Mistakes index: Basically, it’s a measure of miscues, but it could arguably also be an indirect indicator of maturity and discipline. The mistakes index is fumbles lost + interceptions + penalties + sacks. In addition to the five penalties that were marked off, two more by junior cornerback Cyrus Jones (pass interference and offside) were declined and there was nullified by an offsetting penalty (Eddie Jackson’s unsportsmanlike conduct).
Game-by-game
West Virginia 0+1+7+0 = 8
Florida Atlantic 0+0+6+1=7
Southern Miss 1+0+3+1=5
Florida 3+1+11+1=16
Ole Miss 1+1+8+1=11
Arkansas 2+0+4+2=8
Texas A&M 0+0+0+1=1
Tennessee 2+0+6+1=9
LSU 1+0+3+1= 5
Mississippi State 0+0+7+1=8
Western Carolina 1+1+5+0=7
Game-by-game opponents
West Virginia 0+0+6+3 = 9
Florida Atlantic 1+0+3+3=7
Southern Miss 0+0+6+1=7
Florida 1+2+5+0=8
Ole Miss 1+0+3+2+7
Arkansas 2+1+4+4=11
Texas A&M 0+1+2+6=9
Tennessee 1+1+4+2=8
LSU 0+1+2+2=5
Mississippi State 0+3+4+1=8
Western Carolina 0+0+5+2=7
4. Yards after the catch: Although sophomore wide receiver Chris Black more than doubled his season output, as he unofficially had 30 yards after the catch coming in, Alabama arguably had its worst showing of the season by averaging 4.52 yards. Although Cooper left the game midway through the first quarter he still finished second on the tem with 29 yards.
Game leaders
Chris Black 39
Amari Cooper 29
ArDarius Stewart 20
Robert Foster 9
Michael Nysewander 9
Total: 131
Season leaders
Amari Cooper 677
T.J. Yeldon 158
DeAndrew White 154
Kenyan Drake 102
O.J. Howard 88
Christion Jones 88
Total: 1,588 of 3,079 (51.6 percent)
Per game
Opponent, YAC, Receptions, Average
West Virginia 116/24 = 4.83
Florida Atlantic 246/26= 9.46
Southern Miss 101/17= 5.94
Florida 246/24 =10.3
Ole Miss 117/18 = 6.5
Arkansas 101/11 = 9.2
Texas A&M 173/21 = 8.23
Tennessee 167/14 = 11.9
LSU 100/20 = 5.0
Mississippi State 90/19 = 4.73
Western Carolina 131/29 = 4.52
5. Injuries: Most of Alabama’s injuries were pretty straightforward. Cooper (knee) took a low hit, freshman tackle Cam Robinson (ankle), redshirt freshman wide receiver ArDarius Stewart (knee) and senior tight end Brian Vogler (knee) were all rolled from behind. Senior fullback Jalston Fowler took a stinger and returned, while sophomore linebacker Reuben Foster appeared to aggravate his on a kick return. Sophomore defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson (ankle) took a vicious chop block – sophomore Dee Liner did too later, but was not hurt. Cam Robinson’s injury was to the same ankle he recently had surgery on, and Vogler’s knee is the same one he sprained at Tennessee.
6. Most around the ball: Defensive “touches” is found by adding together tackles, assists, sacks, passes broken up (interceptions are included in that statistic), hurries, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries.
Game leaders
Landon Collins 7.5
Trey DePriest 5
Reggie Ragland 5
Cyrus Jones 5
Xzavier Dickson 4
Season leaders
Reggie Ragland 98.5
Landon Collins 87.5
Trey DePriest 72
Nick Perry 65.5
Jarran Reed 52.5
7. Who was thrown at? WCU went after Alabama’s cornerbacks, with all three big passing plays against Jones, who otherwise only gave up a 6-yard gain. There was botched coverage on the first touchdown and Jackson was in the right place on the 12-yard touchdown catch. We counted 18 short pass attempts (screens, receivers out of the backfield, or under the coverage), with the longest gain being just 12 yards.
8. Third-down passing: Sims completed all three of his attempts on third downs for 58 yards, and converted each opportunity. Junior Jacob Coker was 5 of 6 for 80 yards and four first downs. Sims has completed 68.8 percent of his third-down passes for 664 yards, and Alabama’s overall third-down passing numbers are significantly better than the previous two seasons.
Totals: 63-91-0 (69.2 percent), 5 TDs, 822 yards
Last season: 50-76-3 (66.14 percent), 6 TDs, 582 yards
2012 season: 56-90-2 (62.2 percent), 8 TDS, 724 yards
9. Red-zone passing: Red-zone passing wasn’t exactly a strength early in the season, but there’s been a lot of improvement. Alabama’s quarterbacks were 3-for-5 on Saturday with all three completions resulting in touchdowns and the two incompletions both dropped passes (Alabama had five overall). Consequently, the Crimson Tide’s passing numbers in the red zone are now topping last year’s totals.
Total 29-47 (61.7 percent), 12 TD, 185 yards
2013: 20-31 (64.5 percent), 11 TD, 182 yards
10 . Records chase: With three receptions for 46 yards before sitting due to a bruised knee, Cooper tied DJ Hall’s career record of 194 catches.
With 1,349 yards this season he has one of the 10 best seasons in SEC history, and is in the top three all-time.
All-time leading SEC receiving yards, single season
1. Josh Reed, 1740, 2001, Louisiana State
2. Alshon Jeffery, 1517, 2010, South Carolina
3. Jordan Matthews, 1477, 2013, Vanderbilt
4. Mike Evans, 1394, 2013, Texas A&M
5. Travis McGriff, 1357, 1998, Florida
6. Amari Cooper, 1349, 2014, Alabama
7. Cobi Hamilton, 1335, 2012, Arkansas
8. Carlos Alvarez, 1329, 1969, Florida
9. Jordan Matthews, 1323, 2012, Vanderbilt
10. Craig Yeast, 1311, 1998, Kentucky
All-time SEC receiving yards
1. Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt, 2010-13, 3,759
2. Terrence Edwards, Georgia, 1999-2002, 3,093
3. Amari Cooper, Alabama, 2012-14, 3,085
4. Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina, 2009-11, 3,042
5. Josh Reed, LSU, 1999-11, 3,001
Running back T.J. Yeldon, who did not play, still needs 465 rushing yards to break Shaun Alexander’s career record of 3,565.
 

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