Wilson recalls first trip to Fayetteville

September 15, 2008

By Ken Rogers

Tomorrow’s story in the Eagle is on John Parker Wilson and his huge numbers against Arkansas.
Last season he was 24-of-45 passing for 327 yards and four touchdowns. The yards and TDs were career highs. Of course, he was 7-for-9 in the final minute, leading Alabama to a game-winning drive that ended with Matt Caddell’s touchdown reception with eight seconds to play.
But Wilson also recalled his first SEC road start, in Fayetteville, two years ago. He was 16-for-20 as a sophomore, for 243 yards and three TDs, including a 78-yarder to DJ Hall. But Alabama lost 24-23 in double overtime.
“I remember it being a lot louder than I expected. That place gets loud,“ the quarterback said. “We just played a good game, didn’t finish the way we needed to.
“I remember it rained a lot on Friday in the hotel. It was like, ‘We’re ain’t gonna be able to throw the ball at all. It’s rained all day.’ But we threw it a lot. We did good, we just didn’t finish the game.“
The quarterback said Alabama is prepared for the crowd noise.
“Luckily, all of our offensive line are old guys — Antoine,“ he said, referring to center Antoine Caldwell who was leaving the interview area Monday. “That’s really the tough part. The receivers, they get to look in at the ball when they’re split out. The running back’s watching me. I don’t know if he can see the ball back there or not. But the two tackles are the hardest things. Andre and whoever’s playing right are doing a good job.“
Reminded that Drew Davis has started at right tackle, Wilson laughed.
“Well, two guys played it last week,“ he said, referring also to true freshman John Michael Boswell. “I’m not allowed to talk about personnel. We know Andre’s gonna be playing left, right?“
Alabama ranks ninth in the nation and first in the SEC in third-down conversions, going 23 for 42 for a fine 54.8 percent conversion rate. The Tide is also 3-for-3 on fourth down.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said his quarterback has been good.
“Well, John Parker, I think, has done a really good job for us all year,“ Saban said after the Western Kentucky game. “I thought he was accurate throwing the ball, I thought we had some drops and I thought we had some miscues in the passing game which we have to continue to clean up. That’s the part of our game we have to continue to improve. We have to get our receivers to play with more consistency and get everything in synch with the quarterback – the receivers, the protection was better, we picked up the blitz better. I think we missed one ‘hot’ on third down, which led to us not converting. But we’re getting better, making progress.”

Saban not opposed to in-state games

September 10, 2008

By Ken Rogers

Alabama head coach Nick Saban remains consistent that he has no problem with playing in-state, nonconference opponents.
Asked about it on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ conference call today, Saban noted he’s done it at Michigan State and LSU.
“The biggest thing is it is a game of interest to the fans,“ Saban said. “It doesn do a lot to promote other schools in the state. It helps them financially and helps them in a lot of different ways.“
At Michigan State, Saban rotated games against Eastern, Western and Central Michigan. When at LSU, the Tigers played Tulane, Lafayette, Monroe, and Louisiana Tech on a rotating basis.
“The biggest negative, as a coach, is everybody expects you to win. If you don’t it could be catastrophic,“ Saban said.
“I’ve never been opposed to it because it’s a game of interest for the fans on both sides. Sometimes with a 12-game schedule, it is sometimes very difficult to find 12 games of interest for the fans.“
Asked if he could see scheduling games against other Alabama schools, Saban, Forbes Magazine’s most powerful coach in sports, said, “It’s really not my decision. I’m not opposed to it, though.“

Saban visited Tulane locker room after upset bid fell short

September 08, 2008

By Ken Rogers

There’s certainly nothing wrong with Alabama correcting its mistakes, dissecting the Tulane game and kicking itself in the tail for breakdowns.
But sometimes you have to give the other guy credit, too. Nothing wrong with tipping your cap to an opponent who carried the fight to you, particularly when they came up short.
Tulane didn’t earn a victory Saturday night, but it did earn Alabama’s respect.
“They were physical, their backs were physical. They came out hitting hard,“ Alabama linebacker Cory Reamer said. “We kind of expected it. They had a longer time to prepare for us, so you knew they were going come out and bring a great game. And they did. You gotta give ‘em credit. They were a good team. Luckily, we walked away with a win.“
Running back Glen Coffee and offensive lineman Mike Johnson said the Green Wave disguised the blitzes in a way the Crimson Tide hadn’t seen.
“I think it was No. 93 (Logan Kelley) they brought a lot, from all over the place, coming from the left, coming from the right,“ Johnson said. “They brought a lot of corner blitzes when we were adjusting to the linebackers, just kept us off balance.“
“They were real good,“ Coffee said. “Usually, I know they sent a corner one time and usually ever since I have been in college when a team sent a corner, their safeties would rotate. This game the safeties didn’t rotate and that was the first time I had seen that. So they were well prepared.“
Tulane’s defensive effort was enough to earn a postgame visit from Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
“We made one of our rooms in the stadium available to them and fed them after the game,“ Saban said Monday. “They couldn’t get back to their dorms until early the next morning. First of all they went through a tremendous sacrifice to even come here and play the game. They are away from their fellow students, friends, family; out of school for a week worrying about a weather situation that could impact them dramatically one way or the other.
“To me they must have prepared well because they played really well in game. They played with a lot of intensity and toughness in the game and I respect that in all competitors. I told them that I appreciated them for making a sacrifice to play the game and to make the sacrifice and play as well as they did was something that did not go unnoticed by us and that we held what they did in high esteem.
“I wished them well on the rest of their season and told their coaches they did a fantastic job of keeping their team together through the adversity that they had to face in preparation for the game.”

Saban wants players to tap internal energy

September 07, 2008

By Ken Rogers

Monday’s story in the Eagle is about the offensive problems in Saturday’s uncomfortable 20-6 victory over Tulane.
Alabama coach Nick Saban got on a roll after the game about the team not playing to its capabilities. Here’s part of what he said.

“We won, it’s great to be 2-0, but certainly if we don’t make progress we’re not going to be the kind of football team I think we can be. And the goal we have is to play to our capabilities. If we can do that, we’ll succeed as coaches and we’ll be a better team.“
The coach was asked about the team apparently playing to its opponent.
“I’m a little frustrated that we can’t seem to get that the way we’d like to get it. It comes from trying to have an attitude, a desire, a determination, whatever you want to call it, to play to your capabilities, to be the best you can be. So you’re not very easily satisfied. We seem to be too easily satisfied. And always looking for, ‘Well, we played well, so do we still have to practice hard, do we still have to do all this stuff?‘
“Well, doing all this stuff is what got you where you are. It’s why we play physical.“
Saban said it’s not a physical lack of effort.
“It’s a mindset, too,“ he said. “The biggest lack of enthusiasm on that field tonight came from a lack of intensity, which comes from mental energy, which comes from your commitment, your desire, to do something. And we didn’t have the kind of mental energy that we need. And it’s not really emotional. It really is internal in terms of who you are.“

Alabama has shown us the dramatic range at which it can play. On the high end, Alabama can beat anyone on its schedule. Anyone.
On the low end, Alabama has one remaining opponent that, on paper, would not be as good as Tulane. That’s this week against Western Kentucky. Every other opponent will require better execution, greater effort and more passion than the Tide gave Saturday night.

 

 

Left tackle Andre Smith not dressed out as Tide warms up

September 06, 2008

By Ken Rogers

TUSCALOOSA—Tough sight while Bama’s warming up—Andre Smith is watching his teammates while in sweat pants and a shirt on the sidelines.
Smith, Alabama’s All-SEC left tackle, has started every game at that position since his arrival as a true freshman in 2006. Tonight will snap that 27-game streak.
Quarterback John Parker Wilson and punter P.J. Fitzgerald extended their consecutive starts streaks to 28 games each.
Also, backup wide receiver Earl Alexander, recovering from a sprained ankle, isn’t dressed out and standing next to Smith on the sideline.