Banning cut blocks would change the sport

October 01, 2009

By Ken Rogers

Alabama coach Nick Saban said Dont’a Hightower’s season-ending knee surgery was a success.

“Dont’a’s surgery went well,” Saban said after Wednesday’s practice. “Talked to Doc about it and he expects a full
recovery.”

But there are still questions about what caused the injury – a cut block that was legal.

“There’s always been a lot of discussion about cut blocking,” Saban said. “We have a cut
block rule, but it only affects a player if he’s engaged with another
player who then gets cut, which is extremely dangerous.

“I have mixed emotions. Cut blocking has been a part of the game for a long time. A lot
of players get hurt because of cut blocking, no question about that. But I
also feel that every player has a responsibility to play the cut blocks.”

Saban indicated that poor technique by Hightower on the play got him in trouble.

“You need to coach to play the blocks properly so you minimize the chances
of being injured by being cut,” Saban said. “It’s my opinion, and I tell the players,
that if the cut is in front of you and you can see them, that should never
been an issue; you should address and play that block a certain way.

“And that’s the way it was with Dont’a. I don’t know if he didn’t see him. He
should have used his hands and played the block. It’s a part of the game. I
don’t know how adversely it would affect offensive football if you couldn’t
cut.”

Senior offensive lineman Mike Johnson said it would radically change the game.

“It would limit a lot of what we do here,” Johnson said. “It’s a big part of our offense. It’s been a part of football forever.

“It was unfortunate what happened to
Dont’a, but that was a legal block. Football is a physical game and
sometimes people get hurt.”

Even Saban, the defensive wizard, said eliminated the cut block could severely impact the game.

“It would certainly be harder to make
certain blocks,” the coach said. “And there would be much more inertia by defensive players
running into blockers because they wouldn’t have to play under control. If
a guy was coming to block, they could just blow them up. So that might
create problems in another direction. I understand the issue. I don’t know
how we could correct it without really making a huge impact on the game.”

McElroy’s fast start leads to early Heisman talk

September 29, 2009

By Ken Rogers

A mention in one of the notes for Wednesday’s Dothan Eagle is quarterback Greg McElroy’s name coming up in a Heisman candidate discussion.

This from a guy who hadn’t started a college game before the Virginia Tech season opener. It was his first start since the 2005 Texas high school state championship game.

Center William Vlachos, who is McElroy’s roommate, said the talk is a direct correlation with Alabama’s fast start this season.

“But I know Greg, and I know the only thing that Greg’s worried about right now is our game this week and our team and leading our team,” Vlachos said this week. “Any accolades or success or anything that the media gives him is great for our team, but he’s only worried about winning the game.”

McElroy was asked about going from an unknown entity to a darkhorse Heisman candidate in four games.

“It does happen quick, but you’ve got to be prepared for it, because of the situation that are presented with,” the quarterback said. “We’re the No. 3 team in the country and that’s all great and good, but you don’t give any award or championship trophies after four games of the season.

“It’s a long haul. It’s a marathon not a sprint. So we’ve got to continue working, we’ve got to continue improving, because those are what the better teams in the country are doing.”

Hightower cut down by hard, but legal, block, teammates say

By Ken Rogers

It wasn’t a cheap shot, just a hard one.

It was a cut block, not a chop block. Not dirty, just costly.

And painful. Not just for Dont’a Hightower.

“When it happened on the field, I didn’t want to believe it,” teammate Rolando McClain said Monday. “When he went down, I kind of went down.”

“He’s an incredible player,” defensive end Lorenzo Washington said. “You don’t want to say irreplaceable, but, I mean, just being out there, he’s a dominating player.”

Washington said he saw the hit, which happened late in the first quarter of Alabama’s 35-7 victory over Arkansas.

“Honestly, it didn’t even look ... I didn’t see the knee or anything go like that,” Washington said. “I mean, I seen him, me, we’ve all been getting cut like that these past couple games. Guess it was worse than it looked.”

Nick Saban confirmed Hightower is out for the season.

Washington said the play underscored how dangerous cut blocks can be.

“I understand a pass, where you’re right at the line of scrimmage, or even a run when you’re at the line of scrimmage,” the defensive lineman said. “But he was not on the line of scrimmage, he was pursuing to the ball. Those are dangerous plays.”

Washington said the technique is more prevalent with passing teams. You don’t have to move a defender out of the way, as a run blocker does. It’s easier to cut the legs out from under an aggressive defender. He said he’s seeing more of it this season.

“In ’07 I was getting cut all the time because I was inside,” Washington said. “Then a couple teams we played last year that’s just the type of protection they did. They were three-step drop passes so they were cut blocking. But every team we’ve played this year has cut us to this point.”

He doesn’t expect that to change, either.

“Cut blocking’s been around since football’s been around. They’ve tweaked it here and there, but it’s pretty much here to stay. It’s part of ball.”

And injuries that result from a cut block are a part of the game, too.

“It’s legal. You can’t say that it was a dirty play on the guy,” McClain said. “But for me, just being a linebacker, I would rather a guy come and just try to block me man to man. Just try to block me.

“I hate that guys cut, but it is part of the game, something that we practice. Just something unfortunate that happened.”

Tide players still trying to have some fun

September 26, 2009

By Ken Rogers

As intense as the week of practice was for Alabama’s SEC opener, it’s worth noting a couple light moments in the interview room.

Quarterback Greg McElroy joked that it’s always good to let the defense win the last round of practice. Saban has made several references to himself as defensive coordinator Kirby Smart’s G.A. as secondary coach, the offense has learned it’s best not to make the secondary look bad.

“Us as offensive players, we kind of have a running joke,” McElroy said. “It’s like, ‘We should do bad at the end of practice because coach Saban doesn’t run us as hard.’”

Of course, with Arkansas’ prolific passing attack, there was no letup this week.

And Terrence Cody, the object of Arkansas’ attention as Alabama’s nose tackle, is cracking teammates up as a lead blocker in the offense.

Mark Ingram laughed at the way defenders run away from Cody.

“Yeah, that happens a lot when I’m at fullback,” Cody said. “Everybody runs and when I run past, that’s when everybody falls back into the hole. But he’s already into the end zone by then. It’s funny when I see it on film.”

But Terrence, couldn’t you imagine running the ball?

“Imagine I’ll be running in the end zone ... celebrating,” Cody said, before embellishing his celebration. “Dunking over the field goal post ... doing the Lambeau Leap.”

Wouldn’t you get a penalty?

“That’d be worth it,” he said, his smile making it understood he was kidding. “It’d make the Top 10 on SportsCenter. No, I wouldn’t do that. I’m just exaggerating.”

Buy-in under Saban adds to home-field advantage

September 24, 2009

By Ken Rogers

Alabama was unbeaten at home last season and takes a nine-game winning streak at Bryant-Denny Stadium into Saturday’s SEC opener against Arkansas.

But Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban doesn’t want his players to need the advantage of a friendly crowd to win a game.

“As much as I appreciate our home crowd, our stadium, our venue, and the great job that they do in their part of this team for helping to create a wonderful atmosphere for our players to compete in, I don’t want our
players to ever rely on them, think that’s going to be an advantage to
them,” Saban said after practice Wednesday. “Because the advantage is getting your tail ready to play, working
like you need to do, studying so you don’t make mistakes. Go out there and
execute and do what you need to do to take care of business.”

But veteran players have said the atmosphere around a home game has changed dramatically over their careers.

Senior guard Mike Johnson, who I talked to for my Thursday story in the Dothan Eagle, said Tide fans are as noisy as any in the league.

“I think our fans are just excited about where this program’s headed,” said Johnson, who talked about the biggest change in the Nick Saban era.

“I was talking to James Carpenter the other day,” Johnson said. “He was telling me about all his official visits that he went on. He went to Oklahoma and Ole Miss, this place had great facilities; this place had great places to hang out.

“I said, ‘Well, James, why’d you come here?’ He said, ‘Well, I wanted to win.’

“That just kind of tells the story about where we’ve come since I was a freshman here. We’ve come so far. Coach Shula did a good job getting this program back around and on its feet.

“Coach Saban’s kind of come in and taken over and given us a whole new mindset to take off running with. We’ve done a good job of adjusting to his philosophies and his staff. I think the fans have really caught wind of that and really gotten excited about this football team.”