McLain, Rashad Johnson stay on same page

By Ken Rogers

Published: October 29, 2008

My story in Thursday’s Dothan Eagle is on Alabama’s linebacker corps, which was an area of concern coming into the season.
Uh, they’ve done OK so far. Alabama is unbeaten and second in the nation in rushing defense.
Its victory over Tennessee last Saturday was as impressive for its physical dominance as it was the final 20-point margin of victory.
Inside linebacker Rolando McClain said the Tide rarely changed things up against the Vols. He said the Crimson Tide has several schemes it hasn’t revealed.
“We’ll practice maybe 70 different plays, and we might play five. We have a ton of stuff that we haven’t even used,” McClain said. “We play so good up front with our base defense, we don’t have to use the blitz. So other teams haven’t had a chance to look at our blitzes yet.”
The Tide did blitz when it had its back against the wall early. Tennessee had first-and-goal at the Alabama 5 after a fumbled punt. Alabama forced a third-and-7 before disrupting Vol quarterback Nick Stephens.
McLain and free safety Rashad Johnson shot the gap on both sides of center Josh McNeil. It was a call Johnson relished.
“It was a lot of fun. I love blitzing,“ Johnson laughed. “I was messing with coach to send me a little more. But it was definitely a lot of fun.“
Of course, he needed the Vols to line up a certain way.
“When he called it, it depended on the offense and how they were lined up as to whether I was coming or not. I was just hoping they lined up the right way where I could come and they did.“
McNeil was forced to choose which blitzer to pick up. Johnson liked his chances of sacking Stephens.
“Me and Rolando were both coming through the ‘A’ gap, so I knew he was going to have to make a decision either to take Rolando. I guess he figured the quarterback could break my tackle so he was going to block Rolando.“
The sack covered seven yards and the Vols settled for a field goal.
The senior Johnson and sophomore McClain have developed their communication skills even in tough environments like Neyland Stadium.
“I get the hand signals from coach (Kirby) Smart, but after that, I have to go and scream at everybody,“ McClain said. “If the formation changes, then you have to run and tell the D-line, scream at them again. Rashad does a great job of helping with the secondary. He knows everything out there, so he can tell the whole secondary what to do.“
Johnson said the key is communication with McClain.
“Every play, it seems like we’re on the same page,“ the safety said. “Even if it’s not the right thing we’re supposed to be running on the field, everybody locks in on what Rolando says or what I say. We lock in and play that call and go with it. It seems to work. It may be the wrong play but everybody is doing the right thing.“