Alabama’s standout defense picked up two more individual honors this week, when nose guard Terrence Cody and middle linebacker Rolando McClain were named finalists for prestigious awards.
Cody was selected as a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award, presented annually to the national defensive player of the year. Joining Cody in the running for the honor, given by the Football Writers Association and the Charlotte (N.C.) Touchdown Club, are Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer, Tennessee strong safety Eric Berry, TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. The winner will be announced on Dec. 7.
McClain is one of five finalists for the Dick Butkus Award, presented to the top collegiate linebacker. McClain, a junior from Decatur, leads the team with 77 tackles, including 10 for loss, three sacks, two interceptions, eight quarterback hurries and a forced fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
But anyone who has watched Alabama’s defense understands McClain’s impact goes far beyond statistics. He makes the calls, sets the defense and coordinates the secondary’s coverage.
McClain is joined by other semifinalists Sergio Kindle of Texas, Eric Norwood of South Carolina, Brandon Spikes of Florida and Sean Weatherspoon of Missouri. McClain, Spikes and Weatherspoon were Butkus semifinalists last season.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he’s getting used to playing a non-conference game at the end of the season.
That’s the case this week when the Crimson Tide plays Chattanooga in its home finale.
“I’ve kind of gotten used to this, having a game like this late in the season where you’re really into playing conference game after conference game,” Saban said.
When he came into the league at LSU from Michigan State, he was a proponent of the Big 10 style of scheduling, with four non-conference games early, then the conference season.
But the SEC spreads out matchups throughout the season.
Saban said a non-conference game is different.
“It’s a little different mindset for the players, but it is what it is and I’ve gotten a little used to it,” he said.
“We all have to do it. Everybody has games like this. So I think it’s something we have to adapt to and adjust to and the players have to have the right mindset and the right respect for their opponents and continue to work and focus on making improvement.”
Senior guard Mike Johnson said this week is ideal for Alabama to work on Alabama, not look ahead.
“I think this week, more than any other game like this, it’s important for us to improve heading into this last stretch after this game,“ Johnson said.
“Regardless of who we’re playing, we need to get better. Try to get a victory this week and keep improving on down the road.“
STARKVILLE—Nick Saban called it a street fight setting.
Of all the things to like about Alabama’s convincing 31-3 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night, the most encouraging was the Tide’s willingness to rumble.
Alabama let State swing first and took its best shot early.
The Crimson Tide’s big-play counter punches were not answered by the home team.
The Tide displayed a relentless defense that contested everything and an offense that looked determined to spread the field and gashed the Bulldogs with big plays.
Mark Barron had two interceptions and Marquis Johnson added another.
The street fight ended in a knockout as State was out on its feet in the fourth quarter. By then, the Bulldogs’ eyes matched their jersey color of choice.
“Jamar (Chaney, middle linebacker) asked me at the beginning of the season if we could wear black uniforms at some point this year,“ first-year State coach Dan Mullen said. “I said absolutely not. ... I wanted to give back to the seniors and so something special so we wore the black jerseys. I thought they looked pretty good, actually.“
But the jerseys couldn’t cover up the talent disparity that was evident after the game’s emotional peak subsided.
“They made some big plays,“ Mullen said. “That was the difference in teh game. They had completed passes for 42, 48 and 45 yards. A 70-yard touchdown by Mark Ingram. We hold them to 79 yards if we take away that touchdown run. Our defense played really hard. Their guys came out and make a couple of big plays.
“We had a couple of opportunities to make some big plays and we didn’t come down with them. That was a big difference in the game. We are going ot work on that and get better. Prety soon we will be making those big plays.“
Greg McElroy was throwing a fit going into halftime of the LSU game last Saturday.
He had just thrown an interception that sent the Tide into the locker room down 7-3 at the half.
“That’s about as bad a play as you can make, and I was so mad at myself,” McElroy said this week. “I was throwing water bottles, kicking stools, acting like a child.”
But his night would get better. Alabama took the opening possession of the second half and scored a touchdown. He threw his first touchdown pass in four games.
The lesson?
“You’ve got to shake it off, and you’ve got to understand that negative things are going to happen, especially when you’ve playing a great defensive football team,” McElroy said. “So you’ve got to take it in and move on, clap it off and move on. We were able to do that, get some points out of it and get a victory.”
McElroy said the pressure other people put on him pales in comparison to what he demands of himself.
“I put more pressure on myself than anyone could ever put on me, more so than the coaches will put on me, more so than the other players will put on me,” the quarterback said.
“When I miss a pass, I promise you I’m more mad at myself than any fan, any reporter, any player, any coach, anything. I’m more upset because I know I let myself down, and I let my teammates down. And that’s the pressure that I was facing for those couple of weeks. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I expect the best for myself. I expect full effort, which I always try to give, and I always give full effort. But sometimes your execution can’t be perfect.”
McElroy often gives examples of what he’s talking about through the NFL.
“Go back and look at Donovan McNabb last night,” he said. “He played the Cowboys, and he missed three wide-open guys in the flat, easy passes that he’d make 99 times out of 100, but they happen. He’s at the highest level. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League, and even those guys make mistakes. So you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt and realize you can’t be perfect every time and just try your best every time out there, and you can always look back in the mirror and be proud of what you accomplished.”
