Walker now a big play man in Tide offense

TUSCALOOSA — Nick Walker rehearsed the Clemson game in his mind several times before Saturday’s season opener. Reality was so much better.

The senior from Brundidge caught a career-high seven passes for 67 yards — both career highs — and a touchdown in the Crimson Tide’s 34-10 victory over No. 9 Clemson.

“I played it out in my head a couple times,” Walker admitted. “I knew we were going to go out and play hard and play good. We did such a good job during fall camp and the summer. We were ready to play somebody.”

Walker spent much of fall camp saying the tight end’s role was going to be more versatile in new offensive coordinator Jim McElwain’s system. Alabama featured that position in the opener.

“We lined up in a lot of different spots in this game,” Walker said. “We lined up in the backfield and out wide. Lined up down and lined up in split formation. We got a lot of different formations. We didn’t really show too much. Really didn’t have to.”

Of course, Walker noted the effectiveness of the running game played a key role in making the passing game go. In fact, his touchdown catch came out a goal-line formation.

“Play-action,” he explained when asked how he got so open on the play.

“We’re on the goal line. Line up with big personnel. We had, like, three tight ends in the game. They thought we were gonna run it, but we came out in play-action. The corner never even backed up.”

In fact, Clemson never adjusted to the tight end’s involvement, particularly when Walker flexed out wide.

“They were basically in a zone,” Walker said. “Basically, it all comes back to our receivers of doing a good job running hard and making the safeties and corners commit. That leaves the tight end wide open.”

Quarterback John Parker Wilson ticked off reasons he kept going back to Walker.

“It’s him running good routes, it was the defense, kind of what they were doing, a little bit of everything,” Wilson said.
“We say we take what the defense gives us and they were giving us the tight end. The corners were playing soft, they didn’t want to get beat deep. The play-action helped a little bit and that starts with the run. The linebackers would be sucked up on play-action a couple of times and we would just dump it in behind them, so it’s kind of everything rolled into one and he did run good routes and get open.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban said Walker is tough for a linebacker to cover.

“When we get in empty (no backs) and we do it sometimes in the game with two tight ends, somebody is going to get mismatched,” Saban said. “Our tight ends got mismatched a couple times in terms.”

Walker smiled when asked about that assessment.

“I wouldn’t say a mismatch, but I’m gonna do what I got to do to get open,” he said.

“We flexed Nick out some and had two wideouts on both sides and I think that helped him be able to get open a little more,” Saban said.
“I don’t think anyone had a plan going into the game saying, ‘We wanted Nick Walker to catch this many balls.’ I think sometimes it is what the other team does or where the read takes you and where the ball gets delivered. For the most ... they were designed for that particular read where he was the first read. Other plays he was just part of the read and he ended up getting the ball and doing a very good job of catching the ball.”
Receiver Mike McCoy wasn’t surprised.

“He has some great hands. He has some HUGE hands,” McCoy said. “I mean, you pretty much throw it his way he is pretty much going to catch the ball.”

Walker said in addition to his receptions, he graded out high as a blocker, the area he’s made the most progress in the last two seasons.
“I did all right. You can always do better, though,” he said.

Walker said he knew Saturday’s game was won after Clemson’s C.J. Spiller returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
“It didn’t even faze us,” he said. “We came out and went three-and-out. The defense did a good job of holding them and we got the ball and took it right down there and scored.”

The senior said several people in the Alabama huddle were saying a collapse wasn’t going to happen.

“Had a lot of people saying don’t let what happened probably last year happen this time,” he said.

“Last year if something like that would have happened — you know what I’m saying?— it probably would have just kept going downhill. We overcame adversity, stuck it back down their throat.”

Asked who did the talking, Walker said, “The O-line, the quarterback, basically everybody. Everybody committed to winning.”