Tide cornerback Marquis Johnson doesn't back down

TUSCALOOSA — One of the keys to Alabama’s defensive system is that often its cornerbacks are on an island.

Saturday night, there was lava flowing — or Stephen Garcia throwing — on Marquis Johnson’s island.

Johnson started for injured senior cornerback Javier Arenas. It didn’t take long for South Carolina to identify the lineup change.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior from Sarasota, Fla., responded by tying a school record with six pass breakups — including a stunning second-quarter sequence in which he defended three consecutive fade passes in the end zone from the 5-yard line against 6-foot-4 receiver Alshon Jeffery.

“I knew they were going to throw at No. 1 (Jeffery). No. 1’s a big boy,” said the fast-talking, excitable Johnson after practice this week. “He’s big. He’s big.”

But three in a row?

“That was different. That’s a little more action,” he said. “But you gotta realize, I play every down like the ball’s coming my way.”

He had seen this before. Johnson was obviously targeted by Florida and Utah in the final two games of last season.

“I still have things to prove because of how I ended last year,” he said after the South Carolina game.

Asked what he meant by that, Johnson displayed the cockiness a cornerback must have. It’s similar to a closer who blew a lead in the ninth inning the night before. A short memory is a must.

“No matter who I play — Randy Moss — if he caught two passes on me, I want to at least knock down one. Catch four passes on me, I at least want to knock down two,” he said.

“Last year, I mean, they came at me three times and was 3-for-3. ... They say great players, you know, handle adversity and come back with a great play. ... And that’s what I didn’t get to prove last year at the end of last year. It’s just good to do that this year, South Carolina game.”

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier was asked about the three consecutive fade routes.

“We thought that was our best chance,” Spurrier said.

“Hopefully, someday we can run it in from the 5-yard line. We just didn’t think we could.”

By the time Johnson fended off the first two fades — he made a tremendous play on second down — he was eager for another shot.
“The third time was a charm, but it didn’t work,” he said. “I didn’t want nothing complete on my side at all.”

He said felt singled out — and he talked to himself as much as his teammates were pumping him up.

“‘Oh, they come my way three times?’” he recalled thinking. “If anything, not disrespect or disrespectful, but in my head, just mental, my mindset, it was like, ‘Well let’s go. They want to come at you? What’s wrong with them?’ That’s what we said in the locker room. ‘What’s wrong with them? Coming your way. Let’s go ’Quis. All right, 2-4.’

“So that’s how I be feeling,” Johnson said. “I thank them for coming my way. It builds your confidence play after play after play. You repeatedly do the same thing that you practice everyday. Technique, technique.”

NOTES:
Thanks, coach:
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he was “happy” that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier noticed that holder P.J. Fitzgerald had used a small piece of tape to mark the spot for kicker Leigh Tiffin last week.

That’s a five-yard penalty from the spot — and Saban said his tandem won’t be using it from now on.

“We’re actually happy that it was brought to our attention because I wasn’t aware of it,” the coach said Wednesday morning. “It’s something we will not do because it’s certainly not worth a five-yard penalty.”

While not aware of Alabama’s kickers marking a spot, the coach did know that’s it’s not an uncommon practice in the SEC.

“We’ve done some research on it, over half the teams in the league do something — whether they put a piece of grass there or piece of mud or whatever it is — so the kicker knows where the ball is going to be spotted,” Saban said.

“We even saw verification where last year South Carolina’s kicker did it. So, it’s not something that’s really unusual for people to do. It is something that shouldn’t be done because it’s against the rules.”

Crew suspended:The SEC suspended the officiating crew responsible for a couple of controversial calls in recent weeks.
The league announced Wednesday that the officiating crew that worked last week’s Florida-Arkansas game is suspended from it’s next scheduled assignment on Oct. 31. The crew will return on Nov. 14.