2010 College Football Preview
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+ + ✩ COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 The Anniston Star What If ... College football fans have always been dreamers. Well, we took a look into the world of pretend, and, while we found some dreams, there were also a few nightmares. IN STOCK NOW!! THE BIG ONE! Biggest Discounts of the Year on ALL Remaining 2010s ANNISTON CHRYSLER • JEEP • DODGE • RAM 1229 S. Quintard Avenue 256.236.7635 www.annistoncjdr.com COME VISIT US AT OUR NEW FACILITY - NOW OPEN! The All New 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
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✩college footballWednesday, september 1, 2010
The Anniston Star
What If ...
College football fans have always been dreamers. Well, we took a look into the world of pretend, and, while we found some dreams, there were also a few nightmares.
IN STOCK NOW!! THE BIG O
NE!
Biggest Disco
unts of th
e Year
on ALL Remaining 2010s
ANNISTONCHRYSLER • JEEP • DODGE • RAM
1229 S. Quintard Avenue256.236.7635
www.annistoncjdr.comCOME VISIT
US AT OUR NEW
FACILIT
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Page 2 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
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“I wanna live where it’s always Saturday”In 1989, the band Guadalcanal Diary sang
“Always Saturday.” Though the band was formed in Georgia and based for a while in Athens, the tune isn’t about college football; rather, it’s about an idyllic life in the suburbs.
But for this exercise, we surely can co-opt the “I wish it were Saturday” sentiment.
Here’s a preseason look at the best game each weekend this fall.
WEEK 1THE GAME: Because it’s the first weekend,
we’re picking three games — Pittsburgh at Utah on Thursday, LSU-North Carolina in Atlanta on Saturday and Boise State-Virginia Tech in Landover, Md., on Monday.
THE BUZZ: The first big TV game of the season is the Thursday night Pitt-Utah match-up, and you have to give the Panthers credit for being willing to play in Salt Lake City. Saturday’s spotlight game will be in the Geor-gia Dome in Atlanta, where the first offense to reach 17 points and/or 250 total yards will be declared the winner. And the weekend winds up with a Labor Day night doozy. Boise State, basically, has a two-game schedule; the prob-lem for Boise is that if it loses the first one on that schedule, the rest of the season doesn’t matter.
ALSO OF NOTE: Cincinnati at Fresno State, Connecticut at Michigan, Oregon State vs. TCU in Arlington, Texas, BYU at Washing-ton
WEEK 2THE GAME: Miami at Ohio State, Sept. 11THE BUZZ: This will be the first meeting
between the teams since the 2002 Fiesta Bowl, where the Buckeyes upset Miami to win the national title. The Buckeyes are prime title contenders this season, while this is a chance for the Hurricanes to show they’re truly back among the elite.
ALSO OF NOTE: Penn State at Alabama, Michigan at Notre Dame, Florida State at Oklahoma
WEEK 3THE GAME: Georgia Tech at North Caro-
lina, Sept. 18THE BUZZ: The ACC Coastal Division race
is going to be a monster, and this is the first meeting this season between teams with a chance to win the division. The winner takes a small step toward the crown, while the loser moves into quasi-desperation mode.
ALSO OF NOTE: BYU at Florida State, Arkansas at Georgia, Nebraska at Washington
WEEK 4THE GAME: Oregon State at Boise State,
Sept. 25THE BUZZ: There’s a caveat with this one,
as this moves to “interesting, but ...” if Boise loses its opener to Virginia Tech. If the Bron-cos win that one, then the Beavers are by and large the only object standing between the Broncos and a perfect regular season.
ALSO OF NOTE: Miami at Pittsburgh (Sept. 23), Alabama at Arkansas, Oklahoma at Cincinnati, Stanford at Notre Dame
WEEK 5THE GAME: Florida at Alabama, Oct. 2THE BUZZ: The teams that met in each
of the past two SEC championship games get together again, this time for the first regular-season meeting since 2005. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this is the first of two meetings this season, with the other coming in the SEC title game in Atlanta on Dec. 4.
ALSO OF NOTE: Penn State at Iowa, Stanford at Oregon, Oklahoma-Texas in Dal-las
WEEK 6THE GAME: USC at Stanford, Oct. 9THE BUZZ: This will be the first road test
of the season for the Trojans, who got run over by the Cardinal last season. Meanwhile, this comes on the heels of a trip to Oregon for the Cardinal. Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh seemed to relish getting under Pete Carroll’s skin, and everybody knows Lane Kiffin loves to talk the talk. What does all that mean? There could be some mighty fine smack talk from the coaches before this one.
ALSO OF NOTE: Oregon State at Arizona, LSU at Florida, Florida State at Miami, Pitts-burgh at Notre Dame
WEEK 7THE GAME: Texas at Nebraska, Oct. 16THE BUZZ: Oooh, this will be nasty.
Nebraska fans are known for their hospitality, but Lincoln won’t be hospitable for the Long-horns, who have owned this series since the Big 12 was formed. Know this: No Nebraskan has forgotten the ending of last season’s Big 12 championship game. This will be the last time these teams meet in the regular season as Big 12 members, which will add a little extra spice.
ALSO OF NOTE: Arkansas at Auburn, BYU at TCU, Ohio State at Wisconsin
WEEK 8THE GAME: Wisconsin at Iowa, Oct. 23THE BUZZ: The second huge game in a
row for the Badgers, who will have played host to Ohio State the previous week. Thus, the Badgers still will be in the Big Ten title hunt or will be out to play spoiler. Iowa has won six of the past eight meetings.
ALSO OF NOTE: LSU at Auburn, North Carolina at Miami, Oklahoma at Missouri, Navy vs. Notre Dame in East Rutherford, N.J.
WEEK 9THE GAME: Oregon at USC, Oct. 30THE BUZZ: USC has laid the lumber to the
Ducks in each of their past two visits to L.A.,
winning by a combined 59 points. And while USC is ineligible for the Pac-10 title, you can be sure the Trojans don’t want to pass the mantle of “Best Program in the Pac-10” to the Ducks just yet.
ALSO OF NOTE: West Virginia at Connect-icut (Oct. 29), Florida-Georgia in Jacksonville, Missouri at Nebraska, California at Oregon State
WEEK 10THE GAME: Alabama at LSU, Nov. 6THE BUZZ: Nick Saban makes his second
visit to Baton Rouge as an opposing coach. It will be a nighttime kickoff. Add those two things together and, man, it’s gonna be big fun on the bayou.
ALSO OF NOTE: Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech (No. 4), TCU at Utah
WEEK 11THE GAME: Pittsburgh at Connecticut,
Nov. 11THE BUZZ: This could be the most impor-
tant Big East game this season. Don’t expect a lot of finesse; this will be “I’m-going-to-line-up-and-run-the-ball-down-your-throat” football.
ALSO OF NOTE: All others on Nov. 13—Miami at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech at North Carolina, Utah at Notre Dame, Penn State at Ohio State
WEEK 12THE GAME: Ohio State at Iowa, Nov. 20THE BUZZ: If all the analysts are right, this
will be the de facto Big Ten title game. The Buckeyes won in OT in Columbus last season with Iowa using a backup quarterback on the way to the Rose Bowl.
ALSO OF NOTE: Stanford at California, Virginia Tech at Miami, USC at Oregon State, Nebraska at Texas A&M
WEEK 13THE BUZZ: This is rivalry week and,
frankly, the game of the week is in the eye of the beholder.
OF NOTE: Texas A&M at Texas (Nov. 25), Auburn at Alabama (Nov. 26), West Virginia at Pittsburgh (Nov. 26). All others on Nov. 27— LSU at Arkansas, Florida at Florida State, Georgia Tech at Georgia, Michigan at Ohio State, Oregon State at Stanford, Notre Dame at USC, BYU at Utah
WEEK 14THE GAME: SEC championship game in
AtlantaTHE BUZZ: The past four national titlists
have emerged from this game, and the winner seems a good bet to again go to the champion-ship game this season.
ALSO OF NOTE: ACC championship game, Big 12 championship game, Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, Oregon at Oregon State
— Mike Huguenin, Rivals.com
WHAT IF ...
Nobody played cupcakes
Joe Jaszewski/Associated Press/File
It won’t take long this season to find out whether Boise State is for real. The Bron-cos open with Virginia Tech.
According to the History Channel, there are some — I don’t think very many, but some — people who believe for every possible scenario in life, there is an alternate universe where said scenarios are playing out.
So that means there’s a place out there somewhere where Auburn has 13 national champi-onships.
And another where Bear Bry-ant lives forever.
One, too, where Jacksonville State remained Division II, and the Gamecocks are just content with winning football games. (They beat Troy in that one all the time.)
And there’s probably even one where I have hair ... Boy, I bet I look good.
These people who believe in the existence of alternate universes — they come with and without tinfoil hats — don’t watch football.
Actually, they probably went to a college, university or insti-tute of technology that doesn’t even have a football team, because they don’t have time for it. They’re too busy studying quantum theory.
All of which is OK, because if they could figure out how to get to one of these parallel universes, they wouldn’t be there to bother us. It would mean more football for us, and that’s seriously a lot of football.
The night I heard this, my thoughts didn’t go directly to football. However, when my mind did make its way to sports, it wouldn’t stop racing.
Because those people said, basically, if you can think it, then it exists somewhere. Like a really nerdy “Field of Dreams.”
Maybe one day there will be a way to travel to alternate uni-verses (if they exist). I don’t think I’d want to go there, though.
Maybe they’ll just have a way they can broadcast all the differ-ent scenarios.
Bran Strickland is the sports editor for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3570 or at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @bran_strickland
BranStrickland
Sports Editor
FROM THE EDITOR
Let’s just see how they
all play out
ABOUT THE COVERThe cover was designed
by sports editor Bran Strick-land with graphic work by Sigurd Decroos and photos from Star photographers Trent Penny, Bill Wilson and Stephen Gross.
Special thanks to Star managing editor Anthony Cook, columnist Joe Medley and ESPN’s Andy Hall.
M E E T T H E S T A F F
Age: 35From: Munford
With The Star: 17 years
q q
What if ... you could have lifetime tickets to any sporting event, what would it be?
Without a doubt it would be The Masters. Aside from golf, one of my favorite pastimes, there’s no scenery like that anywhere else in the sporting world.
And with inflation the way it is, I’ll always be able to afford an adult beverage and an egg salad sandwich.
Bran StricklandSports Editor
Joe MedleyColumnist
Lacie PinyanCopy Editor
Al MuskewitzJSU Beat Writer
Charlie BennettAuburn beat writer
Michael CasagrandeAlabama beat writer
Nick BirdsongPreps beat writer
Age: 51From: Trenton, N.J.
With The Star: 13 yearsq q
What if ... you could cover any sporting event from any time in the past, what would it be?
Out of every game that has ever been played, it’s the App State-Michigan 2007 game. It was the classic underdog shocks the world story and I like underdogs as much as I like a good story. And that game had both. (Almost like Jacksonville State would have gotten if it had beaten Florida State last year.)
Age: 45From: Louisville, Ky.
With The Star: 14 yearsq q
What if ... you could go back in time and cover any era of any sport?
I’m a lifelong NFL fan, especially the Min-nesota Vikings. I grew up watching the 1970s-era Vikings teams with Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman and the Purple People Eaters. I’d love to cover the Vikings of that era. And yes, covering them outdoors in the old Metropolitan Stadium would make it that much sweeter.
Age: 23From: Blountsville
With The Star: 1 yearq q
What if ... you could have lifetime tickets to any sporting event, what would it be?
Being an avid Alabama fan, I would give my right arm for lifetime tickets to Tide football games since that waiting list isn’t getting any shorter.
Nothing compares to the chills you get when Bear Bryant’s voice fills the stadium or the joy that singing “Rammer Jammer” to an opponent brings.
Age: 53From: Rock Hill, S.C.
With The Star: 1 month q q
What if ... you could only cover one sport for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The temptation is to try and cheat on this question and just say “college sports.” But if I had to pick one, it would definitely be college foot-ball. Nothing captures people’s passion in the south like college foot-ball, and there’s nothing like sitting in a packed stadium, waiting on kickoff.
Age: 27From: Louisville, Ky.
With The Star: 2 years
q q
What if ... you could cover any sporting event from any time in the past, what would it be?
The 1977 World Series. After reading “The Bronx is Burning,” it’s a no-brainer.
It was such a fascinat-ing time in our history, plus having personalities as big as Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson would make it a beat writer’s dream.
Age: 26From: Tampa, Fla.
With The Star: 3 years
q q
What if ... you could only cover one sport for the rest of your life, what would it be?
NBA basketball, with-out a doubt. (With apolo-gizes to Kurtis Blow) Basketball is my favorite sport. I like the way they dribble up and down the court.
Seriously, though, in my opinion, it’s the greatest game played by the greatest athletes at the highest level.
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 3
Lead in
3
What it isThe lovechild of the Southeastern Conference and
the Atlantic Coast Conference. Basically, it’s the finest of Southern College football.
RSEC EaSt DiviSionClemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech,
Miami, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
RSEC WESt DiviSionAlabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi
State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
thought processFour former Atlantic Coast Conference teams merge
with the former SEC to form a rivalry-perfect unit, com-plete with glamour schools and endless rivalry combina-tions for TV purposes.
No, the East and West divisions don’t conform geo-graphically, but who cares? It’s all about making sure rivals play each other for TV and ticket sales purposes, and all schools who have natural rivals in this alignment will play them.
The Florida schools will play each year. Same for the Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi schools.
Key interstate rivalries like Alabama-Tennessee and Florida-Georgia are preserved.
Other interstate rivalries, like Florida-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia, can be addressed with one permanent opponent from the opposite division. That also keeps the league schedule at the current eight games.
Sure, schedules are imbalanced, but let’s make lots of money.
And there’s still Kentucky and Vandy to perform their functions of giving the league basketball and academic face.
What it isSurvival of the fittest. The desperate Big East sells out
to lure Notre Dame football, punts schools with the least to offer in football and gives safe harbor to the ACC’s refugees.
nYSE ECC noRth Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut,
Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse.
nYSE ECC SoUthDuke, Maryland, North Carolina, South
Florida, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia.
thought processOld acquaintance must be forgotten to
form a league that maintains strength in bas-ketball but insists on the revenue potential of football. Members must be Football Bowl Subdivision schools, preferably with cred-ibility.
Notre Dame gets better than a Texas-like deal, being allowed its separate agreement with NBC — which could stand for the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation.
So sad for ACC member North Carolina State for being left out.
It was down to Cincinnati, Louisville and N.C. State for the 15th and 16th spots, and Louisville-Cin-cinnati made for a natural rivalry while maintaining a North Division of mostly former Big East teams. North Carolina already has Duke as a rival in the South, and who can beat North Carolina-Duke for hoops hoopla?
What it isA revival. GM buys into this merger of teh Big Ten and
Big 12 North Division to market it’s back-in-black mes-sage. They’re ready to take on the world ... or at the least, the SEC.
UaW-GM BM EaStIndiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio
State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.UaW-GM BM WESt
Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Mis-souri, Nebraska, Northwestern.
thought processThe former Big Ten, not as desperate as the former
Big East and ACC, wouldn’t sell its soul to win the Notre Dame sweepstakes. Illinois and Northwestern already give the new league inroads to the Chicago market, any way.
There was discussion about Boise State, but the Idaho TV market hardly justifies the travel. Besides, the former Big Ten was above gimmicks like blue turf.
What it isBest of the West. The Pac-10 merges with the
best of the Big 12 South Division plus Colorado and best-of-the-rest Utah to monopolize TV markets on the left coast.
nikE WESt - SoUthArizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Okla-
homa State, Southern Cal, Texas, Texas A&M and UCLA.
nikE WESt - noRthCalifornia, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon
State, Stanford, Utah, Washington and Wash-ington State.
thought processPoor Texas Tech. Power broker Texas has
a bigger instate rival in A&M, and Washington needs its state rival.
Plus, who squeezes out of the South Division? Southern Cal needs UCLA. The Arizona schools need
each other, just like the Oklahoma and Texas schools need each other.
So argue Tuberville will, just like he did for Auburn in 2004, but then Texas Christian chimes in.
This arrangement leaves lots of aggrieved folks, but what else is new? Including two more Texas schools is overkill when Texas and A&M clinch the Dallas TV mar-ket.
Keeping the Oregon and Washington schools broad-ens the league’s appeal with respectable TV markets like Portland and Seattle. Same for Colorado (Denver) and Utah (Salt Lake City), who could make natural rivals.
Could Texas Tech and TCU squeeze out Stanford and Cal?
Nah. Northern California is too large to skip, and it brings in markets like San Francisco/Oakland and Sac-ramento. And sorry, Boise State. The Idaho TV market is small potatoes.
Joe Medley is The Star’s sports columnist. He can be reached at 256-235-3576
College football fans can enjoy relative normalcy this season, but a few tense weeks in May made everyone pon-der a new world order of realigned super conferences.
Greed, the force that launched major football powers into brinkmanship, forestalled the change. The Big 12 Con-ference gave Texas a sweet deal, so the school that keyed everything got to stay and enjoy life as an unequal among equals.
How long Texas’ Big 12 brethren will tolerate the intol-
erable is hard to say. We could be back on the brink some day soon.
But the episode launched imaginations about what college football should look like, in the event of major realignment.
With my head cocked, eyes to the ceiling and finger on my chin, I see the future. I see four, 16-team revenue units with names befitting the logic that formed them.
SoutheaStern ConferenCe
East Coast ConfErEnCE
UAW-GM BiG MidWest
Should college football ultimately realign, greed and TV markets should conspire to form these ...
Page 4 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star toP 25 overview
+ +
25. WashingtonLast year: 5-7Tough games: at BYU;
NebraskaPlayer to watch: QB Jake
LockerSkinny: Locker is arguably
the best QB in the nation. If the Huskies’ defense is a little better, Washington will post its first winning season since 2002.
Season goes north if: The defense is decent, and the Huskies defeat Nebraska at home Sept. 18.
Season goes south if: Lock-er needs to win every game by himself and the nonconfer-ence schedule eats ups the Huskies.
Projected record: 9-4
24. HoustonLast year: 10-4Tough games: at UCLA; at
Texas TechPlayer to watch: QB Case
KeenumSkinny: Keenum will put up
ridiculous numbers, but the defense has to do something other than nothing for the Cougars to make a run at a BCS game.
Season goes north if: The offense repeats its ‘09 per-formance and the defense is solid.
Season goes south if: The defense, which is now run by former Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, again is one the nation’s worst.
Projected record: 10-3
23. LSULast year: 9-4Tough games: North
Carolina; West Virginia; at Florida; at Auburn; Alabama; at Arkansas
Player to watch: WR Rus-sell Shepard
Skinny: The Tigers’ defense is rebuilding, QB Jordan Jef-ferson is a question mark, and the schedule is loaded with potential losses.
Season goes north if: Jef-ferson is consistent, and the Tigers’ offense complements a defense that is long on talent but short on experience.
Season goes south if: The schedule is too much, and Jef-ferson remains erratic.
Projected record: 8-5
22. ArkansasLast year: 8-5Tough games: Texas A&M;
Alabama; LSUPlayer to watch: QB Ryan
MallettSkinny: Mallett is one of the
nation’s top QB prospects, and this is the type of once-every-four-years team in Fayetteville that can contend in the SEC.
Season goes north if: Mal-lett is as good as people think, and the Hogs take advantage of what is a “softer” SEC schedule.
Season goes south if: The defense is no better despite the return of five of its top seven tacklers from last sea-son.
Projected record: 9-4
21. UtahLast year: 10-3Tough games: Pitt; Notre
Dame; TCUPlayer to watch: RB Eddie
WideSkinny: The Utes have their
passer in QB Jordan Wynn, but their defense is raw in the secondary and at linebacker. The Utes won’t win the MWC in their last year before leaving for the Pac-10.
Season goes north if: Wynn and the offense are better than ‘09, and they somehow beat Pitt and Notre Dame.
Season goes south if: A young defense is exposed and the team leans too much on the offense.
Projected record: 10-3
20. Penn StateLast year: 11-2Tough games: at Alabama;
at Iowa; at Ohio St.Player to watch: RB Evan
RoysterSkinny: The loss of QB
Daryll Clark is huge, and the defensive front seven is green. Plus the schedule is one of the nation’s toughest.
Season goes north if: The Nittany Lions find a QB to complement a solid running game and good receivers, and the defense finds some play-makers quickly.
Season goes south if: The QB stinks, the schedule eats them up, and the questions surrounding 83-year-old
coach Joe Paterno become a distraction.
Projected record: 9-4
19. USCLast year: 9-4Tough games: Oregon; at
Oregon St.; Notre DamePlayer to watch: DE Nick
PerrySkinny: The Trojans are
a bit of a mess, and there is rebuilding aplenty for first-year coach Lane Kiffin. But there is talent galore.
Season goes north if: The young talent is as good as hoped, Kiffin proves he can coach, and QB Matt Barkley rebounds from an average season.
Season goes south if: Kif-fin proves he can’t coach, and the off-the-field drama sur-rounding the team engulfs the season.
Projected record: 8-4
18. GeorgiaLast year: 8-5Tough games: Arkansas;
Florida; at AuburnPlayer to watch: LB Justin
HoustonSkinny: The Bulldogs
changed defensive coordi-nators, but they have fallen behind LSU, Florida and Ala-bama in the SEC talent race. They’re also starting an inexperienced QB in Aaron Murray.
Season goes north if: WR A.J. Green touches the ball a lot, and Murray proves to be capable of leading a young offense.
Season goes south if: The QB position is a mess, and the defense’s new 3-4 scheme does nothing.
Projected record: 8-5
17. IowaLast year: 11-2Tough games: at Ari-
zona; Penn St.; Ohio St.Player to watch: DE
Adrian ClaybornSkinny: The Hawk-
eyes can’t expect to win as many close games as they did last season, despite the Big Ten being down (again). The Hawkeyes aren’t as good as everyone thinks.
Season goes north if: They win at Arizona, and QB Ricky Stanzi improves his accuracy.
Season goes south if: Iowa plans to rely on winning a slew of close games as it did last season.
Projected record: 9-4
16. Miami (Fla.)Last year: 9-4Player to watch: DE Allen
BaileyTough games: at Ohio St.; at
Pitt; Fla. St.Skinny: A brutal schedule
will keep the ‘Canes from being where they should be in about a year. The defense is stacked, and QB Jacory Harris should become a more con-sistent playmaker.
Season goes north if: A team that figures to be about a year away from dominance is already there.
Season goes south if: This is as good as Harris is, which is erratic and prone to intercep-tions.
Projected record: 9-4
15. North CarolinaLast year: 8-5Tough games: LSU; at
Miami; at Florida State; Vir-ginia Tech
Player to watch: FS Deunta Williams
Skinny: Coach Butch Davis has the Tar Heels’ defense loaded, much the way Mack Brown did in Chapel Hill in the mid-’90s. The offense, however, won’t do much unless redshirt QB Bryn Renner beats out senior T.J. Yates.
Season goes north if: Renner is as good as UNC hopes and the offense con-tributes.
Season goes south if: The offense is an interception waiting to happen, and a defense that is so good is on the field too long.
Projected record: 9-4
14. Oregon StateLast year: 8-5Tough games: at TCU; at
Boise State; at Washington; USC; Oregon
Player to watch: RB Jac-quizz Rodgers
Skinny: The Beavers are settled with experience and talent everywhere, but ... QB is an unknown and the schedule
is a killer.Season goes north if: The
Beavers play to their level. They can beat everyone on their schedule.
Season goes south if: QB Ryan Katz bombs, and the schedule, plus high expecta-tions, are too much to handle.
Projected record: 9-4
13. AuburnLast year: 8-5Tough games: Clemson;
Arkansas; LSU; at AlabamaPlayer to watch: RB Mario
FanninSkinny: Coach Gene Chizik
has Auburn pushing Alabama in recruiting, and the Tigers have enough talent to contend in the SEC West. A lot depends on junior college transfer QB Cameron Newton, who was kicked off the Florida team two years ago because of criminal charges.
Season goes north if: Newton is as good as Florida coach Urban Meyer thought he was and can effectively lead Auburn’s offense, and the defense improves.
Season goes south if: Newton is a bust, and a shaky defense can’t stop people.
Projected record: 9-4
12. PittsburghLast year: 10-3Tough games: at Utah;
Miami; at Notre DamePlayer to watch: RB Dion
LewisSkinny: Coach Dave
Wannstedt’s early recruiting classes are coming around. The offense is loaded, espe-cially with Lewis and star WR Jonathan Baldwin. Pitt should win the Big East.
Season goes north if: The QB competition between Tino Sunseri and Pat Bostick has a clear winner, allowing the Panthers’ offense to fly.
Season goes south if: Erratic QB play, injuries and a late-game collapse kill the
season.Projected record: 11-2
11. OklahomaLast year: 8-5Tough games: Florida State;
at Cincinnati; TexasPlayer to watch: WR Ryan
BroylesSkinny: The Sooners are
healthy, and are set with expe-rienced players at the skill positions. The offensive line is new, and the defense should again be good.
Season goes north if: The O-line jells quickly and QB Landry Jones continues to improve.
Season goes south if: An early-season nonconference loss to Florida State or Cincin-nati, plus a loss against Texas, kills the Sooners’ momentum.
Projected record: 10-3
10. WisconsinLast year: 10-3Tough games: Arizona
State; Ohio State; at IowaPlayer to watch: RB John
ClaySkinny: The Badgers are
good and the Big Ten stinks, meaning when they host the Buckeyes on Oct. 16, a trip to a BCS bowl game should be on the line.
Season goes north if: The defense overcomes the loss of three starters up front. And they beat the Buckeyes.
Season goes south if: Clay can’t remain healthy.
Projected record: 11-2
9. TCULast year: 12-1Tough games: Oregon
State; at Utah; BYUPlayer to watch: WR Jeremy
KerleySkinny: With a four-year
starter at QB in Andy Dalton and plenty of good players, TCU should win the Mountain West. As usual, the defense is loaded and the schedule was created to make a BCS bowl
game push.Season goes north if: The
defense successfully replaces DE Jerry Hughes and LB Daryl Washington, plus the offense carries the load.
Season goes south if: A loss after Week 4 would likely kill the Frogs’ BCS bowl game chances. TCU can lose early, but no non-BCS conference
team has reached a BCS bowl game in consec-
utive seasons.Projected
record: 11-2
8. Virginia Tech
Last year: 10-3
Tough games: Boise State; at North Carolina; at Miami
Player to watch: RB Ryan Williams
Skinny: The offense will control the ball with RBs Dar-
ren Evans, Wil-liams and David
Wilson, plus a solid QB in Tyrod
Taylor. But the defense is inexperienced.
Season goes north if: The running game dominates defenses and the Hokies win their tough games.
Season goes south if: The defense is not good enough to do its part and big-game losses derail the season.
Projected record: 11-2
7. Boise StateLast year: 14-0Tough games: at Virginia
Tech; Oregon StatePlayer to watch: QB Kellen
MooreSkinny: The Broncos return
22 of 24 starters from last season’s undefeated team. This may be Boise State’s best team.
Season goes north if: The Broncos improve from last season and don’t fold under the highest expectations ever for a non-BCS team.
Season goes south if: Boise State loses a game. This team is supposed to go to a BCS bowl game and maybe the title game, but a loss would doom its hopes.
Projected record: 12-2
6. TexasLast year: 13-1Tough games: Oklahoma;
at Nebraska; at Texas TechPlayers to watch: QB Gar-
rett Gilbert; FS Blake GideonPlayer who needs to
improve: OT Britt MitchellLearn this name: WR Mar-
quise GoodwinSkinny: The loss of QB Colt
McCoy is massive, but having Gilbert means this won’t be a wasted season. UT is stacked with talent and should be one of nation’s top defenses.
Season goes north if: Gil-bert avoids any prolonged slumps, and the ‘Horns beat the top two teams on their schedule — OU and Nebraska.
Season goes south if: At this juncture, this team only cares about the BCS; a loss in the Red River Rivalry could kill that dream.
Projected record: 12-2
5. NebraskaLast year: 10-4Tough Games: at Washing-
ton; TexasPlayers to watch: DT Jared
Crick; WR Niles PaulPlayer who needs to
improve: QB Zac LeeLearn this name: CB Prince
AmukamaraSkinny: In their last year
in the Big 12, the ‘Huskers should walk to the Big 12 title game. The schedule is easy, and the team is good. The offense features 10 upper-classmen. The team lost All-America DE Ndamukong Suh, but DT Jared Crick is a poten-tial Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Season goes north if: QB Zac Lee improves on an erratic ‘09 season, and the defense continues its return to the Black Shirt days. Only two teams scored more than 20 points against Nebraska last season.
Season goes south if: Lee and the offense remain errat-ic, at best. And the rest of the Big 12 North sells its soul to beat the school that is leaving the conference.
Projected record: 12-2
4. OregonLast year: 10-3Tough games: at Tennes-
see; at USC; at Cal; at Oregon State
Players to watch: RB LaMi-chael James; LB Casey Mat-thews
Player who needs to improve: CB Cliff Harris
Learn this name: RB Ken-jon Barner
Skinny: The Ducks had a decade’s worth of off-season issues, most notably the dis-missal of QB Jeremiah Masoli. The schedule isn’t favorable, but from talent and experi-ence perspectives, the Ducks are ready to make a run at No. 1.
Season goes north if: Nate Costa or Darron Thomas steps up at quarterback and con-tributes to an offense that has plenty of skill.
Season goes south if: The Pac-10 is better than adver-tised, and the slew of chal-lenging road games catches up with the Ducks.
Projected record: 12-1
3. AlabamaLast year: 14-0Tough games: Penn State;
Florida; at LSU; AuburnPlayer to watch: RB Mark
IngramPlayer who needs to
improve: WR Julio JonesLearn this name: RB Trent
RichardsonSkinny: The Tide’s defense
lost nine starters and the schedule is SEC tough. Despite the fact that he hasn’t lost a game in seemingly forever, there remains some doubt about QB Greg McEl-roy’s ability to make plays.
Season goes north if: A running game that should be the nation’s best is just that, Jones rebounds from an aver-age season before he turns pro, and a defense that is short on experience but long on tal-ent matures quickly.
Season goes south if: Alabama’s reliance on win-ning close games catches up with them, and the team can’t duplicate its magical ‘09 run in a loaded conference.
Projected record: 11-2
2. FloridaLast year: 13-1Tough games: at Alabama;
LSU; Georgia; at Fla. St.Players to watch: QB John
Brantley; FS Will HillPlayer who needs to
improve: WR Deonte Thomp-son
Learn this name: WR Andre Debose
Skinny: Tim Tebow is gone, but the Gators have so much skill and so much tal-ent that even losing a player of his magnitude won’t derail the season. Expect Florida to throw the ball more and expect the defense to be good.
Season goes north if: The defense is a typical Gators defense, and Brantley proves capable of spreading the ball to all of the skill surrounding him.
Season goes south if: Brantley can’t do it, and the defense is a year away. A Gators loss in Alabama on Oct. 2 could be tough to recov-er from.
Projected record: 13-1
1. Ohio StateLast year: 11-2 Tough games: at Wiscon-
sin; at Iowa; MichiganPlayers to watch: QB Ter-
relle Pryor; DE Cameron Heyward
Player who needs to improve: FS Jermale Hines
Learn this name: LB Eti-enne Sabino
Skinny: Ohio State is good, and the Big Ten figures to be weak again, so that should allow the Buckeyes to return to another BCS title game. The schedule is weak, and if Pryor continues to develop the way he did at the end of last season, the Buckeyes will go undefeated.
Season goes north if: Pryor performs the way Vince Young did his junior year at Texas. Pryor can dominate a game, and if he becomes a reliable passer, he’s unstoppable.
Season goes south if: Pryor reverts to his hit-or-miss ways as a passer, allowing defenses to stack the line to stop him as a runner. The Buckeyes are so loaded, it all depends on Pryor’s maturation.
Projected record: 14-0
How it all could shake outBR E A K I N G D OW N T H E P RO J E C T E D E N D - O F-T H E -Y E A R R A N K I N G S
Jay LaPrete/Associated Press/File
If Ohio State quarterback Terrell Pryor can become a more reliable passer, the Buckeyes could be right back in the thick of things yet again.
RANkINGS WeRe PROjeCTed ANd WRITTeN By MAC eNGeL OF THe FORT WORTH STAR-TeLeGRAM ANd NOT BASed ON THe ASSOCIATed PReSS.
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ROOM BY ROOM
MIDTOWN OUTLET
LeatherMatch
By John ZenorAssociated Press
TROY — Troy football coach Larry Blak-eney works in a modest, cramped office, strolls around campus for exercise and is a regular at “The Pig,” a cafe at the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store.
Though Blakeney’s post is a few football fields — and tax brackets — removed from the seven-figure glamour jobs of major col-lege football, only Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and Penn State’s Joe Paterno have led their FBS teams for longer.
He’s had a career that could have landed him one of those big-time jobs, and pay-checks to match, but he doesn’t waste time wondering what might have been if his repu-tation hadn’t been tarnished following a stint as an assistant at Auburn.
Instead, Blakeney is preparing for his 20th season at Troy, having led the Trojans up from Division II to FBS and to the past four Sun Belt Conference titles.
It’s a low-key job in a low-key town in a state where college football is anything but; Alabama’s Nick Saban rakes in $4 million a year a few hours away.
Displaying his trademark humor, the 62-year-old Blakeney points out that there are benefits to his longevity at Troy.
“You sort of know where everything is, I guess. When you get to be my age, you need a good hold on how to get in the building and how many steps there are before you open the door,” he said. “There are advantages, because you get into a routine. And espe-cially if you’re able to win and be successful along the way, that routine is one that you sort of want to maintain if you can.”
It’s worked so far. Blakeney has a 153-77-1 record in his only college head coaching job with seven conference titles and two FCS semifinal appearances before moving up to FBS in 2001. He has won back-to-back Sun Belt coach of the year honors and led the Trojans to a 26-3 league mark during the four-year title run.
Of course, all that got a fraction of the attention of Saban & Co.’s national title last season.
Blakeney has enjoyed enough success at each level on the way up to have pos-sibly earned a shot at a bigger, more well-known program.
The offers haven’t come. Blakeney knows of at least one reason why: His reputation took a hit soon after he start-ed at Troy following 14 seasons as an assistant at alma mater Auburn, where
he played quarterback.He was banned from contact with the
university for his role in violations that led to NCAA probation in 1993. Former player Eric Ramsey admitted that he took money from Blakeney and other assistants.
The ban was lifted a decade ago, but Blak-eney believes “there’s no question” the epi-sode hindered him from being a candidate for a high-profile job.
“I harbor no ill will toward anybody, not even the guy that produced all this problem,” Blakeney said, referring to Ramsey. “Not at all. I still love Auburn and I still have a high regard for the University of Alabama. I’m not a hater of different people. I’m not the least bit bitter, not one iota.”
In fact, he seems quite content. Blakeney’s three daughters have graduated from Charles Hender-son High School near cam-pus and then from Troy. His wife, Janice, sells real estate in the town of 15,000, 45 minutes south of Montgomery.
Plus, they can eat at the cafe they’ve dubbed “The Pig” once a week or so. Saban, meanwhile, seldom ventures into Tuscaloosa restau-rants because he gets mobbed by fans.
“I’ve been able to get to know and main-tain a relationship with the townspeople and the folks in the area,” Blakeney said. “I’ve been certainly part of the small-town envi-ronment. We both sort of grew up that way. We’ve really enjoyed living here.”
Troy defensive coordinator Jeremy Row-ell played on Blakeney’s first Troy team. He calls him a “fabulous coach,” but talks mostly about his personality and folksy charm.
“I’m sure he’d be offended if anybody says he’s a celebrity in this town,” Rowell said. “Everybody throughout the public knows him. He talks to everybody he sees. He’ll go out and eat lunch and people say, ‘Hey
coach.’ And he’ll say hey and know who they are. That’s just been
from being here so long.”And that longevity comes
from winning. Last season, the Trojans were the first
Sun Belt team to go 8-0 in the league before fall-
ing 44-41 to Central Michigan in the GMAC Bowl. They have pulled upsets of Mis-
souri and Oklahoma State since moving up to FBS, the former Divi-
sion I-A.
And Blakeney & Co. also have landed underrated recruiting gems like Osi Umeny-iora and DeMarcus Ware, now in the NFL.
Former players don’t talk so much about his football acumen, though.
“He’s just such a people person,” said Mike Turk, a former Troy quarterback and assistant coach. “If you’re around him five minutes you want to be around him for 10 more. At a place like Troy where there’s a lot of good people, they recognize a good per-son, a genuine person.
“There have been a lot of people willing to help him with the program. It takes that. For a school like Troy in a small town to be as successful as it has on the ultimate level of football, you kind of have to have everybody on board. And he is that guy.”
Blakeney also has changed with the times, switching from a run-oriented option attack to a fast-paced spread offense.
“The way he termed it was he was going to put the cart before the horse,” said Turk, now head coach at Division III Huntingdon in Montgomery. “We were going to start running that style of offense before we had the players to run it. We took a lump or two along the way.
“You see the results now.”Blakeney couldn’t have mapped out his
career track, even minus the Ramsey situa-tion.
After graduating from Auburn, he spent three months with a paper company in Atlanta. It was the last time he worked out of the state. He came back to sell insurance for a company partly owned by Bear Bryant.
Blakeney was sitting in a barbershop in his tiny hometown of Gordo, just outside
Tuscaloosa, when a friend told him the Southern Academy coach had quit
about a week before the season. Another friend recommended him
for the job even though he had never coached.
Eight days later, they won their first game, 6-0, he said. They played for the state title in AISA, a
private schools league, the second year. Two more high school stops led
him back to Auburn.“A lot of things happen and sometimes
you don’t know why,” Blakeney said. “I think I was being manipulated a little bit by forces that knew what I needed to do. It’s turned out to be right 40 years later, at least from the standpoint of being happy, having a little success and being around some great folks along the way.”
No sense in wonderingContent years after tainted exit from Auburn, Troy’s Blakeney doesn’t ask ‘What if?’
Troy coach Larry Blak eney has proved over the years he can coach with the big boys of college football.
Dave Martin/AP/File
Page 6 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star ohio valley conference
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By al [email protected]
When the NCAA expanded its Football Championship Subdivision playoffs to 20 teams for this season, one of the first organi-zations to stand and applaud was the Ohio Valley Conference.
The OVC has long desired getting a sec-ond team into postseason play, but has long been disappointed — even when it believed it had multiple worthy teams.
Well, the expansion of the playoffs, just by its numbers, while not guaranteeing the OVC a second team, at least makes it more possible.
“If it doesn’t make it easier, then we are the most biased of any place I’ve ever been,” JSU coach Jack Crowe said.
The expansion allows two more automatic berths —to the Big South and Northeast conferences — and two more at-large bids to bal-ance the field.
The OVC is hopeful one of those additional at-large berths comes its way and not, say, to a league like the Colonial Athletic Confer-ence that already dominates the field.
“That’s the way we’re going to approach it,” UT Martin coach Jason Simpson said. “We hope that it makes a staple thing to count on each year that there’s going to be two. Until they tell me different, that’s the way I’m going to approach it.”
Since the automatic qualifying process of the I-AA/FCS playoffs began in 1993, the OVC has gotten a second team in the field seven times. The last time was 2007.
The conference might have gotten two in last year had Jacksonville State, which posted the best record in the league, not been ineligible because of its academic progress sanctions. As it was, the Gamecocks were the highest ranked team not in the playoffs when the bracket was announced.
And the league might have gotten two the year before when the Gamecocks were left out at 8-3, bumped for a Maine team that gave the CAA five in the 16-team field.
That same year, Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin were playing at the end of the season with the realization the winner would go to the playoff and the loser was staying home. Martin’s wrench in that mix was it had two non-Division I wins on its ledger, so the Sky-hawks had to win the game to go.
They didn’t win, Eastern Kentucky went and was beaten by Richmond 38-10.
“The year we didn’t get two in, in 2008, that wasn’t right — that wasn’t right,” Crowe said. “You take the fourth team out of the league, that bunch wouldn’t have stood as we would. (A 20-team field) ought to keep that vote from happening, because I think we
were the next one. They took 16; I think they said we were 17.”
“That definitely gives us a better chance,” EKU coach Dean Hood said. “I don’t think it’ll happen every year, but I think it gives us a better chance.”
But one factor that may have held the OVC back was its postseason history. The league sends teams to the playoffs with its automatic bid, but it never makes it past the first round. Over the last nine years, the OVC is 0-12 in the playoffs. JSU contributed two lopsided losses to that ledger — 45-7 at West-ern Kentucky in 2003 and 49-7 at Furman in 2004.
In fact, during that 12-game playoff losing streak, OVC teams have been outscored an average of 40-15. Only two of the games were decided by fewer than seven points.
It doesn’t do much for your reputation when your representative dominates the league, then gets its head handed to it the first time it ventures outside.
The last OVC team to win a playoff game — Western Kentucky in 2000 – isn’t even in the league anymore.
“When you have the OVC and we haven’t won a playoff game in years and if I’m sit-ting there on the committee, I’m not putting two in there, either,” Hood said. “I look
at the CAA every year and if it’s not Appala-chian State or Montana, it’s someone from the CAA winning the championship, and it’s always someone different from that league.
“Those guys are getting into the playoffs and winning games so they deserve to get four, five, six or how ever many teams they get in there. For us to get another team in, we have to win some playoff games.”
Eastern Illinois knows the OVC’s postsea-son pain perhaps better than anyone. The Panthers have lost their last eight playoff games going back to 1996. They were taken out last year by then-No. 1 Southern Illinois, 48-7.
“We, along with everybody else from the OVC that has been in the first round, have not serviced our conference very well,” EIU coach Bob Spoo said. “If we’d have won a couple of those games and advanced a little bit, I think people would have a little more respect for the OVC.
“We need to be able to advance. We’ve got to have strong showings, whether it be maybe upsetting some of these IA teams we’re playing along the way to get our rank-ings up high initially, but playing good solid football and gaining the respect of the coun-try a little bit more … The league as a whole has to get more respect, and that’s a matter of winning.”
Al Muskewitz covers Jacksonville State sports for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577.
LoneLy no more?
Eastern Kentucky University photo
Eastern Kentucky is the only OVC school to have won the national title twice. They’ve made a league-high 19 appearance.
Expansion of playoffs could give OVC a more frequent companion
OVC TEAMS IN FCS/I-AA PLAYOFFS
1979: Eastern Kentucky, Murray State1980: Eastern Kentucky1981: Eastern Kentucky1982: Eastern Kentucky1983: Eastern Kentucky1984: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee1985: Akron, Middle Tennessee1986: Eastern Kentucky, Murray State1987: Eastern Kentucky, Youngstown State1988: Eastern Kentucky1989: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee1990: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee1991: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee1992: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee1993: Eastern Kentucky1994: Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee (at-large)1995: Murray State, Eastern Ken-tucky (at-large)1996: Murray State, Eastern Illinois (at-large)1997: Eastern Kentucky1998: Tennessee State1999: Tennessee State2000: Western Kentucky, Eastern Illinois (at-large)2001: Eastern Illinois2002: Murray State, Eastern Illinois (at-large)2003: Jacksonville State2004: Jacksonville State2005: Eastern Illinois2006: UT Martin, Eastern Illinois (at-large)2007: Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois (at-large)2008: Eastern Kentucky2009: Eastern Illinois
Editor’s note: From 1979-92, all playoff participants were deter-mined on an at-large basis. The automatic-qualifying process began in 1993.
“We hope that it makes a staple thing to count on each year that there’s
going to be two.”— Jason Simpson,
UT Martin coach
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The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 7OhiO Valley COnferenCe
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6
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eay
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6
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Def
enSe
G
Co
mp
Att
In
t P
ct. Y
ards
Avg
. TD
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g/G
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acks
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lle S
tate
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13
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9
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4
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15
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ness
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11
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15
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6
6.8
11
17
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sour
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urra
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ate
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12
50
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tern
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7
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11
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eay
11
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SS e
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Co
mp
Att
In
t P
ct.
Yard
s T
D
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kson
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te
11
177
29
9
4
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26
65
27
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22.
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tin
11
217
36
2
16
59.9
26
73
16
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73.
Eas
tern
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ois
12
18
4
327
11
56
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2288
19
12
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4. T
enne
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h
11
159
27
6
8
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91
13
124.
95.
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tern
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11
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9
57.0
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7
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06.
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11
181
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1
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84
11
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17.
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thea
st M
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7
13
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16
06
11
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ness
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tate
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11
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2009
ov
c T
eA
M s
TAT
isT
ics
Page 8 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
+ +
If the do-over
Differenthad turned out
National acclaim, bowl games, big-time revenue ... all might have transpired if Jacksonville State could have hung on in ’05 and downed then-No. 2 Furman
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 9
Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star
JSU will christen its new digs on Sept. 11. Had the Gamecocks defeated Furman in 2005, the wave of enthusiasm around the program might have already made this a reality.
99
AnnistonArmyDepot
Supermarketof Benefits FAIRLearn
What Benefits- Services Are Available
How and Where To Access Them
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and Survivors are Invited
Anniston Meeting Center
“One game can make that much difference,” JSU head coach Jack Crowe said. “When you’re dealing with a state of mind, one play, one game, could change the direction of a football program. There’s no doubt about it.
“A lot of coaches, if you really were to talk to them, would say, ‘Hey, tell me the play that appreciably changed something going forward from that point.’”
If the Gamecocks had just pulled off that one play, here’s what might have been:
They beat a recognized national power on their level, a team that crushed them 49-7 in the first round of the NCAA playoffs the year before.
The euphoria of that victory ignites a wave of enthusiasm that accelerates the conversation of expanding the sta-dium and moving to Division I-A at least two years earlier than it actually hap-pens.
In doing so at that time, they beat getting caught in the NCAA moratorium on teams moving between or within divisions and could be playing in the Sun Belt or some other bowl-eligible conference right now.
On a more imme-diate scale, maybe they don’t start that season 0-3 — for the first time since 1996 — with three gut-wrenching losses and perhaps become a playoff team for the third year in a row, validating their posi-tion as at least a regional power in Division I-AA.
Instead, they lost the following week to Chattanooga in the final min-ute and the week after that at UAB when their comeback was thwarted in the final minute by the recovery of an onsides kick.
“What would have happened dif-ferently is that football team’s men-tality would have changed,” Crowe said. “Would it have been to the bet-ter or the not-so-good? Were we at the time mature enough to seize the moment or ride the momentum to a higher level?
“Seizing the momentum, we may have become a 3-0 team. I think we would have conceivably been a better team playing UAB. I think our men-tality against Chattanooga may have made the difference in that game. That would have made us maybe a playoff team.
“What difference would it have made to be in the playoffs there? I
think it would have accelerated a lot of the things you’re talking about … For our conference, for national recognition, I think everything would have changed. There would have been a major mindset shift.”
q qJump into the Way-Back Machine
and turn the dials back to that Labor Day night against Furman.
The Gamecocks trailed by 10 points with 11:15 to play, but rallied to take a 35-31 lead with 1:27 to play.
Furman quarterback Ingle Mar-tin, a transfer from Florida, drove the Paladins 74 yards in nine plays, accounting for all the yardage him-
self. With the ball at the 9 and six sec-onds left, the Game-cocks put on a heavy rush, and Haneef Haqq hit Martin just as the quarterback released the ball.
The stadium erupted as the clock hit all zeroes, but the officials on the field ruled it an incomplete pass and ordered one second back on the clock.
With new life and the JSU sideline frantically signaling the defense into a call, adding to the confusion – Crowe, certain he knew what was com-ing, wanted pres-sure; the assistants wanted blanket pass coverage – Martin found Justin Stepp
in the back of the end zone between defensive backs Kenny Brown and Darren Williams.
In the blink of an eye, what moments earlier seemed like the big-gest win in the school’s Division I his-tory became a bitter defeat.
“I still think about that (game), because there was no way they should have put a second back on the clock,” Crowe said. “You put that in front of 100 officials, they’d say that doesn’t work.
“That would have been a state-ment game for the program. We haven’t had a statement game. We’ve had some games I’m really proud of, but we haven’t had that incremental leap, and we’re due.”
As painful as that loss was to absorb, in retrospect, defensive coor-dinator Greg Stewart believes that game actually set the Gamecocks on the path to believing they could make the move up.
“To me, the win and loss was not important,” he said. “It showed me we could play with the upper-eche-lon of I-AA as far as making it happen quicker. It may have helped because
JACKSONVILLE
Imagine how things might be within the Jacksonville State foot-ball program today if the final minute of its game on Sept. 1, 2005, had turned out differently.
That was the night the Gamecocks lost their season opener at home to second-ranked Furman on a memorable last-second do-over that allowed the Paladins to complete a game-win-
ning touchdown pass to the back of the end zone on the last play of the game.
The Gamecocks will cut the ribbon on a shiny refurbished football stadium they say will be the envy of their class in their 2010 home opener on Sept. 11. The possibility still exists for the program to go to the highest level of college football when the NCAA moratorium comes off in 2011.
But imagine how much sooner those things — and maybe more — might have been in place had the clock been allowed to expire or the Gamecocks knocked down that last-play pass.
“I still think about that
(game), because there was no
way they should have put a
second back on the clock.”
— JSU coach Jack Crowe on the 2005 Furman game
Please see JSU ❙ Page 11
OPPOSITE: Steve Latham/Jacksonville State/File; ABOVE: Anniston Star file photo
In the season opener of 2005, Furman, pictured above, scored on the final play of the game — one that referees allowed to be done over — to knock off upset-minded Jack-sonville State. The game still eats at JSU coach Jack Crowe, pictured opposite.
B y A L m u S K E w I t z • S tA r S p O r t S w r I t E r
Page 10 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star Jacksonville state gamecocks
+ +
Quarterback
12 Marques Ivory 6-1, 235 Jr.
11 Coty Blanchard 6-0, 180 Fr.
Fullback
46 Alphonso Freeney 6-1, 220 Sr.
41 Cole Doolittle 5-10, 230 Jr.
tailback
3 Calvin Middleton 5-11, 220 Jr.
8 Jamal Young 5-7, 175 Sr.
Wide receiver
21 La’Ray Williams 5-11, 190 Jr.
7 John Whiddon 6-0, 185 Sr.
leFt tackle
77 Curt Porter 6-7, 307 Sr.
68 Taylor Johnstone 6-3, 312 Fr.
leFt Guard
78 De’Von Hayes 6-5, 310 Jr.
73 Colt Kennedy 6-6, 300 Fr.
center
75 Tyler Ogletree 6-1, 295 Sr.
62 Max Holcombe 6-3, 271 Fr.
riGht Guard
74 Justin Kay 6-3, 290 Sr.
70 Ricky Clemons 6-5, 288 Fr.
riGht tackle
69 Tori Mobley 6-3, 280 So.
58 Odie Rush 6-3, 292 Jr.
tiGht end
44 Cory Freeman 6-3, 245 Sr.
81 Justin Howard 6-3, 245 Jr.
Wide receiver
1 James Cameron 6-2, 185 Sr.
4 James Shaw 6-0, 195 Jr.
cornerback
20 A.J. Davis 6-0, 183 Jr.
38 Francis Duncan 5-11, 167 So.
SaFety
9 Jason Horton 6-0, 202 Jr.
14 Brooks Robinson 6-2, 201 So.
WeakWide linebacker
43 Morrell Jones 6-0, 235 Sr.
36 Brent Tolson 6-0, 195 Fr.
StronGSide linebacker
54 Antonio Bonner 6-2, 245 Sr.
19 Rod Byrd 6-0, 230 Jr.
bandit
49 Rodney Garrott 6-1, 255 Jr.
deFenSive end
96 DiMetrio Tyson 6-2, 275 So.
53 Marquis George 6-4, 242 Jr.
SaFety
28 Keginald Harris 6-3, 200 So.
24 Nick Johnson 5-11, 185 So.
noSeGaurd
91 Michael Ellis 6-2, 285 Jr.
99 Tim McGee 6-5, 301 Sr.
deFenSive tackle
93 Jamison Wadley 6-3, 282 Jr.
97 Armani Williams 6-2, 277 Fr.
rover
90 Monte Lewis 6-3, 251 Jr.
23 Kevin Dix 6-2, 260 Sr.
cornerback
15 T.J. Heath 6-1,170 Sr.
2 Jawaan Booker 5-11, 180 Jr.
By al [email protected]
JackSonville — When a team has been doing something for almost 10 years, you have to figure it has got the basics down pat.
Jacksonville State has been in its 3-4 defense for eight years now — ever since it joined the Ohio Valley Conference — and while the Gamecocks haven’t exactly per-fected their play in the scheme, they’re get-ting pretty good at it.
If you look at their stats or the NCAA rankings since the switch, with the excep-tion of the occasional dip, the trend is improving numbers every year. Even when there has been a spike, the numbers are better the following season.
“It’s a lot different now than it ever was,” Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe said. “When you work at something long enough, you ought to see improvement.”
In 2003, the first season they went to it, they ranked 93rd out of 121 Division I-AA teams nationally in total defense (397.17 yards per game), 119th in pass defense (276.50) and 47th in scoring defense (23.17 points) — all their worst position since the transition.
Last season, when their won-loss record was good enough to get them in the NCAA playoffs but their past academic sins wouldn’t allow it, they ranked 23rd in total defense (304.82), eighth in pass defense (154.91) and 12th in scoring defense
(17.09) — and that was with playing two nationally ranked BCS teams to open the year.
In the middle of it all — 2006 — they ranked in the top 20 of all five major statis-tical defensive categories.
“We do focus on improvement,” Crowe said. “Maybe not the statistical improve-ment as much as the functional improve-ment. I’ve always thought we made honest evaluations with ourselves. We’re not afraid to say we’re not very good here or there. Honest assess-ments are the begin-ning of whatcha gonna do about it.
“The biggest part of it is raising the level of players who are play-ing, but the other part of it is — and I give a lot of credit to Greg (Stew-art, the Gamecocks’ defensive coordinator) — we’ve become a little more specialized.”
The word that immediately comes to mind is sophisticated. A couple weeks ago, Stewart pointed over to a bookshelf in his office that contained several defensive playbooks two inches thick of paper that needed to be installed in the first six days
of training camp. He calls it “getting out of the box.” Of course, what gets used from its pages are determined by the specific oppo-nent, but the players still have to know it all.
“The last thing he wants to be accused of is that, that’s not his style,” Crowe said of his coordina-tor. “I do think we have become pretty sophisticated. That requires you have smart football players and a highly integrat-ed coaching process for smarter players. We can present a problem every week to somebody.
“We’ve probably finally fully evolved more to what I under-stood as Brother’s (Bill Oliver) approach to it, but we really had to evolve there. It wasn’t ‘OK, line up
and do this.’ … Every spring it looks like to me we go out there with an understanding of where we are and where we need to get.”
It also makes things easier when the same guy is in place directing traffic. Stew-art, the longest-tenured defensive coordi-nator and assistant coach currently in the OVC, is in his 20th season on the JSU staff
and has been the only DC the Gamecocks have known during Crowe’s term as head coach. He has seen the transition of their 3-4 come a long way.
“When we first started doing it, if you were watching it and knew anything about the 3-4, it was probably pretty embar-rassing, because we were feeling our way through everything,” Stewart said. “I think we’re very comfortable with it now.”
It’s a scheme that optimizes speed, especially on the outside, making it tough for blockers to get into the second level of defense. Graduated linebacker Alexander Henderson had more than 100 tackles each of the last two seasons. As a team, the Gamecocks averaged 72 tackles for loss and 20 sacks each of the last two seasons and are looking for ways to put even more pressure on the football this season.
Junior defensive tackle Jamison Wadley admitted he didn’t think he’d like playing the scheme when he first stepped into it, but now he embraces it as routine.
“We’ve been playing it so long now, it just seems like second nature,” he said. “Me and Monte (Lewis) have been togeth-er since we were freshmen, so we’ve done basically the same thing three years now, and it just makes everything a lot easier. You don’t have to think when you’re out there playing; you can just relax and play. That makes the game real easy.”
Al Muskewitz covers Jacksonville State sports for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577.
defensive outlook
Getting a set in their waysBill Wilson/The Anniston Star/File
The Gamecocks have gone from a bend-don’t-break defense to now becoming a stout unit that ranks nationally in keeping opponents out of the end zone.
“We do focus on improvement ...
We’re not afraid to say we’re not very
good here or there.”— Jack Crowe,
JSU coach
Nearing a decade in the 3-4 scheme, Gamecocks making outside speed their signature
n a m e S a n d n u m b e r S
Top 10 RUSHING gP-gs att net avg tD long avg/g Calvin Middleton 11-5 126 629 5.0 6 43 57.2 Jamal Young 11-3 100 523 5.2 4 48 47.5 Ryan Perrilloux 10-10 98 443 4.5 8 48 44.3 Drec Lindley 4-0 22 125 5.7 1 25 31.2 Alphonso Freeney 11-10 20 99 4.9 0 17 9.0 Jahron Brown 8-0 13 56 4.3 1 11 7.0 Brandon George 8-3 17 56 3.3 0 9 7.0 Marques Ivory 9-1 24 50 2.1 0 14 5.6 James Shaw 10-0 6 42 7.0 0 15 4.2 Rod Byrd 6-0 1 27 27.0 0 27 4.5 team total 11 435 2077 4.8 20 48 188.8 opponents 11 436 1665 3.8 14 74 151.4
pASSING gP-gs c-a-i Pct yards tD avg/g Ryan Perrilloux 10-10 138-236-2 58.5 2350 23 235.0 Marques Ivory 9-1 39-60-1 65.0 315 4 35.0 TEAM 5-0 0-2-0 0.0 0 0 0.0 Jamal Young 11-3 0-1-1 0.0 0 0 0.0 total 11 177-299-4 59.2 2665 27 242.3 opponents 11 138-272-9 50.7 1704 6 154.9
Top 10 RECEIVING gP-gs no. yards avg tD avg/g James Wilkerson 11-9 36 716 19.9 6 65.1 Greg Smith 11-11 30 485 16.2 4 44.1 James Shaw 10-0 19 281 14.8 2 28.1 La’Ray Williams 10-2 15 270 18.0 1 27.0 Justin Howard 9-1 15 148 9.9 4 16.4 Jamal Young 11-3 15 147 9.8 2 13.4 Alan Bonner 11-0 14 300 21.4 4 27.3 Alphonso Freeney 11-10 12 102 8.5 1 9.3 Cory Freeman 11-10 6 42 7.0 0 3.8 Calvin Middleton 11-5 5 66 13.2 1 6.0 team total 11 177 2665 15.1 27 242.3 opponents 11 138 1704 12.3 6 154.9
dEfENSE solo ast. tot. tFl scks45 Alexander Henderson 77 38 115 7 - 17 1 - 8 13 Josh Cain 44 23 67 4 - 9 . 23 Kevin Dix 35 14 49 7 - 34 6 - 32 34 Andrew Ridgeway 30 17 47 1 - 4 . 43 Morrell Jones 24 16 40 3 - 10 . 35 Eric Russell 30 10 40 5 - 11 1 - 2 92 Brandt Thomas 19 19 38 9 - 25 4 - 7 26 Carnell Clark 20 16 36 1 - 1 . 15 T.J. Heath 21 13 34 2 - 4 . 54 Antonio Bonner 20 12 32 3 - 9 . 93 Jamison Wadley 20 10 30 2 - 5 . 2 Jawaan Booker 13 13 26 . . 28 Keginald Harris 17 8 25 . . 20 A.J. Davis 15 8 23 1 - 4 . 90 Monte’ Lewis 12 9 21 6 - 28 2 - 19 96 Dimetrio Tyson 13 7 20 4 - 17 1 - 1 47 Chris Findley 11 6 17 . . 91 Michael Ellis 12 5 17 4 - 6 . 99 Torrey Davis 10 6 16 5 - 12 3 - 4 31 Santez Mays 10 5 15 6 - 16 4 - 14 9 Jason Horton 10 5 15 1 - 1 . 49 Rodney Garrott 11 3 14 7 - 32 4 - 24 24 Nick Johnson 5 5 10 1 - 1 . 48 Rylee Zalanka 3 6 9 . . 14 Brooks Robinson 5 3 8 . . 39 Matt Thompkins 6 1 7 1 - 1 . 30 Michael Owens 5 1 6 . . 4 James Shaw 3 3 6 . . 22 Brandon George 5 . 5 . . 27 Patrick Tatum 2 3 5 . . 21 La’Ray Williams 4 . 4 . . 19 Rod Byrd 2 1 3 . . 1 Greg Smith 2 1 3 . . 44 Cory Freeman 1 1 2 . . 83 Brandon Rogers 2 . 2 . . 46 Alphonso Freeney 1 1 2 . .
oFFenSive depth chart deFenSive depth chart2 0 0 9 S t a t i S t i c S
Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File
Ryan Perrilloux finished with 2,793 yards of total offense for JSU last season.
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 11Jacksonville state gamecocks11
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By al muskewitz [email protected]
JACKSONVILLE — With a talent like Ryan Perrilloux in the mix, Jacksonville State had the luxury the past two seasons of attacking opposing defenses in a variety of ways.
Now that Perrilloux has moved on, the Gamecocks are turning to an old standby.
“We’re going to try to get back to run-ning the ball,” JSU coach Jack Crowe said. “That’s not a reflection on any shortcom-ing that Marques (Ivory) had, because I don’t think he has any shortcomings, but we just think we can control games better running the ball than we can throwing it.”
The Gamecocks have had a long histo-ry of running the ball, and the results bear out it being the best way for them to go.
Every year since 2003, when they have won the Ohio Valley Conference or gone down to the wire with a chance to win the league, they led the conference in rushing.
When they won their first league title in 2003, they averaged 242 yards a game rushing, which ranked 12th nationally. When they backed it up with another title in 2004, they averaged 260 yards a game, sixth nationally.
The following year, when they played for the title in the last game, they averaged 215 yards. Last year, when they had the best conference record despite not being eligible for the title, they averaged nearly 190 yards a game on the ground.
Perrilloux had such a strong and accu-rate arm, it would have been ridiculous not to go that route. And he developed a deep-threat combination with Maurice Dupree and James Wilkerson.
Crowe isn’t sure what the down-the-field passing game holds for the Game-
cocks this year, although they have a solid corps of receivers.
“We may develop into being as good or better than we’ve ever been,” he said. “With Perrilloux, it was a given … but a lot of it was not based on one individual’s skills, but on the combination. That evolved so naturally for Ryan and those receivers that when you saw it, that was just going to be part of what you did. But on the other side, we lost the EKU game (in 2008) trying to throw it too much.
“I think we can control games better with more run-ning. It’s like Mack Brown said at Texas. It felt like you weren’t in control of games, but had a guy who was so good with the receivers you’ve got, you want to get the numbers. Most of the times it worked out, but it didn’t always. Are we still going to throw the ball down the field? Yes. Are we going to be able to force that hand against every-body we play? I’m not going to bet the house on it.”
And that’s just fine with Ivory, who steps into the starter’s role he was recruit-ed to have as a true freshman after two years behind Perrilloux.
Ivory can throw the ball — he threw 193 yards and two touchdowns in his start
against Georgia Tech last year — and he’ll stay in the pocket longer than Perrilloux, who was apt to take off to make a play on his own when it appeared things were col-lapsing around him. Ivory’s greatest value in this offense is as a game manager, mak-ing sure the ball gets to the right people at the right time.
“That’s how I’d prefer it to be (even) if I were playing for him for three years starting,” Ivory said. “It’s not that I don’t like (throwing) it or couldn’t handle hav-
ing to throw the ball a lot, it just makes it a whole lot easier on everybody.
“It makes it easier to call plays. You can do a whole bunch of things because you have a good running game. It’s a concept I like.”
The Game-cocks certainly appear to have the weapons for it.
Calvin Middleton returned in the fall a trimmer version of the junior who led the Gamecocks in rushing last season. And the running game got a big boost late in train-ing camp when Darius “Tig” Barksdale, a former Parade All-American and Missis-sippi Mr. Football, transferred in from Ole Miss.
Middleton and Barksdale are brack-eted at one running back spot — perhaps the power side of the equation — while
speedsters Jamal Young and Richard Freelon are bracketed at the other.
It has the potential to give the Game-cocks a production line of backs similar to the run they enjoyed early in Crowe’s tenure when they ran through — in order — Payton Award candidate Rondy Rog-ers, Kory Chapman (Barksdale’s cousin), Oscar Bonds and Clay Green. Only this time, all four are on the team at the same time.
“We won the championship with really dominant runners,” Crowe said. “I’m going to try to integrate all four of these guys (into the plan).”
The one drawback, however, has been the rash of injuries that has run through their offensive line. An expected strength at the end of spring, the line now is a cause for concern.
The Gamecocks lost guard Matt Jones to off-season knee surgery and likely will lose All-OVC guard Tylor Chambers to hand problems. The other veterans — All-OVC tackle Curt Porter, Tyler Ogletree and Justin Kay — and projected first-time starter Tori Mobley all have missed time in camp with injuries.
It’s prompted Crowe to say they were “so far off schedule” and “lost ground” on offense two weeks before the opener.
“You can’t be consistent there if you’re not consistent on the offensive line,” Crowe said.
If the Gamecocks can get it together, they could have the kind of year that gets them back in the NCAA playoffs.
“That’s what we aim for,” Middleton said. “There’s going to be a lot of focus on the running game. We’ll have to step up.”
Al Muskewitz covers Jacksonville State sports for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577.
everybody could see we could compete at that level ... because nobody thought we could before then.”
q qJSU officials have long known the time
had come to upgrade their athletic facili-ties, which in the mid-70s were consid-ered among the best in Division II. They continue to say, as if to make a pre-emp-tive strike on the criticism of considering a move to the Championship Subdivi-sion, that is the driving force of the $65 million stadium/dormitory project.
The arguments against the project were varied, but mostly tied to on-field performance and the economy. The arguments to proceed were the financial windfall they would stand to attract and thereby pay off the debt and, once they move up, they’ll be able to recruit better athletes to become competitive within the ranks.
“My idea all the time is for us to be the best we can be in our division,” trustee Red Etheredge said. “Get to where we’re the Tiffany of our league — the team everybody wants to whip.”
Fast forward to 2007, two years after the Furman heartbreak.
At one time, the stadium project was tied to the possibility of federal funding for a combined regional medical facility, but that fell through and ultimately was replaced by the dorm component. Board of Trustees member Jim Coxwell initially proposed the project and exploration of
the football program moving to I-A. The idea got the go-ahead a short time later, drawing protects from students and fac-ulty alike. Even the vote among the trust-ees was mixed.
“I voted for the stadium, not the num-ber (cost),” Coxwell said after the decisive board meeting. Trustee Ronnie Smith questioned the wisdom of the move given the economic climate of the time, but said he would support the decision if it were approved.
The stadium immediately met with engineering problems that added to its price tag.
But all that seems to have been resolved, and whatever future fate holds for the JSU football program, the stadium is built now. It opens with a lot of pomp and ceremony on Sept. 11, and at least one board member is confident it will be a winner.
“I think when those five teams come in here this year, it’s going to blow their socks away,” Etheredge said.
q qWhile the 2005 Furman game may
have been the most pointed turning point of the program, given the events that have followed it, there have been other games in the Gamecocks’ Division I lifetime that might have accelerated their ambitions.
No one will forget how close the Gamecocks were to upsetting Florida State last year in the rain in Tallahassee. Pull that one off and they become that year’s Appalachian State.
Take the 1999 game with McNeese State. Sure, the Gamecocks were going through the turmoil of a midseason coaching change and ultimately finished
1-10, paving the way for Crowe’s arrival, but it certainly would have been a coup for a fledgling Division I program to knock off one of the nation’s most highly regarded programs.
And it might have happened had JSU defensive back Eriles McCullough simply fallen on a loose ball along the sideline instead of trying to return it. Instead, the ball went out of bounds back to the Cow-boys, who eventually scored and won in overtime 39-36.
UT Martin head coach Jason Simpson was a JSU assistant at the time. Although the game took place more than a decade ago, he still chuckles when asked about it.
“Every once in a while I’ll pull out the old media guides and flip through them and, as you go down the scores, you think about the losses,” he said. “I think about that one and the Northwestern State game when we were up maybe 25 points at the half and got beat. That puts you at 8-3, and it’s a different mindset than 7-4.
“Anytime you beat a quality opponent like McNeese, anybody would take that, especially when you have them on the ropes like that. It was definitely a morale (buster) ... it hurt. It definitely did. Any momentum you were trying to build, def-initely it slowed down that day because that was a game that was well within our grasp.”
It might not have saved any job, but it would have left them feeling good about themselves — and maybe even put the wheels of progress in motion a little sooner.
Al Muskewitz covers Jacksonville State sports for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3577.
JSU RUSHING STATS(Since 2003)
RankingsYear Record Yards OVC NCAA2003 8-4, 7-1* 242.08 1 122004 9-2, 7-1* 260.27 1 62005 6-5, 6-2 215.27 1 172006 6-5, 5-3 169.55 3 332007 6-5, 5-3 166.55 7 512008 8-3, 6-2 182.45 2 262009 8-3, 6-1** 188.82 1 15
*-OVC champions**-Best record in OVC, but ineligible for title
JSUContinued from Page 9
Gamecocks back on the runStephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File
Jacksonville State’s Calvin Middleton, pictured, and Darius Barksdale are both getting work as the No. 1 running back in JSU’s new ground-oriented attack.
Without weapon like Perrilloux, Crowe returning to his old ways
The Anniston Star
FAITHEvery Saturday
Offensiveoutlook
Page 12 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
+ +
12
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✩college footballWednesday, september 1, 2010 • page 13
The Anniston Star
Whistle stop
At both Auburn and Alabama, head coaches were ousted to make room for change. While the reactions of the fan bases differed, both seem happy now. However, small things here and there could have made it all turn out much differently. ALABAMA, pAge 14 • AuBurn, pAge 18
• Cam Newton has moved around, but the highly touted quarterback is excited to make a home at Auburn. page 20
• Auburn’s woefully short-handed defense struggled to make it through 2009, which was year one under coor-dinator Ted Roof. The Tigers have more help at safety and linebacker this season, and Roof is cautiously optimistic about how much improvement they can show in 2010. page 21
• Depth chart. page 21
AuBurn T i g e R s
• With so much inexperience on defense, the Crimson Tide’s talented offense will be counted on to carry the team as its teammates on defense mature. page 16
• special teams were special in Alabama’s run to the BCs national title in 2009. This year, the Tide is searching for players to replace departed stars like Leigh Tiffin, P.J. Fitzgerald and Javier Are-nas. page 17
• Depth chart. page 17
ALABAMA C R i m s o N T i D e
p r e vi e W o f t h e S o u t h e A S t e r n c o n f e r e n c e A n d c o M p o S i t e S c h e d u L e • pA g e S 2 2 - 2 3
Page 14 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
+ +
YesA s i m p l e
A n D T h e T i D e ’smanw o u l D n o T
be i n T ’ Tow n
Rich Rodriguez said no, then nick saban said yes ... only after
saying no. since that fortunate turn for Alabama, the careers of the
two college football coaches have turned in opposite directions.
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 15
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One might even say it was fate dropping hints that Saban would end up with the Crim-son Tide. After all, in high school, he wore the same hallowed No. 12 that some of Alabama’s most famous leaders have worn.
And he did win his first title with the Tide at the Rose Bowl, the place where Alabama won its first decades ago.
But amid all that, there’s one single moment in time that is anything but subtle. It’s the day then-West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said, “No.”
q qShula set the wheels into motion, seemingly
from the moment he arrived in Tuscaloosa. After two mediocre years, he looked to be
making serious improvement with 10 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory in 2005.
Looks can be — and in this case they were — deceiving. Alabama was back in the very same rut the very next year. With a 1-11 record against Auburn, LSU and Tennessee, Shula’s loss to Mississippi State in 2006 put his exit into high gear.
“The funny thing is, the talent was there,” said quarterback Greg McElroy, whose first year was Shula’s last. “The talent was there in my first year. It was just the mindset.
“You had a lot of negative leadership.”With Shula gone, names for his possible
replacement swirled around college football, ESPN and the Internet. They all but ended with everyone’s hot-shot darling of the day.
Rodriguez is coming to Alabama. If one source reported it, one hundred did.
The Crimson Tide wanted a proven winner, and Rodriguez was it.
He’d won everywhere he’d been, turning
around small Glenville State in just three sea-sons en route to coaching his alma mater. In the end, only Michigan was able to pry him away from his home the next year, much to the cha-grin of Alabama fans.
Ever since that one wrinkle in time, their lives have followed the course of polar oppo-sites. Saban put Alabama on the fast-train to success, while Rodriquez has all but derailed the tradition-rich Michigan program.
“Part of the problem was he tried to change the entire culture of Michigan,” said former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware, now an ESPN analyst. “You’ve got to be careful in terms of what you ask for when you’re wanting a change — fan-wise, alumni-wise.
“Basically, a conventional pro-style offense that they’d run at Michigan for a long period of time, and you change the culture in a sense when you go all spread. … It’s the same thing if Alabama had made that hire.”
Rodriquez posted a 3-9 record in his first season, breaking a streak of 33 straight bowl appearances. The next season, 2009, the Wol-verines found themselves on the other side of the streak as they limped to a 5-7 record.
And now, he heads into this season with the NCAA breathing on his back. After Michigan self-imposed a two-year probationary period in May, West Virginia was accused of five major NCAA violations on Rodriguez’s watch.
But he still has his job — for now — while Saban likely has one for as long as he wants it.
“There would be a larger backlash on the hire and if the same things were going on at Alabama,” Ware said. “There would be a big to-
B y B r a n S t r i c k l a n d & J o e M e d l e y • S ta r S p o r t S w r i t e r S
Chris Carlson/Associated Press/File
Nick Saban and Alabama players celebrate their BCS national title in the Rose Bowl in January. The Tide went from a 7-6 team to national champs in three years under Saban.
There’s a theory that says a butterfly in China can flap its wings, and the chain reaction can cause a hurricane millions of miles away.
Maybe. Maybe not. But if one believes that, then one should have
no trouble buying into the belief that it was noth-ing short of caterpillars, cocoons and planetary alignment that took Alabama to college football’s summit once again.
People could point to myriad miniscule things that helped to pave the way for Nick Saban’s return to college football and the Crimson Tide’s 13th national championship.
• Mike Shula barely losing the recruiting battle over Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow to Florida coach Urban Meyer.
• Drew Brees failing his physical, and the Miami Dolphins settling for quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
• Even former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams’ love for cannabis.
In their own little way, each one was a factor.
“you’ve got to be careful in terms of what you ask for when you’re wanting
a change — fan-wise, alumni-wise.”— Andre Ware, ESPN analyst
Please see AlAbAmA ❙ Page 16
15
Page 16 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star AlAbAmA crimson tide
+ +
by michAel [email protected]
TUSCALOOSA — For the 2010 Alabama football team, it’s a matter of potential and whether it’ll be realized.
Talent isn’t the question for Nick Saban’s fourth Crimson Tide team.
Experience — specifically on defense and special teams — has this defending national champion and consensus pre-season No. 1 in a unique place.
With roles reversed, the suddenly explosive offense has the perceived bur-den of carrying that young defense long enough to work the wobble out of their young legs. Names like Mark Ingram, Greg McElroy, Julio Jones and a few of their friends will need to do more than babysit and avoid blowing any advan-tage gained on defense.
For this fall, at least, this is Alabama football.
The Nick Saban buzzword of August is one that wasn’t uttered much, if at all a year ago.
“We need to get more players that play with the kind of maturity …”
“…every player on the team now has to have maturity …”
“What is your maturity? We talk about it all the time.”
Without the “M” word, the first month of the season will be a chore. Penn State and Florida come to Bry-ant-Denny Stadium, while road trips to Arkansas and South Carolina could either dash hopes of a repeat or affirm Saban’s method.
Those two alternatives hinge largely on the Tide defense that produced four NFL draft picks taken in the first three rounds and the special teams, which returns zero kickers, punters or return-ers.
That’s where the potential comes in.The Alabama practice fields overflow
with former four- and five-star recruits, but the big reputations don’t necessarily lead to big careers at the college level. As many as eight or nine starters have never assumed that job before, so that maturity factor looms large for the unit that’s been a Crimson Tide calling card over the years.
“Up front it seems like we have a lot of depth, but we’re not as talented right now from an experience perspec-tive with the inside three,” defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said. “As you can tell, we lost a lot of guys, but we’re excited about the challenge in front of us. They’re working every day and are excited about it, and so am I.”
Even as the countdown to the Sept. 4 season-opener with San Jose State
reached the one-week mark, more than a handful of starting jobs were up in the air.
But, as linebacker Dont’a Hightower said, the competition is only fueling the final push toward the regular season. Giving up close to 700 passing yards in the first of two preseason scrimmages also served notice, Hightower added.
“In the first scrimmage, we probably gave up more probably than has ever been given up in the history of Alabama scrimmages,” he said. “So we’re way bet-ter than that.”
Offensively, maturity and experience is less of an issue with a fifth-year senior at quarterback, a Heisman winner in the backfield and All-American candidates on the line and catching passes.
Saban knows how explosive the offense can be depends largely on the veteran McElroy.
“I think he’s more confident, more comfortable, and he’s played with a lot of confidence in this camp,” Saban said. “I think the players have a lot of confi-dence in him as well.”
But will McElroy, the young defense and the even younger specialists live up to the potential they carried into camp?
Only the next four months will tell.Michael Casagrande covers the Uni-
versity of Alabama sports for The Star.
Inexperienced, but not incapableCrimson Tide hoping explosive offense can carry
load while defense, special teams units mature
University of Alabama photo
Alabama coach Nick Saban teaches freshman linebacker C.J. Mosley (32) during a recent scrimmage. Mosley is just one of many young players on the defensive side of the ball. While those players learn and mature, the offensive players (bottom, from left) Julio Jones and Mark Ingram will shoulder the burden of defending their national championship.
Trent Penny/The Anniston Star/File
“I think he’s more confident ... I think the
players have a lot of confidence in him as well.”
— Alabama coach Nick Saban on QB Greg McElroy
do, a big cry, much more so at Alabama than at Michigan.
“I’m not sure Rich would still be the coach if it was the same scenario and you flipped it to Alabama.”
q qSuper agent Jimmy Sexton, Alabama
athletic director Mal Moore and Saban — they all tell the same story.
The now-Crimson Tide coach spoke the truth when he stood behind that podium and uttered the words that will likely haunt him every time his name is mentioned in connection with any other job: “I am not going to be the next football coach at the University of Ala-bama.”
He said it repeatedly in his final weeks as head coach for the Dolphins, but few in Alabama cared. The moment Saban strolled off the plane in Tusca-loosa, the ground kissed him.
Well, an exuberant Alabama fan did, any way.
Saban arrived with a national cham-pionship on his resume, the one he won at LSU in 2003.
He arrived as the savior of a once-
proud program that was emerging from the reaching effects of sanctions and years of coaching turmoil. He became Alabama’s fifth head coach since Gene Stallings ended his 10-year run in 1996.
“I don’t think there’s a better guy and a better fit for what Alabama want-ed to obtain or wanted to achieve … and in a short period,” Ware said. “You go back and you look at what they’ve done over the past couple seasons, the record they have, the national title — those just aren’t passed out.
“ … AND he recruited Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner” in running back Mark Ingram, who won it this past season.
Saban has done it with his now-famous “process,” his defensive skills honed while working as an assistant in the NFL, and outworking competitors, whether in preparation or recruiting.
Shula’s process? McElroy just calls the difference “night and day.”
“You had a lot of guys who were not buying into what coach had to say,” said McElroy, the plan B quarterback Shula signed after losing out on Tebow.
That is not a problem now, nor was it before for Saban. Buy-in was the biggest key to the seeming ease of Alabama’s three-year transition, going
from 7-6 to 12-2 to 14-0.The mix of his players and those left
over from Shula has been — with minor exceptions — a near flawless diamond mine. Saban has superior talent and the depth that it takes to play both in the Southeastern Conference and for him.
And all because they believed, no matter who promised them what.
“I think the personality of our team has basically come from players buying in, regardless of who brought them in,” Saban said. “That has never been an issue. We had a lot of good players last year that we recruited and we brought here, and we had a lot of good players last year that were here when we came here who bought in to the principals and values of the organization, and they were more successful because of it.
“I think who brought them in is insignificant. I think it’s what their commitment is and how they buy into the organization, together as a group and individually, that makes the group what it is and what’s going to determine the personality of the team and the identity of the team.”
And to think, what if Rodriguez had been the Tide’s salesman-in-chief the past three years?
ALAbAmAContinued from Page 15
Bil Wilson/The Anniston Star/File
Greg McElroy is one of just a handful of players with experi-ence from the past two coaching regimes.
Offensive/Defensive outlook
+ +
By Michael [email protected]
TUSCALOOSA — There is a conspicuous gap on Page 13 of the Alabama football media guide.
Dedicated to the special teams, just one word appears below the space reserved for returning start-ers.
None.The Crimson Tide lost more
than just the veteran punter and kicker who’d received all the preseason headlines. Practically the entire well-oiled kicking and returning skilled units are gone, too.
Long snapper, holder, Javier Arenas — they’re all somewhere else this fall.
Perhaps the position that is easiest replaced is the dual role that belonged to the record-break-ing Arenas. Having a stockpile of explosive athletes to choose from makes deciding who runs back kicks a little easier than having to recruit a specialty player like a kicker.
Sophomore running back Trent Richardson is settling into his job returning kickoffs, while receivers Julio Jones, Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze have shared time on punt return duties in practice. The next wave, coach Nick Saban said, includes true freshman Keiwone Malone and Corey Grant.
Richardson and Jones each returned one kickoff last year, and Mark Ingram’s backfield mate is looking forward to the rush that comes with running straight at 11 defenders. He didn’t get many opportunities in high school as most opponents kicked away from the explosive runner. One kicker learned why the hard way.
“I ran up to him, acted like I was going to truck him, went to the side and shook him, came back and ran him over, or some-thing like that,” Richardson said smiling. “That was crazy.”
Richardson’s style varies a little from the one Arenas used to rewrite the record book in his four years. He doesn’t have the same speed as the Kansas City Chief draft pick,
The art of the return requires much more than pure speed, though.
“Just really, you got to be patient,” Richardson said. “You’ve got set your blocks up. It’s more like running back, for real. You’ve got to be very quick on your feet
and have very good instincts.”Filling the long snapping
and placekick-holding jobs also requires replacing consistent seniors. Brian Selman never botched a snap in four years in Tuscaloosa, while P.J. Fitzgerald was equally reliable setting the ball in time for kicker Leigh Tiffin.
Carson Tinker is expected to assume Selman’s duties after appearing in just the Chattanooga win during his redshirt freshman season.
Saban likes his top option in Tinker while looking at bringing back the old way of doing things with the holder. Fitzgerald had the job because of his experience, and his other specialty job allowed the time to work with Tiffin more in practice. But with two true fresh-man battling for the punting job, Saban is looking for a different alternative — the one he knows a lot about.
“When I was a quarterback, which I know was many, many, many moons ago ... if you played quarterback, you were the holder,” Saban said. “I was a holder since I was 10 years old.”
With that, he said quarterbacks Greg McElroy and AJ McCarron currently are sharing the job while some of the younger candidates develop.
McElroy said he’s comfortable in the job since he’s been practic-ing as a backup since his freshman year.
“Hopefully, I won’t have to do a lot of it,” he said. “But, if need be, I’ve put in the practice and the work with the snapper and the kicker to be able to be, I guess, functional to a certain extent.”
Michael Casagrande covers the University of Alabama sports for The Star.
ProblemV E RY S P E C I A L
Brennen Smith/The Decatur Daily/File
In addition to his role at running back, Trent Richarson (3) will handle part of the return duties for the Crimson Tide.
Richardson will lead cast of players looking to fill multitude of voids on special teams
“You’ve got set your blocks up. It’s more like running
back, for real.”— Trent Richardson on playing returner
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 17alaBaMa criMson Tide17
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Add someSPICe to your life
fOOd in Wednesday’s Anniston Star
special teams outlook
Page 18 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
+ +
Spread outW i t h f r a n k l i n ’S
a u b u r n b e t t e r o f f
addition of troy coordinator led to subtraction of tuberville, but offensive change equalling success for tigers in the end
Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 19
AUBURN
Tommy Tuberville dodged one bullet then used the shotgun formation and inad-vertently shot himself.
He won 85 games at Auburn, with an undefeated season and Auburn’s first SEC title in a decade, but he crashed when then-No. 1-ranked Alabama snapped a six-year losing streak against the Tigers with a definitive 36-0 victory.
The ugly loss at Tuscaloosa in 2008 ended Auburn’s worst season under Tuber-ville, a 5-7 malaise that saw the Tigers win only one of their final seven games.
Tuberville took a $5.1 million buyout from a contract extension he’d gotten one year prior and resigned, officially, ending an otherwise strong 10-year run.
Tuberville’s 2008 meltdown partly owes to a dropoff in recruiting, but most point to his disas-trous turn to a spread offense and hiring of spread peddler Tony Franklin as his offensive coor-dinator.
By midseason, Tuberville had fired Franklin, and Auburn fans wrung their hands with the what-if question — what if Auburn had never switched to the trendy spread?
Nearly two years have passed, and Auburn fans reached a much different place with the spread. Current Auburn coach Gene Chizik and coordinator Gus Malzahn carried a
spread-like offense to big numbers and a surprising 8-5 sea-son in 2009.
Malzahn balks at his offense being called a spread, insist-ing it’s a two-back, run-first approach. Auburn’s 2009 statis-tics seem to bear that out.
Then again, his system hardly runs like the straight I-formation power game that Auburn fans considered the program’s hallmark for decades.
Year three of Auburn’s new era on offense starts Saturday when the Tigers play host to Arkansas State. As ex-Florida quarterback Cam Newton does his dual-threat best to show-case Malzahn’s system, many Auburn fans might just ask that what-if question again.
What if Auburn had never bought into college football’s offense of the day?
q qFor starters, Tuberville might have stayed at Auburn for at
least one more year.Tuberville’s decision to hire Franklin and adopt Franklin’s
spread blew up in 2008, and there was no fixing the damage before season’s end.
In all likelihood, Tuberville would have fared well enough to maintain his job, had he gone another year with Borges and the old approach.
It wasn’t so much the system that became Tuberville’s albatross. It was quarterback Chris Todd’s lingering shoul-der problems plus the strained mix of Franklin and an entrenched staff of offensive assistants.
Tuberville had taken care of his stalwart, front-line assis-tants. It was always the coordinators who either moved on to better things or took the fall when things went south.
Bobby Petrino, Gene Chizik, Will Muschamp and David Gibbs moved onward and upward. Al Borges, Noel Mazzone and John Lovett just moved on under mutual-agreement cir-cumstances.
The core assistants stayed, including Hugh Nall, Steve Ensminger, Eddie Gran and Greg Knox on the offensive side. All but Ensmigner had been with Tuberville for 14 years, and Ensminger had worked with Tuberville previously at Texas A&M.
Nall had an unsuccessful turn as Auburn’s offensive coor-
dinator in 2003, and Ensminger had been a coordinator at other stops. All of those assistants had coached in conserva-tive offensive schemes under Tuberville.
Into that mix, Auburn hired the blunt Franklin, who had literally made the spread his business. He had written a book on the offense and installed it in high schools around the country as a consultant.
With an assist from Gran, Tuberville hired Franklin away from Troy after parting ways with Borges in December of 2007.
By all accounts, Franklin and the established staff didn’t mix. The veteran assistants were slow to buy in, and they car-ried more sway with Tuberville.
It didn’t help that Todd, the quarterback Franklin brought with him, struggled mightily in his first year at Auburn. Shoulder problems that carried over from junior college severely limited Todd’s effectiveness and that of the offense.
But Auburn fans saw a failing quarterback. They also saw a failing system that was so foreign to them,
nothing like offenses they had come to love under Pat Dye. The Tigers finished 11th in the Southeastern Conference and 110th of 119 teams in scoring offense.
Fans ultimately saw Auburn failing, and pressure mount-ed. Established assistants wanted to retreat to what worked previously, and Franklin dug in.
Ultimately, Tuberville fired Franklin midseason.To get an idea of why the spread didn’t work in 2008, one
need only hear senior offensive tackle Lee Ziemba’s take on why a similar offense worked so much better in 2009.
“Everybody’s on the same page now,” he said. “It’s a much better situation.”
q qA popular cliché holds that, if it looks and walks like a
duck, it’s a duck.Malzahn swears his offense is no duck, no matter how it
looks from the stands. His players follow his lead.“This isn’t a spread offense,” Ziemba said. “It’s a two-back
offense, and we run and then play-action pass. That’s what we are.
“A lot of people like to call us spread because we’re no-huddle, but, if you look at last year, I think we were about 55-45 run to pass.”
Indeed, Auburn’s offense was balanced in 2009. The Tigers averaged 212 rushing yards and 220 passing yards per game.
Auburn finished third in the SEC in scoring offense (33.3 points a game), fourth in rushing offense, fifth in passing
“Everybody’s on the same
page now. It’s a much
better situation.” — Lee Ziemba,
Auburn offensive lineman
Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File
Tommy Tuberville’s spread experiment started off well with a victory in the Chick-Fil-A bowl, but the next sea-son was disastrous and cost Tuberville his job.
Please see Auburn ❙ Page 20
B y J o E M E d l E y • S TA R S p o R T S C o lU M N I S T
19
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Page 20 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star auburn tigers
+ +
by Charles [email protected]
AUBURN — Auburn’s Cam Newton looks like a major college quarterback, acts like a major college quarterback and pos-sesses the physical attributes of a major college quarterback.
Now all Newton has to do is prove that he is one. The Tigers’ season likely depends on it.
He says he’s ready.“I think this whole camp I’ve just been
trying to get more comfortable with the system and knowing in depth what I’m supposed to do on each play,” said New-ton, who transferred to Auburn in January after leading Blinn College to the NJCAA National Championship. “To wrap every-thing up, I think I’ve done an excellent job.”
A 6-6, 250-pound junior, Newton cer-tainly comes in with impeccable creden-tials but, as of yet, unrealized potential on the major college level.
He originally signed with Florida, where he played in five games as a freshman, mostly in mop up situations against West-ern Kentucky, Troy, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic.
In limited playing time, he completed five passes in 10 attempts and rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns on 16 car-ries.
He followed his freshman season with a redshirt year and then transferred to Blinn. While leading Blinn to the junior college national championship last sea-son, Newton passed for 2,833 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushed for 655 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Rivals.com labeled him the top incom-ing quarterback among both high school and junior college players.
An air of mystery has surrounded New-ton since his arrival. He had limited play-ing time in Auburn’s spring game, but was tabbed No. 1 heading into the fall, even though the coaches had labeled the four-man quarterback race “too close to call” for most of spring practice.
All of Auburn’s fall scrimmages and practices have been closed, with an occa-sional 20-minute window allotted to the media.
Meanwhile, the coaching staff has been
positive, but not exactly effusive in assess-ing Newton’s progress.
“He can make plays when things break down,” offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn said in analyzing Newton’s strengths. “He’s a good runner, but he’s got a very strong arm. He can get the ball in windows that a lot of people can’t.”
His teammates are a bit more enthusi-astic.
“He’s what we’re looking for,” said wide receiver Terrell Zachary. “He’s so explosive you can never tell what’s going to happen. He can break a 60-yard run or he can com-plete a 60-yard pass. Him one-on-one with a safety or a linebacker, they’re not going to want to tackle him.”
It’s also clear the coaches are being patient with Newton.
“Cameron needs to stay locked in and focused,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “He has done some good things. He’s done
some things we wish we could take back. But again, that’s all part of the learning process. It’s that with all of them. It’s a con-tinuous learning process. It will be all the way up through game one, game two, game three. It’s just going to be a continuous cycle of growth.
“You’re going to learn things when you’re playing on national TV and there are big stakes on the line. You can’t simulate that out here.”
Newton will be surrounded by enough talent to make his debut a success.
Senior offensive lineman Mike Berry said the team has a goal of being the top offense in the nation.
Four of five starters return on the offen-sive line, and there’s plenty of talent at wide receiver and running back to make it hap-pen.
But the Tigers’ lofty offensive goals, as well as their chances of contending in the Western Division of the SEC, may well come down to the play of Newton.
Pressure?Newton says he doesn’t feel it.“I live by one rule and one rule only
— just win the football game,” he said. “I feel like if I do that, there will be no pres-sure on me.”
Charles Bennett covers Auburn Univer-sity sports for The Star.
Offensiveoutlook
Newton hoping he can discover dream at Auburn
“He’s so explosive you can never tell what’s going to happen. He can break a 60-yard run
or he can complete a 60-yard pass.”— Terrell Zachery, Auburn receiver
Stephen Gross /The Anniston Star/File
After stints at Florida and at a junior college, Cam Newton finally has a big-time team to call his own.
offense and second in total offense (431.8 yards a game).
Running back Ben Tate finished third in the league at 104.8 yards a game, and Todd set an Auburn record with 22 touchdown passes.
Malzahn took many of the same players and made duck soup out of duck … well, one gets the picture.
The moons and stars aligned for Malzahn and Chizik in ways they never did for Franklin and Tuberville. For starters, Malzahn and Chizik inherited a healthy Todd, who had offseason surgery and entered 2009 in much better form.
Malzahn and Chizik were also part of an all-new staff, and they inherited players eager to buy in after an agonizing 2008. They found a coordi-nator just as eager to teach.
“He’s a perfectionist,” senior running back Mario Fannin said. “He’s a guy that’s going to be out there with you and make sure that you’re doing everything right.
“Coach Franklin, he’s a great coach. He taught us, but it was more like he expected us to know what we’re supposed to do, which is under-standable. We’re college athletes, but Coach Malzahn breaks it down a little bit more for us and allows us to be successful.”
The moons and stars continue to align for Malzahn, who didn’t use all of his playbook in 2009. The plays that maximize a mobile quarter-back will come on line with Newton this season.
Teammates say the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Newton wins sprints in practice. He used his speed and size to lead Blinn Junior College to a national championship in 2009, rushing for 655 yards and 16 touchdowns.
He also threw for 2,833 yards and 22 touch-downs, but his dual-threat talents are what make him so intriguing. They had him first in line behind Tim Tebow at Florida before a theft arrest prompted Newton to transfer.
Newton calls his mobility “a big deal” in Mal-zahn’s offense.
“It gives defenses an added dimension to prepare for,” he said. “It’s just not a person that just sits back there in the pocket and throws to receivers, which I’m capable of doing, but at times I feel like I have the capability to get myself and the offense out of trouble at times.”
Newton is also likely to carry on designed quarterback runs, which were staples in Florida’s spread system when the tall-and-bulky Tebow played there.
“I don’t really know, as far as how many runs that they have planned for me during the game-time situations,” Newton said. “But if my number is called, I’m going to do whatever they have me to do.”
Newton’s presence and the successful turn-around for Auburn in 2009 have Auburn fans enthusiastic about the immediate future. The Tigers enter 2010 ranked 22nd and considered by ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit as a team that could topple national champion Alabama in the SEC West Division.
Long gone among Auburn fans is any hint of discontentment over the direction of the offense. They seem quite happy, whatever the offense is called.
“It’s all spread, but different coaches have different philosophies,” Newton said. “It’s kind of fun to just see what a different coach has or a different coach’s method is.”
Joe Medley is the sports columnist for The Star. He can be reached at 256-235-3576 or follow him on Twitter @jmedstar
AUBURNContinued from Page 19
Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star/File
Auburn coordinator Gus Malzahn, right, insists his offense isn’t a spread. Whether it is or isn’t, it’s a far more productive one than Auburn had under Tony Franklin.
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 21auburn tigers
21
by Charles [email protected]
AUBURN — While some of Auburn’s offensive players are talking about their goal of leading the nation in scoring this season, the Tigers are taking a much more modest approach on defense.
“Right now, we just want to get better every day,” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “That’s our focus right now. When we get to game week, we’ll get to seaSo.nal goals and things of that nature. Right now, the focus is keeping pictures really small. Let’s get better at this par-ticular technique today, let’s get better at our pursuit angles, let’s get better at how we tackle.”
Roof is hoping that taking care of the little things will help the Tigers take care of the big things.
A lot of improvement is both expected and needed if Auburn is going to be a contender in the SEC West.
While Auburn’s offense was putting up big numbers last season, the Tigers’ defense was allowing big numbers.
Auburn ranked last in the SEC in scor-ing defense (27.5 points per game), 11th in total defense and 10th in both rushing defense and passing defense.
It was a difficult pill to swallow for a school that has traditionally prided itself on tough defense.
“The defense my freshman year was sixth in the nation,” said senior safety Zac Etheridge. “The defense my sophomore year, we didn’t have much offense, but we were one of the better defenses in the nation. This year, it doesn’t matter what the offense does, we’re going to get back to the defense we used to play.”
With eight starters returning, a solid influx of incoming talent and a year under their belts in Roof’s 4-3 defense, major improvement is expected.
Roof remains cautiously optimistic.“I feel very encouraged where we are,”
he said. “I know we’ve made strides. I know we’re ahead of where we were at this time last year. But we haven’t played a game yet to prove anything. It all goes back to that.”
Meanwhile, the players rankle a bit at the fact that the defense is considered the Tigers’ major question mark.
“We’re just trying to be consistent and one of the better defenses in the SEC,” said senior linebacker Josh Bynes, the team’s leading tackler last season. “Last
year was a down year and that’s all any-body talks about — question mark on the defense. They don’t know whether we’re going to win 10 games or five games, depending on our defense.
“The main thing about fall camp was to make sure our defense is focused and that we’re competitive each and every down. We’re very competitive, and we’re much more mature than we were last year. There’s going to be a big difference from last year to this year.”
A year’s experience in the defense also allows Roof to add a few wrinkles after a season in which the Tigers remained fairly basic in their approach.
“We teach concepts and our players understand concepts,” Roof said. “You can say this is just like so and so. So, it’s not like teaching them something new. It’s just like this or just like that. It’s like something they’ve already done. It allows you to be more multiple.”
Simply put, it all comes down to the Tigers’ defense getting off the field with a few more three-and-outs.
Auburn allowed 268 first downs last season — the most in the SEC.
“We want to get better at every aspect on defense, but we really want to tackle better and get better on third down,” said senior defensive back Aairon Savage. “If we give the ball to our offense a little more, maybe they will lead the nation. And, hopefully, we’ll win a National Championship.”
Charles Bennett covers Auburn Univer-sity sports for The Star.
Baby steps
Defensiveoutlook
Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star/File
Auburn’s Neiko Thorpe breaks up a pass in the end zone intended for Louisi-ana Tech wide receiver Adrian Linwood.
After being basement dwellers last season, Tigers cautiously looking for improvement
Senator Del Marsh is proud to support our area college
athletic teams!
“I wish all teams a safe and successful season!”- Del Marsh
November 2nd Re-elect
Del MarshSenator District 12
If you have any questions or concerns you would like to talk about please call my cell: (256) 499-1111.
www.SenatorDelMarsh.comFacebook.com/SenatorDelMarsh
Paid for by the Comm. to Re-elect Senator Del Marsh
PO Drawer 2365 Anniston, AL 36202
OPPONENT GAME HIGHS
Rushes 49 Kentucky Yards Rushing 282 Kentucky Yards Per Rush 5.8 Kentucky TD Rushes 4 at Arkansas Pass attempts 78 Northwestern Pass completions 47 NorthwesternYards Passing 532 Northwestern Yards Per Pass 10.2 at Georgia TD Passes 4 Northwestern Total Plays 115 Northwestern Total Offense 621 Northwestern Yards Per Play 6.4 West VirginiaPoints 44 at Arkansas First Downs 34 Northwestern
SOURCE: Southeastern Conference
p R O j E C t E D D E p t h C h A R t
LEft END
45 Antoine Carter 6-4, 256 Sr.
55 Corey Lemonier 6-4, 227 Fr.
NOSE gUARD
98 Zach Clayton 6-3, 296 Sr.
93 Mike Blanc 6-4, 297 Sr.
DEfENSivE tACkLE
90 Nick Fairley 6-5, 298 Jr.
54 Jeffrey Whitaker 6-3, 308 Fr.
Right END
49 Michael Goggans 6-3, 261 Sr.
95 Dee Ford 6-4, 240 So.
iNSiDE LiNEBACkER
46 Craig Stevens 6-3, 229 Sr.
35 Jonathan Evans 5-11, 230 So.
miDDLE LiNEBACkER
17 Josh Bynes 6-2, 235 Sr.
58 Harris Gaston 6-1, 231 So.
CORNERBACk
14 Demond Washington 5-9, 182 Sr.
8 Anthony Morgan 5-9, 185 So.
CORNERBACk
15 Neiko Thorpe 6-2, 186 Jr.
22 T’Sharvan Bell 6-0, 180 So.
StRONg SAfEty
4 Zac Etheridge 6-0, 213 Sr.
16 Ikeem Means 6-0, 204 So.
fREE SAfEty
2 Aairon Savage 5-11, 200 Sr.
26 Mike McNeil 6-2, 208 Jr.
D E F E N S EO F F E N S E
qUARtERBACk
1 Cam Newton 6-6, 250 Jr.
14 Barrett Trotter 6-2, 211 So.
RUNNiNg BACk
27 Mario Fannin 5-11, 228 Sr.
5 Michael Dyer 5-9, 215 Fr.
hALfBACk
32 Eric Smith 5-10, 240 Jr.
37 Ladarious Phillips 6-0, 291 Fr.
tight END
43 Philip Lutzenkirchen 6-4, 258 So.
41 Robert Cooper 6-4, 226 Fr.
WiDE RECEivER
81 Terrell Zachery 6-1, 210 Sr.
9 Quindarius Carr 6-1, 186 Jr.
WiDE RECEivER
89 Darvin Adams 6-3, 185 Jr.
4 Shaun Kitchens 6-3, 217 Fr.
LEft tACkLE
73 Lee Ziemba 6-8, 319 Sr.
75 Brandon Mosley 6-6, 299 Jr.
LEft gUARD
66 Mike Berry 6-3, 316 Sr.
53 Bart Eddins 6-4, 304 Sr.
CENtER
50 Ryan Pugh 6-4, 297 Sr.
63 Blake Burgess 6-2, 278 Fr.
Right gUARD
57 Byron Isom 6-3, 302 Sr.
71 John Sullen 6-6, 312 So.
Right tACkLE
77 A.J. Greene 6-5, 291 Jr.
71 John Sullen 6-6, 312 So.
hAUtE hOmEmADE THE CRAFTER’S CORNER IN SuNDAY’S LIFE SECTION▶
Page 22 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star southeastern conference
+ +
Go
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en
ashv
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e Fo
rest
nas
hvill
e
GA
mE
OF
TH
E y
EA
rFl
orid
a at
Ala
bam
a, O
ct. 2
. ...
Th
e p
arti
cip
ants
in e
ach
of t
he
pas
t tw
o se
C
cham
pio
nsh
ip g
ames
get
toge
ther
ear
ly
in th
e se
ason
this
tim
e. W
ill it
be
a p
recu
r-so
r to
anot
her
mee
tin
g in
the
leag
ue’
s ti
tle
gam
e? F
or a
lab
ama,
this
on
e is
san
d-
wic
hed
bet
wee
n ro
ad tr
ips
to a
rkan
sas
and
sou
th C
arol
ina;
for t
he
gat
ors,
it’s
sa
nd
wic
hed
bet
wee
n h
ome
gam
es a
gain
st
Ken
tuck
y an
d L
su.
TO
UG
HE
ST S
CH
ED
UlE
lSU
. ...
a c
oach
on
the
hot
sea
t doe
sn’t
w
ant L
su’s
sch
edu
le. T
he
Tig
ers
open
wit
h
nor
th C
arol
ina
and
als
o p
lay
Wes
t Vir
gin
ia
in n
on-c
onfe
ren
ce a
ctio
n. T
hey
trav
el to
Fl
orid
a (t
he
only
“goo
d” W
est d
ivis
ion
team
th
at h
as to
pla
y in
gai
nes
ville
), a
ubu
rn a
nd
a
rkan
sas,
an
d g
et a
lab
ama
at h
ome.
at l
east
th
e ga
me
agai
nst
the
Tid
e co
mes
aft
er a
n
open
dat
e —
bu
t it’s
aft
er a
n o
pen
dat
e fo
r th
e T
ide,
too.
EA
SiE
ST S
CH
ED
UlE
ken
tuck
y. ..
. uK
has
som
e p
rob
lem
s, b
ut
wit
h th
is s
ched
ule
, th
e W
ildca
ts s
hou
ld b
e h
ead
ed to
thei
r fif
th c
onse
cuti
ve b
owl.
no
non
-con
fere
nce
foe
wen
t to
a b
owl l
ast s
ea-
son
, th
e ‘C
ats
get g
eorg
ia, a
ubu
rn a
nd
sou
th
Car
olin
a at
hom
e, a
nd
the
leag
ue
road
trip
s in
clu
de
gam
es a
gain
st T
enn
esse
e an
d m
issi
s-si
pp
i sta
te. T
he
only
tru
ly to
ugh
road
gam
e is
ag
ain
st F
lori
da.
ala
bam
a, a
rkan
sas
and
Lsu
ar
en’t
on
the
sch
edu
le, e
ith
er.
TH
E 1
0 b
EST
GA
mE
S (c
hro
nol
ogic
ally
)
Lsu
vs.
nor
th C
arol
ina,
sep
t. 4
in a
tlan
tag
eorg
ia a
t sou
th C
arol
ina,
sep
t. 11
ark
ansa
s at
geo
rgia
, sep
t. 18
ala
bam
a at
ark
ansa
s, s
ept.
25a
lab
ama
at L
su, o
ct. 2
3Fl
orid
a at
ala
bam
a, o
ct. 2
Lsu
at F
lori
da,
oct
. 9a
rkan
sas
at a
ubu
rn, o
ct. 1
6Fl
orid
a vs
. geo
rgia
, oct
. 30
in Ja
ckso
nvi
llea
ubu
rn a
t ala
bam
a, n
ov. 2
6
—
Riv
als.
com
bre
akin
g do
wn
th
e SE
C s
easo
nT
hey
say
the
seC
is o
nce
aga
in F
lori
da,
ala
bam
a an
d a
ll th
e re
st, b
ut F
lori
da
and
ala
bam
a p
lay
each
ot
her
in th
e re
gula
r sea
son
. on
e w
ill h
ave
at le
ast o
ne
loss
. au
burn
, ark
ansa
s an
d s
outh
Car
olin
a p
roje
ct a
s im
pro
ved
team
s. g
eorg
ia a
nd
Lsu
dou
bte
rs c
ould
be
pre
mat
ure
. Th
ere’
s al
way
s in
trig
ue
in th
e se
C.
Bill
Wils
on
/Th
e A
nn
isto
n S
tar/
File
20
10
SO
UT
HE
AS
TE
rN
CO
NF
Er
EN
CE
SC
HE
DU
lE
+ +
The Anniston Star Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Page 23southeastern conference
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S EC teams have won four national titles in a row, and for the second season in a row, the reigning national champion will go into the season as the favorite to win it all again.
Nick Saban and Alabama stormed to a 14-0 record and the national title last season, but repeating as champs — both in the league and nationally — will mean overcoming the loss of nine full-time defensive starters and three key special teams performers, including All-America kicker Leigh Tiffin and All-America return man Javier Arenas. Florida won it all in 2008 and returned its entire defense two-deep last season, but offensive issues derailed the Gators, though they still finished 13-1. The Tide should have no offensive issues with the return of, among others, Heisman-winning tailback Mark Ingram and supremely talented wide receiver Julio Jones.
The Tide also returns quarterback Greg McElroy, which makes them stand out among their SEC brethren. The only other league teams returning their full-time starter at the position are South Carolina with Stephen Gar-cia, LSU with Jordan Jefferson and Arkansas with Ryan Mallett. The league’s other eight teams either are breaking in new starters or try-ing to avoid a potential quarterback controver-sy while choosing from among former starters.
Those quarterback concerns may mean the SEC is down a bit again. Last season, Alabama and Florida were head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the league. Florida won the SEC East title by four games, and no one in the division other than the Gators was over .500 in the league. Alabama won the West title by three games, and Alabama and LSU were the only teams above .500 in the division.
— Mike Huguenin, Rivals.com
the playerS
BeSt OFFeNSIVe player: Alabama RB Mark Ingram. Given Alabama’s empha-sis on a grind-it-out rushing attack, you might think Ingram was a 4-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust guy. You would be wrong. Ingram, the reigning Heisman winner, ran for 1,658 yards and 17 TDs and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. He had at least one run of 20 yards in nine games and at least one of 30 in six games. He had nine 100-yard games and scored at least twice in eight games.
BeSt DeFeNSIVe player: LSU CB Patrick Peterson. Coaches covet shutdown corners, and Peterson is just that. He has the potential to be the best corner in the country this season; if he proves it on the field, he’ll be a top-15 pick in next year’s NFL draft. Peterson, who will be a three-year starter this fall, had two interceptions and ranked second in the SEC in pass breakups with 13 last season. He also ranked second on the team with 43 solo tackles.
OFFeNSIVe player ON the SpOt: Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett. Mallett led the SEC in TD passes last season with 30, but he strug-gled against good defenses. Against the top four SEC pass defenses he saw (Alabama, Florida, LSU and Ole Miss), Mallett completed just 39.3 percent of his passes and averaged 216.3 yards per game. Arkansas is an SEC West dark-horse if Mallett elevates his game. The Hogs also have to get better defensively to make sure every game isn’t a shootout.
DeFeNSIVe player ON the SpOt: Georgia LB
Justin Houston. Georgia’s defensive woes last season have been well-chronicled, almost as well-chronicled as the Bulldogs’ switch to a 3-4 defense. Houston was a second-team All-SEC performer
at defensive end last season after coming up with 7.5 sacks. He has
been moved to outside ‘backer in coordinator
Todd Grantham’s new scheme, and he has to be an even more productive
pass rusher this season if this defense is going to be as good as it needs to be. Houston and the coaches have talked about how outside linebacker is a perfect fit
for him; now he has to show it on the field.
BreaKOUt OFFeNSIVe Star: Florida QB John Brantley. Brantley — whose dad (at quarterback) and uncle (linebacker) both started for the Gators in the late 1970s — is a fourth-year senior
tasked with replacing Tim Tebow. Brant-ley is not near the runner, but he is the proto-
typical pocket passer. Brantley has a strong arm and a deep knowledge of the offense. A 3,000-yard, 25-TD season is a legit goal.
BreaKOUt DeFeNSIVe Star: Alabama DE Marcell Dareus. Alabama loses all three starting defensive lineman, but Dareus, who will be a junior, will make sure the drop-off isn’t that steep. He was productive off the bench last season, finishing with 33 tackles and a team-leading 6.5 sacks. He’ll be expected to be a team leader and provide even more production this season; a 10-sack output is a legitimate goal.
Mallett
COaCh ON the hOt-teSt Seat: LSU’s Les Miles (pictured left). Miles guided LSU to the national title in 2007, but the Tigers have been big-time underachiev-ers the past two seasons, losing nine times overall and
eight times in league play. LSU is 0-4 against SEC West foes Alabama and Ole Miss and 0-2 against Florida in the past two
seasons, losing those six games by an average of 12.5 points. In 2008, the offense was solid but the defense was mediocre. Last season, the defense was good but the offense was awful. This sea-son the offense is still bad.
BeSt COaChING StaFF: Alabama. Nick Saban casts a shadow over everything in Tuscaloosa, but he has put together a staff that knows what it is doing. Hiring Jim
McElwain as his offensive coordinator from Fresno State might have raised
some eyebrows in 2008, but it was a master stroke. Defen-
sive coordinator Kirby Smart finally is getting recognition for his work with the Tide’s defense.
BeSt OFFeNSIVe COOr-DINatOr: Auburn’s Gus Mal-zahn. Malzahn did excellent work last season with a Tigers offense that had been in disar-ray. He rose to prominence because of his pass-happy high school teams in Arkan-sas, but Malzahn has overseen strong rushing attacks in his jobs as coordinator at Arkan-sas, Tulsa and Auburn. The passing attacks have been solid, too.
BeSt DeFeNSIVe COOr-DINatOr: South Carolina’s Ellis Johnson. In his two sea-sons at Carolina, working with less-than-elite talent, Johnson has guided the Gamecocks to finishes of 13th and 15th nationally in total defense. Johnson technically does not have the coordinator title at South Carolina — he’s the assistant head coach/assis-tant coach defense — but the Gamecocks’ defense is his.
the COaCheS
Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press/File
DOMINANCE
Chris O’Meara/Associated Press/File
Page 24 Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Anniston Star
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