Happy Monday everyone. We open with SI having a film review of Alabama’s Turnovers from the Austin Peay game.
Prior to Saturday’s game against Austin Peay, Alabama had only forced nine turnovers this season. That’s seven fewer turnovers than the 2021 team, who had forced 16 through the same number of games.
Despite those struggles, the Alabama defense forced three turnovers against Austin Peay — the most they had in a game all season.
A few well-timed sales this season, including one that was taken away, and this season could look very different.
Saban gave some injury updates after the game.
At Gibbs, Saban said he expects to be back in training on Monday.
Starting cornerback Eli Ricks went down on the first snap at Ole Miss, but Saban said he deleted the concussion log.
“So I think he can start training on Monday,” said Saban.
After that, Saban faced the open question of injuries.
“You have to ask,” he said pointedly. “You have to do your homework. I’m not bringing an injury report here, so if you want to know anything about a specific guy, I’m happy to pass the information on to you.”
Sounds like the team should be healthy for Auburn in general.
This year’s Iron Bowl feels different than the Alabama side.
Defenseman Brian Branch sees the game as a good way for the Crimson Tide to end a regular season.
“This is a great opportunity,” he said. “Auburn is a great team and they’re the last team of the regular season so we just want to finish strong and then think about what’s going to happen next after the Auburn game. But that is our next priority.”
Running back Jase McClellan believes the Iron Bowl will give the Crimson Tide a chance to establish their identity before this season ends.
“It shows our image, what we are capable of, how we compete. We still have stuff to fight for if we’re just playing for ourselves,” McClellan said.
They’re not a great team, Brian. You don’t have to lie, but it’s good to hear that you respect the opponent.
John Zenor thinks the rest of college football will enjoy a break from Alabama this winter.
— The last time Alabama played a meaningless regular-season game, the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — got off to a slow 5-4 start in their first season together.
— The last time Alabama played a meaningless regular-season game, people were still using BlackBerry phones, calling a cab when they needed a ride, reading a newspaper to find out what was going on in the world, and shopping in places , which were known as shopping malls.
— The last time Alabama played a meaningless regular-season game, Tom Brady was a 33-year-old kid and the Buffalo Bills were 8-0 at halftime in the NFL season.
Christopher Walsh now steps in with his best Lee Corso, “Don’t be so quick, my friend.”
At No. 8 in last week’s CFP rankings, the Crimson Tide needed four teams ahead of them to falter to position themselves for a possible semi-final spot.
It came very close on Saturday, just to see No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU win by field goals after time was up (19-17 vs. Illinois and 29-28 vs. Baylor, respectively) and Southern California at a stop to beat UCLA (48-45).
But Alabama got the result it needed most to have any realistic chance of making the playoffs, No. 5 Tennessee lost to South Carolina. The 63:38 final ended the Volunteers’ playoff chances.
Watching South Carolina destroy the Vols was pretty entertaining. The path to the playoffs is still unclear, but it will still be interesting to see how the committee nears Alabama. ESPN FPI ranked The Tide #3, with a schedule that ranks #7 most difficult in the nation. Meanwhile, the other teams in the running for last spot all have dates outside of the top 30. When Alabama is judged in a loss against Michigan, TCU, Clemson, or USC and doesn’t make the playoffs, it’s hard to argue, that the “four best” mantra was upheld.
Lest we forget, chaos is still possible.
They swarmed the Strip, a typical post-national-title tradition, just as No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon went to Baylor and Stanford, respectively, and shook up the Bowl Championship Series race.
Remember the BCS – the complicated and contentious selection system that determined the top two teams that would compete in national championship play?
The BCS has since been replaced by the College Football Playoff in 2014, which is itself expanding to 12 teams (no earlier than 2024 and no later than 2026)?
Still, I’d just as well use this December to reset everything and give next year’s boys some meaningful playtime.
Most recently on NFL news, Najee Harris had his second straight big game from bye week, with 116 scrimmage yards and two scores including this beauty.
On the other side of Keytone State, the Eagles have struggled a bit in recent weeks after looking like prime Super Bowl contenders for the first half of the season. However, thanks to Jalen Hurts, they only have one loss left.
Jalen was responsible for both of Philly’s TDs as shown above while completing 72% of his 25 passes to decent 190-yard passes with 86 rushing yards on 16 carries. He was the offensive of Philadelphia.
We’ll leave you alone in the dressing room with Isaiah Buggs. You have to watch to the end to see it.
That’s the kind of blue-collar mentality we seem to have missed this year. The Lions are second in the NFC North, 4-6, with a very reasonable chance of a playoff berth should they continue to improve.
That’s it for today. have a great week
tide roll.