Outdoors: Landscape of hunting changes. 11C
Sports
S U N D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 20 , 2009
MOBLEY & SONS
NS03339335
A FINE GENTLEMEN’S CLOTHIER
Across from Indian Hills Country Club
SECTION C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
53 7
Dominant defense
Crack-shot
Shooting Star
Tide defense holds Mean Green to 61 rush yards, 126 pass yards | 8C
McElroy makes big plays out of pistol formation | 9C
Special weapon
Quarter scores
Kick return specialist Javier Arenas rolls up 151 yards | 8C
Breakdown of each quarter | 9C
Backup QB Star Jackson makes the most of his playing time with a 9 of 13 effort for 87 yards | 10C
Bama’s ‘Big Three’
Game stats
Ingram, Richardson and Grant run wild against Mean Green | 8C
Complete stats from the game | 9C
Feeling Green North Texas fails to put a dent in Tide defense or stop proficient offense | 10C
TOTAL KNOCKOUT
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Alabama running back Mark Ingram loses his helmet after being forced out of bounds by two North Texas defenders on a 22-yard run during Saturday’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Below, Crimson Tide receiver Marquis Maze makes an over-the-shoulder catch for a 34-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
McElroy might be surprise piece of the puzzle
Bama has its way with Mean Green
P
By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
TUSCALOOSA | The only things that were missing on Saturday were a parade and a homecoming queen. The fourth-ranked University of Alabama football team rolled over North Texas 53-7 in the sort of ritual beating normally reserved for homecoming opponents, although UA will celebrate that later in the season. Saturday’s celebration consisted of a quick, clean knockout against an overmatched opponent, one achieved with no apparent injury toll. “I was pleased with the way we started fast,” said Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. “The first play wasn’t good, but after that, we dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and so we dominated play for the first time (this) year.” SEE ALABAMA | 10C
TUSCALOOSA erhaps now, North Texas head coach Todd Dodge can understand the peculiar paternal pride that Dr. Frankenstein must have felt, even as the monster he had created pulled his castle down around his ears. Greg McElroy is not Frankenstein’s monster — for one thing, he’s far more articulate. But he certainly had no problem torching his old high school coach’s new team. He didn’t do it with brute strength, but with a surgical precision that must have made Dodge at least a little bit proud, even as he winced at the 53-7 beating his team was taking. “I watched him play against Virginia Tech and again against Florida International last week,” Dodge said. “He’s doing a tremendous job of doing what a quarterback for this caliber of team should do. He’s putting the ball in the hands of the playmakers. He seems like he has a tremendous grasp of what they’re doing.
STAFF PHOTO | DUSTY COMPTON
“People asked me all week long to describe him,” Dodge said. “He’s accurate. He puts the ball on people and that’s what he did tonight.” One more thing about McElroy — he has a heart. He is fiercely competitive, but admitted to “some brief CECIL moments of emotion” when he HURT saw his former coach from his days at Southlake High School in Dallas. “It’s something you think about,” McElroy said. “This is the guy I worked with all through high school, the guy who taught me the game. It meant a lot to me to talk to him after wards. I even had a picture taken with he and (Dodge’s son and injured North Texas quarterback) Riley.” SEE HURT | 10C
WASHINGTON 16, NO. 3 USC 13
Huskies’ last-minute drive stuns Trojans By Gregg Bell The Associated Press
SEATTLE | Southern California was leveled by another post-Ohio State funk, taken down by upstart Washington with a late drive that must have looked familiar to the Trojans. Erik Folk kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining and the Huskies’ firedup defense stymied fill-in quarterback Aaron Corp and No. 3 USC in a 16-13 victory Saturday. Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley, who directed an epic game-winning drive to beat the Buckeyes 18-15 in Columbus, Ohio, last week, could only watch the latest stunning upset loss by the Trojans from the sideline. The 19-year-old freshman was out with a sore shoulder.
It was Washington quar terback Jake Locker’s time to shine and the Huskies’ turn pull out a win that will stand among the most memorable in the once-proud program’s histor y. Locker drove the Huskies 63 yards on 10 plays to set up the winning kick. USC (2-1, 0-1 Pac-10) was nearly a threetouchdown favorite. Washington (2-1, 1-0) came in riding a 10-game losing streak in Pac10 games and had broken a 15-game overall skid last week against Idaho. But again the Trojans were toppled by a team that seemed to be no match for all their blue-chip recruits and future NFL draft picks. USC has now lost to an unranked team each of the last four seasons. “Washington wasn’t the better team. They just outplayed us,” said Trojans running back
Joe McKnight, who ran for 100 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. “Clearly, we have superior athletes. But hard work beats athleticism every time. That’s what happened today.” Last season, USC lost to Oregon State on the road the week after beating Ohio State, a loss that ultimately kept the Trojans from playing for the national title. The year before that it was Stanford and the year before that it was UCLA when USC had a chance to play for the national title. “We didn’t get any better from last week. I’m not doing a good enough job of making the points of how we win,” said USC coach Pete Carroll, whose team went 0-for-10 on third down and had three turnovers inside the Washington 35. SEE HUSKIES | 5C
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington quarterback Jake Locker, center, is embraced by his father, Scott Locker as fans swarm the field following the Huskies’ 16-13 victory over No. 3 Southern California in Seattle.