GAMEDAY 09.11.09

ALABAMA (1-0, 0-0) vs. FIU (0-0, 0-0)

09.12.09 TIME: 6 p.m. TV: PPV

GAMEDAY '09 Running the Show After a coming-out party in the Georgia Dome, Mark Ingram proved that the progress of the Alabama offense rests on his shoulders.

Also inside:

• Etched in stone: 1926

• PS3 Simulation

2009 Schedule Date

Opponent

Result

9/05/09 Virginia Tech

W 34-24

Date

Location

Opponent

GameDay Publish Date

9/12/09

Florida International Tuscaloosa

9/11/09

9/19/09

North Texas

Tuscaloosa

9/18/09

9/26/09

Arkansas

Tuscaloosa

9/25/09

10/03/09 Kentucky

Lexington, Ky.

10/01/09

10/10/09 Ole Miss

Oxford, Miss.

10/07/09

10/17/09 South Carolina

Tuscaloosa

10/16/09

10/24/09 Tennessee

Tuscaloosa

10/23/09

11/07/09 LSU

Tuscaloosa

11/06/09

11/14/09 Mississippi State

Starkville, Miss.

11/12/09

11/21/09 UT Chattanooga

Tuscaloosa

11/20/09

11/27/09 Auburn

Auburn

11/24/09

ON THE INSIDE

GameDay 2009 • September 11

Stat of the

week Alabama racked up 498 total yards against Virginia Tech last week. The last time the Crimson Tide gained that many yards on a major school was in 2007 against Tennessee. Alabama accumulated 510 in that 41-17 victory.

4 | RUNNING THE SHOW After waiting a year in the wing, it’s Mark Ingram’s turn to shine on the big stage.

CW | Katie Bennett

By Spencer White

3 | PLAYSTATION SIMULATION

8 | ETCHED IN STONE

Could the Crimson Tide fend of a furious second-half rally by the Panthers to capture its first victory of the simulated season?

This week focuses on the 1926 team and its improbable return to the Rose Bowl, where the Tide proved its worth against Stanford.

By Will Nevin

By Spencer White

GAMEDAY STAFF • Jason Galloway, GameDay editor • Spencer White, GameDay assistant editor • Amanda Peterson, editor-in-chief • Will Nevin, managing editor • Brandee Easter, design editor • Emily Johnson, assistant design editor • Aaron Gertler, graphics editor • Katie Bennett, assistant photo editor Cover photo: Katie Bennett

1

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PICKS, POLLS AND PERSPECTIVE

September 11 • GameDay 2009

CW PICKS | WEEK 2 Jason Galloway

Spencer White

Cyrus Ntakirutinka

Aaron Gertler

Amanda Peterson

GameDay editor

Asst. GameDay editor

Senior sports reporter

Graphics editor

CW editor

4-3

5-2

4-3

3-4

3-4

Will Nevin

Drew Gunn

CW managing editor Advertising manager

FIU at #4 Bama #3 USC at #8 Ohio State #18 Notre Dame at Michigan UCLA at Tennessee Mississippi State at Auburn South Carolina at #21 Georgia Stanford at Wake Forest Season record

the

student

SECTION

UA students talk about their expectations for the upcoming Crimson Tide game.

CW | Katie Bennett

Nicholas Brown Junior Biology

Zac Wood Freshman Civil engineering

“I think Alabama will win 42-10.”

“I think it shouldnʼt be as stressful as the Virginia Tech game.”

AP POLL

4-3

COACHESʼ POLL

1. Florida

1. Florida

2. Texas

2. Texas

3. USC

3. USC

4. Alabama

4. Alabama

5. Oklahoma State

5. Penn State

6. Mississippi

6. Oklahoma State

7. Penn State

7. Ohio State

8. Ohio State

8. Mississippi

9. BYU

9. LSU

10. California

10. California

11. LSU

11. Boise State

12. Boise State

12. BYU

Melanie Bernal Junior Business management

Josh Meadows Freshman Nursing

13. Oklahoma

13. Georgia Tech

14. Virginia Tech

14. Oklahoma

“Weʼre gonna kill them. Itʼs Bama football.”

“Domination.

They wonʼt get the ball past their own 10yard line.”

15. Georgia Tech

15. Virginia Tech

16. TCU

16. TCU

17. Utah

17. Utah

18. Notre Dame

18. Nebraska

19. North Carolina

19. North Carolina

20. Miami

20. Notre Dame

21. Georgia

21. Georgia

22. Nebraska

22. Miami

23. Cincinnati

23. Cincinnati

24. Kansas

24. Oregon State

25. Missouri

25. Kansas

Ryan Mcsorley Freshman Engineering “The score will be 36-6 Alabama.”

Hailey GraceAllen Freshman Journalism “I think itʼll be an easy win.”

5-2

PS3 SIMULATION

GameDay 2009 • September 11

PS3 SAYS | ALABAMA 38, FIU 20

SIMULATION STATISTICS

BY WILL NEVIN Managing Editor With a defense that held for most of the game, the Tide survived a nightmarish third quarter and beat back a sporting Florida International squad 38-20.

The Tide’s offense got off to a slow start with a three-and-out its first possession but got on the board with a field goal the next time it had the ball. Alabama added to its lead in the second quarter with two Mark Ingram touchdowns to build a 17-0 lead at halftime.

The third quarter started off well enough for the Tide, as Greg McElroy and the offense drove the length of the field with McElroy hitting a leaping Brad Smelley in the end zone for a 24-0 lead.

And then things started to go south. Quick.

FIU wide out Larry McCoy scooped up a teammate’s fumble and darted for a touchdown that was upheld on replay review. The Panthers made the unusual choice to go for two and failed to convert, making the score 24-6. On Alabama’s next offensive possession, a miscommunication between McElroy and Julio Jones quickly became six points for FIU as Golden Panther cornerback Anthony Gaitor returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown.

At that point, the score was 24-13 and life was

3

Alabama • Passing: Greg McElroy, 14-of-23, 190 yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT • Rushing: Mark Ingram, 27 carries, 143 yds, 2 TD • Receiving: Marquis Maze, 4 receptions, 79 yds NCAA 2010 screenshot Alabama tight end Brad Smelley makes a leaping touchdown grab against FIU. seeping out of Bryant-Denny Stadium until B.J. Scott returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, giving Alabama breathing room. The Panthers scored again at the end of the third quarter to bring the margin back to 11, but Alabama would score again in the fourth to go up by 18.

Alabama’s defense shut down the FIU running game, holding the Panthers to minus10 yards on seven rushes. The Tide defense was particularly stingy on third down, as the Panthers were only 1-for-8 on the day on converting third downs.

Alabama is now 1-1 on the simulated PlayStation 3 season.

• Top Defensive Performer: Lorenzo Washington, 4 tackles, 1 TFL

Florida International • Passing: Paul McCall, 19-of-34, 265 yds, 1 TD

• Rushing: Daunte Owens, 3 carries, 3 yds

• Receiving: Elliot Dix, 5 receptions, 84 yds

• Top Defensive Performer: Anthony Gaitor, 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

Ready to 4

September 11 • GameDay 2009

TRANSCEND With Glen Coffee off to the NFL, Mark Ingram is Nick Saban’s man for his backfield. After wearing out the Hokies in the Georgia Dome, Ingram has no plan of slowing down anytime soon.

BY SPENCER WHITE Assistant GameDay Editor

G

len Coffee probably saw it coming. • While the former Alabama Crimson Tide running back was continuing training for his rookie NFL season with the San Francisco 49ers, his former understudy, sophomore Mark Ingram, was turning the field of the Georgia Dome into his stage of ascension, as the Flint, Mich., native ran up, down and all around the No. 7 Virginia Tech Hokies Saturday night to the tune of 150 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the Tide’s 34-24 triumph. • All that was left for fans sitting in the dome in Atlanta to wonder was, “Glen who?” • “It’s been a long time since a guy got that many yards against us,” Tech head coach Frank Beamer said after the game.

Mark Ingram steps off the ďŹ eld during a practice last week. CW| Tori Gordon

6

September 11 • GameDay 2009

“He’s built like an ox,” said senior linebacker Cory Reamer. “He had a great game on Saturday, really rushed hard.”

Head coach Nick Saban will tell anyone who will listen that he knew exactly what Ingram was capable of, and the lack of surprise on his face in post-game attested to the truth of his conviction.

“He had a fantastic spring and a fantastic fall camp,” Saban said. “So it was no surprise to us that he would have a great game [Saturday].”

But in a stellar performance against a top-10 team, Ingram showed more than just the excitement of ripening potential. The sophomore showed patience, maturity and a strong will to succeed against odds as he tore through the Tech roadblock, fighting and slipping through holes and lanes. Every time the Hokies would make a big play, Ingram had an answer for them, whether it was catching bootlegs, trucking safeties or taking a snap or two at quarterback in the unveiled “Wild Tide.”

Greg McElroy, the Tide’s starting quarterback, wasn’t the man behind center for the Tide’s first play of the 2009 season. It was No. 22.

“We started [installing the Wildcat] in fall camp,” Ingram said. “It was a big surprise to me…I think the Thursday before the game [we decided to run that play first].”

But the formation, along with most of the Tide offense, was stagnant for the majority of the first half. Ingram was contained, swallowed

by Hokie defensive players.

The first and most important stage of becoming a star is to overcome adversity. And on

Saturday night, Ingram did just that.

The second half was the hallmark of a true champion, as Ingram gained nearly 100 of his rushing yards after intermission. But like the true greats, there was no self-promotion from the recently coined SEC player of the week, who seemed surprise to even know of the honor.

“It It makes me happy, but I’m Im not really too focused on that,” Ingram said. “I’m really focused on getting ready for the game this weekend.”

Mark Ingram glides into the endzone after catching a pass against Virginia Tech.

ngram’s name and aggressive running style have received much acclaim from the Tide faithful over the past year, but most fans fail to realize how close Alabama came to seeing Ingram’s highlight reels on television as the 5-foot-9 halfback scooted across the fields of the Big 10.

“I was really surprised Alabama had come and offered me,” Ingram said. “It was after my senior football season that they offered me.”

However, Saban had recruited Ingram’s father, legendary Michigan State wide receiver Mark Ingram Sr., to the Spartans, and was confident that the apple would not fall far from the tree.

Having started late in Ingram’s recruitment, Saban traveled to the Great Lakes State for an in-home visit with the talented young running back, and faced the tough task of trying to convince Ingram to travel hundreds of miles from his home to play football in Tuscaloosa.

Ingram wasn’t sure, but after some weeks of deliberation, made the choice to play for t h e Tide.

I

CW | Katie Bennett

GameDay 2009 • September 11

“

“I think [freshman] year helps you take tremendous strides. This year, I’m more calm and more patient, I’m not going to try to force things.”

— Mark Ingram

“Like a lot of recruits, I was confused,” Ingram said. “You’ve got all these coaches telling you good stuff, things you want to hear…you have to go with your heart, go with your instincts.”

Ingram joined a stellar class of incoming freshmen, headlined by the likes of Julio Jones, Dont’a Hightower, Terrence Cody and Mark Barron, and made an immediate impact for the Tide in last season’s opening rout of Clemson, tallying 17 rushes for 96 yards en route to a 34-10 Tide victory.

Ingram would continue to see significant playing time, building up an impressive freshman season, but it wasn’t enough for the highly motivated and goal-oriented young man, who started to let frustration at his perceived lack of production slow his play on the field.

“I think it’s human nature for all of us,” Saban said. “Mark was ready to play, he just had some difficulties sustaining that performance throughout the year.”

“I was just getting frustrated,” Ingram said.

“Not having the success that I thought I should have had…I was just forcing stuff.”

LEAVING HIS MARK

”

But with tribulation comes growth, and Ingram would overcome his own expectations to set a Tide freshman record, rushing for 12 touchdowns in 2008, half of those coming in the last six games of the season.

With the experience of an exceptional freshman season under his belt, Ingram is now ready to take the next step and transcend to the role of superstar.

“I think that year helps you take tremendous strides,” Ingram said. “This year, I’m more calm and more patient, I’m not going to try to force things.”

So far, so good. Through the first game of his sophomore season, Ingram has totaled 878 rushing yards on 169 carries for slightly less than 5.2 yards per carry. If Ingram averages 1,000 yards per season for the next three seasons, he will easily surpass Shaun Alexander’s all-time rushing yardage record at the Capstone of 3,433.

But with the talent Tide fans have seen from Ingram in the last 15 games, senior year could be a big assumption for the budding superstar.

ʣˎˎ ˖ˊˇ ʨ˗ː ʵ˖˃˔˖˕ ʪˇ˔ˇʜ

Although Mark Ingram has spent 14 of his 15 career games as a backup, he is already on pace to break some of Shaun Alexander’s records.

Shaun Alexander

Mark Ingram

Career stats

Projected career stats

Carries: 701 Yards: 3,433 Average: 4.9 TDs: 40

Carries: 631 Yards: 3,278 Average: 5.2 TDs: 49

ʪˑ˗˔˕ ʶˊˋ˕ ʵ˃˖˗˔ˆ˃˛ʜ

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ʶ˗˖˙ˋˎˇ˔ ʪ˃ˎˎ

ʓʓʜʒʒ˃ˏ ʐ ʗʜʒʒ˒ˏ

ʤ˔˛˃ː˖ ʯ˗˕ˇ˗ˏ ʛʜʒʒ˃ˏ ʐ ʘʜʒʒ˒ˏ

ʶˇː˖ ˑː ˖ˊˇ ʳ˗˃ˆ ˃ːˆ

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supestore.ua.edu

7

The Tide’s victorious tie

BY SPENCER WHITE Assistant GameDay Editor t was supposed to be a fluke.

The young men who represented the University of Alabama were not supposed to be back in Los Angeles. The magical gridiron campaign of a season before was just a distant memory, a shining moment in the history of an unremarkable state.

The 1926 Alabama Crimson Tide didn’t believe it.

Head coach Wallace Wade’s repeat squad, while not loaded with the stars of the ’25 team, may have gone down in Capstone lore as his toughest and most hardnosed.

“Gone were Pooley Hubert, Grant Gillis, Mack Brown, Bill Buckler, Bruce Jones and Pete Camp from the 1925 Champions,” a UA recap of the season states. “This 1926 team did not have many players whose names were bywards in gridiron circles, but it did contain a few stars supplemented by some new men who developed rapidly to become one of the finest of all Alabama teams…it was a cold, a calculating and a relentless outfit.”

Lauded for an outstanding physical nature, there was no more

I

UA Media Relations The Tide and Stanford battle at the Rose Bowl. It was Alabamaʼs second consecutive trip to the big game. perfect display of the tenacity of the ’26 Tide than in a legendary block delivered by Tide receiver Herschel Caldwell in a 26-7 victory over Mississippi A&M, where the 160-pound Caldwell leveled an A&M player 40 pounds heavier than himself during a returned interception by team captain Emile Barnes. Years later, Barnes called call the block the hardest he had ever seen delivered.

The defense, while not quite the level of the previous year, was still superlative, as the Tide recorded six shutouts en route to another undefeated 9-0 regular season.

Once again, the Tide received an

invitation to face a Pacific Coast Conference team in the only postseason game college football held at the time, the Rose Bowl.

No longer were the men from Dixie to be seen as mere bumpkins; the Tide would be unable to sneak up on any team this time, especially not the 10-0 Stanford team coached by legendary Glenn “Pop” Warner, who had stated before the ’25 game that Alabama would be no match for the Huskies of Washington. Having misjudged the Tide once, Warner would not make the same mistake twice.

The Tide players had a bit of motivation themselves. Despite

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being the undefeated defending Rose Bowl champions, the Dickinson System, designed to rank teams for the season and award a regular-season national championship before the Rose Bowl, rated Alabama the No. 6 team in the nation. Two one-loss teams, Michigan and Notre Dame, and a two-loss USC team were all ranked ahead of the Tide, with Stanford holding the top spot.

The 1927 Rose Bowl was the most anticipated in the game’s history. Buildup, press and wordof-mouth swelled the Coliseum crowd to more than 68,000 fans, a Rose Bowl record.

Like the Huskies of the previous game, the Stanford Indians, as they were referred to in those days, got off to a quick start, putting up a touchdown in the first quarter on a George Bogue touchdown pass to Ed Walker. The 7-0 mark stayed on the board until a mere two minutes remained in the fourth quarter, when Stanford’s Frankie Wilson had a fourth-down punt deep in his own territory blocked by the Tide, who faced first-and-10 from the Stanford 14-yard line.

Within four plays, the Tide’s Jimmy Johnson had plowed into

The 1926 team goes through practice on campus. The squad lost seven key members of the 1925 Rose Bowl champs but found new players to replace the production.

UA Media Relations

the endzone, placing the Tide an extra point away from tying the Indians with less than a minute remaining in the game. A quick kick for the Tide scored the extra point, and Alabama left the Rose Bowl with the sweetest tie in program history, 7-7.

Once again, the Tide had defied

the odds. Despite being outgained 305 yards to 98, Alabama had stood toe-to-toe with the best team in the nation and proved itself more than worthy of the accolades given to the top gridiron squads in the country. Western football fans who had doubted before could no longer deny one simple

truth; these boys from the small southern hamlet of Tuscaloosa had escalated the game of football from a pastime to a passion, and that passion had given life and hope to an antiquated South that so desperately needed an equalizing standard on a nationwide level.

KEY PLAYERS

ALABAMA

Greg McElroy, QB

Paul McCall, QB

McElroy began the Virginia Tech game 2-of-12, and it appeared that the Tide’s offense may never pick up. It finally got rolling in the second half, and McElroy went 13-of-18 after the poor start.

Although much of his early struggles may have been a result of the offensive line’s inability to protect him, McElroy needs to prove that he can consistently sustain the type of performance he had in the second half of the season opener.

McCall gives FIU something that a small school must have when attempting an upset of this magnitude: experience at the quarterback position. The senior held an impressive 15:9 touchdown to interception ratio as a junior last season, and he will have to play well on Saturday if FIU has any chance to upend the Tide.

Javier Arenas, CB

T.Y. Hilton, H-Back

Arenas will more than likely be the man who usually matches up with T.Y. Hilton, FIU’s electrifying H-Back. If Arenas got thrown at last week against Virginia Tech, it was only an unnoticeable time or two as the senior quietly shutdown the Hokies. After the special teams struggled against Virginia Tech, Arenas is also likely eager to make a big play on a return in the home opener.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Monday that T.Y. Hilton was a better offensive player than anybody the Tide played last week against Virginia Tech. The 5-foot-9, 168-pound sophomore is explosive at both the H-Back and returner positions, and if Saban’s bold statement is correct, Alabama will just hope to keep him contained.

Mark Ingram, RB

Scott Bryant, LB

Ingram exploded for 185 total yards and two touchdowns against a stifling Hokie defense last week. If the sophomore can put together another game like that on Saturday, his back-to-back spectacular performances would be the next step into emerging as a true superstar for the Crimson Tide.

Bryant returns for his senior season as the Panthers top tackler from 2008, and will be the main man to try to slow down Alabama’s running game. Playing the strong side linebacker position, the Tide will be running the majority of its new Wild Tide formation plays directly at Bryant.

OFFENSIVE STARTERS

LT LG C RG RT TE HB QB RB WR WR

77 78 73 75 79 84 17 12 22 8 4

James Carpenter (Jr.) Mike Johnson (Sr.) William Vlachos (So.) Barrett Jones (R-Fr.) Drew Davis (Sr.) Colin Peek (Sr.) Brad Smelley (So.) Greg McElroy (Jr.) Mark Ingram (So.) Julio Jones (So.) Marquis Maze (So.)

DEFENSIVE STARTERS

DE DT DE JACK WILL MIKE SAM CB FS SS CB

95 62 97 32 30 25 13 3 27 4 28

Brandon Deaderick (Sr.) Terrence Cody (Sr.) Lorenzo Washington (Sr.) Eryk Anders (Sr.) Dontʼa Hightower (So.) Rolando McClain (Jr.) Cory Reamer (Sr.) Kareem Jackson (Jr.) Justin Woodall (Sr.) Mark Barron (So.) Javier Arenas (Sr.)

SPECIAL TEAMS STARTERS K P PR KR

99 97 28 28 80

FIU

Leigh Tiffin (Sr.) P.J. Fitzgerald (Sr.) Javier Arenas (Sr.) Javier Arenas (Sr.) Mike McCoy (Sr.)

OFFENSIVE STARTERS

LT LG C RG RT HB QB RB FB WR WR

51 58 76 70 50 4 12 28 27 82 2

Ula Matavao (Sr.) Andy Leavine (Sr.) Brad Serini (Jr.) Mario Caraballo (Jr.) Joe Alajajian (Sr.) T.Y. Hilton (So.) Paul McCall (Sr.) Darriet Perry (So.) John Ellis (Sr.) Greg Ellingson (Jr.) Junior Mertile (So.)

DEFENSIVE STARTERS

DE DT DT DE OLB ILB OLB CB FS SS CB

91 92 95 59 44 13 34 7 11 6 29

Armond Willis (Sr.) Jonas Murrell (Sr.) Justin West (Sr.) Cody Pellicer (So.) Scott Bryant (Sr.) Toronto Smith (Jr.) Winston Fraser (R-Fr.) Anthony Gaitor (Jr.) Ashlyn Parker (Jr.) Jeremiah Weatherspoon (Sr.) Dezariah Johnson (Sr.)

SPECIAL TEAMS STARTERS K P PR KR

40 34 4 4 7

Dustin Rivest (Sr.) Carlos Munera (R-Fr.) T.Y. Hilton (So.) T.Y. Hilton (So.) Anthony Gaitor (Jr.)