Tag: Alabama (Page 4 of 7)

It’s official: Alabama vs. Texas for the National Championship

Texas almost blew it against Nebraska, but they will get their chance against Alabama. After the bitter disappointment of being left out of the game last season, the Longhorns get their chance to win one under Colt McCoy. Alabama looked very tough against Florida, but you can’t judge these teams just on their last game. I think the game is a toss-up.

By the way, Kirk Herbstreet just smacked down Mark May on ESPN. Herbstreet was making the point that Alabama needs to make sure their players keep their focus, as everyone will be telling them how great they are, while Texas players will have to hear about how they were lucky to get there. Mark May argued that Nick Saban is not the kind of coach to let his players lose focus going into a bowl game, until Herbstreet pointed out how Alabama laid an egg last year against Utah.

Again, the layoff is another unfortunate factor in this crazy BCS system.

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Florida’s Dunlap arrested for drunken driving

Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap was arrested for DUI early Tuesday morning in Gainesville, just days before the Gators’ big clash with Alabama in the SEC Championship.

Per ESPN.com:

Dunlap, a junior from North Charleston, S.C., was arrested at 3:25 a.m. near campus and was booked into the jail at 5:52 a.m., according to police. Kameg said officers responded to a reckless driving complaint and found Dunlap’s 2000 Chrysler stopped at a traffic light near the 200 block of W. 34th Street.

Kameg said officers found Dunlap’s car stopped at a green light.

“They approached the car and found the suspect slumped over in the driver’s seat,” Kameg said. “He appeared to be asleep. The car’s windows were cracked so they attempted to wake him up. They talked to him and he would only open his eyes for a few seconds and then fall back asleep.”

Kameg said officers were able to unlock the car and turn off the ignition. Kameg said officers reported that Dunlap “had trouble listening to instructions.” He was given a field sobriety test and performed “poorly,” according to Kameg. He refused to take a Breathalyzer at the scene, Kameg said.

This is a disastrous situation for both Florida and Dunlap, who is considered a potential first-round draft choice if he leaves after this season. It’s unclear at this point whether or not he’ll be held out of Saturday’s game against Alabama but if he is, the Gators’ pass rush will take a dramatic hit.


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2009 Heisman Barometer: Week 12

Draft Zoo.com writes that Stanford’s Toby Gerhart and Alabama’s Mark Ingram has seen their draft stock rise over the past couple weeks and now ranks them No. 1 and No. 2 on their Heisman Barometer.

1. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
Once again, a guy who might not have a real shot at winning the award. Mark Ingram looks poised to become Alabama’s first Heisman recipient ever, and I’m not trying to take anything away from him, but I don’t think the Tide would struggle without him. Stanford, on the other hand, doesn’t beat USC without their junior tailback. He’s a deceptively quick bulldozer who has the Cardinal on the right track to getting back to the Rose Bowl. One loss from Oregon, and a Pac 10 title could be just enough help to give Gerhart the hardware. At the very least, he’s my number one.

Last Week’s Stats: 178 Rushing Yards, 3 TDs

2. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
He’s probably the realistic frontrunner right now, and it’s not like he doesn’t deserve it. 1297 rushing yards, 13 total TDs, and a 6.7 ypc average. Not bad at all, especially through only 10 games. But the biggest reason that Ingram’s looking like a lock to become the second sophomore to win the Heisman is the fact that his team is undefeated. One big test left against Florida in the SEC championship. Win that one and head to Pasadena for the big game and Mark can vote for himself next year.

As Draft Zoo points out, Gerhart is unlikely to win the award but the way he has come on as of late, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t at least deserve some mention.

If you haven’t see Gerhart play, you’re really missing out. He’s a load to bring down and looked damn near unstoppable against Oregon and USC the past two weeks. He’s one of those guys that can put his entire team on his back and carry them and it’s no wonder that more pundits are starting to talk about him as a legit NFL prospect.

People keep talking about how Tim Tebow is the front-runner to win this year’s Heisman, but I just don’t see it. Can anyone objectively say that Tebow has done enough to merit the award? Considering how much talent he has around him (and I’m not just talking about offense), I’m not sure you can.

Unless he comes out and puts on a show against Alabama and whomever Florida plays in the national championship if the Gators can beat the Tide in the SEC title game, then I don’t see Tebow taking home the hardware this season.


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2009 BCS Bowl Projections Version 1.0

SI.com’s Stewart Mandel compiled his projections for all 34 bowl matchups and this is how things shook out in the BCS Bowls:

BCS Championship: Alabama vs. Texas
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. TCU
Fiesta: Iowa vs. Boise State
Sugar: Florida vs. Pittsburgh
Rose: Ohio State vs. Oregon

Is it just me or are those some pretty lousy matchups outside of the BCS title game (Colt McCoy vs. ‘Bama’s defense is intriguing, I don’t care what anyone says)? I’m not saying that those teams aren’t deserving of those bowls, but I’m not entirely sure I’d like to see Iowa play Boise in one of the “big” bowls.

That said, a Georgia Tech-TCU matchup would be intriguing because I would love to see the Horned Frogs try and defense the Jackets’ potent triple-option. TCU has one of the fastest and most aggressive defenses in the nation and it would be a thrill to watch them try and contain Jonathan Dwyer for four quarters.

Something tells me an Ohio State-Oregon matchup wouldn’t be that bad either outside of the fact that the Buckeyes always lay duds in bowl games. OSU has a solid defense, although Jeremiah Masoli and company might tear them to pieces.

Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from Mandel’s projections (outside of the fact that he has ‘Bama beating Florida in the SEC Championship Game, that is) is that he predicts Pittsburgh to beat Cincinnati in two weeks. The Bearcats can light up a scoreboard, but teams that can run straight at their defense have had success and the Panthers might be able to do that when the two teams square off next Saturday for the top spot in the Big East.’

For those of you who are like me that would rather see a playoff system determine the champion in college football, check out John Paulsen’s breakdown of how a postseason would look like this season.


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TCU jumps to No. 4 in the BCS standings

The TCU Horned Frogs have leapt into the top 5 in the BCS standings according to ESPN.com.

TCU took over fourth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday behind Florida, Alabama and Texas. It’s the highest BCS ranking ever for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to the big-money bowl games. No potential BCS buster had ever done better than sixth in the BCS standings.

Florida is first for the fourth straight week, and Alabama and Texas switched spots for the second week in a row.

The Gators and Crimson Tide have clinched their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference and will meet Dec. 5 in the league championship game. One of them is all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., if they can get through the next month without a loss.

The same goes for Texas, which has three regular-season games and possibly the Big 12 championship remaining.

The other undefeated teams — TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State — need the top three to stumble to have any shot of reaching the title game.

Some complain about TCU’s schedule, but at least they crush their opponents on a weekly basis. Clemson and Air Force are the only two teams that have given the Frogs a game this season and TCU played both of those contests on the road. And the fact that they’re willing to play non-conference foes like Clemson and Virginia should count for something.

The Frogs have one of the fastest, most aggressive defenses in the nation and I’d love to see what they could do in a BCS bowl. Of course, they have to get by Utah first, whom they play next Saturday.

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