Alabama and the SEC

Where is Alabama football’s weakest link?

Offensive line? No that’s supposed to be a great group. Receivers? What planet do you live on? No they’re world class. Running backs? There’s a herd of stars there just waiting to shine. So the weakest link isn’t on offense?

Ah, so could be the special teams? Fans always grumble about the placekickers. That must be it? Well, no, not really Alabama hasn’t last many games lately because of a botched kick and this year it seems that this position is coming around nicely. Also punting is good and kick returners are also world class. So for now, it doesn’t seem to anyone in this group.

Well then, it would have to be the defensive secondary. Their failures to stop teams in late drives cost Bama dearly in the past and this would have to be culprit if there is one this season.

But no, if you’ve really paid attention, Saban has been quietly pleased with the pieces of the puzzle he has there this season. Though many of the names are new, or at least new to most fans. They seem like a solid group and Patrick Surtain may be the next big star to emerge as a sure to be NFL star.

Well that only leaves the defensive front and linebackers and they always seem to be among the elite groups in college football. It can’t be them can it?

While it’s true that Bama has some great run stoppers and that their rushing defense numbers may be once again in the realm of days gone by, it hasn’t been proved yet, nor has Saban given any indication, that they have a group that can do two things, throw out an effective pass rush or cover backs or tight ends in short dump off kinds of passes.

And for now, before the first ball is snapped, that is where you’ll need to look to see if that indeed could be the Tide’s weak link. Mobile quarterbacks have usually led to many of the downfalls and slip ups in the storied Nick Saban era.

In a 4-3 lineup, the defensive ends usually get the most sacks and of those, it’s usually the right side end who leads in sacks because he’s the faster guy who can attack the quarterback’s blind side but the left end gets his share too.

LaBryan Ray seems healthy from his 2019 injuries and many think he can put together a season that will make him an early round draft pick, but until he actually proves he’s back to the form that everyone saw glimpses of in the past, his pass rush numbers remain to be seen. He’ll be backed up by Justin Eboigbe a very capable end you’ll be sure to see in a rotational role.

The other end is Christian Barmore, who due to injuries last season got some late season snaps and he was a very pleasant surprise In the Auburn game, he was the coaches choice for defensive player of the game because of four quarterback hurries and two tackles. He’s one of the younger of this group but the red shirt sophomore is ready to show he can play like one of the older guys. Backing him up is Phidarian Mathis, a red shirt junior, an award winning academic player, new father very hard worker.

Now in the 3-4 lineup, the outside linebacker serves as a glorified defensive end and it’s his job to be the “sack man”. The role of that “Jack” linebacker is Dillon Moses, returning from injury with a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove. The other outside linebacker is called the “Sam” linebacker and Christopher Allen fills that spot.

In case your memory failed you, last season’s pass rush and sack count was left very wanting. The 32 sacks recorded last season was the worst total since 2014 and to make the news even worse, the leader from last season, Anfernee Jennings, is gone. To make even worse, Jennings 8 sacks were more than the third and fourth best put together and more than the last 9 players recording sacks put together. Clearly there’s a work in progress here and hopefully more than one player will step up to be a leader in that area.

In the past, Saban used Safety blitzes that got some sack numbers, but last season that fell flat on the face with only two DB’s recording sacks and those totals combined just 2.5 sacks. Whether or not Saban and defensive coordinator Pete Golding utilize more safety or corner blitzes remain to be seen this season.

No matter how the team plays this season overall, this is area that this old guy feels is the area that could be the weakest link. You may or may not agree. Touchdown Alabama’s Forum section is the perfect place for discussions and we’d love to hear your opinions on where the weakest link could be.

Larry Burton is the senior writer at Touchdown Alabama Magazine and has been published in almost every media outlet for college sports. He was Bleacher Report’s #1 college football writer in reads and comments and now has slowed down his writing from that hectic pace. Follow Larry on Twitter for inside thoughts and game time comments at https://twitter.com/LBSportswriter

Larry’s Losers in the SEC – Week 1

Well sports fans, after an off season of hand wringing and hard prayers, it looks like the Covid couldn’t stop the kickoff after all. At least not in the SEC where the big boys play. So while the Pig Pen and Wack 12 seem to be sorting the season out, the conferences that really matter will be popping pads and warring for a winner as they make up their minds.

This is gonna be one unusual season for sure as the cupcake classics are out the window and a season of swapping slugs with only SEC competition is sure to leave some teams sore and some victorious in this war.

So without further ado, let us bow our heads and thank God for football and get to picking these futile fools who will wind up on Larry’s list of losers. But from what we’ve seen in the warm up weeks, the upset bug is mighty hungry and he’s going to enjoy a few good meals here in the SEC and you can bet your bug spray on that!

Florida at Ole Miss – The Big Green Lizards slither on over to Oxford for one of the SEC’s first contests of the season and they plan on showing why expectations for a sensational season is in these salamanders plans.

But these rascally Rebels don’t plan on giving up without a fight and they’re hoping that the air is full of the kind of upset bugs that only the local population has an immunity for. New coach Kiffin is gonna have a wrinkle or two that should make this one fun to watch though.

But since these Gator’s home ground is a Swamp, they know all about all kinds of biting bugs and they’ll slap ’em away and chew Rebels all day till the final whistle blows. Larry’s loser – Ole Miss

Kentucky at Auburn – The Kentucky Cat Clan comes to their cousin Kitty’s crib down in Auburn and hope to leave the local Leos in the litter box and become the SEC’s first upset sweetheart.

Now the Tigers in their own Den is a tough Tabby to take down. But the crowd won’t help in this socially distant den. Combine this with the fact that Auburn hasn’t had back to back great seasons since the 80’s and these Wildcats may have all the all the cards to deal a diabolical day to home town Tabbies.

Now you can take it to the bank that these Wildcats are gonna catch some big team at the right time and surprise a lot of folks. Is this the day? I think it could be a war here, maybe the game of the day here, so we’re going with the upset and let the fur fly! Larry’s loser – Auburn

Mississippi State at LSU – When the dadgum Doggies from Starkvegas invade the Bayou Bengals bowl in Baton Rouge, we’re all going to get our first look at how Mike Leach plans on playing his brand of ball in the SEC and that alone will be worth the watch.

Now po’ old Coach O ain’t playing with a full team of Tabbies like last year. So many of his Tigers with a title have left the pride and sailed with the tide, leaving him with more holes than Swiss cheese.

Now I’m telling you that all my instincts tell me this could be an upset too, but the two cents I have left in my head tell me that there’s enough Tigers still in the tank that remember how to win to get them through this game. Larry’s loser – Mississippi State

Georgia at Arkansas – The Red Clay Hounds roll over to the Hot Springs State to do a little wild boar hunting on the field at aptly name War Memorial Stadium and they must be serious as they brought along a pallet full of pork and beans, paper plates and Piggy BBQ sauce.

Now Kirby’s canines don’t have the bite they did last season, but they have enough bark to scare these little piggies all the way home and with the schedule they’ve got this season, there’s going to be a lot of huffing and puffing and blowing these little piggies houses down all season long.

But it’s the first game and something tells me it may not be the massacre that many predict, but in the end, the loser remains the same and the BBQ is all set. Larry’s loser – Arkansas

Alabama at Missouri – The Tusked ones from Tuscaloosa are finally back on the loose and this week they wander over to the Show Me State to show the troubled Tabbies from that state who’s who in the SEC.

But these Pussycats have been a problem for other SEC teams for a few years now and they’re hoping to throw a monkey wrench into Nick Saban’s well oiled machine before it gets up to speed.

Well, everybody has a plan until they get they get punched in the mouth and when this happens, the Pussycat’s plans will plummet with painful repercussions. Larry’s loser – Missouri

Vanderbilt at Texas A&M – Ah futility, in SEC football thou has a name and it is Vanderbilt. So when the boys from the Big State come to corral you Commodores, just put your chin up as you go down with the ship one more time.

Now the head ranch hand of these Wranglers wants to use this game as a statement that the Aggies are back up to contention in contest ability, so just like old Black Beard the pirate, he won’t give any quarter to these quarterdeck contestants.

This is one you might want to skip as there are other games more entertaining, so let’s just leave it there and declare Larry’s loser as poor old Vanderbilt.

Tennessee at South Carolina – The Volunteers travel over to Carolina Cluckers coop this weekend and it’s payback they have in mind. Yes the Vols won last year, but that was the first in the last four tries and the coon skinned capped country boys want to show they’re a top of the league team this year and not still a bunch of troubled Tennesseans.

Now even though a lot of chickens flew the coop after last season and with maybe his job on the line, Coach Muschamp is going to take his boys, sharpen their spurs and try and make these Vols subject to being pecker headed by the end of this game.

But even though these Colonel Sanders contenders are on their home sod, they just don’t have enough muscle to take on these Tennesseans and that’ll make Larry’s loser – South Carolina

Well that’s it for this week folks. This starts the 16th season of labeling losers in the SEC and my oh my how time does fly. In that time we’ve finished seasons as high as 97% of all games perfectly predicted and as low as 72%, but even in our worst year, we still out predicted all other prognosticators in print, TV and the internet.

But this week we’re gonna try something new. Post your predictions in the forum section of this TDA site and remember, post the losers only and see if you can out pick the pride of the Prognosticators Union. If you can do that, we’ll mention you in next week’s list of likely losers.

Now this is 2020 the year of hurricanes, fires, Chinese flu, murder hornets and more so if anything can happen, it probably will this year. So stay tuned each week and let’s see how we navigate another season with perfect reasoning.

LARRY BURTON HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN ALMOST EVERY MEDIA OUTLET FOR COLLEGE SPORTS. HE WRITES THIS ARTICLE IN A COLLOQUIAL AND IRREVERENT STYLE FOR THESE SERIES OF ARTICLES. LARRY’S VIEWS AND SENSE OF HUMOR MAY OFFEND, BUT HE AIMS TO OFFEND EVERYONE EQUALLY. IF HE HASN’T INSULTED YOUR FAVORITE TEAM WITH LARRY’S LOSERS, JUST WAIT. FOLLOW LARRY ON TWITTER FOR INSIDE THOUGHTS AND FUNNY GAME TIME COMMENTS AT HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/LBSPORTSWRITER

What we all saw happen to the NCAA and Power Five and what it means

This was a difficult year for all sports because of differing policies about the corona virus. What we saw was at first difficult to interpret, but now that the smoke has cleared, here are some things that are very clear to see about division one college football now.

The NCAA is not the end all, head office, or final word in football. Each conference and some schools chose to act independently and the NCAA had no say or control over who did what. What comes from that now is anybody’s guess.
Now that we’ve seen how much power the NCAA really doesn’t have, if hit with severe penalties because of rules violations can a team tell the NCAA to stick it? Clearly the NCAA seemed neutered by all that has gone on.

And what about the Power Five? Remember how they were all tight and even thinking about forming their own division and playoff and so forth?

Well it seems like they can’t get together and make a decision any better than the NCAA can get everyone to sing from the same hymnal.
Now the possibility that the Power Five: the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10 and Pac 12, will ever get together and work off the same playbook any more than the NCAA can get schools to all put up a unified front seems remote.

Lastly is the ugly truth that no one really wants to talk about, is politics and money made the biggest difference in who finally chose to do what.

The NCAA makes a ton of money from college basketball, but college football telecast money either goes to the team in Notre Dame’s case, or the conference they belong to which then splits it up between the teams. So it was not the NCAA who stood to lose a ton of money if no football was shown, it was the schools themselves and many schools desperately need that income, not just to pay for football’s costs, but many factor that money into their annual budgets for the university. So they were darn sure going to provide as much of television content as possible to get that money.
Then there’s politics. And I tread lightly going down this path, but some schools were strong armed by their state leaders to lean one way or another. Not to point fingers but schools in mostly Democrat controlled states were the ones who opted out. I’ve always been a proponent of keeping money, politics and religion debates away from my family and my football, so that’s all we’ll say on this subject and you can draw your own reasoning.
Did the Big 10’s ego get in the way? About an hour after saying they wouldn’t play, the Pac 12, who has historically followed the Big 10’s decisions in almost everything, announced they wouldn’t play either. They thought everyone else would follow their lead. Seeing that the majority basically said, “Who cares what you do!” and went forward with the season, showed them where decisions lie in the pecking order of the rest of college football. Now they are desperate to find some solution to get to play too, as they are afraid of what will happen if the other leagues and teams play a “full” season without major hindrances. Now they are talking about maybe starting in October or November, or even in December. Can a decision maker please stand up in that conference? Right now, they look like the dumbest conference in the land.
But no matter what they do now, the NCAA has said they’re going forward with the teams that started “on time” and will be choosing a champion from that group leaving out two of the “Blue Blood” conferences in the NCAA from any consideration.

This unusual season showed a lot cracks we never saw before and when we look closely at them, they’re much deeper than at first glance. The cost in money is huge, but the cost of division may have longer term effects.

The big takeaway is that nobody in division one is really bound very strongly to anything when it comes right down it and each team and league and even some teams will do what they want to do when it comes to making big decisions on big topics.

So for the foreseeable future, we’ll continue to see the NCAA strutting around like the ruling king we all know it’s not and the “Power Five” won’t ever get together and form their own group. At least not for a long while. Heck, for that matter the Big 10 is so fractured schools in that league may wind up suing their own conference.

This season has shown us that there are still more differences than solidarity in college football. How teams face that and move from here is anyone’s guess. The ones that have chosen to play have the other side hoping it blows up their faces so they won’t look stupid and the SEC, ACC and Big 12 know that the ones who chose not to play can’t wait to say “I told you so!” and be vindicated should things go badly.

Let’s hope for the sake of football that all goes well this season for the schools that chose to play and the schools that chose not to play see the need for solidarity. Because only in sticking together can these cracks be filled and college football continue to move forward, prosper and morph into something better in the future. And isn’t that all what we really want at the end of the day?

Mac Jones may not be the quarterback many fans want, but he’s exactly what the Tide needs now.

Let’s face it, everyone that has seen the high school highlights of Bryce Young can’t wait to have him be the next Tua, tossing passes hither and yonder to this great group of receivers. He truly is lightning in a bottle and a born play maker, there’s just no denying that.

Reports are coming out of Tuscaloosa that he’s shining in practice and some are questioning if he will start. Lots of QB’s look good in practice where the stakes are low and the risk of getting crunched are even lower.

So while he is what many Tide fans want to see starting the season, the quarterback who will start the season is exactly what what the Tide needs right now and Mac Jones and most of the players on the team know it.

While Young may be a highlight reel in the making, he’s still not experienced at this level and he still hasn’t won the team over as the true leader of the offense. And how many times have you heard head coach Nick Saban say in preseason practices that he’s looking for a quarterback that has won the team over.

That’s not to say the team isn’t behind Young, that they don’t realize his potential or that would be frightened if Jones went down and Young had to come in. No, they know what kind of man their teammate is. It’s just that for now, Mac has proven many things to the team that Young hasn’t yet. First of all that he’s a team guy just like them. He was a guy that went from some say fourth string to starter and earned his position. Secondly, he’s been to war with them and he doesn’t get rattled. His play is solid, he’s not going to create a ton of turnovers and he sees the big picture. And for Saban, the big picture is being steady, moving the chains and getting touchdowns in the red zone, not field goals. It’s not in making headline reel homerun throws.

Now Mac can do that when he needs to. Case in point, the bowl game this season against Michigan. In that game, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian wanted to make a bold statement early on. He wanted Jones to throw a bomb on the first offensive play, get a quick score that would do three things. Scare the crap out of Michigan, which it did, tell their defensive coordinator he better not play the run or cheat up close to the line or they would do this all day long, which the Michigan coordinator did not do, because thirdly, it opened up the running game, which it also did.

So in that first play Mac drops back and boom! Touchdown Alabama! And there was no wild celebration from the players, once the play was called they fully expected Mac to deliver and he did. In case you don’t remember, here’s that play:

Push the play button

Now this isn’t to say, that like Tua, Young won’t learn a lot in practice and in mop up situations. He may also develop during the season so that also just like Tua, should Jones just not have his A game on any given Saturday, Young can come in and pull out the game just as Tua did against Georgia in the National Championship Game. Just don’t get excited by how he looks in practice. Blake Barnett looked great in practice too, got the starting nod at Bama in 2016 only to lose the job quickly and just as quickly leave the university for greener pastures. So don’t think a great practice QB makes a great game day QB. He could be both, but only time will prove this.

Young will develop and be the better for not being thrown to the wolves so early in his career. That’s not to say that even as a backup, he will not fail to excite the fans.

But at least for now, Alabama has just the right man behind center and the fans should all, every man, woman and child be thankful that he’s there and not long for something that will come along sooner or later. Let’s all just enjoy the show let Mac do his thing. Bryce Young will have his day, his highlights and one day his NFL contract, but for now I’m all in for Mac to start the season and do well with the job.

How goes Alabama’s Defense, so goes the Tide

By: Larry Burton

Mac Jones may not be Tua Tagovailoa, but he’s at least a good imitation. Let’s not kid each other, no one has to be convinced that this Alabama team is going to score points this fall, lots of them in fact. Alabama has enough talent on offense for two top offensive teams.

The problem last season wasn’t that both Tua and Mac didn’t put up enough points, it’s that the defense couldn’t keep the defenders from lighting up the scoreboard with even bigger numbers in the big games.

You know that, we know that, Saban knew that. That’s why big changes were made at the end of the season and beyond. A pair of new strength and conditioning coaches were brought in and that seems to be working. But the big news was Charlie Strong coming in as an analyst and if you don’t know what that means in Tuscaloosa, it’s a coach in waiting, a great mind to fill a great hole or a coach that just “technically” isn’t a coach and can’t coach on the field, but do pretty much everything else.

All three of those scenarios of what analysts do in Tuscaloosa could apply to Strong.

The message to current defensive coordinator Pete Golding is very strongly subtitle It’s about as subtitle as your marriage being in trouble and your husband just hired a former Miss America to baby sit the kids. In other words, this is your shot to get things together or you’re looking at your replacement.

Strong wants only to make a difference at this point. He doesn’t want to or need to step on Golding’s toes. In fact, he’ll give him all the help, guidance and planning advice he can possibly do because he knows, “How good the Tide defense goes, so goes the prospects of Strong’s next gig. He’s not concerned who gets the credit because he knows that the folks that write the big checks will see Stong’s fingerprints all over a well oiled defense this season compared to what they put out there last season.

We’ve seen all this before, you can be a top flight “best there is” coordinator and then flop as a head coach, it’s called the Peter Principal, where you continued to get promoted to the point where you finally get a job you have can’t handle at that same talent level.

No one has ever or maybe will never challenge the fact that Charlie Strong is one of the very best at devising defensive schemes that work with the talent he has on hand. And with injured players returning this season, there’s going to be ample talent.

To be kind to Golding, the present defensive coordinator, last season was his first in the job and the defensive side of the ball had not only a good deal of injuries, but injuries to players who were going to be perceived leaders. Golding now knows his men, their abilities and playing habits. This second season should show marked improvement on what he wants to do with the squad and the packages he’ll put in place.

Traditionally under Saban, Bama has posted one of the top ranked defenses in the country. If they can just be a top 10 unit this year, the offense should be able to carry the team back to the playoffs.

Bama has to learn to be effective on third downs, cut out the penalties that never used to happen to a Saban team be more dominate for four quarters. They must have stronger leaders on defense on the field and they must keep teams from sustaining long drives.

With a favorable schedule this season, they should be able to accomplish these things on defense better than they did last season. We may not know just how good this team until the LSU and Auburn games late in the year, but we’ll see improvement a whole lot sooner.

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