Pushing the Sled

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this picture of Saban and Deaderick


Now for a Terrance Cody update. Cody is on track to return when Alabama travels to Baton Rouge for the LSU game. Cody is doing a lot more conditioning this week as opposed to last week when he stuck mainly to a stationary bike. Alabama strength and conditioning coaches have been working with Cody in the pool also to take some of the strain off his hurt knee. Cody was doing well enough today to push the sled.

Terrence Cody Update

Terrence Cody is still in a black non-contact jersey today, was off the stationary bike doing conditioning drills with a brace on his right leg. He even jogged two 100 yard sprints with the Alabama strength and conditioning coaches.

Although Cody is definitely out for this week's game against Arkansas State, he will be reevaluated on either Sunday or Monday for the following week's showdown against SEC West contender LSU.

Storylines for the Arkansas State Game

Remember Louisiana Monroe? With how focused Alabama has been throughout the 2nd season of the Nick Saban era, I strongly doubt it. ASU is 4-3 on the season and has put up decent numbers averaging 435 yards-per-game and 33.3 points per game. After last years upset by Louisiana-Monroe, don't expect the Tide to be looking past ASU to Louisiana-Monroe. This one is going to be a blow out.



How is Terrance Cody doing? He was on crutches last week and don't expect him to be showing much movement this week. With LSU coming up the following week, the Alabama coaching staff would probably keep Cody out of the game even if he could play. I expect him to be back for LSU though. Players that are hurt, are put in black jerseys, signifying that they are not to be hit, but it does not mean these players get to take it easy. These hurt players go through conditioning drills for most of practice. Conditioning + 365 lbs = not fun. I would expect Cody to want to stop these conditioning drills and get back on the field by next Monday.



Alabama proved they can play all four quarters, but can they do it consistantly? I expect for the Tide to be doing clean up duty pretty early. Therefore, this question will not be able to be answered this game. We will have to wait until Alabama travels down to play the bayou bangels of LSU to answer that.




Alabama is being overlooked. This is very true, but I don't think journalists feel the Tide is overrated, they are still surprised by how good Alabama is this year. Most people thought it would be next year at least before Alabama would even be mentioned in the same sentence as SEC West Champions. I can almost guarantee you that an undefeated Alabama team that wins the SEC Championship will go to the 2008 BCS Title Game over an undefeated Penn State team. That is the last time you will even hear me say Alabama and 2008 BCS Title Game in the same sentence unless I am sitting on South Beach trying to scalp tickets to the game.



Will The Machine get their homecoming queen elected? Oh my God I hope so!!!!

Tennessee Final Thoughts

The confidence Nick Saban has in the Alabama defense has never been more evident than when he chose to go for it on 4th and 1 from the three yard line at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. He knew that the Alabama defense would be able to hold the Vols offense that actually started getting a little confidence at the end of the 1st quarter.



The Alabama offense struggled early against a very good Tennessee defensive line, but adjusted nicely to lead a six play 66 yard drive, which included two long catches by Julio Jones, ending in a Glen Coffee touchdown. The Alabama team has become so much more of a cohesive unit than last year which would have been busy trying to find out who to blame rather than solve the problem.



Julio Jones has been getting better every week, and this week was no exception. Jones had six receptions for 103 yards receiving. Two of those catches were momentum building catches at a time when the Alabama offense was being held stagnant by a great Vols defense.



The depth of the Alabama receiving core, definitely surprised me. Catches were made by seven different tide receivers. Brad Smelley, fifth on the tight end depth chart, and Will Oakley, not even in the top 10 of wide receiver depth chart, were two great examples of the confidence this team has right now. If players this low on the depth chart are making big plays at important times, the other players getting more playing time, must be feeling like super heroes.



The Alabama defense playing well without Terrance Cody. The defense was put into some very tough situations after a fumble by Arenas and a blocked put which both gave Tennessee the ball within field goal range. The Alabama defense dominated the line of scrimmage and Vols wide receivers were blanketed by the Alabama secondary. Josh Chapman and Lorenzo Washington required double team help from the guards and played a major role in holding the Tennessee offense to just 173 total yards offensively.



Lee Tiffin played the best game he has played his entire career. Tiffin contributed 11 points to the Tide’s 29 total by going 3 for 3 on field goals (with a long of 43 yards) and 2 for 2 on extra points. Most importantly, Tiffin made all of his field goals at the beginning of the game that looked like it was going to come down to special teams.



Oh yeah, and Alabama proved they can play for all four quarters. I was definitely wondering how the Tide would react in the second half to not having a big lead at halftime. Not only did the Tide play well in the second half but they held the Vols offense to just 16 plays compared to 35 in the first half.

Storylines for the Tennessee Game

How will the Alabama defense play without Terrance Cody: To call Tennessee's offense sluggish is like calling a turtle patient. There last game against Mississippi St. marks the third time this season that the Vols put up more than 15 points. Although they scored 34 points last week against the Bulldogs, the Vols offense on managed 275 yards of total offense.



How will an inconsistent Alabama offense do against a good Tennessee Defense: Don't let the Vols 3-4 record fool you. Although there offense is at a all-time low, there defense is one of the best in the country only having allowed 11 more points than the highly regarded Crimson Tide defense. They also have a defensive back in Eric Barry who Saban called, "one of the best defensive players in the SEC."




When will The Tide play four whole quarters: If the National Championship Game was only two quarters, go ahead and put the Sears National Championship Trophy in Saban's living room -- That's if the 2 quarters were the first two and not the second two. Too often this year, Alabama has blown opponents away in the first half to then watch them come back in the second half. As this young team gain more experience, the more complete games they will have. Maturity=Consistency.




Will Kenny Chesney be in attendance at the game: If he is, then I will be shocked. It seems like all he does is film music videos on a beach.