this could be special tide season

Inside
Tide Crushes Gators...................Page 2
Depth Chart................................Page 3
Recruiting Update ......................Page 4
Coach Shula Says .......................Page 5
Season Statistics .........................Page 6
Number 6
October 6, 2005
THIS COULD BE SPECIAL TIDE SEASON
D
oes it seem as though the rest of the
Southeastern Conference is like a
man in the drunk tank, realizing that
the time of revelry is over and the punishment likely will be severe? The worst nightmare for Alabama’s football rivals seems to
have come true. The bully is back.
One game does not a recovery make, but
Alabama’s unexpected romp over Florida in
clamorous Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday
was stunning. And the significance could be
felt for several years, because Bama’s preparation and performance and the atmosphere
of the game made an obvious impact on the
many top prospects attending the game.
Alabama’s Mike Shula, characterized by so
many as not ready for the prime-time job as
head coach of the Crimson Tide, has surely
quieted his critics. The Bama coaches left
Florida’s glamorous staff reeling. A Tide
team made up primarily of home-grown talent, young men who wanted to play for
Bama the ravages of NCAA sanctions
notwithstanding, made a statement for football Alabama style.
It was the best football Saturday of Mike
Shula’s two-and-a-half-year head coaching
career, and one of the most joyous for Bama
fans in several years.
And one of the best things is that Alabama
had a few days to enjoy it, not having to
turn around and immediately prepare for
another game. Bama has an open date this
week before going to Mississippi on October
15.
(NOTE: There will be no ‘BAMA
Newsletter next week.)
And while Alabama players could bask in
the win, Crimson Tide coaches could hit the
road recruiting with the attention of top
prospects.
The win over Florida doesn’t mean that
Alabama is over the hump. Anyone who has
followed football at all knows that Bama
made the plays by inches to roll over the
Gators. A few of those passes being just off
the mark or being dropped might have
meant the game going in a different direction.
And there are huge obstacles ahead.
The Alabama schedule set up very well for
a good start to the season with four of the
first five games at home and the one road
game a trip to South Carolina, where the
Gamecocks of Coach Steve Spurrier have a
long way to go to repair the mess left by Lou
Holtz.
Most would now consider Alabama to
have an almost sure opportunity to equal
last year’s six-win season in the first six
games of this season. A weak Ole Miss team
is next, and even the game being in Oxford
isn’t expected to have a detriment on
Alabama’s chances.
But then the task gets tougher with the
likes of Tennessee and LSU, as well as the
season finale at Auburn. Like Florida, all of
those SEC teams were ranked ahead of Bama
in the pre-season.
Moreover, Alabama has to spend the rest
of the season playing without perhaps its
finest player. Although the carnage has been
nothing like last season, the loss of Tyrone
Prothro to injury brings back memories of
the terrible injury luck of 2004.
But this is another year. And five games
into the season, it looks as though it could
be special.
–Kirk McNair
ALABAMA GETS STUNNING ROMP OVER FLORIDA, 31-3
C
all it what you will. The nation sees
it as evidence that “Bama’s Back!”
And that’s horrible news to most
college football teams. Alabama may or may
not be back–that can better be determined
on several Saturdays to come–but it was
obvious that the Crimson Tide has made
some steps when Alabama crushed Florida,
31-3, at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday.
The victory did not come without cost.
Tyrone Prothro, the Tide’s outstanding wide
receiver, was leaping for a pass in the end
zone with just under nine minutes to play.
Prothro, who had two touchdown receptions, including an 87-yard reception for a
touchdown on Bama’s first play of the game,
suffered a broken leg, fractured tibia and
fibula, on the play. Prothro had five receptions for 134 yards. The junior will be lost
for the remainder of the season.
He underwent surgery at DCH Regional
Medical Center Saturday night after the
game with Dr. Les Fowler putting a steel rod
in his leg. Coach Mike Shula said there is
hope that Prothro could return for spring
practice. The injury is not considered careerending. The injury comes too late in the season for a redshirt.
The game was one of the biggest in the
nation, drawing national television coverage
from CBS. And afterwards Bama students
stayed in their seats and greeted their fellow
students, Bama football players, who exited
the dressing room for a brief and enthusias-
ALABAMA STATISTICS VS. FLORIDA
RUSHING
Darby
Johns
Castille
Prothro
McClain
Coffee
Croyle
BAMA
Gators
Att. Gain
15 103
8
25
6
9
1
6
1
2
2
0
4
2
37 147
31 162
Lost
2
8
0
0
0
2
14
26
23
PASSING
Croyle
Wilson
BAMA
Gators
Att-Comp-Int
17-14-0
1-1-0
18-15-0
37-16-2
Net
101
17
9
6
2
-2
-12
121
139
Yards
283
3
286
187
TD Long
0
33
0
6
1
6
0
6
0
2
0
-2
0
2
1
33
0
32
TD Long
3
87
0
3
3
87
0
42
RECEIVING
Prothro
Brown
McClain
Darby
Castille
Bennett
Coffee
No
5
2
3
2
1
1
1
Yards
134
83
40
22
9
3
-5
TD
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
Long
87
65
21
17
9
3
-5
PUNTING
Schatz
BAMA
Gators
No.
4
4
5
Yards
167
167
199
Avg.
41.8
41.8
39.8
Long
47
47
52
FIELD GOALS
Christensen
BAMA
Gators
ALL
RETURNS
Prothro
Robinson
Harris
BAMA
Gators
Att.
1
1
1
Punts
No.-Yds.
2-(-2)
2-(-2)
2-28
Made
1
1
1
Kickoffs
No.-Yds.
1-16
Long
22
22
37
Int’c’ns.
No.-Yds.
1-16
5-101
1-21
1-14
2-35
0
FUMBLES CAUSED: Anderson 1
FUMBLES RECOVERED: None
PASSES BROKEN UP: S. Castille 2, Harris 1, Roach 1
QUARTERBACK PRESSURES: Anderson 3,
Greenwood 2, Ryans 1, Clark 1, Gilberry 1
KICKS BLOCKED: None
TEAM STATISTICS
BAMA
Total First Downs
17
Rushing
6
Passing
8
Penalty
3
Total Offensive Plays
55
Total Offensive Yards
407
Average Gain Per Play
7.4
Fumbles-Lost
3-2
Penalties-Yards
8-60
Time Of Possession
31:07
Possession Down Conversions
5-13
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
ALABAMA
17
Florida
0
7
3
7
0
UF
15
7
8
0
68
326
4.8
1-0
9-85
28:53
6-21
0
0
–
–
31
3
SCORING:
UofA–Prothro, 87 Croyle pass (Christensen kick)
[1 play, 87 yards, 0:12 time of possession]
UofA–Castille, 1 rush (Christensen kick) [3-2, 1:21]
UofA–Christensen, 22 field goal [6-50, 2:07]
UF–Hetland, 37 field goal [5-45, 1:22]
UofA–Brown, 65 Croyle pass (Christensen kick)
[1-65, 0:10]
UofA–Prothro, 15 Croyle pass (Christensen kick)
[7-80, 3:01]
TACKLES
Ryans
Harper
Simpson
Robinson
Roach
Dukes
Anderson
Collins
Madison
Greenwood
Peprah
Saunders
Reamer
Waldrop
Johns
Mitchell
Stamps
Castille
Griffin
Clark
Keys
Primary
5
6
4
4
3
3
2
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
Assist
4
2
3
2
3
1
2
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
2
For Loss-Yards
1.5-12
1-1
1.5-4
1-4
1-2
tic post-game celebration.
Alabama sprinted to a 17-0 first quarter
lead with innovative offense and punishing
defense.
It was 24-3 at halftime, and probably
should have been 31-3. Prothro had what
appeared to be a 64-yard punt return that
was called back on what apppeared to be a
missed block-in-the-back call.
Bama extended its lead to the final margin
on the first drive of the second half.
Prothro had started the game with goat
horns. After Bama’s defense held Florida on
the Gators’ first series, Prothro made an
unwise decision to field a punt without a
fair catch with a Florida coverage man right
on him. Prothro caught the punt, but then
took the hit and fumbled, Alabama’s first
turnover since the Southern Miss game on
September 10. Bama held again the got the
ball at Alabama’s 13-yard line.
Alabama has opened every game offensively this year with a pass play, and Saturday’s
was the most dramatic yet. Quarterback
Brodie Croyle had good protection, Protro
got half a step on the lone defender covering
him, and Croyle delivered a perfect pass.
Prothro caught it in full stride. Twelve seconds after the play started, Bama had a
touchdown. Jamie Christensen, who made
four extra points and the only field goal he
attempted, made it 7-0.
Florida had come into the game with a
reputation for excellent one-on-one pass
coverage. The Gators had not given up a
touchdown pass in six quarters before the
Croyle-to-Prothro bomb. Croyle exploited
Florida’s man coverage all day.
Back-up defensive end Chris Harris was in
on the left side for Bama on Florida’s second
offensive series. Harris had one of the
biggest plays in his Crimson Tide career
when he knocked down a pass on first
down. But that play was exceeded on second
down. Florida quarterback Chris Leak had a
second consecutive pass batted, this time by
Mark Anderson coming from right end, and
Harris picked it off, running it down to the
Florida two-yard line. It took three plays,
but Alabama’s “Jumbo Package” punched it
in, Tim Castille following fullback Le’Ron
McClain into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
At that point, Bama had two touchdowns
on just four plays and just 1:33 time of ball
possession.
Bama ran it to 17-0 on its third possession
following Florida’s third punt of the first
quarter. Halfback Kenneth Darby had not
touched the ball while Bama opened up its
14-0 lead, but was both pass receiver and
runner on the scoring drive. He took a
swing pass rfor 17 yards on first down and
rushed over right tackle for 26 yards on second down. The march fizzled at the Florida
five and the Tide settled for a 22-yard
Christensen field goal.
At the end of the first quarter, Florida
Coach Urban Meyer had time to think about
a big decision. The Gators had the ball at
Bama’s one-yard line on fourth down to start
the second half. The Florida braintrust
decided to go for the touchdown rather than
get points via a field goal. Mark Anderson
and Freddie Roach held Florida running
back DeShawn Wynn for no gain.
Eventually the Gators did get a field goal,
a 37-yarder by Chris Hetland.
Croyle quickly doused any hopes of a
Florida comeback. After the Gators kicked
off out-of-bounds, it took Croyle one play to
put the Tide up by 24-3. Croyle hit Keith
Brown on a quick slant and Brown was
much quicker than any Gators, racing 65
yards untouched.
Alabama seemed to have another touchdown with just under two minutes to play
until halftime. Bama forced another Florida
punt, and Prothro took it 64 yards to the
end zone. But an official thought he detected
a block in the back by a Bama players
(videotape relays indicated otherwise, but
that is not the kind of call that can be overruled by the SEC’s new replay officials).
Alabama got the kickoff to start the second
half and went 80 yards in seven plays.
Croyle hit Le’Ron McClain for a 20-yard
gain and Darby rushed 33 yards to the
Florida 16 before the drive seemed to stall.
Croyle missed a pass, then Castille picked
up just one yard. Then Croyle connected
with Prothro on a 15-yard score that made it
31-3 and made Croyle the most prolific
touchdown passer in Bama history. It was
his 36th.
Florida had a couple of chances to perhaps
get back in the game. On a fourth-and-four
at the Alabama 11, the Gators went for it.
Leak’s pass was good enough and Chad
Jackson was past the first down marker, but
Jackson–a former Alabama prep great at
Hoover–dropped the ball.
Leak had not suffered an interception in
120 consecutive pass attempts before
Saturday. When he tossed his second of the
game, picked off by Ramzee Robinson with
just under 13 minutes to play, the fat lady
was clearing her throat.
T
IDE NOTES: The new college football rankings are out and there is
Alabama in the top ten of the
Associated Press, USA Today coaches’, and
the Harris Poll. Bama is seventh in the AP
poll and 10th in the coaches’ poll. The
Harris Poll, which was created with 114
highly-qualified voters to help deterring the
Bowl Championship Series contenders, has
Bama eighth.
Alabama now has three consecutive victories over Florida. The first two in that streak
came in 1999 when Alabama, ranked 21st in
the nation, defeated Florida, ranked third in
the nation, 40-39 in overtime in Gainesville.
The teams were re-matched in the
Southeastern Conference championship
game with seventh-ranked Bama crushing
the fifth-ranked Gators, 34-7.
Bama now has a 21-12 all-time record vs.
Florida.
Alabama is 5-0 for the first time since
1996 when the Crimson Tide opened the
season with seven consecutive wins. Bama is
3-0 in SEC games for the first time since
1996 when Alabama won its first four conference games.
Alabama has opened the season with five
or more consecutive wins on 36 occasions.
Alabama did not play its marquee games
ALABAMA DEPTH CHART VS. FLORIDA
Alabama was able to dress 95 players with 80 designated as eligible to play for its Southeastern Conference home game against Florida Saturday, and
63 of them saw action. (An SEC visiting team is limited to 70 players dressed.) Bama played 28 on offense, 26 on defense and nine just on special
teams. Senior tight end Greg McLain made his 2005 debut in the win over Florida. McLain, who suffered a separated shoulder in the second scrimmage of preseason camp, missed Alabama’s first four games of the season. Linebacker Terrence Jones returned to action after having missed several
games with a turned ankle. Cornerback Eric Gray and fullback Kyle Bennett had seen action on special teams prior to Saturday, but saw their first
action of the year on defense and offense, respectiovely. Here are those who played with starters listed first. Alabama opened offensively in normal
personnel (five linemen, one tight end, two wide receivers, quarterback, halfback and fullback), but on defense the Tide started with just one defensive tackle (Rudy Griffin) and an extra defensive back (Simeon Castille). The number in parenthesis is the number of plays, and if there are two numbers the second is the number of plays on special teams.
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
Split End–Keith Brown (32), Zeke Knight (10-17), Matt Caddell (13),
Right End–Mark Anderson (39), Keith Saunders (20)
Matt Miller (3-14)
Tackle–Jeremy Clark (19), Justin Britt (14)
Left Tackle–Chris Capps (47-5), Cody Davis (12-1)
Nose Tackle–Rudy Griffin (20), J.P. Adams (12), Dominic Lee (13)
Left Guard–Antoine Caldwell (56-5), Justin Moon (2-5)
Left End–Wallace Gilberry (40), Chris Harris (21),
Center–J.B. Closner (54), Taylor Britt (4)
Bobby Greenwood (18)
Right Guard–B.J. Stabler (58)
Strongside Linebacker–DeMeco Ryans (59-4), Terrence Jones (7-6)
Right Tackle–Kyle Tatum (57-4)
Middle Linebacker–Freddie Roach (56), Matt Collins (5-8)
Tight End–Nick Walker (41-5), Travis McCall (18-7), Charles Hoke (3),
Weakside Linebacker–Juwan Simpson (62-4), Demarcus Waldrop (4-12)
Greg McLain (4)
Right Cornerback–Anthony Madison (57-5), Simeon Castille (51-5),
Quarterback–Brodie Croyle (54), John Parker Wilson (4)
Eric Gray (4-11)
Fullback–LéRon McClain (34-9), Tim Castille (17),
Left Cornerback–Ramzee Robinson (62), Lionel Mitchell (4-1)
Kyle Bennett (4-3)
Strong Safety–Charlie Peprah (62-1), Jeffrey Dukes (7-14),
Halfback–Kenneth Darby (32), Glen Coffee (7), Jimmy Johns (8)
Cory Reamer (4-12)
Flanker–Tyrone Prothro (25-8), D.J. Hall (31-2), Will Oakley (4),
Safety–Roman Harper (62-4), Chris Keys (4-8)
Marcus McKnight (4)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter–Jeremy Schatz (4)
Placekicker–Jamie Christensen (11, 1 FG, 4 PAT, 6 KO)
Holder–Matt Miller (1 FG, 4 PAT, 3 split end, 10 other special teams)
Snapper–Drew Lane (9, 1 FG, 4 PAT, 4 P)
Coverage and Returns–Marcel Stamps (13), Marcus Carter (3) , Juke King (4), Rashad Johnson (16), Theo Townsend (6), Justin Ballard (1)
3
in Tuscaloosa until 1999, and thus the
Crimson Tide had not previously defeated a
top-five ranked team in Bryant-Denny
Stadium.
Brodie Croyle became the all-time Alabama
leader in touchdown passes thrown with his
three scoring tosses against Florida. He now
has 36. He broke the record of two former
quarterbacks, both of whom were on hand to
see Croyle moves past them. Tied with 35
before Saturday were Andrew Zow, who
delivered the game ball in Alabama’s weekly
ceremony, and Mike Shula.
Croyle was the national player of the week,
the SEC offensive player of the week, and on
the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
Mark Anderson was SEC defensive player of
the week.
It didn’t take Tyrone Prothro long to extend
his SEC-leading streak of games with a reception. On the first play of the game Prothro
caught a pass from Croyle and turned it into
an 87-yard touchdown. It marked Prothro’s
23rd consecutive game with a pass reception.
When Chris Harris turned in an interception against Florida, it gave Bama a streak of
22 games with at least one turnover caused.
Alabama has not given up a point to an
opponent in the third quarter in the five
games this season.
Alabama vs. Florida was one of three games
Saturday matching teams with 4-0 records.
(Virginia Tech at West Virginia and
Minnesota at Penn State were the others.)
Alabama is open this week. The Tide had a
normal Sunday meeting and practice and its
normal Monday off day. Practices wee
Tuesday through Thursday, with players getting Friday and Saturday off.
Alabama’s next game is October 15 at Ole
Miss. The game either will be part of a CBS
national doubleheader with the Tide and
Rebels kicking off at 11 a.m. CDT or the
game will be at 6:15 on ESPN2.
–Kirk McNair
RECRUITING UPDATE:
BIG WIN PAYS RECRUITING DIVIDENDS
T
he timing of Alabama’s biggest win
under Head Coach Mike Shula
couldn’thave been better from a
recruiting standpoint. About one hundred
high school prospects were on the sidelines
and in the stands for the Tide’s 31-3 thrashing of Florida last Saturday, and Bama’s form
made an impression on the prospects.
Homewood interior offensive lineman
David Ross had been thinking about making
a commitment recently, and his trip for the
Florida game put him over the top Tuesday
night when he committed to Alabama.
“I fit in better at Alabama and in
Tuscaloosa than I do at Auburn. I decided
after the game. Our season is about to heat
up two weeks from now. I wanted to go
ahead and get it out of the way,” Ross told
BamaMag.com.
“It was good to see my number one team
on my list beat a team I had marked off my
list. It was good to see I made a good decision with that. I had been telling close
friends and family that if Alabama got that
win, then I would commit. It worked out
exactly how I wanted it. I am feeling pretty
good about it,” he said.
Ross said he will not take official visits to
any other schools.
Alabama also got a commitment from 6-1,
180-pound defensive back Marquis Johnson
of Booker High School in Sarasota, Florida.
“I am very happy and a lot of people in
Alabama are going to be happy to see me
play for the Tide,” Johnson said. “I talked to
(defensive backs) Coach (Chris) Ball,” He
told me he was excited. He can’t wait to
coach me. I was recruited to play cornerback.”
Johnson said he chose Alabama after his
visit because it was a better fit for him than
other schools. He had narrowed his decision
to Alabama and Maryland.
“I had a great trip,” Johnson said. “The
difference between Alabama and Maryland
is that I have never seen more traditional
older people going crazy about their team
than I saw at Alabama. Everyone is crazy
about Alabama. They love their team. At
Maryland, there were more students than
older people.”
The nation’s top offensive lineman,
Birmingham Huffman’s André Smith, was
one of three five-star recruits in attendance
at the game.
“It was a great game,” Smith said. “I
thought the game would be a lot closer than
it was. The ball bounced Alabama’s way the
entire game. They didn’t make any mistakes.
They didn’t have many penalties. I thought
the atmosphere was pretty good.”
Smith’s decision will almost certainly go
right up to national signing day in February.
Smith has not narrowed his list from a
dozen or so favorites.
In addition to Alabama, Smith has listed in
Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia,
Miami and Tennessee among others competing for his signature.
Scout.com five-star quarterback Tim
Tebow (Jacksonville, Florida,Nease) enjoyed
his visit and loved hearing his name chanted
by the crowd.
“It was an exciting game,” Tebow said.
“The fans were awesome. I don’t think anyone expected Alabama to do what they did.
It was just incredible. They completely dominated Florida. I talked to all of the coaches
before and after the game. The coaches were
excited. They were confident going into the
game and very excited after the game,”
Alabama is in good shape to receive
Tebow’s first official visit. He said he is planning to visit for either the AlabamaTennessee or Alabama-LSU game in
Tuscaloosa as an official visit.
Five-star defensive lineman Deantwan
Whitehead (West End, Birmingham) is
another blue-chip prospects who attended .
Whitehead left the game speechless after the
Tide’s blowout win over the Gators.
“I was shocked,” he said. “There are no
words to describe how great the defense
played. They just have great coaching. The
atmosphere was off-the-chain. I talked to all
the coaches even the head coach (Mike
Shula). I hung out with Tim Tebow, Andre
Smith and Tim Hawthorne the entire time.”
Whitehead said Alabama had “moved up
on my list” after Saturday’s game. His list has
some 15 of favorites. Whitehead has
arranged visits to Arkansas and Louisville.
4
The Crimson Tide is also in the mix for
four-star receiver Tim Hawthorne.
Hawthorne was in Tuscaloosa for an unofficial visit for the Tide-Gator game and could
join Homewood teammate Ross next fall in
Tuscaloosa.
“I talked with Coach Shula, Coach Cheese
(Charlie Harbison) and Coach (Dave)
Rader,” Hawthorne said. “I talked to all the
coaches. They want me to return for the
Tennessee game. I will definitely make an
unofficial for that.”
Hawthorne said that Alabama has been “at
the top of my list for a while. They’re not
moving up because they were already up
there.”
Hawthorne plans to attend the TennesseeGeorgia game this weekend.
Scout.com four-star receiver London
Crawford (Mobile-Davidson) was one of
many players that traveled to the big
Alabama-Florida game on Saturday.
“I talked to the wide receiver coach and
Coach Shula. They just told me to have a
great year and finish strong and that hopefully there was a high possibility of me coming to Alabama.”
Georgia linebacker Toryan Smith (Rome,
Georgia) was impressed with his unofficial
visit to Tuscaloosa.
“Oh man it was awesome. The atmosphere, it was one of the loudest places I’ve
been. It was serious over there,” Smith said.
“I talked to all of the coaches. They just
talked about how they’re losing Roach and
Ryans and they need people to come in and
make plays next year. That was pretty much
about it.”
Smith had not listed Alabama among his
favorites, and he already has official visits
set up to Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Michigan
and Florida.
“I’ll be at Tennessee for the Georgia game
next weekend,” he said. “Tennessee is picking it up on me and I’m going to be checking them out and Georgia as well. I want to
compare it to my trip to Alabama and my
last trip to Tennessee when they played
Vanderbilt.”
–Andrew Bone
EDITOR’S NOTE: Scout.com’s Ryan Jordan
contributed to this report.
COACH MIKE SHULA SAYS
A
labama Head Coach Mike Shula
was in a congratulatory mood
Saturday after Alabama’s 31-3 drubbing of fifth-ranked Florida, and after a 5-0
start the coach welcomed an off week to
catch his breath for the second half of the
season.
“Things went our way early,” Shula said
“We were able to cash in and the momentum never left. I’m proud of our players for
the way they prepared and the way they
played. I would hate not to mention the
way our crowd was into the game. Our
players feed off that. The crowd gets you
going early but it’s up to us to keep it
going.”
The win over Florida was temporary vindication for Shula. “There were questions
with how we would match up but we
answered some of those questions today.”
Shula said there’s never a time when a
week off isn’t welcome, but this one comes
at a particularly good spot. “Overall it’s
good to have the bye week and get rested
up a bit,” Shula said. “We feel like there’s
so much work left to be done. Obviously it
was difficult to lose (receiver Tyrone)
Prothro (broken leg), but we have to move
on and other guys are going to have to step
up.”
Prothro was expected to be out of the
hospital on Thursday. Shula said, “It was a
dangerous injury which is why he is being
kept in a couple of extra days. Our doctor,
Dr. (Les) Fowler, did the surgery and he
feels very good about the success of the
surgery. Now he’ll start recovery and
rehab…Hopefully we’ll have him back in
the spring. His spirits are up.”
Shula said, “We’ve got some guys at that
position and they’re going to have to step
up. The rotation changes a little bit…Now
Ezekial Knight and there are some other
guys in the mix that are going to have to
step up and be ready.”
On Alabama number seven ranking,
Shula said, “As far as the polls, the only
reaction is that it gives us a chance to get
to where we want to go. Hopefully if you
have success it’s going to put you at the top
toward the end of the year where we want
to be.”
A letdown is low on the list of worries
for Shula and his staff because of the
senior leadership. “I really believe, I’ve
been here–going on my third year. I think
teams that have a lot of seniors that play
have benefited from leadership,” Shula
said. “I think we’re doing that right now.
Those guys kept our players focused on
the job at hand.”
Shula said he’s expecting the same lead-
ership that got the Crimson Tide to 5-0 to
maintain the squad’s focus in the second
half of the season.
“Am I worried about it? I’m not sure,” he
said. “I feel good about our seniors and the
leadership they’ve shown. In this uncharted territory be focused and be as disciplined as they have been.”
Shula also credited his staff as a key to
the first-half success.
“You can’t say enough about them,”
Shula said, “especially Joe (Kines). He’s
our assistant head coach, our defensive
coordinator. We’ve got some guys on this
staff that have a lot of leadership and provide a lot of experience for a young head
coach–although I’m 40 now, maybe I’m not
so young anymore–that have really, really
helped me and meant a lot to me personally: Joe Kines, David Rader, Sparky Woods.
They deserve all the credit.
“Probably one of the best things I do as a
head coach is listen, listen to a lot of good
advice and make good decisions because of
it. If you don’t have good coaches that can
provide good advice I might be in trouble.”
Saturday night’s has been impactful from
a recruiting standpoint, too. Alabama has
5
two verbal commitments since the Florida
game and scores of prospects were in
Tuscaloosa to experience one of the loudest crowds ever to fill Bryant-Denny
Stadium.
“The whole atmosphere- once you got on
the campus and found out what football
means to our fans, how our players
responded to the enthusiasm and how our
fans responded to them. It’s an incredible
atmosphere,” Shula said. “Hopefully some
of these guys can see that and feel good
about putting themselves in a crimson jersey.”
Shula classified tight end Trent
Davidson, who missed the first half of the
season after pre-season foot surgery, as a
“lean” towards being redshirted. “We’ve
got a bit of a luxury with him right now.
We could redshirt him and get him ready
for next year. We’re leaning towards that
unless there is an emergency,” he said.
Shula he would not be able to update the
status of freshman running back Roy
Upchurch, who is out for the season after
ankle surgery earlier in the year, until “at
least December.” Upchurch has a bone
defect in his ankle similar to that of
Garrison Hearst, who missed two seasons.
Bama had limited practice work in the
off week, but got some work done for the
Ole Miss game. “We do a self-scout of all
three of our systems: offense, defense and
special teams,” Shula said. “We look at
some personnel, look at how we can look
at some guys either down the road this
year or in the future, after that. We’ll get at
least one good day in, probably two in our
preparation for Ole Miss.”
Shula isolated offensive penalties, especially the Tide’s two or so pre-snap penalties per game, as a focus for improvement
during the off week. “We attack those by
execution. We’ll work on those Wednesday
and Thursday,” Shula said.
Shula has been pleased with the defense,
with the small exception of a few big plays
allowed. “We’ve had some young guys in
there, but we can’t have any lapses and
give up big plays. It can hurt you against a
good football team. We did that as well as
have all year last week, so that was good to
see.”
Shula said the special teams units had
improved in their coverage over the first
five games, but kick returns are another
area where the Tide must eliminate penalties. “The penalty on that return (in the
Florida game) was good effort by Cory
Reamer, but they called a penalty. We can’t
have penalties on our return teams,” he
said.
–Mitch Dobbs
2005 ALABAMA FOOTBALL STATISTICS
Record: 5-0 SEC: 3-0 Tuscaloosa: 4-0 Road: 1-0
Individual Offense
RUSHING
Darby
Coffee
Prothro
Castille
Johns
McClain
Croyle
Brooks
Wilson
Team
G
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
2
3
5
No
92
30
9
32
16
3
20
1
1
2
Net Gain Loss Avg.
513 543
30 5.6
110 129
19 3.7
92
92
0 10.2
74
74
0 2.3
65
74
9 4.1
18
18
0 6.0
5
50
45 0.2
-3
0
-3 -3.0
-9
0
9 -9.0
-5
0
-5 -2.5
Team
TD LP
1 33
0 37
0 41
6 8
0 23
0 13
1 15
0 -3
0 -9
0 -2
PASSING G
Croyle
5
Wilson
3
Att Comp HI Yds Pct. TD LP
126
76 2 1111 60.3
9 87
3
3 0
41 100.0
1 36
RECEIVING
Prothro
Hall
Brown
McClain
Darby
Caddell
Knight
Castille
Walker
Coffee
Brooks
Bennett
G
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
2
2
PUNTING
Schatz
Aul
Team
G
4
2
4
No Yds
15 629
6
195
1
–
Avg.
41.9
32.5
–
BLK LP
1
72
0
44
1
–
PUNT
RETURNS
Prothro
G
5
No Yds
11
81
Avg.
7.4
TD LP
0
21
KICKOFF
RETURNS
Prothro
Hall
Bennett
G
5
5
2
No Yds
7
193
1
29
1
13
Avg.
27.6
29.0
13.0
TD LP
0
66
0
29
0
13
No
17
12
11
9
9
5
5
4
3
2
1
1
SCORING TD PAT
T. Castille
6
Christensen
14-15
D.J. Hall
3
Brown
3
Prothro
3
Darby
1
Croyle
1
McClain
1
Saxby
3-3
TEAM
Yds
325
231
269
74
60
83
42
19
34
3
9
3
LP
87
47
65
21
17
24
15
11
24
8
9
3
FG-FGA SAF 2-PT TOTAL
36
6-8
32
18
18
18
6
6
6
1-2
6
1
2
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
1st 2nd
ALABAMA
43
34
Opponents
21
20
TIME OF POSSESSION
First Quarter
Second
Third
Fourth
TOTAL
Avg. TD
19.1 3
19.2 3
24.5 3
8.2 1
6.7 0
16.6 0
8.4 0
4.8 0
11.3 0
1.5 0
9.0 0
3.0 0
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS
By Rushing
By Passing
By Penalty
TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS
Avg. Gain Per Game
Total Plays
Avg. Plays Per Game
Avg. Gain Per Play
NET YARDS RUSHING
Avg. Gain Per Game
Rushing Attempts
Avg. Gain Per Rush
Yards Gained Rushing
Yards Lost Rushing
NET YARDS PASSING
Avg. Gain Per Game
Avg. Gain Per Attempt
Avg. Gain Per Completion
Attempts
Completions
Percentage
Had Intercepted
PASSES INTERCEPTED BY
Yards Returned
Average Return
PUNTING AVERAGE
Number of Punts
Yards Punted
Had Blocked
KICKOFFS RETURNED
Yards Returned
Average Return
PUNTS RETURNED
Yards Returned
Average Return
PENALTIES
Yards Penalized
Avg. Yards Per Game
FUMBLES-LOST
TOUCHDOWNS
By Rushing
By Passing
Other
FIELD GOALS -ATTEMPTS
EXTRA POINTS-ATTEMPTS
By Kicking
By Passing
By Rushing
By Defense
SAFETIES
TOTAL POINTS
Avg. Points Per Game
POSSESSION DOWNS
Conversions
Efficiency %
Individual Defense
U of A Opponents
100
64
49
26
43
33
8
5
2012
1256
402.4
251.3
335
291
67.0
58.2
6.0
4.3
860
490
172.0
98.0
206
138
4.2
3.6
980
629
120
139
1152
766
230.4
153.2
8.9
5.0
14.6
10.1
129
153
79
76
61.2%
49.7%
2
5
5
2
42
32
8.4
16.0
37.5
41.7
22
34
824
1417
1
0
9
19
235
394
26.1
20.7
11
9
81
124
7.4
13.8
32
39
265
329
53.0
65.8
7-3
8-3
18
7
8
2
10
4
0
1
7-10
3-4
17-18
7-7
17-18
7-7
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
1
0
148
58
29.6
11.6
76
122
32
27
42.1%
22.1%
TACKLES
Ryans
Harper
Simpson
Roach
Anderson
Peprah
Castille
Madison
Robinson
Waldrop
Collins
Gilberry
Dukes
Clark
Saunders
Griffin
Harris
Stamps
Jones
Greenwood
Chris Keys
Adams
Britt
Knight
Reamer
Johnson
Mitchell
Johns
Brooks
Lee
Aul
Miller
Gray
Primary Assist Total For Loss-Yards
20
19
39
7.5-44
17
14
31
1.5-3
12
15
27
2-2
13
10
23
11
7
18
6-27
12
5
17
2-6
10
6
16
3-27
9
5
14
9
3
12
5
4
9
5
4
9
4
4
8
1.5-4
6
2
8
2
3
5
2-15
2
3
5
0.5-1
2
3
5
1-1
1
3
4
1.5-3
4
0
4
2
2
4
1-3
2
2
4
1-4
2
2
4
0
4
4
0
3
3
0.5-3
2
1
3
2
0
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
INTERCEPTIONS
Robinson
Harris
Simpson
Dukes
S. Castille
G
5
5
5
5
5
No
1
1
1
1
1
Yds Avg
21 21.0
14 14.0
7 7.0
0 0.0
0 0.0
3rd
40
0
4th OT
31
0
17
0
UofA
34:34
44:27
42:06
47:39
168:46
Total
– 148
– 58
Opp.
40:26
30:33
32:54
27:21
131:14
Site
Sept. 3 Middle Tennessee
Tuscaloosa
Sept. 10 Southern Miss
Tuscaloosa
Sept. 17 South Carolina
Columbia
Sept. 24 Arkansas
Tuscaloosa
Oct. 1 Florida
Tuscaloosa
Oct. 15 Mississippi
Oxford
Oct. 22 Tennessee
Tuscaloosa
Oct. 29 Utah State (HC)
Tuscaloosa
Nov. 5 Mississippi State
Starkville
Nov. 12 LSU
Tuscaloosa
Nov. 19 Auburn
Auburn
Dec. 3 SEC Championship Atlanta
*Time and/or television subject to change
6
LP
21
14
7
0
0
FUMBLES CAUSED: S. Castille 2, Roach 1, Brooks 1,
Reamer 1, Anderson
FUMBLES RECOVERED: Keys 1, Griffin 1, Ryans 1
PASSES BROKEN UP: Roach 8, S. Castille 5,
Robinson 4, Ryans 2, Madison 1, Jones 1, Adams 1,
Greenwood 1, Harper 1, Peprah 1, Harris 1
QUARTERBACK PRESSURES: Anderson 6, Gilberry
5, Greenwood 3, Ryans 2, Roach 1, Jones 1, Simpson
1, Peprah 1, Adams 1, Clark 1
KICKS BLOCKED: None
2005 ALABAMA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Date Opponent
TD
0
0
0
0
0
Time/TV*
Result
UofA 26, MTSU 7
UofA 30, USM 21
UofA 37, SC 14
UofA 24, Arkansas 13
UofA 31, Florida 3
11:00/CBS or 6:15/ESPN2
*2:30/CBS
2:00/PPV
*11:30/J-P or 6:45/ESPN2
*2:30/CBS or 6:00/ESPN
*2:30/CBS
TBA/CBS
Series Record OR
(Attendance)
(81,018)
(81,018)
(82,968)
((81,018)
(81,018)
Uofa leads, 41-9-2
Uofa leads, 43-37-7
Uofa leads, 1-0-0
Uofa leads, 71-15-3
Uofa leads, 43-20-5
Uofa leads, 38-30-1
Uofa 2 wins, 3 losses