2nd Annual BCS Conference Comparison

Last year I posted the SECs results against other conferences; I thought I would see how everyone did this year. Once again, everyone is saying the SEC is having a down year; they’re also saying that the Pac 10 is probably the best conference this season. Not so fast, my friends! I think we can see why all those 7-5 SEC teams are ranked so high in the computer polls.

Conference vs	SEC	Pac 10	Big East	ACC	Big 10	Big 12	Overall
SEC		2-1	2-0	5-2	0-0	1-1	10-4
Pac 10	1-2		0-1	1-1	3-1	1-0	6-5
Big East	0-2	1-0		2-3	2-2	2-0	7-7
ACC	2-5	1-1	3-2		1-0	2-2	9-10
Big 10	0-0	1-3	2-2	0-1		1-1	4-7
Big 12	1-1	0-1	0-2	2-2	1-1		4-7

Bama hoops has nice showing in tournament

We did not win the tournament (the Old Spice Classic), but we beat #15 Michigan to take third in a pretty good field. The other win was over Baylor, and the other game was a single-digit loss to eventual champ FSU. The other major names in the field were Xavier and Marquette.

MG left the cupboard pretty bare, so any result above .500 would be a pretty significant achievement this season. Despite the lack of talent, I have been very pleased with the effort I have seen.

SEC strong in the Sagarin poll

From top to non-Vandy bottom, the SEC is looking very strong in the latest Sagarin poll:

1: Florida (12-0)

2: Alabama (12-0)

10: LSU (9-3)

15: Arkansas (7-5)

24: Ole Miss (8-4)

26: Tennessee (7-5)

28: UGA (7-5)

29: Auburn (7-5)

34: South Carolina (7-5)

37: Kentucky (7-5)

44: Miss St (5-7)

 

Updated: Red Zone Problems

Okay, so it was proposed that the stats are skewed due to our problems propping up the opponents numbers. I actually thought of that when I wrote the original post, but I was too lazy to go look. I went ahead and did the legwork, and there was not much change. It is now 5 of the top 9 with Alabama’s zone numbers removed from the equation (including numbers 2, 3, and 4). I stand by my original assertion…

Team	Red Zone Trips	Touchdowns	Pct
Florida	15	4	27
Virginia Tech	26	8	31
Arkansas	28	9	32
Ole Miss	27	9	33
Penn State	23	8	35
Boston Coll	29	11	38
LSU	21	8	38
Central Michigan	31	12	39
Tennessee	25	10	40

Info on red zone problems

We have been hearing ad nauseam about our problems in the red zone this season. There are certainly some very notable cases where we screwed up there; however, is it not possible that our opponents can be taken into account?

Considering touchdown percentages in the red zone (which is what everyone focuses on, since we kick a lot of field goals), Bama has played 5 of the top 8 in the NCAA in red zone TD efficiency (and one more on the schedule):

Team	Red Zone Trips	Touchdowns	Pct
Florida	15	4	27
Ole Miss	32	9	28
Va Tech	33	11	33
Penn State	23	8	35
LSU	23	8	35
Arkansas	30	11	37
Boston Coll	29	11	38
Tennessee	26	10	38

Our offense has 16 TDs in 40 attempts (40%). Florida is only slightly better, at 19 TDs in 42 attempts (45%); however, I haven’t heard everyone jumping off cliffs about it!

Block, Cody, Block!

Up until this weekend, the greatest field goal block in Bama history (at least in my lifetime) was Oct 28, 1989 (20 years ago today). Thomas Rayam blocked Penn State’s field goal attempt on the final play of the game to preserve a 17-16 win and a 7-0 record. Adding to the story was that Penn State had rammed the ball down our throat on a long drive, handing the ball off to Blair Thomas every play. The only reason they did not get a touchdown is because the clock ran down too quickly.

No matter what happens the rest of the season, Mount Cody’s block on Saturday has taken over the top spot in that category. If nothing else, it came against bitter rival Tennessee; if we end up winning the national championship, it will take it’s rightful place amongst Alabama’s all time greatest plays (maybe second to the Goal Line Stand).

(As an aside, Gary Danielson came on Paul Finebaum’s show and publicly apologized for his incorrect assessment that Cody’s removing of his helmet was a penalty that would give Tennessee another FG attempt.)

Ingram is now ESPN’s Heisman frontrunner

http://espn.go.com/college-football/heisman/

ESPNs panel has Ingram edging out Tebow 64 points to 63, with nobody else even close.

Opposing QBs vs Bama D

Excluding the two bogus teams we played and Kentucky, whose QB is out for the year, here is how quarterbacks have done against their other opponents versus how they did against Bama:

QB	Stats vs Other Teams	Rating vs Other Teams	Stats vs UA	Rating vs UA
T. Taylor, VT	59-98, 1063 yds, 9 TD, 3 Int	175.502	9-20, 91 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int	83.22
R. Mallet, Ark	91-152, 1489 yds, 13 TD, 2 Int	167.747	12-35, 160, 1 TD, 1 Int	76.4
J. Snead, Miss	69-127, 968 yds, 12 TD, 5 Int	141.663	11-34, 140 yds, 0 TD, 4 Int	43.412
S. Garcia, USC	109-178, 1268 yds, 9 TD, 3 Int	134.389	20-46, 214 yds, 0 TD, 1 Int	78.209

Taylor and Mallet would be #2 and #4 in the nation in efficiency, respectively, if they could throw out their games against UA. Snead would be about #35 and Garcia about 50th. As it is, Taylor is #7, Mallet is #24, Garcia is #79 and Snead is #84 nationally.

I guess it’s a good thing for those QBs that they were able to establish the run…oh, wait. Never mind!

Kiffin is crazier than The Hat

I somehow missed this on Saturday (I guess I had switched to the ND-Mich game), but Lane Kiffin actually went for it on 4th and 10 from his own 35 with 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. I heard it and did not believe it, but you can see it in the play by play recap. At the time, UT was ahead 10-3; it led to a game-tying touchdown. That is without a doubt the stupidest move I have ever heard of in a college football game. I’ve seen The Hat do some crazy stuff, but even he has never topped this one.

That cat Trent Richardson is a bad mother (shut your mouth!)

For those unable to see the Bama game against Florida International, I highly recommend checking out the replay at espn360.com or secdigitalnetwork.com . This guy has some serious guns, and he doles out some harsh punishment to would be tacklers. On one of the touchdown runs, T.R. held up inside the five yard line to wait for someone to try to tackle him so he could lay one on them (no one took him up on it).

Kudos to McElroy as well: his 14 completions in a row is a new school record (JPW and Andrew Zow had 12). It would have been 17 if not for Julio Jones missing an easy TD pass in the first quarter.

I’m excited about the progress at the O-line and quarterback positions. Also, Saban seems intent on opening the offense up this year, and I’m looking forward to see how it turns out. I’m hoping Dre Kirkpatrick can improve and eventually take over for Kareem Jackson, who seems to be the weak link right now.