Takeaways, thoughts and takedowns from Week 5 of the college football season. 1. As the fans poured out of Neyland Stadium and Georgia’s fourth-string tailback scored a touchdown , what came to mind was this: When is Tennessee’s off week? Because that would be an opportune time to fire Butch Jones.
The Alabama defense turned in a dominating performance, the Florida State special teams endured a terrible night, and one of the most anticipated opening games in college football history went to the top-ranked Crimson Tide. Damien Harris ran for a touchdown and blocked a punt, and Jalen Hurts chipped in with a scoring pass on a night that basically required the sophomore quarterback to make no major mistakes, leading Alabama to a 24-7 beatdown of No. 3 Florida State on…
Andrew Whitworth saw the competitive streaks of Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher firsthand as an offensive lineman at LSU when Fisher’s offense would go against Saban and the defense. Fisher roamed the sideline with Saban for five years, working as Saban’s offensive coordinator in Baton Rouge. Now, for the first time in their careers, they square off as head coaches when Fisher’s third-ranked Seminoles take on Saban and top-ranked Alabama in Atlanta.
Alabama and the Southeastern Conference are trying to climb back atop the college football mountain.
The college football season opener between Alabama and Florida State is little more than a month away, but the Crimson Tide already got some tough news before practice even begins. Pre-season All-SEC defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand was arrested and charged with DUI early Saturday morning. Alabama Coach Nick Saban will decide in the coming days whether Hand will be subjected to disciplinary action. Saban expressed his disappointment and seemed to indicate he will take action, which means Hand could miss…
Steve Sarkisian has been cramming for a final exam he didn’t know he’d have to take. The newly elevated Alabama offensive coordinator had all of a week after his earlier-than-expected promotion to prepare and implement the game plan for Monday night’s national championship game with No. 3 Clemson. Not to mention getting better acquainted with players, most notably quarterback Jalen Hurts, and adapting to a very different job description. “I’m embracing this more than anything,” Sarkisian said Saturday. “I would…
Every defensive meeting at Clemson this week might as well have started with coordinator Brent Venables passing around a photo of Alabama‘s O.J. Howard with the caption “Know where 88 is at all times.” For the second straight season, the Tigers and Crimson Tide will meet for the College Football Playoff championship. Howard is the talented tight end who came into last season’s title game with 33 catches for 394 yards and no touchdowns. He then went off for 208…
