Happy Thursday, everyone. Alabama released the initial injury report for LSU.
In Alabama football’s first SEC availability report ahead of its meeting against LSU, wide receiver Ryan Williams is back on
the list.
The Crimson Tide sophomore wide receiver is listed as probable. He missed Alabama‘s win against Louisiana Monroe in Week 2 with a concussion.
Alabama tight end Danny Lewis Jr. is listed as questionable, along with five Crimson Tide players listed as out.
Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer said he is “hopeful” Lewis will be “ready to go” in Monday’s press conference. Lewis has not played since Alabama’s Oct. 11 win against Missouri.
Williams should be fine to play in the game, and DeBoer said that both Lotzeir Brooks and Isaiah Horton are good to go as well. Both of those guys were out for the critical fourth quarter comeback at South Carolina, but Germie came through as he has so many times.
Kalen DeBoer revealed a little superstition that he has.
“There are some things that are important to me,” DeBoer said. “I have a coin. Really, very few people know this. I have a challenge coin that kind of goes back to actually Fresno State. Long story, but if you guys know what challenge coins are, I have one that’s Alabama football and one that’s made and I put that in my back pocket every game.”
Hopefully that coin can overcome whatever is buried under the turf in Lee County in a few weeks.
Check out which song Kalen called his favorite.
— DeBoer said Overton is “the complete package.” … “It’s awesome having him out there.”
— Dillon in the audience asks LT Overton a question. Who is the best at the NCAA video game on the team? “That’s a great question … There’s always battles … I probably have to give it to either (Deontae Lawson) or (Jah-Marien Latham).”
— Overton on Kadyn Proctor’s use in the offense: “It just shows us big guys can move around too.”
— DeBoer asked what his favorite band and song are. “Dixieland Delight is my favorite song.”
Way to play to us Gumps, Kalen.
He also asked the crowd to show out again on Saturday.
Coach DeBoer holds a 9-0 home record as Alabama’s head coach, but he’s not taking any chances with that record on Saturday. See, if there’s one downside to a home record of that magnitude, it’s that complacency can start to leak into the stands. Fans got comfortable during the Saban era, so much so that he famously called out the crowd before their matchup with Tennessee in 2023. It worked, as all 100 thousand Alabama fans in the building delivered one of the loudest atmospheres in recent memory. Coach DeBoer asked the same of the home crowd for this year’s version of the Third Saturday in October as well; once again, the crowd delivered.
Well, if you haven’t figured out by now where this is going, you’re about to. On the November 5th edition of the Hey Coach Show with Kalen DeBoer, DeBoer yet again called on his home crowd to deliver the energy ahead of the annual matchup with LSU. “I always tell our players, you got more in you. That’s been our motto, really, since the beginning. I have more in me as well. So I’m going to ask the fanbase that they got more in them, too.” This is the second time DeBoer has emphasized crowd noise for this game alone.
This is a funny exchange. Ty Simpson noted that his dad’s UT-Martin squad ran the same two point play that Alabama had run to tie the game at South Carolina. Dad was having none of the copycat slander.
“I had to remind him, ‘You’re wrong,’ ” Jason said. ” ‘Go back and look at UT Martin versus Southeast Missouri last year. We ran that play before you guys did. I didn’t copy you; that just happened to be in the game plan this week.’ “
Ty Simpson was integral in the play when Alabama ran it. The offense lined up in the Wildcat formation where running back Daniel Hill took a direct snap with Simpson lined up next to him. Hill handed to Simpson, who faked a reverse to Ryan Williams, and tossed a pass to Josh Cuevas in the end zone for a two-point conversion.
As you know, Alabama was 4th in the first College Football Playoff rankings, which is what should have been expected.
This is what committee chair Mack Rhoades had to say about Alabama.
I’m not sure, when you look at resume, anybody had a better stretch of four games. When you think about Alabama, really, really impressive, two of those wins on the road. Going into Athens, one of the hardest, toughest environments to be able to get out of there with a win.
There was certainly discussion about the Florida State loss early on, but just felt like that four-game stretch — which by the way, historical in the SEC. Nobody has beaten four straight ranked teams without a bye. Then they also finish that out with a good win against South Carolina.
That was the discussion. I think they’re getting elite quarterback play right now from Simpson, so a really, really good football team.
Later on in the teleconference, Rhoades set the world ablaze by explaining the non-existent criteria for the rankings.
Yeah, I think we refer to it as art and science. I think the art is watching the team on film and tape and how good they are, how physical they are up front, offensive line, defensive line play, how good are they up the middle, their quarterback play, their skill players, and then certainly contemplating and looking at metrics.
I know you know this, but not any one metric weighted heavier than the other. We use them all at our disposal to try to get the very best answer, and I think that’s where the public misses out a little bit; just the beauty in this is the actual debate and discussion and conversation in the room when we’re talking about all of those metrics.
That quote will do nothing to assuage fears of bias. Have fun, Mack.
Matt Hayes wrote about the long con pulled off by former Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick.
Despite Notre Dame’s independent status, it received the opportunity to compete for seven at-large bids. Favorable financial terms soon followed.
It didn’t take long for Notre Dame to take advantage of the situation with a deep run in the CFP. The Irish earned $20 million from last year’s national championship game run, a huge lump sum it didn’t have to share with any other team because ― wait for it ― it’s not a member of any FBS conference.
The breakdown: $4 million for being selected to the CFP, $4 million for a quarterfinal win, $6 million for a semifinal victory and $6 million for playing in the national championship game.
Add that payout to the exclusive extension Swarbrick signed in 2023 with NBC to televise Irish home games through 2029 (approximately $50 million annually), and Notre Dame in 2024 earned as much media rights money as any program in college football.
Then there’s the gem of a scheduling move Swarbrick made in 2014, in conjunction with the first year of the CFP — all while banking on the format not staying at four teams.
Swarbrick made a deal with the ACC — not with the geographically-friendly Big Ten, where it had existing rivalries — to get the easiest road to the playoff. The move to playing five games a season against the ACC was seen by many university presidents across the sport as a possible nose under the conference tent moment.
You don’t hate the Irish enough.
Last, Ira Gorawara of The Athletic wrote about the sorority fashion show that is Alabama game day.
The outfits mirror the architecture of the mansions: grand and unapologetically bougie. Women step out in red leather mini dresses, ivory lace maxi skirts, sleek black halter vests and pleated ties — a far cry from the oversized jerseys, denim shorts and rusty sneakers that pass for game-day wear across many college campuses.
“People see Alabama as a reality TV show. Whenever I give tours, I liken Alabama to Disney World, because it just doesn’t feel real at all,” says Tori Flowers, an Alpha Gamma Delta alum. “It’s just on a different level from any other school in the nation, in the SEC.
“People watch us like we’re in a snow globe.”
It just means more. Am I right?
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
