Happy Friday, everyone. Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas with loved ones.
Not much going on as you’d expect, but we’ll bring you what we have. Matt Stahl notes that a Ryan Williams breakout would
be awesome in Pasadena.
Coaches haven’t said a bad thing about Williams, with DeBoer explaining his lack of targets after the Auburn game.
“I think there were opportunities where the ball could have found him,” DeBoer said. “Plays that, not like they’re designed specifically for him. That’s really not how a lot of our offense is. There might be screens and things like that that are intentionally trying to get touches. As far as pass concepts, we didn’t get to him in the route or things like that. We’ve got to be intentional because he’s a playmaker for us. The ball did find some other guys. They made plays.”
Still, Williams has one of the highest ceilings on the team. If he can get going against Indiana, it could make a major difference.
Ryan has had his issues catching the ball, but he is electric once he has it in his hands. Lotzeir Brooks played so well in Norman that it’s tough to imagine Ryan’s snaps increasing dramatically, but he needs to get a few touches one way or another.
Ty Simpson will need to continue taking care of the ball.
Simpson is tied for the FBS lead in lost fumbles, with five. However, in recent games, the redshirt junior has improved.
When the second matchup with Oklahoma rolled around, Simpson took a huge shot in a key moment, the kind of play he had fumbled on earlier in the year. However, this time around, he was ready.
Despite being sacked four times, Simpson held onto the ball each time. Alabama came back from a 17-0 first-half deficit to win 34-24 and advance to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
“Just being really conscious of it,” Kalen DeBoer said after the game when asked if Simpson was doing anything different to protect the ball. “We’re just talking about that all the time. All of our guys, but again, the ball was out again a couple times tonight. It’s something you can just not take for granted ever.”
Simpson hasn’t fumbled since the first Oklahoma game. It likely won’t get any easier in the next round of the CFP though.
Ty spoke about how Nick Saban re-recruited him to Alabama just before peacing out.
Simpson was eyeing a potential jump to the transfer portal before Saban changed his mind the only way he knew how.
“He said, ‘I get it if you want to leave, but I know you, and I know what you wanted in recruiting. If you want to create value for yourself and you want to be a first-round draft pick, this could be a great story for you. You could leave a legacy here,'” Simpson said, referring to Saban, on the ‘Bussin’ With The Boys‘ podcast this week. “I thought about it, prayed about it, and said, you know what? You’re right. And the next thing you know, he retires. I’m sitting there, and I’m like, he just lied to me
“But also as a coach’s son, I understand. I understand what was going on. I understand how he thought about it. We had a good conversation about it, and to this day, we laugh about it.”
From behind enemy lines, we’ve become acquainted with indie site Hoosier Huddle. Manager Sammy is certainly a Hoosier homer as one would expect, but he’s a good dude and a solid resource leading up to the game.
Most of the attention surrounding Alabama gets put on the offense but the defense has been the more consistent unit. The strongest part of defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s unit? A top ten secondary that is allowing only 168.4 passing yards per game and is as talented as any back-end in the country. It’s fair to assert that there are opportunities for success. Oklahoma just had more than 300 yards passing in Norman, Auburn had more than 250 in Alabama’s Iron Bowl win, South Carolina had 222 and Tennessee threw for 268. The pass defense will be a challenge for Fernando Mendoza and the IU offense, particularly after a long break but this is hardly a “no fly zone” unit that is impossible to move it on. Alabama’s run defense is solid, ranking 44th nationally with 3.9 yards per rush allowed, and it will be critical for the Hoosiers to stay balanced throughout the contest.
Last, just for the hilarity, Auburn folks have nothing to focus on at this point other than Alabama’s playoff resume.
The Crimson Tide’s resume, with three losses, wasn’t as impressive as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish or the BYU Cougars’. And yet, they were not moved down a single spot in the final CFP rankings despite a 21-point loss in the SEC Championship Game.
There were plenty of more appropriate times to knock Alabama’s resume than after they avenged one of their losses in the CFP.
Instead, the focus was on the Tulane Green Wave and James Madison Dukes and making sure a Group of 5 program never makes the CFP ever again.
Now we’re here, wondering if the Tide deserve to be on the same field as the Hoosiers. The answer is no, and it’s been no since the Dawgs destroyed them in Atlanta a few weeks ago.
You just know that this dude never leaves the house without a pack of tissues in his pocket.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
