Alabama’s late drive inspires team

TUSCALOOSA — Tiger Stadium was loud. It was ear-splitting, headache-pounding, eye-blurring loud.

On a day when a lot went wrong for the Alabama offense, the top-ranked Crimson Tide put a stamp on its season by executing drives in the final six minutes that should have won the game.

You know where this ends. Leigh Tiffin’s 29-yard field goal as time expired was blocked. Alabama won the game 27-21 in overtime.

It may have been the drive to nowhere since it failed to produce points, but Alabama answered several questions in that final march down the field in regulation.

“It’s probably the most exciting game I’ve been a part of in my career,” senior center Antoine Caldwell said. “This game had a little bit of everything in it. ... Just to overcome all that adversity, it just shows you how special this football team is.”

Glen Coffee, who carried the ball 12 times in a grueling fourth quarter, said the final minutes will help Alabama when it is tested in the future.

“During that game, we gained a lot of valuable experience — coming from behind, playing in adversity,” Coffee said. “There were a lot of situations in the game I thought we handled correctly.”

Like most of the final 6:05, after LSU had tied the game 21-all. Quarterback John Parker Wilson drove his team from its 37 to the LSU 32. On third-and-8, he scrambled away from pressure around right end for 32 yards and an apparent touchdown. The play was nullified by a holding penalty against Andre Smith.

After a punt and a three-and-out by the Alabama defense, Javier Arenas’ 23-yard punt return set the Tide up at the LSU 41 with 1:58 remaining.

Coffee, who finished the game with 126 yards on 26 carries, ran three straight times to pick up a first down at the 30.

Wilson then zipped a pass to Julio Jones for 8 yards with 53 seconds remaining.

A big facemask penalty against LSU on Coffee’s next carry gave the Tide a first down at the 12.

Alabama centered the ball for its kicker and gave itself every opportunity to win in regulation. Victory was delayed by the blocked field goal.

“Really, my first thought was put the hard hat back on,” Coffee said. “Situations like that, you’ve got to stay even-keeled and keep your cool. I think we were ready to go out there and play in overtime.”

Caldwell was excited knowing the offensive line had turned around the battle up front.

“They came out and stuffed the run early, but with the run you just have to keep grinding, keep grinding,” Caldwell said. “That play that only went one or two yards, later on it’s going to go for seven or eight.”

Wilson said he wasn’t looking for adversity, but was satisfied Alabama was able to play through it.

“You definitely don’t want to go in there and do that,” the quarterback said. “But the way our team responded was pretty good. Nobody got down. There was no negative talk or nothing bad going on the sidelines.

“Guys stayed positive, you know, always thought we could win, always thought that we were going to get the last play, the last opportunity. Guys stepped up and made some big plays.”

Stalking State: Alabama’s defensive front seven worked on more precise gap control Tuesday as it prepared for Mississippi State on Saturday night.
State’s Anthony Dixon is fifth in the SEC in rushing, averaging more than 72 yards per game.

“They come off the ball hard, run downhill and try to beat you that way,” linebacker Cory Reamer said of the Bulldogs. “If you don’t fit every gap like you’re supposed to, he can easily break it loose.”

Reamer said practice was typically intense.

“We got after it today pretty good. We made some mistakes. We’ve got to come out and get those fixed tomorrow,” Reamer said. “But we got after it, especially when we went one-on-ones. There was a lot of thudding going on.”

Late-season honors: The top-ranked team in the nation is accumulating some recognition as the college football season enters its final month.
Alabama safety Rashad Johnson was named the Broko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week for his three-interception performance against LSU.
Johnson is already on the 2008 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The award, which will be presented to the best defensive player in college football on Dec. 7 by the Charlotte Touchdown Club, announces its five finalists next week.

Also, Crimson Tide running back Glen Coffee is one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back.
Coffee has rushed for 1,020 yards in the first 10 games of the 2008 season to lead the top-ranked Crimson Tide. He is the ninth player in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

The other finalists include: Donald Brown, Connecticut; Tyrell Fenroy, Louisiana-Lafayette; Shonn Greene, Iowa; Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State; LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh; Knowshon Moreno, Georgia; Javon Ringer, Michigan State; Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon State; and Evan Royster, Penn State.
That group will be cut to three finalists on Nov. 24. Darren McFadden, formerly of Arkansas and now with the Oakland Raiders, won the Walker Award the past two seasons.

On top of that, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award will be on display in the quad before Saturday night’s game against Mississippi State.
Wilson is a semifinalist for the award. Fans are encouraged to see the exhibit and cast their vote for Wilson.

Pep rally: The Dale County Chapter of the University of Alabama Alumni Association is sponsoring a Beat Auburn pep rally on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Perry Recreation Center in Ozark.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children over 5. Proceeds go to scholarships for Dale County students.

For information, call Lisa at 774-5902 or Annette at 774-3501.