Tide’s conditioning will be tested
September 14, 2007
Finally, Alabama is looking at a four-quarter game. The great leap forward from last year to this, players say, is their conditioning program. Progress is evident. They never let up against Western Carolina. Even while the offense spun its wheels against Vanderbilt, Alabama’s huge offensive line took the game by the throat and mounted a smashmouth drive, all on the ground, and ended any doubt about the outcome.
This week is a bigger challenge for a couple different reasons. First, preparing for Arkansas is very much like playing a doubleheader. There is the potent, traditional offense that features Darren McFadden at tailback. Then there is the WildHog formation, which stars McFadden, a Heisman candidate, as a run-pass threat out of a spread formation. Defensive lineman Bobby Greenwood from Prattville agreed it was like preparing for two opponents—both dangerous.
To that end, Alabama’s defensive staff has had to present so many looks and so many options in practice that I’m concerned the Tide may not have their legs completely under them. Most weeks offer a chance to taper off and get the legs fresh. Arkansas’ weaponry makes it difficult to taper off.
Still, a home crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium should help the revive the Tide when exhaustion in the fourth quarter sets in.
