John Parker Wilson named semifinalist for top QB award

October 27, 2008

Ken Rogers

Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson was named one of 13 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award on Monday.
The O’Brien award goes to the nation’s top college quarterback.
Wilson, who already owns every significant career passing record at Alabama, is one of three SEC quarterbacks among the semifinalists, joining Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and Georgia’s Matthew Stafford.
“This is a great honor, but one that I would not be receiving if it wasn’t for the play of my offensive line and really our entire team,” Wilson said in a statement released by the university. “The quarterback play across the country has been outstanding this year and I am excited to be listed among this group of quarterbacks.
“Our offensive line has provided plenty of time to throw the football and our receivers and tight ends have caught almost everything thrown their way. The running game has also been a key component that has allowed us to have a balanced offensive attack.”
Wilson, from Hoover, has guided the Crimson Tide to an 8-0 record and No. 2 national ranking. He is Alabama’s career leader in passing yards (6,911), completions (587), touchdowns (45) and attempts (1,028). He also holds the single-season record in all four of those categories.
He has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 1,260 yards and eight touchdowns. Wilson has thrown just three interceptions and has added two rushing touchdowns this season. He ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference in passing efficiency with a 133.66 rating.
Fans can vote for semifinalist candidates once per day at http://www.VoteOBrien.org. Five percent of the evaluation tally comes from the fan vote. The finalist will be selected on Nov. 24 and the 2008 winner will be announced during The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN December 11. The recipient will be honored Feb. 16, 2009, at the 32nd Annual O’Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

2008 O’Brien Semifinalists:
Sam Bradford, soph., Oklahoma; Daryll Clark, jr., Penn State; Chase Daniel, sr., Missouri; Max Hall, jr., BYU; Graham Harrell, sr. Texas Tech; David Johnson, sr., Tulsa; Colt McCoy, jr., Texas; Todd Reesing, jr., Kansas; Zac Robinson, jr., Oklahoma State; Mark Sanchez, jr., USC; Matthew Stafford, jr., Georgia; Tim Tebow, jr., Florida; John Parker Wilson, sr., Alabama.

Business as usual for Tide during rivalry week

October 21, 2008

Ken Rogers

Rocky Top isn’t blaring. There are no orange jerseys on the scout team. No crowd noise is being piped in.
It’s Tennessee week in Tuscaloosa, but it sure looks a lot like any other week at the University of Alabama.
That’s no accident. Nick Saban’s business-as-usual approach is designed to eliminate distractions, not create them.
So tight end Nick Walker was asked if it seemed like Tennessee week.
“We don’t really do that. We do the same thing every week. It’s gonna be the exact same thing every week,“ said Walker, who never mentioned Saban’s name, but didn’t have to. “He don’t care nothin’ about none of that. Only thing he cares about is playing winning football. We’re gonna go up there, do like we did for the rest of the opponents we played this year. We’re going to practice hard and go up there and play hard.“
A reported noted he was drinking orange Gatorade. Walker, the senior from Brundidge, laughed.
“I didn’t even think about that,“ he said.
Linebacker Cory Reamer said that keeps things much more even than in years past.
“Actually, this year we’ve done a great job of having great intensity every week no matter who we’re playing. This is just another week,“ Reamer said.
But is it really just another week? Reamer admitted everyone knows who the Crimson Tide is playing.
“You can tell that it is Tennessee week,“ Reamer acknowledged. “Everybody’s a little fired up.“

Smith confident Cody will return quickly from sprained knee injury

October 20, 2008

Ken Rogers

Alabama football coach Nick Saban said Terrence Cody’s MCL sprain was similar to the one that sidelined left tackle Andre Smith against Clemson.
So Smith was asked what Cody was facing in terms of rehab.
“The main part is just the pain after the fact,“ Smith said Monday before practice. “We have a great training staff here, led by Jeff Allen, and he does an outstanding job. Cody, I think he’ll be back extremely fast, like I was.“
Smith missed only the Tulane game. But the rehabilitation process is intense.
“Uh, if I wasn’t in class, I was up there, pretty much. They bring you lunch, everything,“ Smith said.
And through the process, Cody will be required to stay in shape. Smith looked positively fearful when discussing conditioning coach Scott Cochran’s methodology.
“Coach Cochran has his way of keeping you in shape while we’re up there practicing,“ Smith said cryptically. “It’s a lot of stuff, I can’t realy explain it all. A lot of stuff.“
Smith did disclose this, however. You’d much rather be practicing than going through his conditioning drills during practice.
“You would,“ the offensive lineman said. “Lot of sit-ups, push-ups, that nature.“

Alabama leads SEC in graduation rate for football programs

October 17, 2008

Ken Rogers

Because college players are student-athletes, some academic achievement released this week by Alabama deserves noting.
Alabama’s football team had a graduation rate of 80 percent for students entering the university in the 2001-02 school year. Two others who played professional football and returned to graduate outside of the six-year window the NCAA uses to calculate that graduation rate weren’t counted; otherwise it would have been a 93 percent graduation rate.
The number for men’s basketball is a graduation rate of 67 percent.
The football graduation rate is higher than Alabama’s overall rate of 68 percent and is the highest in the Southeastern Conference. Tide football coach Nick Saban took a minute this week to discuss those numbers.
“I’m very pleased and happy that we’re the top team in our league in terms of graduation rate,“ Saban said. “I think it says a lot about a lot of things. We always talk about our program trying to help people be successful in terms of developing the personal characteristics, graduating from school and being successful as a student, being as good a football player as you can be and help them launch their career.
“I think very seldomly do people really get to see how that works, how we do it and these are obviously some statistical information that shows (a) what a good job our administration has done; (b) the kind of facility that we have and the kind of people that we have — Jon Dever and his staff, our tutoring staff and everybody that works in the academic program, and how our players have responded here to do a good job, which is really what it’s all about.
“I know we got caught up in the BCS polls and standings and how to do this and that and all that, but when it comes to the players on the team, the thing that they’re going to accomplish that’s going to most significant in terms of the quality of their life is the day they graduate. So I really wanted to say something about that, congratulate the people that have responsible for it, and the staff here that has made the facilities available and the resources for the players to get the help they need.“

Tide left tackle Smith recalls last year’s Ole Miss game

October 15, 2008

Ken Rogers

I’m writing about Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy in tomorrow’s Eagle.
Crimson Tide left tackle Andre Smith recalled the junior’s performance against Alabama last year. Hardy nearly kept the Rebels in the game by himself. He had 13 tackles, nine solo, three sacks and forced two fumbles.
“He’s great, fast, explosive, great engine. He’s a great football player,“ Smith said. “He had an outstanding game last year.“
I asked if anyone had done that since he’s been at Alabama. Smith didn’t answer with an individual defender. But he did say the offense was dominated in another game last season.
“The entire Florida State team last year,“ the All-American left tackle said.
“That defense was so fast. A couple of times when they were hitting Terry (Grant), they were saying, ‘Hold him up.‘ That’s how fast they were, as far as getting to be ball, being aggressive. That kind of blew my mind away.“
Smith did recall the scene after the Ole Miss game last season, when Alabama left to a shower of cups and bottles from Ole Miss fans angered by the controversial finish. He recalled leaving the field, but looking into the stands in the Alabama section.
“I could actually see my parents, and my dad was like, ‘Put your helmet on.‘“ Smith said, gesturing that motion as he spoke. “That was one of my more memorable moments.“
More on Andre in Friday’s Eagle.