Tide’s Gilberry wants an Iron Bowl memory
Ken Rogers/Dothan Eagle
TUSCALOOSA — If he has Iron Bowl memories, Wallace Gilberry isn’t sharing.
Of course, do you show friends wedding photos or funeral shots?
Alabama’s senior defensive end is still stalking his first victory over Auburn. His last chance comes Saturday night at 7 p.m.
“I try to make some every year,” Gilberry said when asked about Iron Bowl moments. “Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Gilberry has made a lot of things happen for the Alabama defense lately. A defensive end in Alabama’s 3-4 scheme, Gilberry leads the SEC in sacks with nine this season. He is second on the team with 69 tackles. He also leads the Tide with 12 quarterback pressures and 22 tackles for loss — 17.5 of which have come in the last six games.
“He’s just stepping up and doing what we all thought he could do,” free safety Rashad Johnson said. “He’s a leader on this team, and he’s playing like one. He’s always joking around with me before the game that he’s the reason for all my interceptions and that I was going to owe him after the game. He’s gotten a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”
Saturday’s game is another milestone for Gilberry — his final Iron Bowl.
“It means a lot,” said the Bay Minette native. “It’s very special for the simple fact that, you know, we definitely had some letdowns these last three games. Definitely. And to be able to go down to Auburn and hopefully win this one would kind of put a smiley face on the end of the season, so to speak.”
Part of his second-half surge is because he knows the end is coming.
“Every day at practice I go out there knowing, like last week, ‘Hey, I only got two more (games) left, three more left,’” Gilberry said this week. “Now this is my last Monday. I definitely have to take it into consideration that this is my last one.”
He doesn’t want to think about finishing without a win over Auburn — but he can’t help it.
“It’s very tough. Very tough. That’s the main thing I’m thinking about right now,” Gilberry said. “But I’m not gonna let it affect the way I practice this week or affect the way I play Saturday because it’s just a football game.”
Still, he knows it’s a football game that will be replayed in conversations for the next year.
“Without a doubt, without a doubt,” he said. “But you say we’ve lost to them the past five years straight. They talk about it from season to season. This game here saves your season, that’s what they say. Hopefully, it can save ours.”
Clearly, the losing streak has taken its toll on the senior. So has seeing teammates not put forth the effort he brings to the team every day.
“It hurts tremendously,” Gilberry admitted. “But at the same time you have to realize that different people handle different situations certain ways. Me being a senior and a leader, you’ve got to take it in stride.
“You definitely say something to them, maybe take them to the side and really check their hearts, so to speak. But you can’t make someone think the way you think. It’s just not possible.”
Gilberry’s eyes lit up when reminded that a defensive end — Auburn’s Quentin Groves, who forced two second-quarter fumbles with sacks — dominated this game a year ago. But he insists he’s not changing anything he normally does.
“I’m not really looking forward to going out there and making an impact. I just want to get the game plan and go out there and execute my game,” Gilberry said. “Do what I can do to put the defense in position to win. Once you go to thinking and making it too personal, you lose focus on what the job is at hand. I just want to go out and do my job.”
He smiled coyly when asked about two freshmen who start up front for Auburn.
“I’m excited, I’m excited,” Gilberry said. “But I’m gonna be honest with you. Classification doesn’t really measure up to how you play. Andre Smith was a freshman and he may be one of the best freshman offensive lineman I’ve ever went against last year.
“I’m not saying those guys are Andre Smiths. But it definitely doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a redshirt senior.”
Gilberry, asked how Alabama could win at Auburn a week after losing to the University of Louisiana at Monroe, shakes his head.
“You just gotta believe. You gotta believe,” he said. “If you put your mind to it and you really believe in what you’re doing and trust in what you’re doing, anything can happen.
“Like Louisiana-Monroe, we never expected those guys to come in and beat us — but I guess they did. And it happened. So, you put your mind to it and you get enough guys believing it, eventually it’s definitely going to happen.”
