Tough one for Trent. Had such a stellar year. RGIII’s final performance against Texas put him over the top. Trent ran for 1,583 yards and 20 TDs and caught 27 passes for 327 yards and three TDs. Those were certainly Heisman numbers. RGIII didn’t even come close to playing against the defenses that Trent did. RGIII won the vote in the South which was surprising. But Trent won the Doak Walker, a very distinguished honor and has a chance to win his second national title as a Tider and possibly be the top player picked in the draft. He should be at least in the top 5. So there are a lot of good things ahead for Trent. Proud of Barrett for winning the Outland Trophy and Carson Tinker made a phenomenal speech in accepting the team Sprit Award. He’s a terrific kid. Looking forward to seeing how Barrett does in the draft if he does go. Could be a first rounder as well. But he could very easily, knowing him, come back for his senior season. I’d say it’s 60-40 he comes back. He might want to improve his stock for the 2013 draft and play another year for Tide and get that degree; though he probably will have it after this semester. He’s a bright kid who really cares about school. Seems to love it in Tuscaloosa, also. We’ll see. There could be five or six Tide first rounders. This group is loaded.
Now it’s time to start thinking about Jan.9. Should be a classic. ‘Bama owes Honey Badger, Claiborne, Spencer Ware and Jordan Jefferson a payback. Should be another thriller and one Tide fans will be on the edge of their seats during.
Looks like Kirby Smart will stay with ‘Bama. Jim McElwain may go to be the head coach at Fresno State. His offenses have been solid, not dynamic. He’s a good coach, don’t get me wrong, but he is probably more replaceable than Kirby is. He’s had a couple of all world running backs that’s for sure and impressive offensive lines. He’s solid, but I’m sure S can find another good OC if McElwain leaves. Pretty sure Kirby will be back. Doesn’t look like there is a job that he will be highly interested in after Texas A&M hired Kevin Sumlin from Houston. Kirby was in the final three for that job.
There will be talent, albeit some young, next year. Going to lose some good players. Hightower, Upshaw, Harris, Chapman, Barron, Menzie and possibly ‘Dre and Lester, but should have some good players back. Some good young ones led by C.J. Mosley, Trey DePriest, Nico, Jesse Williams and some incoming guys who should and will have to be good. May take a little time to develop, but the defense, under Kirby, will be good at some point next season. I’m sure S and Kirby are hoping sooner rather than later. Will miss some of these studs though; that’s for sure.But have one monumental clash left. A national title could solidify another tops in the country recruiting class and get the Tide ready for another successful season in 2012. A.J. will be even better next year. There are some losses on the oline. Eddie L will be back along with Jalston Fowler, Blake Sims and some younger guys. Not sure if frosh Brent Callaway will make it back. He’d help at rb. So there is some rebuilding/reloading to do. Should be an interesting recruiting finish and spring.
Michael Dyer getting suspended is pretty shocking. He seems like a decent kid. Sounds like something is up with his attitude. Very surprising. Not sure what he did. Could have been substance related, grades or just a bad attitude. Hopefully it’s not a huge deal going forward. Dyer needs to get it together because there are going to be some stellar running backs on the roster this spring and in fall workouts and he’s going to have some serious competition. He may even get beaten out. There is a good chance of that the way things are going now. We’ll see Onterio get some more carries in the Chick Fil A and Tre Mason get a shot. Think Tre is a good player. He could take advantage of this. McCalebb will do a good job. He always does. AU needs to beat Virginia to get 2012 headed in the right direction. AU recruiting well, and there is a lot of young talent coming back on both sides of the ball, so they need to start 2012 with a bowl victory. No word on DC. Heard Everett Withers name again. And Mark Stoops at Florida State. Stoops would be a good hire.
Will have a lot on bowls including predictions in the upcoming weeks starting Friday with picks of the New Mexico bowl pitting Temple and Wyoming, the New Orleans Bowl (San Diego State vs. Louisiana Lafayette) and the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl (Florida International vs Marshall.) Plenty of research to do this week. Record is 89-39 (70%). Would like to get it to 75% at the end of the season.
‘Bama beat Detroit in bball last night, 62-54. The big guys in the middle did a good job with JaMychal Green leading the way with 21 points. Tony Mitchell added 15 and freshman Nick Jacobs had 13. But the Tide only shot two-of-15 from behind the arc. That has to improve. They’ve been struggling there, so there needs to be improvement in the shooting from three if the Tide wants to really make a run this season. The defense keeps them in it and can win it for them most games, but need some help from outside shooting to really make a deep run this year. Solid team which could be great with improved shooting. Tide now 8-2 and ranked 15th. Play Kansas State at Kansas City, Saturday, on ESPNU. Kansas State 6-1 with their only loss coming to West Virginia, 85-80, in double OT. They’ve got votes in the poll. They’re probably a typical solid K State team. Will have more on them later in the week.
Auburn is 4-1 and have a couple of players coming in Dec. 15 who could help. Have a 7 footer coming in who could really help in the middle. AU’s got a chance to be better. Whether they can make the tourney will be tough. They’ve got to bear down defensively that’s for sure. AU plays South Florida at home this Wednesday at 8:30 PM on CSS and ESPN3. South Florida is 6-4 and lost to Kansas recently, 70-42. So AU’s got a good shot to go to 5-1.
UAB won last Wednesday, 66-56, over Middle Tn, and played much better. Still have issues trying to get a solid starter at point guard. Now 2-6. Play at VCU on Tues, Dec. 20, 6:30 PM. No TV yet. Probably ESPN3.