ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Comments

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Giant linemen are big part of Alabama’s success

By: Darren Epps

Included in this article

Andre Smith

Following the opening drive of the season’s opening game, Alabama’s mountainous offensive linemen lumbered off the field and looked at each other in amazement on the sideline.

They had just taken Clemson’s highly regarded defensive linemen, including potential NFL first-rounder Ricky Sapp, and pushed them around like magnets on a refrigerator. Although the Crimson Tide settled for a field goal on the 10-play drive, the message was delivered with a grunt and sealed with an exclamation.

“We just whipped them bad!” quarterback John Parker Wilson remembers hearing from his linemen on the sideline.

One month later, Alabama received the ball first against No. 3 Georgia in Athens. Using almost exclusively single-back sets or the offset-I formation, the Tide drove the bewildered Georgia players back and marched 80 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown.

“They had probably never been hit in the mouth like that,” left tackle Andre Smith said. “We just came out and set the tone like, ‘This is how it’s going to be the entire game. It’s up to y’all to stop it.’”

Halftime score: Alabama 31, Georgia 0. Alabama’s offensive line: Not stopped. And Alabama’s defensive linemen would return to the sideline telling similar stories.

They are also very large — noseguard Terrence Cody weighs 365 pounds — also dominant, also intimidating. Together, the two lines weigh more than some cars. They left Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford too woozy for interviews, Knowshon Moreno hurting and Dannell Ellerbe limping.

“The most important factor in that game was, could we run the ball effectively?” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “And could we stop them with the seven-man front?”

Yes and yes, thanks to the two fronts. Saban is dangerous when given very large toys. Playing Alabama should come with a warning from the surgeon general.

This is not some cute spread offense, nor do the Tide use many five-wide sets.

“This one is a little different style,” said Kentucky coach Rich Brooks, whose team plays the second-ranked Tide on Saturday. “This one is more of the bloody-your-nose style.”

Yes, the bloody-your-nose scheme. Sounds like an accurate description for five offensive linemen, all weighing 300 pounds or more, and a 365-pound noseguard who considers himself slender compared to last year.

“It’s like we say to each other all the time, we feel like we play against the best offensive line every day in practice,” Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said, “and they have to go up against the best defensive line. It makes everybody better. Playing Georgia was something we were used to and ready for.

“I don’t think their guys can match our physical toughness up front. Our lines are one of the biggest parts of our defense and our offense. It’s going to be tough for teams.”

As Alabama fans know — remember the “honk if you sacked Brodie” stickers? — it wasn’t always this way. Poor offensive line play seemed to define recent Alabama teams, and suspensions to starters Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis disrupted the line play last season. The Tide went 1-3 during their four-game suspensions, including a loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

This year, Alabama’s defensive linemen say a weak link doesn’t exist on the offensive line. They are experienced — Smith, Caldwell, Davis, Mike Johnson and Drew Davis have a combined 109 career starts — and they credit new strength coach Scott Cochran for making them much stronger in the offseason.

The physical line suits new offensive coordinator Jim McElwain’s pro-style offense nicely. Alabama’s coaching staff scripts the first drive of the game and, as Johnson noted, almost all of the plays are power runs. The result: scores on four of five opening drives and 74-0 supremacy in first-quarter scoring.

“Coach McElwain is probably, if not the No. 1, the No. 2 reason why we have had so much success on offense,” Caldwell said. “The guy’s brilliant.”

And the Tide are still undefeated. Alabama games now come with a warning: Play at your own risk.

Comments