ALABAMA (6-0, 3-0) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA (5-1, 2-1) 10.17.09 TIME: 6:45 p.m. TV: ESPN Never Satisfied Nick Saban has made it his creed, and the Crimson Tide has followed him. Avoiding complacency is no longer a problem at Alabama. Also inside: • Etched in stone: 1964 • Position Matchups 2009 Schedule Date Opponent Result 9/05/09 Virginia Tech W 34-24 9/12/09 Florida International W 40-14 9/19/09 North Texas W 53-7 9/26/09 Arkansas W 35-7 10/03/09 Kentucky W 38-20 10/10/09 Ole Miss W 22-3 Date Opponent Location GameDay Publish Date 10/17/09 South Carolina Tuscaloosa 10/16/09 10/24/09 Tennessee Tuscaloosa 10/23/09 11/07/09 LSU Tuscaloosa 11/06/09 11/14/09 Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. 11/12/09 11/21/09 UT Chattanooga Tuscaloosa 11/20/09 11/27/09 Auburn Auburn 11/24/09 ON THE INSIDE GameDay 2009 • October 16 1 Stat of the week Alabama has not lost a Homecoming game in eight years. The last loss came in 2001 against LSU, as Nick Saban and the Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 35-21 to ruin Homecoming. 4 | NEVER SATISFIED Alabama’s attention to the little GAME INFORMATION things has played a huge part Alabama • Field: Bryant-Denny in bringing the program back to Stadium national prominence. Crimson • Place: Tuscaloosa By Jason Galloway CW | Jerrod Seaton Tide (6-0) • Time: 6:45 p.m. vs. • TV: ESPN USC • Radio: 1420 AM (Eli Gold, 3 | PLAYSTATION SIMULATION 8 | BUY OR SELL Gamecocks play-by-play; Phil Savage, color It wasn’t pretty, but the Crimson What’s the best one-loss team in (5-1) analyst; Barry Krauss, sideline Tide found a way to upend South the country? Which teams have reporter) Carolina, improving Alabama’s the best chance to finish 2009 record to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the unbeaten? We discuss the hot SEC on the simulated season. questions in this week’s Buy or Sell. GAMEDAY STAFF By Will Nevin • Jason Galloway, GameDay editor • Spencer White, assistant GameDay editor 9 | ETCHED IN STONE 13 | POSITION MATCHUPS • Amanda Peterson, editor-in-chief • Will Nevin, managing editor This week’s Etched in Stone takes South Carolina comes into • Brandee Easter, design editor a look at the most acclaimed player Saturday’s game with a No. 22 • Emily Johnson, assistant design editor in the history of the Alabama pro- ranking, but how do they really • Aaron Gertler, graphics editor gram and the season that defined match up against the Tide for this • Jerrod Seaton, photo editor his legacy in Crimson Tide lore. Homecoming game? • Katie Bennett, assistant photo editor By Spencer White Cover photo: Katie Bennett Clothing, Jewelry & Accessories Game Day Dresses & Fall Must-Haves! Tuscaloosa 1130 University Blvd 205.366.0888 Fairhope s Spanish Fort s Mobile s Foley s Orange Beach s Destin s Jacksonville Beach s Atlanta s Auburn s Birmingham s Oxford s Fayetteville www.ShopPrivateGallery.com 2 October 16 • GameDay 2009 PICKS, POLLS AND PERSPECTIVE CW PICKS | WEEK 7 Jason Galloway Spencer White Cyrus Ntakirutinka Aaron Gertler Amanda Peterson Will Nevin Drew Gunn GameDay editor Asst. GameDay editor Senior sports reporter Graphics editor CW editor CW managing editor Advertising manager #22 South Carolina at #2 Bama #8 Cincinnati at #21 USF #20 Oklahoma vs #3 Texas #11 Iowa at Wisconsin #6 USC at #25 Notre Dame Texas Tech at #15 Nebraska #4 Va. Tech at #19 Ga. Tech Season record 26-16 26-16 26-16 24-18 25-17 26-16 25-17 UA students AP POLL COACHESʼ POLL the talk about their student expectations for 1. Florida (50) 1. Florida (53) the upcoming 2. Alabama (10) 2. Texas (1) Crimson Tide SECTION 3. Texas 3. Alabama (5) game. 4. Virginia Tech 4. Virginia Tech CW | Tori Gordon 5. Boise State 5. USC Chudy Azuogu Laura Kathryn Freshman Murphy 6. USC 6. Boise State Biology Sophomore Special education 7. Ohio State 7. Ohio Stae “The South Carolina game “Weʼre going 8. Cincinnati 8. TCU will be another to win.” 9. Miami 9. Cincinnati opponent to prepare 10. LSU 10. LSU ourselves for a national cham- 11. Iowa 11. Miami pionship.” 12. TCU 12. Iowa Shelby Whitten Drew Fithian 13. Oregon 13. Penn State Freshman Freshman Elementary educa- 14. Penn State 14. Oklahoma State tion “South 15. Nebraska 15. Kansas “Itʼll be a great Carolina is homecoming good, but we 16. Oklahoma State 16. Oregon win.” are better. 17. Kansas 17. Nebraska Defense wins champion- 18. BYU 18. Oklahoma ships.” 19. Georgia Tech 19. BYU Mark Smith Sarah Fowler 20. Oklahoma 20. Georgia Tech Junior Freshman Finance Accounting 21. South Florida 21. South Florida 22. South Carolina 22. South Carolina “Roll Tide.” “I think the Tide 23. Houston 23. Houston will roll all over South 24. Utah 24. Missouri Carolina.” 25. Notre Dame 25. Notre Dame PS3 SIMULATION GameDay 2009 • October 16 3 PS3 SAYS | ALABAMA 25, SOUTH CAROLINA 17 SIMULATION STATISTICS BY WILL NEVIN Managing Editor Alabama • Passing: Greg McElroy, 10-of-19, 81 The South Carolina Gamecocks came to yds, 1 rushing TD Tuscaloosa with an average to maybe above- average defense. The Tide, however, made it • Rushing: Terry Grant, 10 rushes, 58 look like the second coming of the Pittsburgh yds, 1 TD Steelers’ Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s as Bama put up only 188 yards of total offense • Receiving: Mike McCoy, 4 recep- while still managing to find a way to win in a tions, 21 yds 25-17 brutal slugfest. Alabama, or perhaps the officials, opened • Top Defensive Performer: Rolando the scoring 50 seconds into the game when the NCAA 2010 screenshot McClain, 5 tackles Gamecocks were called for holding in the end Julio Jones makes a leaping catch in Alabamaʼs zone, resulting in a safety and two points for 25-17 simulated victory. the Tide. Bama continued the scoring in the second quarter when Baron Huber bounced ing touchdown, but Alabama would miss the South Carolina around right end for a 2-yard touchdown run. two-point conversion to take a 22-10 lead. The Terry Grant, subbing for an injured Mark Gamecocks answered back with a Stephen • Passing: Stephen Garcia, 18-of-24, Ingram, scored the Tide’s second touchdown Garcia touchdown pass to wideout Kevin 160 yds, 1 TD on a 13-yard run to stretch Alabama’s lead to White to close to within five at 22-17. Alabama, 16-0. As time expired in the half, Gamecock however, snuffed out the hopes of an upset by • Rushing: Eric Baker, 11 rushes, 31 kicker Spencer Lanning got the visitors on recovering the ensuing onside kick, and Leigh yds, 1 TD the board with a 40-yard field goal, cutting the Tiffin would close the scoring with a booming Tide’s lead to 16-3. 54-yard field goal. • Receiving: Weslye Saunders, 4 South Carolina got closer to closing the gap Despite the victory, the Tide was outgained receptions, 34 yds with a 1-yard touchdown run by halfback Eric in total offense (212 yards to 188 yards) and first Baker, leaving the Gamecocks down 16-10. The downs (South Carolina’s nine to Bama’s seven). • Top Defensive Performer: Eric Tide responded in the fourth quarter as quar- With the win, Alabama improves to 6-1 (4-0) Norwood, 9 tackles terback Greg McElroy scrambled for a rush- on the simulated season. Alabama runs out onto the fi eld before its game against Kentucky two weeks ago. The Crimson Tideʼs last few games have been prime examples of Alabamaʼs ability to take every team on its schedule seriously. CW | Jerrod Seaton GameDay 2009 • October 16 5 No David for this GOLIATH Ever since Alabama lost a horrid game to Louisiana-Monroe in 2007, the Crimson Tide has taken no one for granted. That weekly sense of urgency has been at the core of Alabama’s surge back to college football’s elite. BY JASON GALLOWAY GameDay Editor reg McElroy sat alone in the Alabama film room Sunday evening, critiquing his performance in the Crimson Tide’s 22-3 victory over Ole Miss the day before and prepar- ing for the challenges of South Carolina’s defense. The tranquility of the room maintained itself as Mark Ingram entered to watch his own film. The sophomore running backG popped in the Ole Miss tape and immediately jumped to one specif- ic play. He watched it. Rewound it. Watched it again. Rewound it again. Over and over, he watched the same play. It was not his 36-yard touch- down run in the closing seconds of the first half, nor was it his 25-yard scamper in the third quarter that moved the Tide inside the 5-yard line. Again and again, Ingram watched the man sitting next to him get dragged down 11 yards behind the line of scrim- good on,” he said, “but when a play doesn’t work mage. Alabama had already built a 16-3 lead on because you missed your blocking assignment, it the Rebels, and Ingram ended up converting a sticks with you more than those good plays.” first down later in the series. But he had missed That is what Alabama head coach Nick a block on the play, perhaps the only thing he did Saban has addressed every week since arriving wrong in his 172-yard performance. at the Capstone — the mental strain of always “That’s the only play I’ve been thinking about,” remaining unsatisfied.