Alabama Weekly Volume 1 Issue 9

Alabama Weekly
September 16th, 1998 -- Issue #9 -- Volume #1
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The National Picture Grows Strange
written by Jess Nicholas


Did you see what I saw Saturday?

Did it give your brain the cramps like it did mine?

Usually, after two weeks, the national college football picture gets
clearer and teams begin to assert themselves. However, the mess that was
September 12th has sent analysts scurrying around, trying to forecast the
next two or three weeks while at the same time looking for
anti-depressants. Here is a brief rundown:

First, Florida State, the team that squeaked by Texas A&M, got beat by a
very mediocre North Carolina State squad. Didn't just get beat---they got
mauled. Quarterback Chris Weinke---who, if involved in a quarterback
battle with John David Phillips and Ben Leard, might just come in
third---threw a mind-boggling six interceptions. Meanwhile, Texas A&M was
struggling to beat a Louisiana Tech squad coming off a blowout at the
hands of Central Florida.

Michigan, seven months removed from a National Championship, dropped to
0-2 at the hands of a Syracuse team that lost to a depleted Tennessee
unit. Cross-state rival Michigan State, who was playing as if to run
Coach Nick Sabin back to the NFL, pummelled media darling Notre Dame, at
one time leading 42-3. Meanwhile, traditional Big-10 power Iowa lost AT
HOME to the Iowa State Cyclones, a feat that will soon be accompanied by
the other signs of the Apocalypse.

Memphis, a team thought to be on the rise this year, followed a thrashing
loss to Ole Miss with a 14-6 squeaker defeat to Mississippi State. MSU
was coming off a 42-0 domination of Vanderbilt, and was a big favorite.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, was a 5 1/2 point favorite over Auburn and responded
to their newfound posterity by losing 17-0 and looking worse than they
have in years. Auburn was coming off a 19-0 loss to Virginia, a
performance in which, if repeated, wouldn't be good enough to beat Auburn
High School. Virginia then proceeded to come out flat and struggle to
beat the ACC's worst team (Maryland) by only 14 points. Is it safe to
come out now?

Apparently not...BYU, called a weak sister by Auburn coach Terry Bowden
last week, responded to the criticism by dominating #14 Arizona State 26-6.
Texas proved that they were indeed a fluke entry into the Top 25 by
getting blown out again to UCLA. And then there was Oklahoma State, a
team challenging for the Big-12 title, who found themselves playing the
convicing loser to Tulsa, a team thought to be in the bottom third of the
WAC this season. Also making an appearance (at least the box score says
so) was Oklahoma, who beat a terrible TCU team 10-9. Boomer Sooner, indeed.

Georgia squeaked by a seemingly-overmatched South Carolina team 17-3.
Florida beat Northeast Louisiana 49-10, but it is clear to the trained
eye that they are not the Gators of old. Wake Forest finally won, but did
so late and against Navy, whose offensive and defensive lines average a
collective 250 pounds. And finally, there was Clemson, who got dunked by
a Virginia Tech team that no one thought was much good by a score of 37-0.

So who actually played as predicted? The closest was probably Alabama,
who followed a close win over BYU with a comfortable, but not
overwhelming, victory over Vanderbilt. While the Tide played well, they
still have a lot of ground to cover and a lot of room to improve. But
compared to the nightmare that was Week Two, Bama did swimmingly.
Unfortunately, the bettors playing the Las Vegas lines probably did not.


--Jess Nicholas
Alabama Weekly Columnist


Football is Fun Again
written by John Hinds

Boston-- Football is fun again at The University of Alabama.

The fans, wherever you live, can hold their heads up high and sport their Crimson and White attire.

The players can take pride in their 2-0 start and the fact that they have climbed back into the Top 25 in the polls.

Most of all the coaches, especially head coach Mike Dubose, can take pride in the fact that they are making this all happen.

You knew it was coming, if there was going to be a successful season this year it would have to be built on the defense. Saturday against Vanderbilt that defense stood up and was counted. They stopped the Commodores for a minus 26 yards rushing, a total of 152 yards overall and they had three interceptions, nine sacks and two safeties.

One couldn’t help but notice that once again Travis Carroll led the way for the stop troops with 10 tackles. But the Vandy game belonged to Kevin Sigler. All he did was make eight tackles to go along with his 37 yard interception return and two and one half sacks. Slowly but surely freshman Kindal Moorehead is turning on the fans and I being noticed by the press. After and outstanding game against Brigham Young, Kindal got three sacks in the Tide’s first SEC game this year.

Then Shaun Alexander is finally getting the ball the way Dubose promised he would in the offseason. He still hasn’t carried 25-30 times but he has scored eight touchdowns and run for 321 yards in the first two games. With that kind of showing he will be popping up on Heisman ballots.

John David Phillips has shown great leadership and an ability to direct a multi-faceted offense. It is one that features three aspects the three step drop, screen play and draw. Phillips has hit receivers Michael Vaughn, Quincy Jackson and Arvin Richards for big gains in both games. Then when the defense has shut down Alexander and the receivers John David has taken the ball on his own for big gains.

An improvement in the special teams still has to be made but Daniel Pope has proven that he can kick the Tide out of trouble with his booming punts.

Sure it’s only two games into the season and we were 2-0 at this time last year but this is a different Tide team. This team will win the games it’s supposed to win and maybe even some they aren’t

Yes fans you can Stand Up For Alabama once again.

-- John Hinds
Alabama Weekly Columnist


Bama Rolls over Vandy
written by JP

After the offensive performance against BYU last week, many Bama fans wondered if we would see the same thing against Vanderbilt, a good defensive team that always plays the Tide tough. The answer was a big "YES". Shaun Alexander was the man for the Tide, rushing for 206 yards on just 20 carries. Alexander added 3 touchdowns to his 5 from last week to give him 8 TD's on the year, almost tripling his total from all of last season. John David Phillips played his second great game in two weeks as he threw for 179 yards on 19 for 30 passes. John David also had a few dropped passes. On his only interception of the game and only interception of the season JDP's pass was tipped.

Vandy got off to a great start when Wallace connected with Hogans for a 50 yard touchdown pass. Bama trailed 0-7 when Shaun Alexander got his first TD of the game with a 36 yard touchdown run. Tied at seven with only 3 minutes to go in the half Kelvin Siglar intercepted a ball from Wallace and on the next play John David Phillips hooked up with Quincy Jackson for a 31 yard touchdown pass giving Alabama a 14-7 lead at the half. Vanderbilt had most Alabama fans thinking that this would be the same Alabama Vanderbilt game, but Shaun Alexander and Alabama would change that in the 2nd half.

Bama would start the scoring in the second half by forcing Wallace to a grounding penalty in the endzone resulting in a safety; Bama lead 16-7. Then Alabama drove the ball 71 yards in just six plays to make the score 23-7. Alexander capped that drive off with an eight yard touchdown run.

Bama would get their second safety when Clint Waggoner and true freshman Kindal Moorehead put Wallace down again. Bama lead 25-7. Shaun Alexander would close the scoring with a 35 yard run to give Alabama a 32-7 lead and victory.

Alexander for Heisman???
During the game I kept thinking to myself Shaun is putting up Heisman like numbers. According to ESPN.com they think so too; putting Alexander into their "Welcome" list of Heisman candidates. How does Shaun compare with the leading Running Back candidate Ricky Williams from Texas? Williams has more yards and more touchdowns but Williams also has about 20 more carries than Shaun. Could Shaun be the first Heisman winner in Alabama history???

Give Credit for the Offensive Line
Wow! What a difference a year and a good coach makes. Neil Callaway has done an outstanding job with this unit. John David Phillips had all day to throw the ball Saturday against a very good defensive unit. Preseason All-American candidate, Chris Samuels leads this group. If this group stays healthy Bama will be in good shape.

Vanderbilt Game Balls
Offensive-- Shaun Alexander Who else??? Shaun had a huge game and he didn't even play the last 7:00 minutes of the game.
Defensive-- Kelvin Sigler Kelvin had a nice game probably one of his best. Silger had an interception a sack and made a few tackles and was all over the place. Kelvin batted a few intended passes away.

Alabama vs. Vandy Box Score:
Bama 7 7 11 7 32
Vandy 7 0 0 0 7


Scoring:
Vanderbilt- Hogans 50 pass from Wallace
(Markham kick)
Alabama-Alexander 36 run (Pflugner kick)
Alabama-Jackson 31 pass from J Phillips
(Pflugner kick)
Alabama-Safety
Alabama-Alexander 8 run (Pflugner kick)
Alabama-Alexander 35 run (Pflugner kick)

Alabama Team Stats:
Rushing
Alexander 20-206
Richard 4-10
Passing
J Phillips 19-30-1-179
Zow 0-1-0-0
Receiving
Vaughn 8-73
Hall 4-24
Jackson 3-38
Alexander 2-0
Richard 1-27
Locke 1-17

-- JP
Alabama Weekly Editor




SEC predictions for 9/19
written by Jess Nicholas

Here's a quick look at who the SEC teams are playing this week.

Florida vs Tennessee
It's the biggest game of the year for Tennessee and Steve Spurrier knows
it. If Tennessee can get by the Gators, they will probably finish the
year undefeated unless they get upset by Georgia or fall victim to Auburn
or Alabama, both of whom are overmatched by the Vols. Florida is coming
off wins over The Citadel and Northeast Louisiana, games in which they
looked less than spectacular. Still, Spurrier is always tough to beat.
Key player: Florida QB Jesse Palmer, who still has a lot of improvement
to make. Prediction:
Florida 31
Tennessee 28



Georgia vs Wyoming
A couple of years ago, this would be an interesting game. That was before
Joe Tiller left Wyoming to coach Purdue, and since then, the Cowboys have
struggled. Georgia was unimpressive against South Carolina, but still got
the job done. Key player: Georgia QB Quincy Carter, a true freshman who
is the center of this offense. Prediction:
Georgia 28
Wyoming 7


Kentucky vs Indiana
Indiana is still rebuilding, and Kentucky still has Tim Couch. It's a
recipe for disaster for the Hoosiers, whose defensive backs should find
themselves reaching for the Gatorade on more than one occasion. Couch
should win SEC offensive player of the week after this one. Key player:
Kentucky LB Jeff Snedegar, the soul of the Wildcat defense. Prediction:
Kentucky 49
Indiana 13



South Carolina vs Marshall
No one at South Carolina could have possibly forseen the success that the
Thundering Herd have had since moving to Div-IA, or this would be a game
against a directional Louisiana school. South Carolina is losing
defensive backs at a frightening rate, having had both Arturo Freeman and
Andre Goodman felled by injury. The Gamecocks are ripe for upset, but
Chuck Reedy's ground control attack should minimize mistakes. Key player:
USC cornerback Homer Torrance, who as a senior, must step up to a
leadership role. Prediction:
South Carolina 23
Marshall 17



Mississippi at Vanderbilt
In a battle of two teams who looked absolutely horrible last week, the
Rebels should get of the schneid first and take control of this game.
Vanderbilt desparately needs to put points on the board, if for nothing
else, their own sanity. Ole Miss QB Romaro Miller will be haunted by the
Commodore defense, but should manage to pick his way through it. Still,
if the Rebs play like they did against Auburn, they'll lose this game.
Key player: Vanderbilt QB David Wallace, who showed promise against
Alabama and will one day be a formidable quarterback. Prediction:
Mississippi 27
Vanderbilt 14



Arkansas vs SMU (Little Rock)
Twice recently, Arkansas has dumped one to SMU only to beat Alabama the
following week. Surely Tide fans will be hollering "woo-pig-sooey" with
the best of them. SMU could pull another upset, but it's a bif if.
Arkansas now has a running game to take the pressure off QB Clint
Stoerner. Key player: Arkansas RB Madre Hill, whose recovery from a knee
injury is paramount to the Hogs' success in games like these. Prediction:
Arkansas 27
SMU 13



Auburn vs LSU
Which Auburn team will show up? The one that got trounced by Virginia, or
the one that dominated Ole Miss? Truth be told, it matters little;
neither performance would have been good enough to beat LSU if the Bayou
Bengals play their best. Of course, LSU has been known to tank the most
unlikely games in the recent past, and they must be careful against
Auburn. Key player(s): LSU tailbacks Lavar Johnson and Kendall Cleveland,
who will back up Kevin Faulk in lieu of departed Cecil Collins and
injured Rondell Mealey. Prediction:
LSU 28
Auburn 10



Mississippi State at Oklahoma State
Talk about confusing. Mississippi State killed Vanderbilt in week one and
then scraped by Memphis in week two. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, got
blitzed by one the WAC's bottom feeders, Tulsa. Before the season
started, I picked OSU to win this one, and I'll stick with it. Cowboys
coach Bob Simmons should have his troops rallied in time for the tough
Bulldogs. Key player: MSU QB Wayne Madkin, who, if he hasn't already
taken over for Matt Wyatt, will probably do so this week. Prediction:
Oklahoma State 30
Mississippi State 24


Idle: Alabama

-- Jess Nicholas
Alabama Weekly Columnist


Depth Chart

SE 83 Calvin Hall 80 Jason McAddley 4 Jay Stubbs
WR 7 Quincy Jackson 15 Freddie Milons 81 Wes Allen
FL 22 Michael Vaughn 8 Tim Bowens 2 Eric Locke
TE 82 Terry Jones,Jr. 85 Rhett Crutchfield 86 Joe Yount
RT 72 Will Cuthbert 56 Kenric Lott 77 Bart Raulston
RG 70 Jason McDonald 68 Sam Matthews 71 Marico Portis
C 74 Paul Hogan 55 Brooks Brodie 57 Ty Babcock
LG 75 Griff Redmill 69 Michael Moore 79 Ray Marshall
LT 60 Chris Samuels 63 Sage Spree 78 Michael Barfield
QB 12 John David Phillips 5 Andrew Zow 14 Tyler Watts
FB 30 Dustin McClintock 6 Marvin Brown 21 Montoya Madden
HB 37 Shaun Alexander 26 Arvin Richard 33 Shontua Ray
PK 42 Ryan Pflugner 11 A.J.Diaz 95 Brian Cunningham

---

RT 98 Reggie Grimes 88 Kenny Smith 92 Shaun Williams
NG 90 Jamie Carter 51 Carlos Stennis 67 Kelvis White
LT 97 Cornelius Griffin 54 Kendall Moorehead 38 Shaun Draper
END 91 Clint Waggoner 58 Canary Knight 59 Chris Edwards
RLB 48 Trevis Smith 47 Eddie Hunter 9 Victor Ellis
MLB 44 Travis Carroll 89 Tito Smith 1 Chris Horne
LLB 4 Steve Stanley 10 Miguel Merritt 99 Darius Gilbert
RCB 39 Antoine Hunter 13 Kecalf Bailey 16 Chris Reier
FS 20 Kelvin Sigler 17 Warren Foust 35 Owen Winston
SS 24 Tony Dixon 41 Marcus Spencer 19 Jason Jones
LCB 25 Fernando Bryant 3 Michael Feagin 23 Reggie Myles
P 40 Daniel Pope 84 Patrick Morgan 11 A.J.Diaz


1998 ALABAMA SCHEDULE
09/05 Brigham Young Tuscaloosa 38-31
09/12 Vanderbilt Birmingham 32-7
09/19 OPEN
09/26 Arkansas Fayetteville, AR (ESPN2)
10/03 Florida Tuscaloosa
10/10 Ole Miss Tuscaloosa
10/17 E. Carolina Birmingham
10/24 Tennessee Knoxville, TN (CBS)
10/31 S. Miss Tuscaloosa
11/07 LSU Baton Rouge, LA (CBS)
11/14 Mississippi St. Starkville, MS
11/21 Auburn Birmingham
11/29 OPEN
12/05 SEC Championship
TTBA

Newsletter by: JP and Brett Young
Special Article by: None
Special Thanks to: Jess Nicholas, John Hinds for their articles

PLEASE VISIT BAMANATION AND ALABAMA WEEKLY.
BamaNation: http://www.BamaNation.com
Alabama Weekly: http://come.to/ALGameDay.com

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