has been named a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brian Award. Brodie is one of 15 finalists that will be narrowed down to 3 on Nov. 22nd. The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback.
It's reported that Brodie missed the bus back to Tuscaloosa from Starkville after Saturday's game against Mississippi. Instead of riding on the bus Brodie decided to ride home with his best friend and injured center J. B. Closner in the ambulance.
Brodie manfully faced the press despite being frustrated by his sub-par day and concern for his friend, took the responsibility on himself.
“If you want to blame somebody, blame me,” Croyle said. “I’m the quarterback. It’s my job to get us in the end zone. If we don’t get there, it’s my fault.”
Coach Shula downplayed Brodie's reaction saying that if he had been happy with the outcome of Saturday's game everyone would have wondered what was wrong with him.
The tide managed two touchdowns and one field goal against Mississippi, however none of the goals were offensive related.
When Coach Shula was asked what the bigger picture for the offensive struggles other than losing one guy in Tyrone Prothro he stated:
“Well I think we’ve got to play more consistently. If we do that, then the points will come and the production will come. It’s offensive football and we’ve got to have 11 guys doing their job. We lost a great player and now we lost our center who was a three year starter. You can’t deny the fact that we might not be as effective without them, but you’ve got guys like a healthy Brodie Croyle and Ken Darby, receivers that are more experienced than they were this time last year, and the other guys on the offensive line are more experienced than they were earlier in the year. "
Roman Harper
Crimson Tide senior free safety Roman Harper has been announced as a semi-finalist for the 2005 Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation’s best college defensive back.
Harper is one of 12 semi-finalists for the award which will be announced on ESPN's College Football Awards Show, telecast live from Disney World in Orlando, Florida on December 8, 2005.
Harper is 7th all-time at Alabama with 285 career tackles. He moved past Robbie Jones (1979-82) on the all-time list with two stops last week at Miss. State. Harper is third among active SEC defenders with 285 career tackles.
Crimson Tide sophomore cornerback Simeon Castille has been named this week’s SEC Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office in Birmingham this morning.
Castille had quite a day blocking a punt and recording his fourth career interception. His acrobatic interception came in the third quarter of Alabama’s 17-0 victory over Mississippi State while his blocked punt came on Mississippi State’s very next possession. He also recorded a pass break-up and two tackles.
The honor is the first for Castille and the 10th this season for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has received some sort of SEC Player of the Week honor after all six conference games this season and has been recognized after seven of the team’s nine games overall.
Tyrone Prothro was named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week on September 12 and running back Kenneth Darby was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19. DeMeco Ryans (Defensive Player of the Week) and Jeremy Schatz (Special Teams) were honored on Sept. 26 by the conference. Brodie Croyle (SEC Offensive Player) and Mark Anderson (SEC Defensive Lineman) both received the honors on October 3 following Alabama’s victory over Florida. Christensen received the Special Teams Player of the Week honor on September 17. Christensen (special teams) and Ryans (Defensive) received the honors on September 24 following Alabama’s victory over Tennessee.
UA faces battle of philosophies
taken from TideSports.com
written by Cecil Hurt
There are plenty of reasons for the college football world to have its attention focused on this weekend’s game between Alabama and LSU -- and that attention will be here.
ESPN GameDay will be in town. There will be scouts representing seven bowls, including three BCS bowls. The Orange will have three representatives, and the Sugar and Fiesta will also be on hand. (The Rose Bowl will not send representatives because there is no “selection process" for the national championship game other than the BCS poll.)
Also watching will be the Capital One, Cotton, Outback and Peach bowls, the other SEC-affiliated bowls that still have a shot at Alabama or LSU.
They’ll probably see a great football game, but they might also see something more -- a battle of philosophies.
Alabama, not for the first time in its history, has been cast as this year’s paradigm for “winning ugly," which means winning tough, low-scoring defensive struggles by dominating unflashy stats like time of possession (Alabama leads the SEC) and turnover margin (Alabama is third in the SEC).
On the other hand, LSU is probably the closest thing the SEC has to the sort of “free-wheeling offense" that the national media seems to have endorsed as the mark of a “real" championship contender. After all, Urban Meyer has dismantled the last vestiges of the Steve Spurrier offense at Florida (those that survived the Ron Zook years) and the real Steve Spurrier doesn’t quite have a full complement of athletes at South Carolina yet. Georgia and Auburn both have good offenses, but don’t seem to have the big-play pizzazz of LSU.
The Tigers are second in the SEC in passing, trailing only one-dimensional Vanderbilt. They’ve even won an actual Pac 10-style shootout over a Pac-10 type team (Arizona State). And while it would be stretching the point to compare LSU’s offensive firepower to Southern Cal, the Tigers are probably the only SEC team that has a big-time playmaker at virtually every skill position.
“This is the best way to explain it," Alabama coach Mike Shula said at his Tuesday press conference. “You watch a tape of this offense and there are times you sit there and go 'wow.’ You’ll say to one of the other coaches 'watch this pass’ or 'watch this run.’ Then the special teams coach will come in and say 'watch this return.’
“We’ve played teams this season with good receivers, or good backs, but I don’t think we’ve played a team that had all that, plus a good offensive line to go with it."
LSU doesn’t just have playmakers. The Tigers are two-deep in playmakers: Joseph Addai and Justin Vincent at tailback, for instance, or Skyler Green, Early Doucet, Craig Davis and Dwayne Bowe, all gifted wide receivers (and, in Green’s case, the best punt returner in the SEC as well.) That’s a credit to the talent stockpile that Nick Saban built up during his tenure in Baton Rouge.
The key, as with any offense, is quarterback Jemarcus Russell. The Tiger junior is naturally blessed with a massive frame and a mighty arm, but now, according to Shula, he’s a mature field general as well. His statistics back that up: He’s second in the SEC in passing efficiency, and has thrown just one more interception (five) than Brodie Croyle (four.)
“I think it’s just something that comes with age," Shula said of Russell. “His confidence level is better. He does a great job of managing their offense."
No team has held LSU to less than 20 points this season, although that does come with a small asterisk, since the Auburn game was 17-17 at the end of regulation. No team has scored 20 points in a game on the Alabama defense. (Again, a small asterisk, but Southern Miss’ 21 came thanks to an interception return for a score.) Both teams have won in their own way, but something has to give on Saturday night -- and the college football world will be watching to see what it is.
More BCS BS
As if anyone hasn't heard by now, Miami moved up in the BCS polls to number 4 even though they have one loss on thier record. Alabama moved up in the poll to number 3. I think I have made my feelings on the way the BCS is determined pretty clear. It should be trashed. It's garbage and I don't think a teams "performance" during a game should have anything to do with thier ranking. If that was the case, back the week of the Florida game, Alabama should have been ranked number 1 rather than 5.
The LSU at Alabama game will be televised by CBS at 2:30pm CST.
It's going to be a tough game. LSU has many advantages over the Tide especially a healthy roster with strong abilities.
Don't count Alabama out though. As it has been stated before, the Tide is tough and has the ability to overcome the odds.
Just when you don't expect it, EXPECT it. I'll be watching along with many others and hoping for a big win. :)
