About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2018)
SPORTS The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, November 6, 2018 3B COLLEGE FOOTBALL Overshadowed defense No. 1 Crimson Tide score at a pace unlike their past teams Associated Press The offensive questions kept com ing for Alabama coach Nick Saban at his latest news conference. Did you create such a different kind of offensive team by design? How has the offense evolved since the opener? Talk about the offensive line, the receivers. The top-ranked Crimson Tide still plays defense , too, if not with quite the same smothering dominance of past years. Alabama heads into Saturday’s game with No. 18 Mississippi State fresh from its first shutout of the sea son, 29-0 over No. 9 LSU. “Everybody talks about the offense and not a lot about the defense,” Tide cornerback Xavier McKinney said Monday. “We try to put everybody on notice. We have something to prove when we go out there.” Before the emergence of quarter back Tua Tagovailoa, it was typically the other way around. The defense not only dominated opposing offenses, but got much of the credit for Alabama’s five national titles under coach Nick Saban. The offense mostly played sec ond fiddle, espe cially the passing game. Now, Alabama is leading the nation in scoring and total offense and has already secured a spot against No. 5 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference champion ship game. Defensively, a drop-off might have been inevitable after losing first-round NFL draft picks Minkah Fitzpatrick, Da’Ron Payne and Rashaan Evans, along with five other selections. The Tide has ranked in the top 10 in both rushing and scoring defense each of the past 10 seasons and led the nation in both categories the past two years. Now, Alabama is seventh in scoring defense and 11th against the run. “Yards are hard to come by against this defense, whether it’s on the ground or in the air,” Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to string together multiple 12-, 13- or 15-play drives and make your way down field. “At a certain point, you have to take Tagovailoa BUTCH DILL I Associated Press Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams (5) is tackled by Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses (32) during the second half of the game Sept. 22 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. a chance with a shot downfield or a trick play or something that’s going to generate a chunk of yards.” This Alabama defense still has plenty of star power and award candi dates in players like nose guard Quin- nen Williams, defensive end Isaiah Buggs, safety Deionte Thompson and linebackers Dylan Moses and Mack Wilson. Alabama held LSU to 196 total yards, including just 12 rushing. It was a vintage Tide performance even it was mostly overshadowed — of course — by Tagovailoa’s exploits. “They were in the backfield all night,” Alabama offensive tackle Jed- rick Wills Jr. said. The defense is still producing plenty of big plays. Buggs is fifth nationally with nine sacks and the team ranks fourth nationally in that category. A secondary that had to replace last year’s top six players, including the versatile All-American defensive back Fitzpatrick, has emerged too. Alabama has 13 interceptions and has returned four of them for touchdowns. Thompson is the team’s leading tackier. Plus, the Tide has allowed just 37.7 rushing yards on average over the last three SEC games with Williams step ping in for Payne and also consistently generating a pass rush up the middle. Moses and Wilson have emerged as standouts at inside linebacker in Evans’ absence. The defense has allowed somewhat uncharacteristic numbers at times: 23 points to Texas A&M, 31 to Arkansas and 21 to Tennessee. Saban said the young defenders have gained confidence along with the experience and gotten better at things like playing together and communicating. “I think we’ve grown in some of those areas, and we need to continue to improve in all parts of our team,” Saban said. “We’re going to see a different kind of attack this week, so we’re going to have to adjust and adapt to that as well. ” LSU back to work after blowout loss to No. 1 Alabama LSU coach Ed Orgeron proclaimed that Monday was his “biggest day” on the job since he took over the Les Miles in 2016. The coach expressed con cerned about the psyche of his players after the dual blow of losing big at home to No. 1 Alabama and then hearing their own coach say after the game that he needs to bring in better recruits. “I told that to my coaches in a staff meeting this morn ing, ‘We are the mature people. We have to bring the players up. I have to be at my best today,”’ Orgeron said. “There are a lot of hurt people on our football team. We have the 24-hour rule. It may take a little longer to get over this loss.” Losses to Alabama tend to be emotional. The Crim son Tide has tormented the Tigers for generations — first for decades under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and now under Nick Saban, a former LSU coach who has won five national champion ships with the Crimson Tide. Alabama has won eight straight against the Tigers, starting with a victory in the national championship game at the end of the 2011 season, ruining what would have otherwise been the fin est campaign in LSU history. The latest loss to Ala bama — by a score of 29-0 — ended LSU’s hopes of reaching the Southeastern Conference champion ship game and dropped the Tigers from fourth to ninth in the AP Top 25 Poll. Orgeron was critical of LSU’s offensive and defen sive linemen immediately after the game, saying essen tially that they currently were not good enough to win crucial matchups at the line of scrimmage against Alabama. On Monday, Orgeron backed off that assessment to some extent. “We must coach better and that starts with me,” Orgeron said. “We could’ve put guys in better position. Our schemes could have been better. We need to execute better. We must be better on the offensive and defensive lines. We must improve our depth and increase the number of qual ity players there.” No offensive or defen sive lineman met with the media Monday. Linebacker Devin White indicated that he would not be bothered by criticism from a coach. “When a coach criticizes me, I respect him,” White said. “The coach is in a higher authority. He has been around the game. I take (criticism) as a building tool and embrace it. “I will tell the coach, ‘You say that I didn’t do this good. Then, coach me better so I can do those things.’ Foot ball is a hard game. ” Florida may play 2 QBs vs. S. Carolina Florida coach Dan Mullen will take a few more days before settling on a starting quarterback against South Carolina. Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask will get the nod when the 19th-ranked Gators (6-3, 4-3 Southeastern Confer ence) host the Gamecocks (5-3, 4-3) on Saturday. Mul len also didn’t rule out play ing highly touted freshman Emory Jones. “We’ll look and see how practice goes,” Mullen said Monday. “We might play two quarterbacks, might play three. We’re still put ting the game plan together. I want to just see as we put the game plan together, we go out and practice it, who gives us the best chance to win.” Mullen reiterated his belief that Franks isn’t totally at fault for the team’s offensive failures, which include scoring 17 points in consecutive games. Franks was benched in a 38-17 loss to Missouri in the Swamp, pulled after com pleting 9 of 22 passes for 84 yards. Trask replaced him in the third quarter and immedi ately led Florida on a touch down drive, but he did little the rest of the way. Trask finished 10-of-18 passing for 126 yards, with a 7-yard scor ing pass. Mullen pinned part of his QB problems on the team’s lackluster offensive line and its former staff. Associated Press GEORGIA ■ Continued from 1B “Do you daydream about Alabama?” Reed joked. “I don’t have to play ‘em,” the reporter replied. Reed chuckled. “No, I don’t day dream about Ala bama at all,” he said. “Yeah, they’re on our schedule now. But we’re wor ried about Auburn.” Georgia locked up the East with an impressive 34-17 victory at No. 12 Kentucky , complet ing another perfect run through the division side of its schedule. Ho-hum. That’s merely the first of several items on the Bulldogs’ checklist. “There was a little cele bration,” Reed said, “but we know that winning the East doesn’t mean that much.” Georgia opened as a 14-point favorite over Auburn, which is coming off one of the better perfor mances of a disappointing season. The Tigers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to knock off Texas A&M 28-24 — and an upset of the Bulldogs would really give 2018 a whole new perspective. These long-time rivals are certainly familiar with each other. This met twice a year ago, with Auburn romp ing to a 40-17 victory late in the regular season before Geor gia bounced back with a dominat ing 28-7 tri umph in the SEC championship game. “You’ve got two good football teams playing against each other, com peting and playing their hearts out,” Ledbetter said. “It’s a physical game, always. It’s one of my favor ite games of the season, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m always looking forward to a challenge.” An even bigger challenge is still to come. But all that talk about a rematch with Alabama will have to wait. “Every week we have to come with the same approach,” offensive line man Andrew Thomas said. Notes: Smart gave opti mistic updates on a trio of players who left the Ken tucky game with injuries. WR Mecole Hardman (ankle) should be able to practice all week and be ready to go against Auburn, while center Lamont Gail- lard (hyperextended knee) is also expected to play though he will be limited at the beginning of the week. Freshman offensive lineman Cade Mays (stinger) was restricted to non-contact drills Monday and his status is still to be determined. “He’s a tough kid, and we know he’ll push through it,” Smart said. .. Another ailing offensive lineman, Ben Cleveland, is closing to returning from a broken fibula sustained against Missouri. Cleveland started the first four games of the season. Hardman PLAYER ■ Continued from 1B times for 38 yards with a 1-yard touchdown in the Fal cons’ regular-season finale, the majority of his produc tion coming during the most pivotal point of the game. He churned out gains of 11 and 10 yards on the Falcons final drive to twice move the chains and keep the clock ticking. It came after defen sive end Cody Inman fell on a Danes’ fumble inside Fal cons territory, which ended a potential last-ditch touch down drive by Denmark. Allentini’s contributions were more than enough to help the ninth-ranked Fal cons capture third place in the 7-4A, and the No. 3 playoff seed for the Class 4A tournament. For those rea sons, Allentini is the Times football Player of the Week. Allentini (5 foot 9, 170 pounds), who saw a few reps at fullback as a freshman, has fully settled in, now breaking the goal line for touchdowns in back-to-back games. Against West Hall on Oct. 26, he muscled and reached across the plane for his first varsity score and hauled in a pair of recep tions for 18 yards in the pass ing game. “He’s built low to the ground, and in that fullback position, with the quick-hit- ting plays he kind of gets lost in the mix there,” Hall said. “He just has a knack for finding seams and gaining yards, and he’s improving with every carry.” For Allentini, both positions seem to go hand-in-hand. “It’s kind of like the linebacker of the offense,” Allentini said. “Really your job is to hit people and do your assignment, do your job to help everybody else — kind of like, being a part of one whole aspect from it.” Now winners of two- straight, the Falcons have managed to pick up steam as they’ve welcomed back those who have been hurt the last few weeks. “They’ve demonstrated ...resiliency, and that is the characteristic we look for in a football team,” Hall said. “Nobody’s made excuses about anyone not being able to play. The next man stepped up, and they’ve per formed well enough to win these two ball games.” Even with Mayfield expected back for the first- round playoff game at No. 2 seed Ridgeland this Friday night, Allentini should still be in the mix for the Fal cons as the program seeks to build on its recent playoff success. Last year, the Fal cons used a goal-line stand to edge Kell, 21-14, for their first postseason victory since 2011. “It’s a lot of buzz (in the locker room),” Allentini said. “We’re excited to play in the state playoffs. Flow ery Branch hasn’t made a big run in the playoffs in a while, so we want to be a part of a big legacy going into it, and we feel like we have the team to do it, espe cially with the seniors we have.” gainesvilletimes.com Honestly local. Learn about the ghosts who inhabit Gainesville from two believers, Kathy Amos and Gail Hogan, who claim to have experiences with at least three of them. 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