I certainly get all the Derrick Henry talk, but for all that, he’s not the guy on Alabama’s offense who concerns me the most.
That would be this dude.
[TE O.J.] Howard leads the team in receiving yards despite not catching a touchdown this season. At 6-foot-6 242 pounds with wide receiver skills, the Alabama native creates matchup problems for every team The Crimson Tide faces. He’s quick and athletic enough to gain clean releases at the line of scrimmage. He’s too big and physical for defensive backs to cover him but too athletic for linebackers. It’ll take a strong game plan and proper execution to throw him off his game.
Howard is one of those guys when you watch him on certain plays, you can’t help but see a three-time all-SEC tight end. Obviously, some combination of inconsistency and play calling has not led to that, but he still scares the crap out of me, especially when you consider that Georgia hasn’t figured out a way to handle the mid-field passing game.
I may not be a big fan of Lane Kiffin, but there’s no doubt he schooled Georgia’s defense in his one previous meeting. I hope we’re not adding Beyond Howard to the Lexicon on Sunday.
Get The Picture 
I think the previous meeting you’re referring to had a Willie Martinez coached defense.
The only thing getting me past all my pessimism about this game is reminding myself that our current defensive coordinator is not Martinez or Grantham. And we almost won with Grantham…
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Mr. Beyond Crompton coaches for Tennessee now.
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Fourth and Jancek > Third and Willie.
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Wheel Route!!!
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I’m not schooled enough in the coverage/defensive scheme, but can Floyd not cover him?
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Yes he can. Floyd is playing himself into a nice 1st round payday come this spring. Howard doesn’t worry near as much, simply due to what Floyd’s been doing so far this year.
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What worries me is Floyd can probably cover Howard, but then who deals with Drake on passes/wheel routes out of the backfield? He’s not quite at Sony’s level, but he’s close. And if it’s someone like Carter, who’s left beyond Jenkins to put pressure on Coker?
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Drake seems to only come out in 3rd down passing situations.
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I thought the same thing. Put him on my fantasy football team last year. Didn’t do nothing. He reminds me of that five star we had in the late 2000’s. Came out the same year as Calvin Johnson. Played wr in hs. Big beautiful athlete. We put him at olb and he did not jack shit for 4 years. His name escapes me. He wore #12 I think.
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Brandon Miller?
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That’s him.
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During the week leading up to the 09 UT game I told a friend (AU fan) that UGA’s safeties would make Crompton look like a Heisman candidate. He said that was not possible because Crompton couldn’t nitty possibly look that good, and even if he could, UGA would never have two starting safeties that bad.
He sent me a text halfway through the 3rd qtr staying he stood corrected.
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It was not the safeties that failed…It was the fact that Willie Mart acted like Kiffen had just invented the naked bootleg pass. Our DE/LB corp got destroyed the whole game. I actually recall when Willie Mart put Rambo in for him to get a pick 6, only then to bench him for the next series.
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This.
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Not to defend Martinez or that performance, but let’s be honest: the talent in defense during his tenure was not great. Whether that’s his fault or just bad recruiting luck, he didn’t have anywhere near the cards to play that BVG or Grantham had.
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But he loved him some 5’8″ defensive backs, or a Bryan Evans, for that matter. Funny now, thinking about that 09 UT game, slick Willie had the penchant for leaving large swaths of the field uncovered, as did Grantham.. Pruitt? Well that’s a different story.. even Floyd was spotted hip-to-hip in coverage, and it was surreal. And Beautiful.
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Bryan Evans was a five star coming out of HS. He never knew where to be or what to do. His measureables, 40 yd dash, jumping ability, etc. were off the chart though. Evans was a case of a guy with great raw talent who never developed because he never got coached up. Willie at his worst. That is one of the reasons I feel that UT will never amount to anything with their current staff. Jancek is another.
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Soooo…are you saying that Willie and Jancek are due “Agent” status now?
That was a slick move on CMRs part- slipping Agent Chomp into the ‘Barners camp. Stung a bit…sure. No pain ..no gain. 😉
Time to activate Agent Smart.!
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Willie and Jancek are not “Agents.” They are just bad coaches. 🙂
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Well he was no Kevin Ramsey to be sure. On the other hand, he was D coordinator long enough to have his own guys. Especially the back end defenders, like Evans, who were particularly weak.
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Kevin Ramsey? That reminds me…”you’ve got to get out there and mix it up boys!” LOL! Our DB’s wouldn’t turn and look for the ball to save their lives.
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“…the talent in defense during his tenure was not great.”
No, it wasn’t the player’s fault. Martinez & Co sucked. And CMR should have fired garner when BVG wanted him out. Would’ve saved us years of angst.
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No argument from me there. Alledgedly Garner was why Kirby wouldn’t come and Boom didn’t want him on staff over at Auburn either. I’m convinced that in the long run, keeping Garner to hold together Richt’s first recruiting class turned out to be a gigantic mistake.
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Of the starters plus the 2nd teamer who got the most playing time, 8 of them were drafted. 4 are starters now They weren’t hurting for talent that year.
Kade Weston
Jeff Owens
Akeem Dent
Darryl Gamble
Rennie Curran
Asher Allen
Reshad Jones
Bacarri Rambo
Oh, I forgot about Geno Atkins. 9 of 13.
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Willie never coached a de or olb to trail as deep as the deepest back on the backside of a play among dozens of other fundamentals he missed
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If Howard hasn’t done anything significant yet, why would he be a major concern all of a sudden?
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See Lexicon entry “Beyond Crompton”.
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I understand the term. I don’t understand the application to this game. They actually have a proven HR threat in Henry, who has already killed teams. Why would we expect them to switch things up when we don’t have a great proven run D (see tech and uf)
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It’s called a red-tide Herring.
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While we haven’t faced a good back yet this year, our run defense has been decent. It’s too early to say whether the problems of last year will carry over to this year. So far, we look to have improved.
But, our coverage issues over the middle of the field have continued. Fortunately, none of the offenses we have played so far have taken advantage. But Bama has a receiver well suited to do exactly that. Can Coker deliver the ball well enough to take advantage? Who knows. But it’s worth worrying about.
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He is their leading receiver. That is significant
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Henry isn’t my primary concern either. He runs like Frankenstein…
It’s that damn front 7 for Bama. If the UGA O line doesn’t get a push to open up holes for the RB’s it will be a damn long day.
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He’s a bit more agile than Frankenstein. He seems like a slightly better version of Hurd to me. I don’t think he’s quite at the level of Fournette and Chubb, but he’s good enough to do some damage if Georgia proves to be soft up the middle.
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I think he’s more of an out-in-space, downhill runner, he’s not that great between the tackles or when he needs to make cuts. Rich man’s Richard Samuel, IMO (Richard is a DGD, I’ll never forget his ’11 performance against UF, but his running style was like, …well, Frankenstein).
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Looks like the Freshman phenom Bo Scarbrough will be making his debut between the hedges.
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http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/09/nick_saban_offers_update_on_al.html
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Eh, maybe he’s great, but he hasn’t played yet, and it’s not like Henry and Drake are bad running backs.
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Shit yeah, he’s gonna play. And “Run!, Bo, Run!” will become the chant of another Ala team. He’s gonna be harder to get your hands on than ladies’ bloomers when they have a labor strike in Bama.
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“He runs like Frankenstein…”
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: You know, I’m a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump.
Igor: What hump?
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I got a feeling a certain player wearing 84 will be checking this guy alot, is physical enough to jam him at the line and run with him down the field
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I agree. The talent gap has narrowed between Tuscaloosa and Athens
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This is what whets the appetite of Alabama fans concerning O.J. Howard:
Other than this play, though, he’s simply another Saban Jedi mind trick. You have to account for him, but we really don’t use him.
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^^This. We’ve got a young secondary that will need to know to jump that route since they are not taking him down after the catch. Advantage —> Bama
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He is your leading receiver. 13 receptions for 183 yards… no TD’s. Stewie has had 21 catches and Ridley 17 all for less yardage.
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Are you poking fun? He has 13 catches. 😐
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You brought film, you sneaky homer. 🙂
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Last year, the failure to get OJ Howard involved in the offense got to be a meme, then a running joke, on Bama blogs.
BD, can you put up that video of OJ Howard going around campus asking if anybody knows who he is.
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Haha
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Someone told Kiffin Howard was the “power run game” so of course Kiffin forgot about him.
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He’s been used a fair amount this year. Last year, he wasn’t a very good blocker (which kept him off the field) and when he was on the field, he wasn’t a great route runner – both of which he has agreed with.
We definitely use him more this year. But he’d probably be a bigger advantage if Coker rolled through his progressions quicker.
Still, he’s a nice weapon that teams have to account for.
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Also, I think we (Bama fans) somewhat expected him to fill the void of Cooper since Kiffin was supposedly a “get the ball to the playmaker” guy.
I think he caught 17 balls last year, so he’s definitely more productive than last year, but he for sure hasn’t dominated like I wish he would.
BD
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True. For the talent he has, he’s not been as dominating as he could be.
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One thing no one has mentioned or I missed it here at GTP.
The Weather
Rain
The surface will be slower if a game is played in wet conditions. When the surface footing gets sloppy the game becomes a battle of attrition and the game will be won or lost in the trenches, which is on the line.
When it is a wet day the power game that takes place in between the tackles is more important because it is very hard to sweep block. It is also hard for the QB throw a tight spiral in wet conditions, as it is harder to get a good grip on the ball.
Wind
One weather condition that many sports bettors tend to overlook is the wind. Wind will change a game more then snow or rain will. Teams that line and die with the passing game, such as NFL teams that run the West Coast offense, will not be able to execute their game plan as well when there are gusty winds.
It can be difficult to find out, but if you can figure out the direction of the wind in a game, ie knowing the cross wind, rather from one end zone to the other can give you an edge.
All football teams will be affected by the wind, regardless of how they play and can offer a sports bettor an edge. In windy conditions the game will tend be one that is low scoring and while line-makers will take this into account they will not change the totals too much. The reason for this is that the line-maker will be afraid to lose big to good sports bettors that are always looking or a good middle proposition.
End of last week was a windy week with chances for rain increasing toward mid afternoon. Not as windy this week but rain starts around 3 o’clock in Athens every day this week. We played in rain, practiced in rain, and it looks to me like we may need panchos this coming Saturday. I hope ‘Bammer’s qb increases his number of int’s and turnovers continue to plague the Tide.
Just sayin’
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Let’s see: with the front coming down from the north, swirling conditions may abide in Sanford. If we are lucky, we get it coming from West to East through the stadium. Less Venturi affects caused by air will only drive the affects on the rain and cause suction on any pass tossed into it.
We will pass only when there is no wind or rain and let it suck for Bama. No sweat, game on.
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“We played in rain, practiced in rain,”
(a.) Thank goodness we’ve only got a miniature IPF
(b.) The only place the weather matters is Jacksonville
(c.) We like Piña Coladas
(d.) You are the Rain Man
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(e.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ex-m-eEKsg
(f.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ
(g.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ9IaplRrm4
(h.)http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/philippines082113/p16_RTX12R94.jpg
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Bring on the monsoons
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Rain should have no significant impact on the game (no torrential downpour or lightning). I would expect the field to have been covered some thi sweek, or a plan to dry it and have it fast. Not saying Bama is slow or not athletic but our team was built for speed and it would be nuts to not capitalize on any advantage we might have. I do think a slick surface could work to our advantage in the passing game as knowing when you are going to cut or stop is better than having to react to it quickly.
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That worked well for us in a WLOCP game around ’68-69. To prevent slippage in the monsoon, Dooley brought tennis shoes and coached them to take short mincing steps when receiving. Kirby Moore’s longest pass was for about 10yds, but after the catch, FU players slid right by where the receiver wasn’t and our receivers were off to the races to the onomatopoeia of “Splish, Splash, I was taking a Bath”, an apropos popular song of that time. Our D players were able to cover their receivers’ ass while FU could get no traction in the trenches.
Greatest. Victory. Evuh.
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Knock his dick in the dirt.
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Much like 3rd and long, the over the middle TE stuff is still hurting us, though, not to the extreme that it did with Grantham. In fact, just about anything(run or TE pass) in the middle has been a weakness for us. I’ve seen SOME improvement this season but, obviously, we’re about to find out if we’ve really improved because it’ll be Bammer’s biggest strength vs our D’s biggest weakness.
Honestly, I feel like this game may go exactly like the SECC game did. Not necessarily a bad thing since we were within 1 play of winning.
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Heard any big things from Jenkins lately? That has two explanations. One, he’s been kept in the backfield to assist the coverage underneath and, Two, he’s been kept undercover in order to jump out and say “Boo!” on passes and anyone attempting to throw them in this game.
If Bama’s QB hits a few passes, expect to see Jenkins in their O back field. We will need more than one “spy” in this game.
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I agree, we are closer to being in position in coverage, just a half step away, but we still aren’t getting it done. We will be tested on this Saturday, and again in other games this season until we make some plays. Currently we have survived on bad throws and drops. But I do see red jerseys on the TV screen this year when passes are completed so we are closing the gap, at least it takes a decent throw now.
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Luckily, I think we may have one or two LBs that can cover Howard. My number one worry is our defensive line holding up the entire game, and my second biggest worry is Lambert maintaining his level of play with less time in the pocket and all the adversity Alabama will try to throw his way.
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Why worry about it? Wait and see what we do to counter that (like RPO). I’m excited to watch that occur. Slight delay when running out of the pocket seems to excite both Lambert and Mitchell to the point of run and toss until the Bama D has to change tactics.
Feel better?
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Yes, thanks. Where do I send the check?
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We will go over that after you eat your cookie.
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Agreed, I’m interested to see how Lambert handles being hurried, you can’t expect any OL to be perfect against Bama especially a pro style attack. Lambert has looked great no doubt but… I hope Bama’s front 7 doesn’t give him flashbacks to being knocked around at Virginia. UGA doesn’t so much need the long ball as it needs a medium range pass threat to back the LBs off their pursuit of Chubb. Lambert has the skills to win, we’ll see if he has the cool under pressure.
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So Howard has the same size and speed as Jay Rome…
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The case involving Georgia wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie allegedly making “terroristic threats” to a 20-year-old woman at Chili’s restaurant has been closed and charges will not be brought against the South Florida native, writes Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph.
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Not bringing “terroristic threat” charges is a Global War on Jimmy’s freedoms?
@Jimmy Williamson September 30, 2015 at 11:21 AM
“It wasn’t right. It was a bad deal. And it will forever be in the mind of Jimmy Williamson and in the mind of our police department.”
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Way to add to our ulcers with this Howard talk. .. however, I tend to think UGA will be in good shape if Alabama is passing for a lot of yards because I’m confident that will lead to turnovers that erase the yardage. I still fear Henry more, but unlike in 2012, UGA has the depth to not get worn out on defense in the second half.
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Lane Kiffin is a tick turd.
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Everyone is picking Bammer. Hold me…
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That’s a good thing. Locker room material, and, it’s hard to not pick them. In fact, I’m picking them as well. I think we have the team and staff to beat them but I don’t know if they will do it yet. It’s a hard thing, we won’t win until we do kind of thing…
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