🏈 Alabama DE Damion Square on Denard Robinson: 'They want to give him the ball first and that's what w

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Asked Tuesday about his initial thoughts of Alabama's season-opening opponent, Nick Saban said it was too early to talk about Michigan.

Defensive end Damion Square, meanwhile, had no problem discussing the Wolverines, particularly their star quarterback, Denard Robinson.

"He opens up things because he's very, very fast," Square said Wednesday. "As a defense, we've got to first and foremost come in the game and stop what they want to do first. They want to give him the ball first and that's what we're coming to stop."

Mobile quarterbacks haven't typically found much success against the Crimson Tide defense, but Robinson, of course, presents a unique challenge. He cleared 80 rushing yards six times and cracked the century mark five times in 2011.

"He has the ball in his hands every play and he's a real dynamic guy, so it is very dangerous," Square said. "But you have to come and be prepared to stop him first and foremost."

Square touched on a few other subjects in the video at the top of the page. If you haven't already, check out the other portion of his interview.

<object id="flashObj" width="486" height="412" classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=1788435147001&playerID=634644568001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAPLMIMAE~,kKetLjW2WxWxzSKDBsVhEGBzcng6UNxq&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1788435147001&playerID=634644568001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAPLMIMAE~,kKetLjW2WxWxzSKDBsVhEGBzcng6UNxq&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="486" height="412" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>

 

[ColoradoTide]

Mobile quarterbacks haven't typically found much success against the Crimson Tide defense, but Robinson, of course, presents a unique challenge. He cleared 80 rushing yards six times and cracked the century mark five times in 2011.

sure, playing tissue paper "defenses". i don't wish ill for DR, but I'll be amazed if he finishes the game

 

[TerryP]

sure, playing tissue paper "defenses". i don't wish ill for DR, but I'll be amazed if he finishes the game

That's not exactly accurate but does carry some truth.

Ohio State, a game where he put up 170 yards and 2 TD's rushing, ended the season ranked as the 19th best defense in the country. He threw for three TD's and no INT's in the game as well. However, on average they gave up twice as many yards on the ground as we did last year.

Of note in that game is he carried the ball 26 times. Unless he's running out of bounds on half of those plays, I don't know of any coach that is going to want his QB being hit that many times rushing the ball against our defense.

I hate using phrases like "it was against ____" as something to take in context with a game performance. But in this case we are talking Michigan vs Ohio State and that was a game where they broke a seven game losing streak. There were several comments by Michigan players at the end of the game referencing the meaning that game had to Denard. Who knows? It very well could have been his career highlight.

 

[bamaledge]

That's not exactly accurate but does carry some truth.

Ohio State, a game where he put up 170 yards and 2 TD's rushing, ended the season ranked as the 19th best defense in the country. He threw for three TD's and no INT's in the game as well. However, on average they gave up twice as many yards on the ground as we did last year.

Of note in that game is he carried the ball 26 times. Unless he's running out of bounds on half of those plays, I don't know of any coach that is going to want his QB being hit that many times rushing the ball against our defense.

I hate using phrases like "it was against ____" as something to take in context with a game performance. But in this case we are talking Michigan vs Ohio State and that was a game where they broke a seven game losing streak. There were several comments by Michigan players at the end of the game referencing the meaning that game had to Denard. Who knows? It very well could have been his career highlight.

People, you may not agree with me on this, but any time DR has the ball in his hands he is a threat. No, he is not a very good passer, but he is the best and slipperiest QG we have ever faced. I think they will give us a better game than some expect, at least for the first half and maybe even for 3 qtrs. Terry is very accurate in his post.

 

[TerryP]

Something to chew on:

In the games where Denard had the success he did running the teams he faced had pretty good secondary play in INT %.

His biggest game last year was against San Diego State with 204 yards on the ground. The SDSU secondary had a better IntPct than the Tide did for 2011. Ohio State, another good game for Denard, had a percentage about the same as ours.

Based purely on the numbers what does that tell me? He's pulling the ball down when pass routes are covered and taking off. Hey, that's no news flash! But, it does point to something I'll be watching closely.

Defensive end containment.

Based on what I've seen in the two Michigan games I've watched from last season (ND and Mich. St.) I see Denard getting some yards rushing. However, that comes down to anticipating guys like Pagan, Stinson, Dial, and Dickson/Hubbard getting around their tackles and seeing what they think is a clear shot at DR which in turn leaves a lane open. IF they manage their lanes it won't hurt us too drastically. A few delayed QB draws should get him 7-10 yards per attempt as long as he can have enough patience to allow our inside linebackers to get drawn deep.

Two last notes for this post. Don't underestimate Borges. We've seen what he can do with a QB in the off-season in one Jason Campbell.

Secondly, I still expect Bama to win by double digits...and that is more clearly defined by a point total of around 20 points if not a few more. I still see Bama scoring between 35-40 and Michigan between 13-17.

 

[bamaraider]

I'm not underestimating his running ability; Its that "throw the ball up and hope for the best" passes.

Nick Saban has had no trouble with mobile quarterbacks in the past (barring Cam Newton's passing game..). The only thing that has me really scared about Denard is their "special" formation they do that confuses many defenses when Denard goes out to play WR and they do end arounds. Anyways, I'm not saying we will completely shut down Denard because we will have some inexperience on defense, but he's not going to be a factor in this game if we just keep a spy LB on him and play mostly zone.

All in all, I say he has under 100 yards rushing, not because we have shut him down, but because of T.O.P. 4 stable of RB's going with a O-Line that has returned 4 of 5 starters going against a D-line that lost all 3 starters. Yeah I think we'll be fine baring any serious injuries.