Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
The Alabama game plan called for getting the ball to Amari Cooper early and often, regardless of whether Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves defended him or not.
The intrigue was natural.
The best wide receiver in the conference against the best cornerback. Amari Cooper vs. Vernon Hargreaves.
The duo was paired against the other for most of the day. Score one for Coop.
The Alabama sophomore wide receiver put up personal career bests and even set a school record with most of it coming against Hargreaves.
Cooper's 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns was by design. Despite Hargreaves proficiencies, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin planned to attack the Florida sophomore defensive back from the beginning.
"Well, you know, we kind of figured that Will (Muschamp) would match him up on Coop, but we're going to try to get the ball to Coop," UA coach Nick Saban said. "Coop did a great job in the game. We have a lot of respect for (Hargreaves). He's a very, very good player. But when you have match ups like that with two good players, I think when you analyze the whole thing both guys will end up making some plays."
Saturday it was Cooper making the plays. By halftime he had 175 yards receiving on seven catches.
About the only thing Cooper did wrong was commit a pass interference penalty against Hargreaves which wiped a touchdown off the board. "Yeah," Cooper admitted, "I pushed off of him."
Cooper knew the challenge Hargreaves presented. To prepare he studied as much film as he could.
What did he learn?
"I don't want to share that," Cooper joked after the game.
Hargreaves respected Cooper for much of the game, playing very little press coverage and often bailing as soon as the ball was snapped. He respected him more by the end of the game.
As Cooper and his quarterback, Sims, were being interviewed at midfield following the game, Hargreaves stood to the side patiently waiting to congratulate Cooper on his performance.
"He just said, 'Good game. You played great," Cooper said. "He's a very humble player. You can tell he comes from a good family."
With the three touchdowns, Cooper now owns Alabama's career receiving touchdown mark with 20, passing Dennis Homan's 18.
His first touchdown came on a blown coverage as he ran down the middle of the field wide open, grabbing an over-his-shoulder 79-yard touchdown from Sims. Later he grabbed touchdowns of 4 and 6 yards, respectively, on fade routes - one from Jake Coker, one from Sims.
He lined up wide right, wide left, in the slot right and in the slot left. Seven of his catches resulted in first downs and two others were on goal-to-go situations.
"They moved him around a bit more than they have before," UF coach Will Muschamp said. "We just have to cover down and cover better. There were a lot of man situations and they did a good job of creating tempo."
For the season, Cooper has 43 receptions for 655 yards and five touchdowns. Julio Jones holds the single season school records for receptions (78) and yards (1,133).
"He put on a good show for everybody today," Sims said.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.
TideSports.com Senior Writer
The Alabama game plan called for getting the ball to Amari Cooper early and often, regardless of whether Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves defended him or not.
The intrigue was natural.
The best wide receiver in the conference against the best cornerback. Amari Cooper vs. Vernon Hargreaves.
The duo was paired against the other for most of the day. Score one for Coop.
The Alabama sophomore wide receiver put up personal career bests and even set a school record with most of it coming against Hargreaves.
Cooper's 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns was by design. Despite Hargreaves proficiencies, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin planned to attack the Florida sophomore defensive back from the beginning.
"Well, you know, we kind of figured that Will (Muschamp) would match him up on Coop, but we're going to try to get the ball to Coop," UA coach Nick Saban said. "Coop did a great job in the game. We have a lot of respect for (Hargreaves). He's a very, very good player. But when you have match ups like that with two good players, I think when you analyze the whole thing both guys will end up making some plays."
Saturday it was Cooper making the plays. By halftime he had 175 yards receiving on seven catches.
About the only thing Cooper did wrong was commit a pass interference penalty against Hargreaves which wiped a touchdown off the board. "Yeah," Cooper admitted, "I pushed off of him."
Cooper knew the challenge Hargreaves presented. To prepare he studied as much film as he could.
What did he learn?
"I don't want to share that," Cooper joked after the game.
Hargreaves respected Cooper for much of the game, playing very little press coverage and often bailing as soon as the ball was snapped. He respected him more by the end of the game.
As Cooper and his quarterback, Sims, were being interviewed at midfield following the game, Hargreaves stood to the side patiently waiting to congratulate Cooper on his performance.
"He just said, 'Good game. You played great," Cooper said. "He's a very humble player. You can tell he comes from a good family."
With the three touchdowns, Cooper now owns Alabama's career receiving touchdown mark with 20, passing Dennis Homan's 18.
His first touchdown came on a blown coverage as he ran down the middle of the field wide open, grabbing an over-his-shoulder 79-yard touchdown from Sims. Later he grabbed touchdowns of 4 and 6 yards, respectively, on fade routes - one from Jake Coker, one from Sims.
He lined up wide right, wide left, in the slot right and in the slot left. Seven of his catches resulted in first downs and two others were on goal-to-go situations.
"They moved him around a bit more than they have before," UF coach Will Muschamp said. "We just have to cover down and cover better. There were a lot of man situations and they did a good job of creating tempo."
For the season, Cooper has 43 receptions for 655 yards and five touchdowns. Julio Jones holds the single season school records for receptions (78) and yards (1,133).
"He put on a good show for everybody today," Sims said.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.
