BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
By Chase Goodbread Sports Writer
The University of Alabama's view from several of the Southeastern Conference's defensive statistical categories is from the top.
Read More Here...
The University of Alabama's view from several of the Southeastern Conference's defensive statistical categories is from the top.
<!--
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</style>Total defense, first.
Rushing defense, first.
Sacks, you guessed it.
But with the Crimson Tide near the bottom of the league in takeaways, an area that coach Nick Saban considers crucial is lacking as UA enters Southeastern Conference play against Arkansas on Saturday.
'That's something we need to improve on. I think turnover ratio is very, very important. I think it's something we need to continue to emphasize with our players,' Saban said. 'We've got a lot of the same players that we had last year when we had a significant amount of takeaways, so I think we've got to keep working at it, keep emphasizing it, and I think the day will come when we will get some of those.'
No. 3 Alabama has forced one defensive turnover, fewest in the SEC.
Sophomore safety Mark Barron notched the Crimson Tide's only defensive takeaway with a late interception of Florida International reserve quarterback Wayne Younger on Sept. 12. UA has three takeaways on the season, but fumble recoveries by Chris Rogers and Brian Selman in a 34-24 win over Virginia Tech a week earlier were both special teams plays.
Only Georgia, with two, has fewer total takeaways on the SEC season than Alabama.
'We have to get more takeaways, (that's) something that Coach Saban's been harping on,' said linebacker Rolando McClain. 'We've done a great job of playing hard. We've been playing so hard. But in order to be a great team we have to get takeaways.
'I think we will get more takeaways as the season goes along. But right now we just haven't been getting them.'
Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, its offense has protected the ball as much as the defense has struggled to take it away. Alabama has committed just three turnovers on the season, giving UA a turnover margin of zero. That ranks just 10th in the league, however, with most SEC teams off to a strong start in that category thanks to a heavy dose of early-season non-conference games.
A year ago, Alabama entered its road game at Arkansas with just two interceptions on the season, but left Fayetteville with six. Justin Woodall, Javier Arenas, Chris Rogers and Marquis Johnson each picked off a pass and their returns totaled 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
New Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, however, may not be as charitable as last year's Razorbacks starter, Casey Dick. Mallett threw for a school-record five touchdowns and 408 yards last week in a 52-41 home loss to Georgia, and has yet to throw his first interception of the season.
'It's always disappointing when you don't have as many takeaways as you want, the goal requires or that the coaches want,' said cornerback Javier Arenas, who returned a pass for a score at Arkansas last year. 'But it's something that we've got to work on again. When we didn't have what we needed last year, we worked at it and worked at it in practice and we accomplished it in the game.'
Along with the danger Mallett presents with his talents, however, will come more opportunities for Arenas and the UA secondary to make plays of their own. In two games Arkansas already has attempted 80 passes. Aggressive play, Saban said, turns those opportunities into turnovers.
'
I think if you're being aggressive and tackling well, gang tackling, putting some pressure and affecting the quarterback, you're going to get opportunities to make turnovers,' Saban said. 'It's been something that we've emphasized and we haven't done. We've done a really good job offensively of not turning the ball over, but that's something we need to improve on, there's no question about that.'
The University of Alabama's view from several of the Southeastern Conference's defensive statistical categories is from the top.
Read More Here...
The University of Alabama's view from several of the Southeastern Conference's defensive statistical categories is from the top.
<!--
AC =
--> <!-- GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT--> <style> .art_main_pic { width:250px; float:left; clear:left; }
</style>Total defense, first.
Rushing defense, first.
Sacks, you guessed it.
But with the Crimson Tide near the bottom of the league in takeaways, an area that coach Nick Saban considers crucial is lacking as UA enters Southeastern Conference play against Arkansas on Saturday.
'That's something we need to improve on. I think turnover ratio is very, very important. I think it's something we need to continue to emphasize with our players,' Saban said. 'We've got a lot of the same players that we had last year when we had a significant amount of takeaways, so I think we've got to keep working at it, keep emphasizing it, and I think the day will come when we will get some of those.'
No. 3 Alabama has forced one defensive turnover, fewest in the SEC.
Sophomore safety Mark Barron notched the Crimson Tide's only defensive takeaway with a late interception of Florida International reserve quarterback Wayne Younger on Sept. 12. UA has three takeaways on the season, but fumble recoveries by Chris Rogers and Brian Selman in a 34-24 win over Virginia Tech a week earlier were both special teams plays.
Only Georgia, with two, has fewer total takeaways on the SEC season than Alabama.
'We have to get more takeaways, (that's) something that Coach Saban's been harping on,' said linebacker Rolando McClain. 'We've done a great job of playing hard. We've been playing so hard. But in order to be a great team we have to get takeaways.
'I think we will get more takeaways as the season goes along. But right now we just haven't been getting them.'
Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, its offense has protected the ball as much as the defense has struggled to take it away. Alabama has committed just three turnovers on the season, giving UA a turnover margin of zero. That ranks just 10th in the league, however, with most SEC teams off to a strong start in that category thanks to a heavy dose of early-season non-conference games.
A year ago, Alabama entered its road game at Arkansas with just two interceptions on the season, but left Fayetteville with six. Justin Woodall, Javier Arenas, Chris Rogers and Marquis Johnson each picked off a pass and their returns totaled 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
New Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, however, may not be as charitable as last year's Razorbacks starter, Casey Dick. Mallett threw for a school-record five touchdowns and 408 yards last week in a 52-41 home loss to Georgia, and has yet to throw his first interception of the season.
'It's always disappointing when you don't have as many takeaways as you want, the goal requires or that the coaches want,' said cornerback Javier Arenas, who returned a pass for a score at Arkansas last year. 'But it's something that we've got to work on again. When we didn't have what we needed last year, we worked at it and worked at it in practice and we accomplished it in the game.'
Along with the danger Mallett presents with his talents, however, will come more opportunities for Arenas and the UA secondary to make plays of their own. In two games Arkansas already has attempted 80 passes. Aggressive play, Saban said, turns those opportunities into turnovers.
'
I think if you're being aggressive and tackling well, gang tackling, putting some pressure and affecting the quarterback, you're going to get opportunities to make turnovers,' Saban said. 'It's been something that we've emphasized and we haven't done. We've done a really good job offensively of not turning the ball over, but that's something we need to improve on, there's no question about that.'
