Sims reportedly will see more playing time this weekend against the Mean Green of North Texas according to Chase Goodbread of Tidesports.com, Coach Saban will use both quarterbacks this weekend.

“We'll continue to work the quarterbacks as we did last week, which was two for one, because we want to continue to develop Phillip,” Saban said. “We'd like to play Phillip if we get opportunities to play him. I do still feel both guys are good quarterbacks and there is some good competition there.”

Saban has said in the past he is not opposed to using a two quarterback system, but one has to wonder if this will be Sims last time to prove himself to the coaching staff.
Sounds like Coach Saban wants to play both, only if they limit or cut down on the mistakes and he isn’t willing to risk this season playing both if it means it may cost them a victory.
McCarron’s play last Saturday impressed the head coach and move have moved him closer to the starting position.

“The thing AJ did in this game is, he managed the game well. He didn't make the bad mistakes,” Saban said. “He made some good throws, and made a couple that he could have made a little better maybe. But he didn't make the bad mistake. There was only one occasion where he probably threw a ball he shouldn't have thrown.”

Phillip Sims more then likely will have to play nearly a mistake free ball game Saturday if he wants to see more playing time in the future.

There was more hype and excitement about Kent State then this game, probably because it was the first game of the year.

Do games like this hurt the Tide? I know the argument for playing games like this is to get players like a Phillip Sims more experience and it’s another home game that brings more money into Tuscaloosa, but other then that, what is the purpose?

As a fan, I’m not excited about playing a team like this and I’m guessing the players aren’t either. If you are Nick Saban, how do you keep your players from looking ahead to Arkansas next week?

Saban is probably saying to his players this game isn’t important unless you lose.

I’m not one of those people who believes that Alabama should be forced to play UAB in ANY sport, but I personally think it would be more exciting to play the Blazers then North Texas. Or heck, even Troy State who plays Arkansas this weekend.

As fans I have to ask, do you think playing a team like North Texas helps or hurts the Tide?

And if you had a choice, what team would you like to see come to Bryant Denny? If we are going to play games like this, I’d at least like to see a team like maybe Boston College or a Southern Miss who make actually make the game worth watching for a half.

Roll Tide!

Alabama Crimson Tide Tuscaloosa Sweatshirt Crimson Red With Logo on Front Size M

$12.00

Rick Rush Serigraph 1978 Sugar Bowl Limited Edition Alabama Ohio State

$3,750.00

5 Arm Mad Shad Rig THE CATCHER Alabama Bass Fishing Umbrella Rig FLW

$7.17

Two Vintage Barbers Milk Dairy Creamer Bottles Birmingham Alabama Advertising

$27.00

Alabama Crimson Tide Pink License Plate New

$.99

Univeristy of Alabama football books great bundle check ISBN s for details

$20.00

Manns Alabama Rig

$26.00

1970 University of South Alabama YEARBOOK

$19.00

ALABAMA HEART OF DIXIE 11 04 LICENSE PLATE EXPIRED ALL STATES AVAILABLE

$.99

ALABAMA STARS FELL ON 8 03 LICENSE PLATE ALL STATES AVAILABLE

$1.99

NCAA University of Alabama Hat SZ SMALL MED Roll Tide National Champions NEW $25

$7.99

5 Arm Mad Shad Rig THE CATCHER Alabama Bass Fishing Umbrella Rig FLW

$6.17

1938 VINTAGE GOUDEY GUM R19 AUTO LICENSE PLATES ALABAMA

$9.99

Randy Owens and Fan Alabama Original Photo

$75.99

MINT 05 11 Tuscaloosa Tornados Alabama Crimson Tide Sports Illustrated

$6.95

Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii Hidden Object PC 2008 Game

$7.99

130 Gram Alabama Panned Gold Nuggets Flakes and Fines

$7.19

2011 Sage HIT Mark Ingram Alabama Saints 25ct Rookie Lot

$1.49

2011 LSU vs Alabama Football Program with Hightower Barron

$5.00

umbrella style 5 wire bass rig used in alabama kentucky

$9.99

2003 P Alabama Quarter United States Mint Roll

$9.99

Three wire Alabama Mississippi Rig

$15.00

5 Arm Mad Shad Rig THE CATCHER Alabama Bass Fishing Umbrella Rig FLW

$6.17

2003 D Alabama Quarter United States Mint Roll

$10.75

2 Pack Alabrella Rig Schooling bass rig Alabama Texas Florida Fat Daddy lures

$15.00

Cereal Mini Bicycle License Plates 3 1986 Arizona Arkansas Alabama

$9.99

5 Arm Tube Rig tested California Florida Alabama work Great

$7.44

Alabama Girl License Plate

$1.50

Alabama National Champs in 1979 Bear Me 315 2 Commemorative knives and pins

$21.07

ONE ONLY ONE US STATE QUARTER 2003 S GEM PROOF ALABAMA COIN

$2.50

Although personally I think Alabama's number one team in the country, Florida has done nothing to disprove the fact that they are number one and Alabama will have its chance to beat Florida if we just take it one game at a time until we get our chance in the SEC championship.

At the moment however, there is a growing sentiment among the media talking heads that Alabama is actually the real deal and could be on the way to a national championship game in Pasadena, CA. Alabama has a deep tradition in playing in the Rose Bowl, but at the moment the polls mean nothing unless we are able to accomplish playing at a high level of the rest of the season in every game.

All of a sudden, Tennessee is looking a lot better after soundly defeating Georgia. LSU, who was the fourth number four team in the country and played Florida fairly close game this weekend, is not a cakewalk. Even South Carolina and Auburn can pose resistance to the Crimson Tides march of destiny to bring home the crystal football from the city of roses in early 2010.

Nick Saban has his troops playing at a high level of football. Let's look at what they have done this season so far. They have not lost one opponent in single digits all season long. The current number 4 team in the country, Virginia Tech, was manhandled in the fourth quarter and soundly beaten by this team. The team that was beaten yesterday, Ole Miss, at one time was considered a top notch team to contend for national prominence with a hotshot Heisman Trophy candidate Jevan Snead. Alabama held him and the rest of the Ole Miss offense to only 19 yards in the first half. Kentucky was steamrolled pretty much as was North Texas.

The Crimson Tide has been playing some great football the last few weeks, but there is room for improvement. We don't need to think that we've arrived now that we're closing in on the number one spot. We have Florida in our sights, and after taking Florida to the brink of defeat in the fourth quarter of the SEC championship game, we have a good chance of adding to the list of SEC championships in our trophy cabinet, if not another national championship. I really think it would win the SEC championship, we will definitely win a national championship.

Are the longhorns in our future?

Texas slipped from number two to number three in this week's AP football poll, but really is no change from us being number three. We still have to go through Florida to get to the national championship game. If Texas can win out the rest of the season, then we could meet them. Talk about a clash of traditional gridiron powerhouses.

As always, talk is cheap. How has performed the second half of the season as well as it has in the first half this season. Alabama controls its own destiny, will that destiny smell of a rose? There is an old proverb that says, "He who wants a rose must respect the thorn."

Lets hope there is not a thorn in Alabama's march to getting Nick Saban a statue on University Boulevard along with the other four coaches who have brought home the national championship bacon in Alabama's glorious football history, Stalli cease ngs, Paul Bryant, Frank Thomas and Wallace Wade. Will Nick Saban's statue be next? Check back in January 2010 to see if we have eclipsed Florida and Texas for real in the rankings. That is when it matters.

Written by Author Chris Chandler of www.AlCrimsonTide.com

There's a new "hog" in town in Fayetteville, Arkansas who knows a bit about tossing the pigskin.  His name is Ryan Mallett and he has the pedigree to prove he's not a runt of the litter.  Georgia dodged the bullet facing the gunslinger originally from Texas... but never forget Bama has their own Texas gunslinger, Greg McElroy.  Next Saturday is high noon and it will be more than 10 paces on the town square.  It will be who will win the SEC "WEST!"

Arkansas Ryan Mallett (he should be wearing the black hat of course) facing the good sheriff in town, Greg McElroy, will be facing off to see who will be the last man standing tall.  Greg with his sidekick Julio are ready for battle.  Coach Saban said the knee bruise of last week that kept #8 himself out of the lineup against North Texas, will not hinder the Freshman All American Receiver.  Check...first bullet in gun.  Second thing that is looking good is the secondary receivers.  11 receivers in all caught passes so there are are a couple more bullets.  Ingram, Trent, and the line account for a couple more bullets.  Overall, it is looking that G.M. is well armed on defense for the shootout at the T-town coral...but is that all of the story? 

Lets look at our defense.

I will sing the praises of our defense, but if there's one reason to be concerned about any spot in the Alabama defense, it is the pass coverage.  Alabama ranks number three in total defense in the country, and is ranked number two in run defense, but it ranks number 13 in pass defense.  This is the weakest link besides kickoff coverage.

Up until this point in this year, we have not faced a pass oriented team that could pass with any kind of success.  In the two losses that Alabama had last year, Florida and Utah, pass defense proved to be the dagger in the heart of Bama's vaulted defense. 

Alabama will absolutely have to do better this week than it has done all year on pass coverage because there is the hogs coming to T-town this week.  If you aren't worried about this game, then you simply haven't paid attention to what is going on an Arkansas. 

No pigs are flying in Arkansas, but the pigskin is!  Just watchout BAMA!   Only a sophomore, the QB Recruiting Phenom Ryan Mallett just last week set school records against Georgia in passing yards and touchdown passes in their loss to Georgia.  In that game, he had 408 yards and five touchdowns.

With that said I believed that Alabama's defense is tougher than Georgia's and our running game can control the clock, keeping Mallett off the field.  The most important thing that Alabama can do this week against Arkansas is to rush the quarterback into throwing the football faster than he wants to throw it.

Our defense and the ends need to really pinch down and rushed the quarterback in passing situations while the interior line collapses the pocket.  This will release the pressure off of the defensive backs to maintain tight coverage for such a long time. 

Don't Fool Yourself... Mallett Has Skills To Throw

Keep in mind, Mallett is very talented and is starting to come into his own.  He was one of the top quarterbacks to come out of high school as a senior in 2006.  He was right to number two quarterback in the nation and the number four overall player by Rivals.com.  He was the Gatorade player of the year in Texas.  This guy is a stud quarterback and Bama is going to make him pay for standing in the pocket.  We need to make him run, and make him run often. 

Mallett originally went to Michigan and later transferred to Arkansas.  This is his first season as a starter after a redshirt season for coach Bobby Petrino.  Petrino has been credited with training top quarterbacks such as Brian Brohm and Jake Plummer of NFL fame.  Petrino knows offense and he simply has more weapons this year at his disposal than last year's dreary team. 

Add this to the fact that the arm strength of Mallett is out of this world with him reportedly being able to toss the football 80 yards.  Bama will be tested, but I believe we can keep the pigs from flying!   And we have our own gunslinger, Sheriff McElroy, who is amazingly good at hitting his target, as well!  If we will rush the QB, use McElroy effectively in a balanced attack, we will win the shootout at 2:30 (not high noon) in T-Town! 

Roll Tide!

I can tell you this.. Nick Saban isn't so impressed by sacks as an indicator of defensive success and he wasn't happy about meddia questioning him about his defensive front not getting to the QB on Saturday against the Mean Green. There were ZERO sacks for our D against North Texas. He says that "affecting" the QB is just as good as having a quarterback sack in the stat book.

What do you think? Comment below.

Roll Tide everyone!  Our beloved Crimson Tide dominated the North Texas Mean Green today in almost a ritualistic 57-7 elephant stomp at Bryant Denny Stadium.  The Mean Green, a worthy opponent but outmanned in every way, was outgunned all day as the Tide seemingly scored at will.  The Tide almost played a perfect game in many aspects, but there were a few noticeable breakdowns that need to be corrected.  (Saban would of course say that you never arrived... until the NC trophy is in your hands of course!)

Coach Saban said that we need to get together a 60 minute game  ...well how about maybe 58 minutes for this one? 

In the opening play of the game, our offensive line allowed a mean Green defensive player to get to Greg McElroy and cause him to fumble.  The second disturbing play was on defense where we allowed an unhindered touchdown throw that appeared to be a breakdown in the secondary.  Other than that, and a called back kick off return, the Crimson Tide.  Speaking of mistakes, Leigh Tiffin uncharacteristically missed two extra point opportunities.

The balanced attack of the football team was on display as the Mean Green were overtaken by a 204 yards throwing and 200 yards rushing for another 500 plus yard day on offense.

The defense looked really good in allowing only 61 yards rushing and 126 yards passing.

The scoring came early and often as a whole host of Crimson Tiders got in on the scoring parade.  Greg McElroy ran the first one in. Marquis Maze was found by McElroy only 34 yard TD throw that was a thing of beauty.  Trent Richardson found paydirt after busting a 38 yard run to put us in position for him to score on a 1 yard run.  Mark Ingram caught a pass for a TD as well as turning out a 5 yard run for 6 points. Kerry Grant had two TD runs as well, and Leigh Tiffin got in two field goals.

Mark Ingram led all rushers with 91 yards and an amazing 11 yard rushing average.  Trent Richardson came in 88 yards at nearly 8 yards a pop on all his runs.

Greg McElroy looked outstanding as our starting QB going for 13 completions out of 15 throws 176 yards and three TDs overall.  As a matter of fact his completion percentage was record tying.  He tied the Alabama record for single-game completion percentage for a player with the least 10 completions.  He now in the record books at Alabama along with Walter Lewis and Dany Woodson.  Coach Saban said after the game that Greg McElroy played "smart" and was very "instinctive" in leaving the Crimson Tide's offense.

Javier Arenas looked outstanding on kick off and punt returns for a total of 161 combined.  The 61 yard kickoff run was a thing of beauty as he juked many of the out of their pants.  I look forward to seeing more of this in the rest of the games this year.

Pretty much this contest went according to scripted, but it did give the reserves an opportunity to gain some game experience before the Tide enters into the the meat of the SEC schedule. 

GET READY FOR THE HOGS!
Speaking of the SEC schedule, next week Alabama plays Arkansas on CBS.  Hopefully.. we're getting ready to stick some hogs! ROLL TIDE ROLL!

People will say that Florida will beat us again in the SEC championship with the leadership they have in Tim Tebow, but I really believe they can be beat. We can overlook the opponents we have before us, but this team is looking really good. They have lots improvement especially on kickoff returns and certain breakdowns in the secondary, but overall I think they're really looking good.

This video really is a pumped up about this edition of the Tide, and I can't wait to see them play North Texas on Saturday morning!

Roll Tide

North Texas University Coach Todd Dodge ended his career in high school coaching on a 48 game winning streak.  He led Southlake Carroll to 3 national championships by USA Today PrepNation along with 5 state titles.  He coached the superstar, Chase Daniel of Missouri fame as well as our very own Greg McElroy.   Coach Dodge was a very good QB himself for the University of Texas, still ranking in the top 10 in passing and TD's in the Longhorn’s all-time leaders list.  His 96-yard touchdown pass against Rice in 1985 is tied for the second-longest play in UT’s history.     

Unfortunately, we not even get to see Riley Dodge.  He hurt his shoulder against Ohio in a double overtime loss and the word is not out yet whether he can take the field against his former protege at Alabama, Greg McElroy. 

Background on Riley Dodge

Riley Dodge prepped at Carroll High School of Southlake, Texas, where he was coached by his dad, Todd Dodge, and later Hal Wasson. Dodge played behind current Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy. As a junior, Dodge gained 4,184 yards and 54 touchdowns passing, plus 1,119 yards and 13 scores rushing, in Todd Dodge's trademark no-huddle spread offense. His 54 TD passes tie fellow Southlake Carroll alumnus Chase Wasson for third all-time in Texas high school football history.Growing up as a Texas Longhorns fan, Dodge verbally committed to play for Mack Brown in February of 2007. However, he later changed his mind, and eventually signed a letter of intent to play at North Texas for his father.

North Texas and Bama will "tussle" in Tuscaloosa this week at 11AM on SEC TV.  Get ready for a fight because the Mean Green of North Texas will be guning for us like FIU was.  We can't let them acheive a better outcome of victory over the Tide.  The head coach is a very prolific coach everywhere he has been, and is trying to build something special at NTU... lets not be his stepping stone to success!