September 19, 2004
Tide loses big in win over Western Carolina
This one's going to have the Crimson Tide faithful talking for quite some time. The Tide beat I-AA Western Carolina handily, 52-0, but lost their starting quarterback in the process. Alabama QB Brodie Croyle sustained a season ending knee injury on a freak fall, just a week before starting SEC play.
Plenty of people are going to say that Croyle shouldn't have even been in the game. Alabama was leading 31-0 after halftime against an inferior opponent, but I'm not convinced by that line of reasoning.
With Arkansas on the docket for next week, the first-team Crimson Tide offense stood to benefit from a few extra series after halftime. Even with the game in hand, there were adjustments to be made & it was important to get that repetition in a game. You simply can't recreate those conditions in practice - even if the opponent was Western Carolina. Besides, Croyle didn't go down on some bone-smashing hit, he tweaked his knee - plain and simple. It was a freak injury. It could have happened just as easily walking to class or in the parking lot.
The loss of Croyle is devastating for 'Bama. With Brodie, Alabama looked like a contender (whether they were or not is open for debate, mind you). Without Croyle, the Crimson Tide struggled just to make a first down. What looked like conference wins against a stronger than expected Arkansas & South Carolina now are very much up in the air.
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Michael Hickerson says:
posted on September 19, 2004 09:22 PM — linkI was sorry to hear about Croyle's injury. I may not pull for Bama when they're playing TN, but I hate seeing a player get injured.
How do you think that will affect the AK game this week?
Todd Sweet says:
posted on September 20, 2004 12:38 PM — linkI Believe Mike Shula really screw up playing Croyle in the 2nd Half and now has no passing game against Ark. this week. The Tide will have to win with it's defense and running game. Shula just doesn't show much commen sense and is lacking as a head coach.
Robert Knodell says:
posted on September 21, 2004 08:07 PM — linkCertainly, SEC coaches are paid well enough to take the heat over any decision they make, but I disagree with the ripping Shula has taken over the Croyle injury. The vast majority of coaches would've done the same thing in leaving their #1 QB in for the first series of the second half.
If you look at the circumstances of Bama's first half (and I was at the game), those 31 points came from big special teams plays and very short field position. The offense never really got into a rhythm.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I think Shula was more open to criticism for leaving Brodie in for all four quarters of the first two blowout wins. I know Coach Shula hasn't earned his stripes as an SEC head coach yet and will continue to be questioned until he does, but he followed conventional wisdom in this instance.
Jeff Dundon says:
posted on September 22, 2004 06:47 PM — linkHi. It seems like everyone has already decided that Alabama is no good without Croyle. I think that you will find that we WILL still have a great passing game. We WILL continue to have a balanced attack and we WILL continue to win football games. Arkansas is up next and we are going to take them to the woodshed. Wait and see.
Jeff Dundon says:
posted on September 22, 2004 07:03 PM — linkOh...One more thing. In response to the write up at the top. The Author says, "Without Croyle, the Crimson Tide struggled just to make a first down." I'm sorry...I must have missed that portion of the game. I mean...C'mon...Let's forget for just a second that the dogs were off and the entire team was the 3rd string....But they scored 21 unanswered points in the second half. And again, it was the scrubs who did it. 71 players saw action. I don't see how we struggled to make a first down. I mean, did we have a magic touchdown ferry come in and miracle 21 more points on the board? Every time Alabama looks as though it might be a threat, people immediately look for the negative and don't see the positive. I can understand why though. Years and years worth of poundings tend to make Alabama the team that people love to hate. Sure, the loss of Brodie will make a difference but it won't make us quit winning football games.
dave frey says:
posted on September 22, 2004 08:21 PM — linkThe thing about comments, Jeff, is that they create a permanent record of your remarks. Thus, when you talk trash in comments, invoking woodsheds and such, the following week other people can paste your comments into their own comments and make fun of you. I'm just sayin'.
Jeff says:
posted on September 23, 2004 09:30 AM — linkThank you Dave. I welcome that and am used to it. I never claimed to be infallible and I'm definitely thick skinned. As you can tell, I am a little biased when it comes to Alabama. However, everything that I pointed out is true (except for the prediction on Saturday, of course). I honestly think we will win this game. Now, of course, the woodshed thing is just a bit of "trash talk" as you said. But hey, that's what makes the game interesting IMO. If we lose the game, I am more than willing to recieve what I have dished out. ;)
MRay says:
posted on September 24, 2004 01:58 PM — linkTo Mr. Hickerson...
FYI - Alabama is playing Arkansas this week, not Alaska.
Kevin Donahue says:
posted on September 24, 2004 02:14 PM — linkThat's too bad, 'cuz they would kill Alaska. ;)
Pete Holiday says:
posted on September 24, 2004 05:59 PM — linkI wouldn't be too quick to count out Marc Gullion -- the young man is a transfer from Miami, where he was recruited (if memory and facts serve) the year after their NC... Miami is not known, especially lately, for recruiting mediocre quarterbacks, let alone signing them to scholarships. The big trick will be seeing whether Gullion can get his timing down with the wide outs before Saturday.
This is going to make scouting a bit difficult as well -- Gullion is much more mobile than Croyle is and Shula could come with a much different game plan than he's used in the past two seasons.
It's all up in the air, and resting on Gullion to step up and be a hero... there are some variables, but it's not a foregone conclusion that the season is over.
Furthermore, I have to second what Robert said, there was no reason to pull Croyle yet -- 31 points is not some unfathomable number of points for a team to score in two quarters... especially a team that just dropped 77 on their opponent the week before. Besides, the injury wasn't even the product of a hit, bad protection, an ill-advised move... it was just bad luck, plain and simple.
Jeff Dundon says:
posted on September 24, 2004 06:54 PM — linkThank you Pete. Great comments. To expound upon that a little bit, Guillon looked at coming to Alabama first, but he didn't like the Franchione offense because they were not a passing team. What's more; listening to the players' comments, they are more than comfortable with Guillon at the reigns. The receiving corps has worked with him all spring.
The coaches comments are the ones that get my attention the most. Offensive coordinator Dave Radar said when asked if he had the ability to stay calm, "He's quite unflappable and that is very good." Mike Shula said, "We are confident that he will take advantage of this opportunity." Furthermore, Shula said when probed about the possibility of the Arkansas defense coming hard after a knew QB, "We welcome that, we can handle it."
All year Shula has been very humble in his approach to playing on a game-by-game basis. He has made it clear that he underestimates no one. If Shula is that confident with Guillon, I am compelled to be also.
The transition from Croyle to Guillon is certainly an area of concern but I don't think that it should be an area of worry. We will find out tommorrow. I hope I don't have to eat the words contained in my earlier comments, it won't be the first time if I do though....;)
