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http://online.wsj.com/article/
The Wall Street Journal
The Keys to Victory
To Win This One, Alabama Must Simply Be Alabama
By RACHEL BACHMAN
The tears of relief streaming down A.J. McCarron's face late in the game against Louisiana State this season said it all: Playing quarterback at Alabama is an emotional vise grip. With the lofty expectations that come with playing football in Tuscaloosa, there is no team under more pressure to succeed, and no player on that team with more to lose than McCarron. The Crimson Tide won that game in the final minute. But Monday night's Bowl Championship Series title game against Notre Dame looms as an even bigger squeeze for McCarron as Alabama (12-1) faces its toughest matchup of the season.
Getty Images
Alabama center Barrett Jones
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron
The best strategy to combat that tendency? Last season's 21-0 victory over LSU in the BCS championship provides a blueprint. The Tide took the lead and kept it, and McCarron wound up as the offensive player of the game.
Critical to McCarron's success will be the play of All-American center Barrett Jones, still nursing the left foot he injured in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 1 (he was wearing an immobilizing boot on it Thursday). Jones must engineer protection against a formidable front line constructed with players recruited away from SEC territory. Against Notre Dame's 3-4 defense, Jones must snap the ball and then immediately stop Michelin Man-built nose guard Louis Nix III, whose heft (326 pounds) and agility enable him to handle two linemen at once.
The second key to a Tide victory will be disguising the offense. Alabama's running back tandem of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon has devastated defenses all season—call it death by a thousand cuts. The most recent example came when the duo's combined 334 yards provided the cushion to survive a harrowing close call against Georgia in the SEC title game. But Notre Dame has allowed a mere 92 yards rushing per game and a minuscule two rushing touchdowns this season, the first one against Oklahoma just before Halloween. What the Tide loves to do most—run, run and run some more—the Irish are perfectly equipped to stop. So Alabama would be wise to exploit its run-heavy reputation by using the play-action pass—something it has done to great effect this year, particularly with passes directed at freshman receiver Amari Cooper.
"The more you try to stop the run, the more you give up some things on the pass, especially on play-action," said former UCLA and Washington coach Rick Neuheisel, now a Pac-12 Network analyst.
Finally, Alabama must play mistake-free defense. Notre Dame's defense has gotten most of the attention this season, with spirited linebacker and goal-line killer Manti Te'o. But led by linebacker C.J. Mosley, Alabama has been even more automatic, allowing 41 fewer yards per game than the Irish and boasting the nation's No. 1 overall defense.
A final key for Alabama: humility. This is the Tide's third BCS title game in four years, and Alabama has a chance to notch a third victory. To ward off inflated egos, coach Nick Saban has all but implanted memory-zapping chips in players' heads. When asked whether a win Monday would solidify a Tide dynasty, Jones demurred. "If Saban watched this interview and heard me say the D word...," he said.
That would be a distraction, which, for precision-oriented Alabama, would mean disaster.
Write to Rachel Bachman at rachel.bachman@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared January 4, 2013, on page D2 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: To Win This One, Alabama Must Simply Be Alabama.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/
USA Today
Johnny Manziel riding hype into matchup with Sooners
Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports8:39p.m. EST January 3, 2013
Story Highlights
- Johnny Manziel's popularity and legend has grown since winning the Heisman Trophy
- Oklahoma is building a game plan around containing Manziel
- What has impressed Manziel about Oklahoma's defense is their speed and athleticism
The 20-year-old read the "Top 10" list on The Late Show with David Letterman. He made an appearance on the Tonight show with Jay Leno. He even played golf with the Jonas Brothers.
And in the lead-up to today's Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma (Fox, 8 p.m. ET) in Arlington, Texas, he has been the undisputed dominant story line: What will "Johnny Football" do for an encore? Specific matchups in one of more attractive bowl games of the season have become subplots.
BOWL GAMES: All of this season's action
"The talk is getting old, and I am sure it is getting old for him, too," Oklahoma linebacker Tom Wort said. "I think we all want to get to the game and stop all the talk. I am ready for it and I am sure he is ready for that, too."
All week, Oklahoma players and coaches have been respectful when discussing Manziel's dual-threat ability. An athletic Sooners defense believes it will have the opportunity to rattle Manziel, but they acknowledge it is easier said than done after watching him from afar overwhelm the Southeastern Conference much of the season.
Manziel broke the SEC's season record of 4,327 yards, which had been set two years ago by Auburn's Cam Newton. And Manziel did it despite facing three teams — Alabama, Florida and LSU — that finished in the top 10 in total defense.
UNDERCLASSMEN HEISMAN WINNERS: Non-seniors who took home the trophy
He became the first player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in the same game three times in his career. Manziel did it in the first nine games of the season.
"He knows exactly what he can and can't do," Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "His ability to extend and create plays, there's not a defense created to defend against that."
Oklahoma isn't the first opponent to game plan for Manziel, who was not named Texas A&M's starter until two weeks before the season-opening game against Florida. And yet no team, especially since Texas A&M's only loss since the Florida game (Oct. 20 to LSU), has had much success containing him.
"It is like that old saying, you come in there with a game plan and to the fight thinking you are going to do this," Texas A&M defensive end Damontre Moore said. "But once you get hit in the nose all that goes out the window. I think that applies to Johnny a lot. You go in saying you are going to do this and you have the perfect scheme, but he always seems to do something amazing to change your whole thought process."
Said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops: "If you do not cover guys, he puts the ball where it needs to be. If you do cover him, uh oh, there you go, he is running. He just has a knack for making something happen even when you have played well."
While Manziel became more difficult to stop as the season wore on, Oklahoma's defense has appeared more vulnerable. The Sooners allowed 510.5 yards and 37 points a game in their last four games.
Wort said it is extremely difficult to defend a scrambling quarterback, especially with the mobility of Manziel. The ability by Manziel to keep a play alive, Wort said, means you have to cover and defend longer than you are accustomed to. Mike Stoops said you can forget about stopping Manziel; trying to limit the big plays is the only option.
Despite playing SEC defenses all season, what has impressed Manziel about Oklahoma's defense is their speed and athleticism — "how they jump off the page," he said when he watched them on tape.
"You look all around (the defense), they sit there and say we are more athletic than you and we can beat you one-on-one and do some things that can distract you," Manziel said. "They don't do too much that will trick you."
Manziel joked that he has not seen his Heisman Trophy since he returned to College Station because it has "kind of been on its own tour." And with award shows in Orlando and New York, and a trip to Los Angeles, the next stop for the Manziel tour is Cowboys Stadium. An encore performance against another defense looking to script their own story line.
"I know Johnny too well," Texas A&M wide receiver Ryan Swope said. "He is not going to get caught up with this (national hype). He knows what is at stake for us to win a bowl game."
PHOTOS: 'Johnny Football'
Manziel (2) stiff arms Alabama defensive back Deion Belue.
John David Mercer, US PRESSWIRE
http://www.dandydon.com/
Dandy Don's LSU Sports Report
Good morning, Tiger Fans,
The emails continue to roll in about LSU's offensive troubles, and at the request of several of my readers I've decided to conduct a poll to gauge your collective opinion on the source(s) of the problem. Before voting, you might want to consider the following stats taken from cfbstats.com:
LSU 2012 Total Offense: 87th (374.2 Yards/G)
LSU 2011 Total Offense: 86th (355.1 Yards/G)
LSU 2010 Total Offense: 86th (343.2 Yards/G)
LSU 2012 Passing Offense: 94th (200.5 Yards/G)
LSU 2011 Passing Offense: 106th (152.5 Yards/G)
LSU 2010 Passing Offense: 107th (155.6 Yards/G)
LSU 2012 Rushing Offense: 51st (173.69 Yards/G)
LSU 2011 Rushing Offense: 22nd (202.57 Yards/G)
LSU 2010 Rushing Offense: 27th (187.54 Yards/G)
Ok, now please vote in our poll asking, “What do you think is the biggest problem, or problems, with LSU’s offense?” and then encourage your fellow Tiger friends to do the same. I realize that it might be over-simplistic to pinpoint just one answer, so multiple selections are allowed.
Changing gears, more good news on the recruiting front could be coming LSU's way today, as Kendell Beckwith will be making his announcement during the Armour All All-American Game. The game will kick off at 4 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPN. Beckwith will be choosing between LSU and Alabama, and it sure would be heartbreaking to see the state’s best player chose Alabama, especially considering what happened with Landon Collins last year. A couple of weeks ago, or maybe even one week ago, I would have called it a toss-up, but at this point I'd be surprised if he chooses Alabama. I'll be watching the game and as soon as the announcement is made I will tweet it to all of you who follow DandyDonLSU on Twitter, and then I'll post the news here.
It is now official that Kevin Minter has opted to forgo his final season of eligibility and make himself available for the NFL Draft. Reid had a great junior season and earner All-America honors, racking up 130 tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and four quarterback hurries. His 130 tackles in 2012 ranks as the fifth-highest total in school history, while the 15.0 tackles for loss ties for ninth in LSU history. Minter had a breakout game against Florida, recording 20 tackles, including school-record 17 solo stops. The 20 tackles rank as the second-most in a single-game in LSU history. He also had a huge game against A&M with 12 tackles, one sack, an interception and two quarterback hurries. Minter will definitely be missed, but fortunately LSU is very deep at linebacker thanks to last year’s signing class, which included Kwon Alexander, Deion Jones, Ronnie Fiest, Lorenzo Phillips and Trey Granier.
There are also reports (like this one) of Eric Reid deciding to enter the draft, although his father told the Advocate that LSU will release a statement about Reid’s future later today. We should also learn the future plans of several other Tigers in the coming days. Brad Wing publicly promised that he would make his announcement several days ago, but as far as I know he hasn’t yet. Considering the circumstances of his suspension and the tweeting he has done, I fully expect him to enter the draft. Other Tigers with tough decisions to make include Keke Mingo, Sam Montgomery, Spencer Ware, Benny Logan and Tharold Simon. The NFL deadline for declaring is January 15. Read more...http://www.dandydon.
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http://lsufootball.net/
LSU Football - Geaux Tigers!!!
| STATS / A.P. / ESPN | Cotton Bowl : Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M; 7:00 p.m. on FOX |
| UA All America | Under Armour High School Game; 4:00 p.m. on ESPN | Rosters |
| Football Scoop | Oregon notches one-point safety in Fiesta Bowl |
| Opelika-Auburn News | Auburn hires Dameyune Craig as co-OC, receivers coach |
| Yahoo! Sports | Forde: Alabama's hatred of Notre Dame runs long, deep |
| The Advocate | LSU or Bama? Kendell Beckwith to pick Friday at Under Armour Game |
| STATS / A.P. / ESPN | Cotton Bowl : Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M; 7:00 p.m. on FOX |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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