Yearly Archives: 2021

Two teams lost unexpectedly last week; one coach lost his job and the other is subject to the rantings of the rumor mill. Dan Mullen is no longer in charge of Florida, while Bryan Harsin's honeymoon at Auburn has ended more quickly than an electric vehicle protest at the annual Sturgis bike rally. This week, Harsin gets an even tougher assignment, as the Tigers face off against SEC West champ Alabama, but the most entertaining matchup might very well be the Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving night.

I only wish I had been able to tell Cecil this when he was still alive. It is often said that one shouldn't meet their heroes, because the heroes don't always live up to one's expectations. In Cecil's case, however, he proved to be a source of continual inspiration as well as a constant reminder to up my game whenever I could. I don't think he would have been comfortable hearing this from me; he may have considered it the fawning praise of a writer who eventually changed careers and left the daily grind of the fourth estate behind. Unfortunately, I will now never know. I will, however, do my best to carry on the legacy he gave me, whether he ever knew it or not. I will start with making a modest edit to the phrase that used to ring out across my newsrooms: Praise when it is warranted, always. Only criticize when it is absolutely necessary. You never know who might be reading along with the words you are writing.

Anyone who thinks Nick Saban isn't willing to do whatever it takes to get this team into the playoffs should know that even today – Senior Day in Tuscaloosa, that is – Saban sent two senior starters to the bench in favor of freshmen in an effort to get by an Arkansas team that transformed into the 2010 Auburn team before everyone's eyes. Right tackle Chris Owens was replaced in the starting lineup by Damieon George Jr., who is listed as a sophomore but technically didn't play enough games in 2020 to burn a year of eligibility. Midway through the game, senior cornerback Josh Jobe joined him on the sideline, replaced by true freshman Ga'Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry.

It's a safe bet that no one saw Sam Pittman's success coming, aside from maybe the athletic director who hired him. Even last year, Pittman began turning Arkansas' mental game around, and in 2021, Arkansas has quickly become a tough, formidable opponent that no one really finds fun to play. Whether Pittman ever becomes the recruiter and overall program manager that Nick Saban has been since the turn of the century, he certainly has copied Saban's ability to build a team that opponents would prefer to avoid. And of course, Alabama gets the great fortune of playing Arkansas at this point in the season, a week before Auburn, thanks largely to schedule changes that were in the works before Pittman ever took over in Fayetteville.

This is not an official University of Alabama document. The depth chart is taken from individual practice and game observations, and is color-coded. Seniors are in black, juniors previously on the team are in green, junior college transfers in their junior year are in purple, junior college transfers in their sophomore year are in yellow, sophomores previously on the team are in blue, redshirt freshmen are in cyan, and true freshmen are in red. NOTE: Because Alabama operates from multiple alignments on both offense and defense, 12 positions are listed on both sides of the ball to account for those specific alignments.

Coming down the home stretch, Week 12 is a pseudo-week off for some teams while others – Alabama in particular – get a more significant challenge. The Bama-Arkansas game is by far the juiciest matchup on this week's schedule, although Auburn-South Carolina has the potential to get interesting if the Tigers don't respond well to the loss of their starting quarterback.

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Disclaimer: This is not an official University of Alabama document. The depth chart is taken from individual practice and game observations, and is color-coded....

As we're headed toward the close of the regular season, the weeks start to become more difficult to pick as some teams begin to transition from contenders to also-rans and vice versa. South Carolina's shocking upset of Florida last week, a game that was never even close, is a prime example. This week, Arkansas and LSU is a similar matchup, while Mississippi State-Auburn and Tennessee-Georgia offer opportunities for underdogs to make a statement.