Terrance Green has a little more than film study working for him this week.
As Alabama prepares for Kentucky, the Crimson Tide defender says the biggest key up front is simple: keep sharpening the pass rush, finish with sacks and turn some of those pressures into turnovers. But if there’s one area he keeps circling, it’s the run game. Green called stopping the run imperative for Week 2.
That’s not just a standard defensive talking point. Green spent his first three seasons at Oregon facing the kind of offense Kentucky head coach Will Stein wants to run. Stein is in his first year with the Wildcats after three seasons as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Green believes that background matters.
"I kind of know what he wants to do," Green said. "I know he's probably going to change it up, but I was with coach Stein for two, three years there. Just going against that every day, going against great O-linemen will help a lot."
Green also expects Kentucky to sprinkle in trick plays designed to throw defenders off rhythm and force them to "move and think and communicate" in real time.
Bray Hubbard has a different point of reference, but the same general expectation. He doesn’t know Stein, but he does know Kentucky offensive coordinator Joe Sloan, who spent the last two seasons in the same job at LSU. Hubbard said he’s anticipating “perimeter stuff” and screens, the kind of concepts Sloan used at LSU.
Alabama and Kentucky meet at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 on ABC.
In Other News...
LSUs SEC Fight Could Shift The Balance Alabama Lives With
The SECs legal fight with LSU has taken another turn, and it is the kind of conference business that rarely stays contained to one school. The league has amended its federal court lawsuit and is preparing to meet about possible punishment tied to LSUs institutional control and the football program, a dispute that puts the conferences authority and its willingness to enforce it back in the spotlight.
For Alabama, any league-wide shakeup involving LSU matters because it can alter the balance of a conference the Crimson Tide lives in every week. The SEC has also alleged that LSUs executive officers do not have meaningful control over coach Lane Kiffin and the football program, and the most extreme option on the table would require a two-thirds vote to terminate LSUs membership. Whether it gets anywhere near that point is still the unresolved part, but the fact it is being discussed says plenty about how serious the conflict has become. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces An Early SEC Test It Can't Afford To Sleepwalk Through
Alabama got through its Week 1 tune-up against East Carolina, but the rhythm of the season changes fast now that SEC play arrives. The Crimson Tides first conference test comes against Kentucky, a team that brings a different look than the usual early-September opponent and one that has already spent the offseason reshaping itself on the sideline and at quarterback.
Will Stein is in place as the Wildcats new head coach, and Kentucky also added a transfer quarterback who was impressive in the opener. That combination is enough to make this more than a routine league game for Alabama, which cannot afford to treat it like a soft landing after the nonconference schedule. The Tide will need to be sharp from the start if they want to avoid turning an early SEC roadblock into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Just Sent A Confusing Early Message In The Polls
The first full college football polls of the regular season offered an early read on where the sports powers stand, and Alabama got a mixed one. Ohio State stayed No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches polls, LSU surged to No. 8 after a convincing win over Clemson, and Michigans split showing in the rankings underscored how quickly the first month can reshape a rsum.
For Alabama, the picture was less clean. The Crimson Tide climbed to No. 12 in the AP poll after handling East Carolina, but the Coaches poll told a different story by placing them one spot lower. It is still early, of course, but the discrepancy is the kind of small signal that tends to matter in September, especially for a program used to being evaluated with very little margin for error. [Read more 🡒]