Rippee Writes: What is Alabama's identity?
Some Ole Miss-Alabama thoughts, a new podcast and a Sanderson Farms Championship update
A good Thursday morning to you all. We’ve got a new podcast out with BamaInsider’s Tony Tsoukalas that’ll give you a better idea of what you’ll be watching on Saturday from the Alabama side, specifically Bill O’Brien’s offense, Bryce Young and what the Crimson Tide will try to do to the Rebels defensively. Check that out here or anywhere you get podcasts.
We’ve got a ton of football and Sanderson Farms Championship content to dive into today.
Get to know Alabama
The Crimson Tide are 4-0 with wins over Miami and Florida. Why does this game feel less like the Rebels are going up against a machine-like like we’ve become accustomed to in the last five years as the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport seemingly peaks again? Well, the Crimson Tide are a little less seasoned across the top of the depth chart than they’ve been in year’s past. Some of that is youth and some of it is inexperience (there’s a difference). You’ll know these guys’ names soon, but it may be in the 2023 and 2024 NFL Drafts. Don’t get it twisted, they still have soon-to-be professionals on both sides of the football, you just won’t see six drafted in the first round and eight in the first 38 picks like you did last spring. It’s partially why they looked human against Florida a couple of weeks ago. So, what should you expect from them?
OFFENSE:
- Bryce Young is incredibly talented. If you follow college football, you didn’t need me to tell you that. Don’t be fooled by the 9.2 yards per completion that hints at the fact he may not push the football down the field at the rate we were accustomed to seeing with Tua Tagovailoa. It’s more of a product of two things: the way Alabama has been defended and the receiving corps the Tide currently have. Teams got so petrified of the speed the Tide had on the perimeter with Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy over the last three seasons, defenses guarded against getting beat deep and have lived with allowing more in the intermediate passing game.
The receiving corps is also built a little different. John Metchie is talented receiver, but his yards per catch (10.0) mirror where Young is going with the football. Same with Jojo Earle. Ohio State transfer Jameson Williams has quickly become the deep threat this coaching staff sought to find in the offseason, but he’s been one of a kind in that regard, at least to this point in the season.
- O’Brien’s offense has also utilized the tight end more than you might be accustomed to seeing in years past, particularly in the red zone. Jahleel Billingsley and Cameron Latu have 14 combined catches and six have been touchdowns. This offense is still dynamic. Just in a different way.
- Brian Robinson and Jase McClellan are the two main running backs. Robinson is more of a lumbering, downhill runner while McClellan is a guy they used out of the backfield in the passing game a decent bit. The one surprise here is that Trey Sanders hasn’t been used more.
- Alabama had one of the best offensive lines of the last two decades last season. Three of the five starters got drafted and the other two returned to school. This is likely another symptom of the lack of deep balls because opponents have gotten pressure on Young fairly consistently so fat this season. If Ole Miss wins on Saturday night, Sam Williams and Cedric Johnson were likely a significant reason as to why. This is the most vulnerable piece of the Crimson Tide offense.
DEFENSE
- Alabama lost linebacker Chris Allen for the season just one game in. It hasn’t mattered a ton. The linebacking corps is strength of this defense with Tennessee Transfer Henry To’oTo’o playing alongside Christian Harris, Will Anderson and Allen’s replacement, Drew Sanders. Anderson was a freak on the edge (3-4 scheme) against Florida and his counterpart isn’t a slouch.
- The secondary is talented but has been penalty-prone early in the season. I am curious to see if Ole Miss’s receivers can consistently create separation and how much Kiffin and Lebby and scheme guys open. It’ll be the toughest test the Rebels receiving corps has faced to this point.
- The two outside backers for Alabama versus Ole Miss’ tackles is also a potential point of worry. It’ll be the steepest challenge Nick Broeker and Jeremy James have had possibly in their careers.
- Florida ran all over Alabama. That’s how it clawed out of a 21-3 hole and nearly won the game. The Ole Miss offensive line needs to play its best game of the year because I don’t think the Rebels are good enough to beat the Crimson Tide being one-dimensional on offense. The running game is crucial to the pace and tempo that the Rebels regularly use to their advantage.
More on that tomorrow, but those were some initial thoughts I had based on watching some Alabama games on YouTube and talking to Tony Tsoukalas on the podcast.
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The Kiffin-Wilbon beef
I can safely say I did not anticipate writing about Mike Wilbon feuding with Lane Kiffin this week, but whatever, let’s get weird. Wilbon torched Kiffin on Pardon the Interruption on Tuesday, a show he’s hosted with Tony Kornheiser for over 20 years. The typical internet age reaction followed. The clip blew up. People chose sides and wasted time, keystrokes and oxygen debating something that is completely irrelevant. Here’s the clip.
I guess I will opine on this because not having a take on something in this day and age is somehow more of a crime than having a bad one. I didn’t see any more of this show than the clip above, but I am assuming the question Wilbon answered was about who is going to win the game on Saturday, to which he answered Alabama and cited Lane Kiffin as the reason. If you need a reason to not take Wilbon’s opinion on college football, or this entire situation, seriously, then you received it in the first two seconds. Wilbon went on to declare that Kiffin has been an embarrassment everywhere he has gone and will be at some point wherever he goes. He also said no program of any stature would want Lane Kiffin leading it. I suppose the dripping irony in all of this is that the reason this game made PTI’s rundown is because of Lane Kiffin’s success in Oxford in such a short amount of time. The declaration that no one wants him is as stupid as anything that came out of this feud.
Wilbon and Kornheiser are two of the last truly great, larger than life American newspaper sports columnists. Their career accolades speak louder than anything I could say in this space and I enjoy their show. It’s two friends talking sports and I think that is why it has withstood the test of time. Nothing lasts in this industry and the fact that this show is thriving 20 years in is remarkable but not surprising. Of course, in this current climate, nuance is not welcomed and most unimpressive takesmen couldn’t formulate an intriguing thought about why Wilbon was off base without insulting his career or the show, which is just as silly.
With all of that said, Wilbon’s words were lazy and idiotic. He doesn’t watch college football and I have no idea why anyone is taking this seriously. That’s what amazes me about the time in which we currently live. Someone with a large following or social standing because of one skill they have can speak on another subject that they know nothing about and we are required to opine on their opinion. You’re seeing it right now with ESPN plastering clips of NBA players’ takes on vaccines. Why does anyone care? I don’t ask my doctor for the best way to cook a steak just like I don’t ask a mailman to help repair the window that broke in my apartment. It doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed or shouldn’t voice an opinion on those subjects, I just don’t understand why anyone would care.
This is the classic case of a legendary writer and commentator who has lost his fastball and just blurts out something based on evidence that was relevant the last time he was in-tune with a sport. Yes, Kiffin handled some things terribly at previous stops in his career. But if I reached the peak of my industry before my 30th birthday, I’d probably be viewed as an ass clown by many people too. It’s clear he’s learned and matured. I really don’t see a reason to waste time debating that. That’s something we should celebrate more and learn from. Most rational people do. Wilbon doesn’t know Kiffin, but clearly has disliked him for a long time. Look what a basic Twitter search found over the last decade.
The entire thing is preposterous. What has been amusing and is evident of Kiffin’s newfound likability is the way he’s clapped back at Wilbon without sounding like an overly-sensitive baby. This happens all the time in sports and it’s one of the many things I dislike about the industry. A talking head can call out an athlete, but when the athlete responds, he’s an asshole that isn’t focused on what matters. It makes no sense. But Kiffin has threaded the needle well in how he’s responded to it and somehow comes out of this coming out more likable. Good on him. I hope to never devote more than 25 words to a topic this silly again.
Current Deal: For being a loyal subscriber, show him proof of subscription and you’ll get a 16 oz. prime strip for $15 and a pack of sausage for $5. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 20 bucks. Go check him out, it’s the best place in Mississippi to get meat and Oxford is lucky to have it.
Ole Miss lands two commits
The Rebels landed a pair of commitments yesterday in three-star athlete Jarrell Stinson and three-star running back Quinshon Judkins. I find it interesting that Stinson is the fourth “athlete” the Rebels have currently committed in this 2022 class. Judkins chose the Rebels over Auburn and Notre Dame.
I am no recruiting guy, so I will pass the baton to Rebel Grove’s Zach Berry. He will get you smarter on both guys. Here is his story on Stinson and then his write up on Judson.
Sanderson Farms Championship underway
I love coming home for this event. Unfortunately, an out-of-town wedding will prevent me from attending this year. I wish I had a bit more prepared beforehand, but with football and the whole day job thing, it sort of snuck up on me. It’s been really cool to see this event become what it has. It used to be the smallest purse on the PGA Tour and was played during the summer opposite of the British Open (I can call it that. We won the Ryder Cup and the Revolutionary War). Now, it’s a full-fledged, stand-alone event with a full allotment of points to the winner and a Masters invite. Seven of the top 50 players in the world are in the field and the defending champion is Sergio Garcia. If you’re a native Mississippian like me, think about that for a minute. When I Was a kid, I used to get pumped at the chance to see John Daly miss the cut while rocking some god awful pants and the possibility of seeing Eric Axley because he was the left-handed guy on the gimmicky Stack-and-Tilt commercial (if one single person gets that last reference, my day will be made). It is pretty incredible to see what this has become and a state with so many good players deserves this type of tournament.
Speaking of, consider this your Magnolia State golf update for the week. There are five Mississippians in the field at a PGA Tour event. Five. That’s a remarkable number. Let’s roll through them.
Little Rock (Ms) native and Georgia Tech alum Andy Ogletree teed off at 9:33 this morning and goes off at 1:28 tomorrow. Ogletree 5-under shot 67 this morning and is T-5 as of this writing. The 2019 U.S. Amateur Champion turned pro upon graduation in 2020 and has battled injuries over the last year. He’s off to one hell of a start in what is sure to be a long career in professional golf. He’s immensely talented.
Fulton native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey is in the same group as Ogletree for both days. He shot 2-under 70 and is T-34 as of this writing. Ramey’s insane made cuts streak ended two weeks ago in Napa in his first PGA Tour event as a member. He missed the weekend by one stroke, proving he may in fact be human. He went 13 months without missing a cut in a professional golf tournament. Wild stuff for the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour graduate.
Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley tees off at 2:39 this afternoon and 8:44 tomorrow morning. The 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals graduate also missed the cut in Napa. This time a year ago, he only held partial status on the Korn Ferry Tour and planned to spend the fall and winter preparing to Monday qualify into Korn Ferry events. A win and four top 10s later and he is a full-time member of the PGA Tour. The former walk-on at Mizzou that neither in-state school wanted is a remarkable story.
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley teed off at 9:55 this morning and shot 1-under 71. He tees off at 1:50 tomorrow afternoon. The two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner and 2021 graduate also missed the cut at the PGA Tour’s first event of the season in Napa. Riley has had a remarkably quick ascent in professional golf. He is a star in the making.
West Point native and current LSU golfer Cohen Trolio is the lone amateur in the field. He got in by blitzing the field at the Mississippi State Amateur this summer. He actually lost to Ogletree in the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at the ripe age of 16. Keep an eye on him in the coming years. He is another guy who will make waves in pro golf soon.
On the horizon
- Football-heavy Friday newsletter
- Picks podcast with Greg, plus an interview with someone who knows a thing or two about winning in Tuscaloosa.
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join the fun. It is free.