Season Scouting Report Alabama (9/14/2013) Last Year Won the national championship.

. Only had one lossto Texas A&M. Have only played one game this year (Virginia Tech). Virginia Tech Game Offense o Only managed an average of 3 yards per play o Only managed 206 yards of total offense 96 rushing yards, 110 passing yards Least yards per game since playing Tulane in September of 2008 o Alabama QB, AJ McCarron, was 10/21 passing (less than 50%) o McCarron was sacked 4 times o 6/17 on third down conversions Defense o Only allowed 212 total yards o Got 1 sack o Allowed 4.6 yards per carry o One interception for a touchdown o Limited Virginia Tech to 3/17 on third down conversions Special Teams o Had TWO touchdowns One punt return One kickoff return o 0/1 on field goals Offense Type o Smashmouth rushing with a slower-paced spread-like passing game Big offensive line and big running-backs pound the ball o Offense is somewhat questionable this year Both rushing and passing o Returning 6 starters Quarterback o AJ McCarron Serious Heisman contender this year Only threw for 3 interceptions last year (two against us last year) 67% completions last year

Has more national championship rings than losses in his college career as a starter

Running-back o TJ Yeldon Possibly the best running-back in the nation 1108 yards last year 12 touchdowns Averaged 6.3 yards per carry last year o Altee Penpenny (Freshman) was second string against Virginia Tech o Look for freshman Derrick Henry as well o Dee Hart Wide Receiver o Amari Cooper Possibly the best wide receiver in the nation this year Did not look to good against Virginia Tech though (36 yards) Several dropped passes o Christion Jones Accounted for 3/5 of Tide touchdowns against Virginia Tech two weeks ago One of these was a pass, two were special teams o DeAndrew White o Kevin Norwood Tight End o Brian Vogler 67, 260 pounds o Has not played a huge role in the Tides offense in the past o Looking to play a much bigger role this season Offensive Line o Lost 3 linemen to the NFL draft o Look rather mortal against Virginia Tech Didnt allow but 2.5 yards per carry Allowed 4 sacks o Only returning one first string starter o First string looks alright, second string might be a concern Strengths o Veteran quarterback who knows how to win (see his 3 rings) o Amari Cooper (WR) and TJ Yeldon (RB) o VERY good at limiting turnovers Weaknesses o Offensive line o Running game outside of TJ Yeldon o Poor third down conversion so far this year o Poor yards per play and yards per carry average so far this year

Defense Type o Big, powerful, dominating o Typically run an NFL-style 3-4 defense, but actually plays in a 4-3 style formation 80% of the time (according to Nick Saban) Allowing for better pass rushing o Will either have a spy or a designated linebacker to sit and watch Johnny o Led the nation in sacks last year o Lacked a good pass rush (in Sabans opinion) o Returning 7 starters o Every member of Alabamas first string defense is Junior or a Senior Defensive Line o Historically the strength of the Tide defense and entire team Nick Saban recruits and only accepts the best defensive linemen in the nation o Ed Stinson (DE) Led the Tides tackle for a loss last year Was the leading tackler two weeks ago against Virginia Tech o Jeoffery Pagan Junior DE Second string last year o Brandon Ivory Junior noseguard Second string last year o Many new faces, but appear to be just as lethal as last season Linebacker o CJ Mosley Arguably the best linebacker in the country Defensive MVP in BCS National Championship game last year 107 tackles in 2012 o Trey Depriest Broke his foot last spring, expected to be 100% back though o Adrian Hubbard 7 sacks last year 41 tackles last year Major component of the defense this year o Rueben Foster Top ranked linebacker recruit in the nation last year Will see some playing time probably o Arguable the most talented and diverse group of linebackers in the nation Defensive Back o Have to replace Dee Milner

o Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (safety) Will be a first round NFL draft pick this year o Vinne Sunsuri (safety) Expected to be very good this year Had an interception against Virginia Tech Fast, very good safety blitzer Great at stopping the run, struggles with pass coverage Struggled mightily against Texas A&M last year o John Fulton Put in last year after Texas A&M scored three touchdown in the first quarter Supposedly a major reason the Tide stopped Texas A&M much better the next three quarters o Landon Collins Sophomore Might see playing time as well Improved quite a bit in the offseason Strengths o Defensive Line o Linebackers o Safeties Weaknesses o Cornerbacks A&M exploited this weakness last year o Covering more than 4 receivers o Handling completely improvised plays o Determining the appropriate pass rush attack

Special Teams As seen from Virginia Techthe Tide might have the best punt return and kickoff return teams in the nation o Score TWO touchdowns just from special teams One kickoff return by Christion Jones One punt return by Christion Jones Experienced kicker (same one as last year) Experienced punter (same one as last year) Key Players QBAJ McCarron RBTJ Yeldon WRAmari Cooper and CJ Jones LBCJ Mosley DEEd Stinson Key Matchups

What to Watch For Turnovers o Alabama rarely has turnovers. This game very well might be determined by turnover margin. If we get to -2 turnovers, the game will probably be over. Alabama Conditioning o Last year Alabamas defense struggled mightily with our fast-paced offense; by the end they were gassed. o Look for Nick Saban to have done his best to change that. o However, win the sheer size and power of Alabamas players, conditioning to a fast pace and explosive offense will be difficult and almost contrary what the NFL style defense Kirby Smart has created. o Another thing to consider is that Alabamas only game this season was played indoors at 72 degreesit will be in the low-mid 90s on Saturday. Drew Kaser o Drew was only able to punt once last game and it was a mid-field punt. We will punt against Alabama, multiple times at the very least. Look for Drew Kaser prove his punting abilities. This is a game changer in a close match-up. Steve Jenkins (DB), Gavin Stansbury (DE), Devante Harris (CB), and Edward Pope (WR) o These 4 player return after serving a 2-game suspension o These three defensive players should make a huge difference (mostly in the run game), especially senior Steve Jenkins Alabamas Christion Jones (WR and return specialist) o Punt returns and kickoff returns o Hopefully Drew Kaser can have a hangtime that only allows for fair catches and Bertolet will have kickoffs that clear the endzone Texas A&Ms Cameron Clear (Tight End) o Sumlin would love to utilize him much more for not only blocking, but for passes too. Its hard to stop a 67, 270-pound tight end when he is running with the ball. Texas A&Ms Jaquay Williams (WR) o This JUCO transfer player is good. Real good. o Look for him to make some excellent catches this game. Alabamas Run Game

Tides questionable offense line against our questionable defensive line o This might very well determine the entire game Our inexperienced linebackers against Alabamas run game Our deep receiving corps against Alabamas cornerbacks and safeties Johnny Manziel against Nick Saban

o Look for the Tide to run the ball a lot to waste time and limit our time of possession. The best way to stop Johnny is to not let him on the field.

What Else You Should Know Floyd Raven (S) will be out this game and many others due to a broken collarbone. Trey Williams is back on the depth chartappears he healed from his ankle injury Ricky Seals-Jones is back on the depth chart, but is probably not back at 100%. Alabama has won their past 15 away games. Nick Saban hired several analysts in the offseason specifically to look at Johnny Manziel and Texas A&Ms offense. Alabama had a bye-week last week. This is normally a good thing at the end of the season. It is not as helpful in the beginning of the season because it is one less game for the team to learn to gel and work out kinks in their play. Nick Saban publically stated last week that he was not happy about the timing of this bye-week. CBS has announced that there will be an extra camera on Saturday called the Johnny Cam. It will do nothing but follow Johnny the ENTIRE game. Kevin Sumlin was not happy this. Texas A&M has yet to run a play-action pass with Johnny as the QB Nick Saban might choose to try and run the spread against our defense to exploit our rush defense. This would prevent us from stacking the box and would open up more holes for their running-backs. Predictions (the first is my real prediction): *34-31 Texas Aggies *IF: 1) Alabamas offensive line is as bad as they looked against Virginia Tech (i.e. they were not sandbagging) 2) We have a zero or positive turnover margin 3) Out defensive line and linebackers step it up a good amount. **37-27 Texas Aggies **IF: 1) Alabamas offensive line is as bad as they looked against Virginia Tech (i.e. they were not sandbagging) 2) We have a positive turnover margin.

3) Our defensive line and linebackers perform way better than they did against Rice and SHSU ***38-24 Crimson Tide ***IF: 1) Alabamas offensive line and offense works out many of their kinks 2) We have a negative turnover margin 3) Our defensive line and linebackers perform at the same level that they did against Rice and SHSU.