Tide Tidbits - November 14, 2008

Saban doesn't want Tide involved in BCS talk
You better believe he can see it coming. There aren't too many ifs that have to happen before Alabama plays Florida in the SEC championship game — with a spot in the national title game on the line. That doesn't mean Nick Saban, Alabama's controlling-the-message coach, has to talk about it. "You start getting ahead of yourself," Saban said, "and it's toxic." Alabama coach wants his team to focus on the present, not the future.

Offensive line is Alabama’s strength
Sitting atop the national polls with a 10-0 record isn’t exactly the time for reflection, but Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson didn’t hesitate when asked the biggest difference from last season to this. “We are able to run the ball,” the senior shrugged. “We have a good running game, and that makes everything easier.” Somebody else has seen it, too. Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom raved about the Crimson Tide’s offensive line. He called it “the strength of their football team.”

Competitive Tide's Javier Arenas lights his own fire
Javier Arenas fielded a kickoff at the 13-yard line and took off. He cut back at the 27 and promptly put the ball on the Tiger Stadium turf. The Alabama junior lost a fumble that directly led to an LSU score last Saturday that put the Tide behind for the second time all season. Usually, such outcomes warrant a theatrical tongue-lashing from coach Nick Saban, a self-proclaimed "emotional guy." So what was the reaction? "He smiled at me and said, `Just relax,'" said Arenas, a 5-foot-9, 198-pound Tampa native. "`Calm down.' He knows what I'm capable of." "There's nobody that tries harder and wants to do better than Javy," Saban said. "So, getting on him about his intensity is never an issue. Those (competitive) guys, you need to support and bring them back so they can focus on the next play."

Bulldogs want to win one for Croom
For Mississippi State players, it's time to win one for Sylvester Croom. With a once promising season in disarray, the Bulldogs need an improbable upset of top-ranked Alabama for a lot of reasons -- pride, to keep long-shot hopes for a second straight bowl alive and to take their coach out of the crosshairs of fans. "They're the No. 1 team in the nation," senior linebacker Dominic Douglas said. "It don't get no better than this. Just for the team and for coach Croom especially. He's on the hot seat. I know it's frustrating for him, but it's also frustrating for the team to see our coach getting heat like that. We support him. We support everything the coaches do."

Tide football stadium could seat 101,000 in 2010
An expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium could be completed before the 2010 season, if everything falls into place, University of Alabama President Robert Witt said Thursday. UA committee trustees approved the look, estimated cost and scope of an expansion to the football stadium’s south end zone Thursday, and the full board is expected to approve it today. However, Witt said the project has not reached a point of no return. “A decision hasn’t been made, but we want everything in place so that if we do decide to move forward it will be ready for fall 2010,” Witt said after the meeting.

Roll Tide!