Tide upbeat as opener draws near By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor August 25, 2003
TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama officially started its game-week preparations for South Florida on Sunday, but Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Joe Kines said that the UA defense may have gotten a sneak preview of the Bulls’ offense last spring. “If you saw us in the spring, offensively, then you saw a pretty good likeness of what they will be doing," Kines said on Sunday. “They’ll usually be a one-back team with three, four or five wide receivers. They understand the idea of [spreading] the field. “They do a good job with multiple personnel groups, and they really do a nice job of getting the ball where it needs to be against the coverage that the defense is using." Alabama, which has changed head coaches and offensive staffs, probably will not base out of that particular alignment this fall, if only because of philosophical differences between Mike Shula and former Tide head coach Mike Price. But Kines said that the spring exposure “will give us a base to work from." South Florida will have a new quarterback, junior Ronnie Banks, triggering the offense, but Kines said the Bulls are talented at a number of positions. “Their offensive line will be as well-coached as anybody we will play this year," Kines said. The Tide’s veteran defensive coordinator said that Alabama started its game-week preparation with “a little sense of urgency." “That was good to see," Kines said. “I just had a feeling that we would pick things up as game time started approaching, and we handled it well." Kines said that there was still a battle between sophomore Demeco Ryans and redshirt freshman Juwan Garth for the linebacker spot vacated when Brooks Daniels withdrew from school. “They’ll both play," Kines said. “One is probably a little ahead of the other, but I don’t want to name one right now." Marc Guillon, one of the nation’s top prep quarterbacks in 2001, said Sunday that he would transfer from the Miami Hurricanes to Alabama. Guillon told the TiderInsider radio program on Sunday that he had decided to come to Alabama, and would inform the UA coaching staff of that decision today. Guillon, whose family lives in Chico, Calif., played in two games last season for the Hurricanes, going 3 of 5 for 53 yards and a touchdown. He was awarded a medical redshirt for a shoulder injury. He would have to sit out this season at UA and would have three years of eligibility, beginning in 2004. Shula said Sunday’s practice went “pretty well," and added that he was pleased with the Tide’s mock game on Friday. “It was the most in-depth mock game I have ever been around," Shula said. “We brought officials in, and I felt kind of sorry for them because we ran them through so many situations. We practiced everything from blocked punts to fumbles returned for kickoffs to kicking after a safety. We worked on a lot of quick turnaround things. We covered a lot, even though we were only out there for a little over an hour." He also noted, though, that the Tide still has work to do before Saturday’s season opener. “Are we there yet? No," he said. “But our plan wasn’t to be ready today, it was to be ready on Saturday." Shula said that most of the Tide’s personnel decisions had been made, and that he expected to release a two-deep depth chart and special-team starters on Tuesday. (snip) http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2A4422B5 ScR ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
