Jumbo Package: Alabama will need Dallas Turner to help defeat Georgia

To kick off the day, SEC Network put out a nice 3-minute video with intense music and Eli Gold’s perfect voice after the game ended. Nothing you haven’t seen 20 times already, but the production is good, and the comments on the Tweet here are gold. Auburn fans arguing that Bond “pushed off” while ignoring their own defender holding the collar of his jersey is just hilarious.

Georgia vs. Alabama: Who wins?

Backing Alabama as an underdog is the move to make and if I like an underdog it’s because I think they can win. This is the best offense Georgia has faced. The Bulldogs have allowed 20 points or more to opponents ranked outside the top 50 in total offense. Alabama is a different beast with the ninth-graded offense per PFF and it has been pushed more against tougher teams this season.

Milroe was put to the test in his second start against a Texas defensive front that is one of the best in the country. Milroe went score for score with the single-best college football player in the country, LSU’s Jayden Daniels. After getting wrecked in the first half against Tennessee (down 20-7), Bama shut the Vols down and overcame them to win, 34-20.

Those moments make Alabama ready for the biggest game of the year.

Here’s a blurb from a betting analyst on Yahoo’s national site. I do think that Alabama’s offense can score on Georgia’s defense... Definitely more than Bulldog fans are going to be happy with.

To me, I think the bigger question will be how Alabama’s defense fairs here. They’ve played a lot of different types of offenses this year, but the UGA scheme isn’t too similar to any others. How will the Tide deal with the quick pass game? We just don’t really know.

On the other hand, here’s a little bad news:

Even with Jase, I didn’t particularly expect Alabama’s traditional run game to make a whole lot of headway against Georgia. It does make me nervous that there will be a lot of wasted run plays without him, though. Maybe Alabama can harken back to 2017 when a true freshman Najee Harris came out of nowhere to have a great game against Georgia and Justice Haynes makes an impact. We’ll see.

Gopie studied Turner’s tape and that of his next matchup with South Florida. The two then discussed a plan of attack, getting as specific as what moves Turner could use on third-and-long scenarios. Then Turner brought bring their notes to Alabama’s scout team offensive tackles, requesting they mimic whatever habits Gopie and Turner identified.

In a quasi-homecoming in Tampa, Turner burst out for 2.5 sacks, notching his first of the year on USF’s opening drive of the game. Since then, the pair have replicated the process each Sunday and Monday, leading to Turner’s terrorizing of the Southeastern Conference.

Here’s a cool story about Dallas Turner. We’ve definitely seen improvement in his pass rush from last year, and this seems to be at the heart of that improvement. He’s always had the athletic ability and frame, but now he’s getting the technique down too.

Still a touchstone Alabama player three decades after his final football game for the Crimson Tide, David Palmer is part of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame announced its newest class on Wednesday with Palmer joining Mike Anderson, Larry Chapman and John Drew from basketball, Robert Mathis and Mike Washington from football, Penney Hauschild Buxton from gymnastics and Scott Sullivan from baseball.

Congrats to the Deuce!

Few would be breathing down his neck this much if he wasn’t a No. 1 overall pick who was traded up for in a no-patience era and playing out his first-year campaign while the No. 2 selection puts together one of the best rookie quarterback seasons in NFL history.

Throw in that the Panthers have already fired head coach Frank Reich, and it’s easy to condemn the struggling young passer.

But it’s not as if Young has had zero promising moments. He put together a nice run in October before hitting another wall in November, but it’s still an extremely small sample for a player with limited support and two years’ college starting experience under his belt.

Keep in mind that just two years ago, Tua Tagovailoa was subject to trade rumors following a disappointing rookie season for the Miami Dolphins. Few had faith in him entering 2021, but he was the NFL’s highest-rated passer in 2022 and is again an MVP candidate as a bona fide franchise QB this year.

Don’t count Bryce out just yet. There’s been a lot of rookie QBs have bad first years when thrown into bad teams. Give it a few years before you make your judgements on the whole class of 2023.