TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Let the countdown part of The Saban 250 begin. After listing 50 players, including 20 on offense, 20 on defense, and 10 on special teams who
who fans should never forget, the series moves on to the actual ranking part, and the 200 players who made the biggest impact of the Nick Saban era with Alabama football.
• Maybe best known for his on-side kick in the national championship game against Clemson, caught by Marlon Humphrey, which gave Alabama the momentum for good in the 45-40 victory against ClemsonPlayed in 52 games for the Crimson Tide, but just two years under Nick Saban. Had 67 catches for 687 yards overall, including 55 for 528 over those two final seasons• In 2023, ranked second in the SEC and fifth nationally with a 47.6 yards per punt average.
When Alabama had two drives stall inside the 20, including Mark Ingram II missing open wide receiver Julio Jones in the end zone on a halfback-option pass, and had to settle for two third-quarter field goals, the Crimson Tide was still down 21-20 as it got the ball at its own 21-yard line with 8:27 on the clock.
“Sure enough, up comes a third-and-three,” McElroy continues. “I think everyone in that stadium, including myself, Coach Mac , Coach Saban, everyone on the sideline, everyone in the stands, assumed and understood that were going to get the ball to Julio.”“There we go, we’re rolling now,” McElroy said. “Chains are moving, things are going good, everything was fantastic.
Playing with a painful hip-pointer, Ingram had 30 rushing yards on 16 carries, which threatened to derail his Heisman Trophy campaign. On third-and-5, the Tide dialed up Jones again on another crossing, or “mesh,” route, only this time the receiver used the game official in the middle of the field as a shield to make sure he’s open.
He continue to elaborate: “We had isolation, I think it was a three-by-one formation, with three recovers on one side and one receiver on the back side, with Julio obviously the one. Normally he attracts a lot of attention, with the corner playing tight and safety playing over the top, and a will linebacker sneaking out to the will flats.
With time running down, it became more obvious that this would be the make-or-break possession for Alabama, but with first down at the Auburn 28 the Crimson Tide was still looking at a potential 45-yard field goal. Kicker Leigh Tiffin had made attempts of 31 and 27 yards in the game, but had also missed a 42-yard attempt and sent a kickoff out-of-bounds.
Richardson took a handoff up the middle for 4 yards, and Auburn called time out. He went over the left guard for 3 more, and again Gene Chizik stopped the clock.
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