Notes: Alabama's Nick Saban holds quite a track record vs Bob Petrino offenses | Goodbread
By all accounts, the relationship between Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and his new offensive coordinator, Bobby Petrino, couldn't be smoother. The Aggies offense barely skipped a beat in a win over Auburn last week with a backup quarterback in Max Johnson, and Petrino is a well-recognized master with quarterbacks.
The Aggies also have not yet faced a defense like Alabama's this season, and if there's a pitfall anywhere on the schedule for TAMU's offense, this Saturday (CBS, 2:30 p.m. CT) could be it. Petrino's track record against Nick Saban defenses, after all, isn't especially strong. In fact, he's 0-5 vs. Saban as a head coach, and has never scored more than 20 points in those games:
2008: Alabama 49, Arkansas 14
2009: Alabama 35, Arkansas 7
2010: Alabama 24, Arkansas 20
2011: Alabama 38, Arkansas 14
2018: Alabama 51, Louisville 14
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For a guy whose offenses have succeeded pretty much everywhere he's been, Petrino's had a fairly hard time lighting up the scoreboard with Saban on the opposite sideline. But while Petrino is calling plays and has tweaked the TAMU offense, it's been a hybrid of his system and Fisher's, per Saban.
“Yeah, I think you can see (Petrino's influence). But I also think that there’s philosophically some of the things that Jimbo likes to do," Saban said. "I don’t think those guys think that differently. But there are some things that Bobby has done in the past that you see them doing now that they’ve added to what they do and it’s all very effective.”
Who's Counting?
At his Monday news conference, in lavishing the usual coachspeak praise upon the next opponent, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher rattled off 25 Alabama players by name. Seems pretty remarkable, considering most coaches lean more on jersey numbers when speaking of other teams' players. If he can do that for every other school in the SEC, that'd be 325 names who don't play for the Aggies.
Matchup to watch
Texas A&M WR Ainias Smith is having an impressive season for the Aggies with 22 catches for 343 yards (15.6 per catch), and fits very nicely into the aforementioned Fisher-Petrino offense. He'll draw Alabama's Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold in coverage, who've been standout performers themselves — unless he lines up in the slot. Smith stopped just short of saying Alabama isn't what it used to be in a news conference this week, so don't be surprised to see some after-the-whistle chatter between he and the Crimson Tide's cornerbacks on Saturday.
Quotable
"We’ve been emphasizing it all week, but tomorrow is always the day that we practice with noise. I know the centers and the quarterbacks have worked a little bit extra on that with noise this week. But tomorrow will be the day that we need to really go through the whole practice and be able to deal with noise, and that’s really when you can see how much it’s going to impact the players." - Saban on UA's struggles with shotgun snaps and how that can be impacted by a hostile crowd.
Around the SEC
After Fisher took his turn under fire over play-calling a year ago, now it's Florida coach Billy Napier who is beginning to hear the same questions with the UF offense struggling. The Gators struggled mightily against Kentucky last week, and didn't look to good against Charlotte the week before, either. Napier, for now, is still calling plays. … Thanks to Kentucky's 5-0 start to the season, the UK-Georgia clash in Athens is the game of the week in the SEC. If the Wildcats are to topple a Bulldogs team that's looked more beatable this season, the key will be its rush defense, which ranks No. 9 in the nation at 75 yards allowed per game. … With the Goodspread SEC Pick of the Week now at a blistering 80.5% against the spread, it's getting hard to be humble. Eventually, Vegas always catches up, but last week, the pick (Tennessee-South Carolina under 64) delivered with the Vols' 41-20 win. This week's play: LSU -6.5 at Missouri. Season: 4-0-1. All-time: 14-3-1 (.805).
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama's Nick Saban has quite a track record vs Bob Petrino offenses
