Just because I'm a stat whore and tonight was the first time I saw it: Alabama's first missed tackle in the BCS title game came with 9:15 left to play in the 4th. Can you be nostalgic for something that happened last week?
Barrett Trotter done at Auburn. Presumably not in the mix for serious playing time next year and having already graduated, he's just moving on from football.
ESPN reporting that Washington's Nussmeier is Alabama's new OC. "Official" announcement to come tomorrow, apparently. Washington's offensive performance trailed Alabama's by a fair bit this season, but Saban digs those West Coast guys from out there where they do the calculus, so I suppose I'll defer to his judgment just this once.
Hopefully coincidentally, Washington has also granted Montana's kid a release. I know he had a passing interest in Alabama during recruiting, but that seems like more baggage than talent to me. ESPN's report indicates he's focusing on two-year colleges.
Alabama LB coach/associate HC Sal Sunseri leaves to become DC at Tennessee. Tennessee's Lance Thompson, who left Alabama for Tennessee and was replaced by Sunseri, leaves Tennessee for Alabama to replace Sunseri. Incestuous.
The SEC's new recruiting rules are starting to take effect. Originally described as a 'hard cap' of 25 commitments per year, no grayshirting, no school-sanctioned medical scholarships, etc., seems to still have some holes. Alabama's class stands at 27 verbals right now, including Landon Collins. That would appear to be a problem since 27>25. But apparently the rule about not counting players back to previous years hasn't taken effect, so out of eight 2012 recruits who enrolled for classes last week, three are being counted back to last year's class, leaving us one spot open with three weeks to go.
What's more interesting is that one spot doesn't seem to be enough. Alabama RB commitment Justin Taylor -- who has been committed to Alabama since February of last year -- was asked to grayshirt anyway. The twist is that Alabama was prepared to sign a commitment that his scholarship would still be available when he did enroll. At first Taylor reaffirmed his commitment, but has now backed away. Alabama has two 'better' RB commits in this class, and Taylor did not play this year due to injury. So this may be the first test to see whether the SEC's new, less lenient recruiting rules will wind up benefiting the player or the school . . .