ALABAMA FOOTBALL POST GAME NOTEBOOK
The LSU Game -- Saturday, November 12, 2005 -- Bryant-Denny Stadium -- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
PREGAME: The Alabama-LSU game marks the first time in the history of Bryant-Denny Stadium that both teams are ranked in the
Associated Press Top 5 ... Alabama is ranked fourth, while LSU is ranked fifth in this week’s poll ... A consensus All-American and former strong
safety Kevin Jackson (Dothan) brought the game ball to midfield on Saturday ... As a senior in 1996, Jackson led the SEC and ranked third
nationally with seven interceptions ... He added 72 tackles, including four TFLs (-19). He had a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown in
the win over Vanderbilt, which helped him earn SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor ... He also had an interception return for a touchdown
against Georgia in 1995 ... Jackson finished his UA career with 12 interceptions, eighth-best in Tide history ... Alabama game captains were sen-
ior quarterback Brodie Croyle (offense), senior linebacker DeMeco Ryans (defense) and senior safety Roman Harper (special teams) ... LSU
won the toss and deferred to second half ... Alabama has lost the toss in eight of 10 games this season ...
FINAL HOME GAME FOR 23 SENIORS: The LSU game marks the final home game for 23 Crimson Tide seniors ... The list includes senior
defensive end Mark Anderson (Tulsa, Okla.), safety Justin Ballard (Eutaw), center Taylor Britt (Cullman), wide receiver/kick returner Brandon
Brooks (Birmingham), center JB Closner (San Antonio, Texas), receiver Jake Collins (Homewood), quarterback Brodie Croyle (Rainbow City),
defensive tackle Rudy Griffin (Hepzibah, Ga.), safety Roman Harper (Prattville), fullback Vic Horn (Huntsville), fullback Juke King (Theodore),
defensive end Stephen Kulback (Birmingham), snapper Drew Lane (Braxton, Miss.), cornerback Anthony Madison (Thomasville), fullback Greg
McLain (Heflin), receiver Matt Miller (Rainbow City), safety Charlie Peprah (Plano, Texas), linebacker Freddie Roach (Killen), linebacker DeMeco
Ryans (Bessemer), right guard Mark Sanders (Ashville), kicker Ryan Saxby (Jonesboro, Ga.), kicker Jeremy Schatz (Homewood) and receiver
Davis Steakley (Huntsville) ...
BAMA SUFFERS FIRST LOSS: Alabama saw its nine-game winning streak end today with a 16-13 loss to No. 5 LSU in overtime ... LSU QB
JaMarcus Russell’s 11-yard TD pass to Dwayne Bowe won the game for LSU in the overtime ... The Crimson Tide entered the game with the
nation’s third-longest winning streak behind Southern Cal and Texas ...
RANKINGS: Alabama is now 254-121-10 all-time when ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including a 234-40-4 record in the AP Top 10 ...
As the No.4 ranked team in the AP poll, Alabama falls to 42-4 all-time ... The Crimson Tide had its 17-game winning streak snapped when
ranked No. 4 snapped today ... The last time Alabama lost when ranked No. 4 in the AP poll was a 31-24 defeat at Nebraska in 1977 ... Alabama
is now 13-28 all-time against Top 5 teams, including a 1-1 record this season ... Bama is now 5-7 all-time against the No. 5 team in the AP poll
... Coach Mike Shula is 3-9 against ranked teams in his three-year career at Alabama ... Bama is 16-22 all-time against ranked teams here in
Bryant-Denny Stadium, including a 1-6 ledger against Top 5 clubs ...
ALABAMA-LSU SERIES: Alabama leads the all-time series with LSU, 43-21-5 since the first meeting in 1895 ... LSU has won six of the last 10
meetings ... The home team is 10-25-1 in the Alabama-LSU series since 1970 ... The Tigers are 9-3 against the Crimson Tide in the state of
Alabama since 1982 ... LSU has won the last four meetings in Tuscaloosa ... Alabama owns a 9-7 series lead in games played in Tuscaloosa ...
OVERTIME HISTORY: Alabama is now 2-5 all-time in overtime games and has not won an overtime game since beating Florida 40-39 in
Gainesville in 1999 ... UA has lost its last four overtime games ... Bama is 2-4 in SEC overtime games ... Alabama is 1-3 in overtime games in
Tuscaloosa ...
BRODIE CROYLE NOTEBOOK: Alabama senior quarterback Brodie Croyle (Rainbow City) saw his 12-game winning streak come to an end
today against LSU ... The loss was Croyle’s first as a starter since a 37-29 loss at Hawai’i on Nov. 29, 2003 ... Croyle is now 16-10 as the Tide’s
starting QB ... In the loss to LSU, he completed just 19 of 40 passes for 187 yards, with one touchdown ... He was also sacked five times by
the LSU defense ... For the season, Croyle has completed 170 of 283 passes for 2,157 yards, with four interceptions and 14 TDs ... With 187
passing yards today, Croyle became the first quarterback in Alabama history to throw for 2,000 yards in two different seasons ... Croyle
threw for 2,303 yards as a sophomore in 2003 ... On the UA single-season charts, Croyle is third in completions (170), fourth in attempts (283)
and fourth in yards (2,157) ... In his 37-game career, Croyle has completed 456 of 813 passes for exactly 6,000 passing yards, with 22 intercep-
tions and 40 TDs ... In the loss to LSU, he became Alabama’s all-time passing leader with 6,000 yards ... The previous record was 5,983
passing yards by Andrew Zow (1998-2001) ... Croyle is second with 456 career completions and is just four away from breaking Zow’s career
record of 459 completions ... Croyle is second all-time with 813 pass attempts and is 40 away from breaking Zow’s all-time record of 852
career attempts ...
ALABAMA FOOTBALL GAME NOTES - Page 2
KENNETH DARBY NOTEBOOK: Alabama senior running back Kenneth Darby (Huntsville) had 21 rushing attempts for 104 yards in the loss to
LSU ... Darby posted his 10th career 100-yard game today ... Alabama is 8-2 when Darby tallies 100 yards rushing and both losses have come
to LSU ... Darby had 109 yards in last year’s 26-10 loss to LSU at Tiger Stadium ... Darby becomes the fourth player in Alabama history to post
10 or more 100-yard rushing games ... For the season, Darby has 193 rushing attempts for 1,072 yards and three TDs ... Darby is the
fourth player in Alabama history to record back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard rushing seasons ... Darby had 1,061 yards in 12 games last
year as a sophomore ... He joins Johnny Musso (1970-71), Bobby Humphrey (1986-87) and Shaun Alexander (1998-99) as the only UA players to
post two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons ... In his 32-game career, Darby has 445 rushing attempts for 2,319 yards and 11 TDs ... He moved
into eighth place on the all-time rushing list today against LSU as he surpassed Shaud Williams (2,288) and Ricky Moore (2,270) ...
ALABAMA DEFENSE: LSU scored on its opening possession of the third quarter when Justin Vincent capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a
one-yard run on fourth-and-goal ... Vincent’s one-yard TD run was the first touchdown allowed by Alabama in 263 minutes and 54 seconds,
dating back to the first quarter of the Ole Miss game on Oct. 15th ... Vincent’s one-yard plunge also snapped a streak of 16 scoreless
chances by Alabama opponents in the red zone ... The streak dated back to the South Carolina game on Sept. 17th ... LSU’s touchdown was
also the first allowed by Alabama in the third quarter this season ... Vincent’s one-yard TD was just the third rushing TD against the UA defense
this season ... Alabama held LSU to 46 rushing yards (33 attempts) in the loss ... Justin Vincent was the leading rusher with 56 yards (20 carries)
... UA held the SEC’s seventh-leading rusher Joseph Addai to just four rushing yards on two carries in the game ... Alabama has allowed only
three touchdowns in its last 24 quarters, but two of those came today in the loss to LSU ...
NOTEBOOK: Alabama did not force a turnover today for the first time since Oct. 18, 2003 at Ole Miss ... The Crimson Tide had forced at least
one turnover in 25 straight games before today ... Since 2003, Alabama has forced a turnover in 29 of 34 games ... Senior center Taylor Britt
(Cullman) made his first career start today for the Crimson Tide ... Britt took over for the injured JB Closner, who suffered a season-ending injury
(broken leg) last week at Miss. State ... Freshman running back Jimmy Johns (Brookhaven, Miss.) lined up as quarterback on the second play
of the second quarter and ran around right end for 13 yards and a first down to the Alabama 44-yard line ... Sophomore wide receiver DJ Hall
(Ft. Walton Beach) caught six passes for 48 yards, including an 8-yard TD in the second quarter ... Hall’s TD grab was just the second offensive
TD scored by Alabama in its last four SEC games ... UA had not scored an offensive TD in SEC play since Kenneth Darby’s 48-yard TD run in the
third quarter at Ole Miss on Oct. 15th ... Alabama is now 251-119-14 all-time in the month of November, including a 3-6 mark under Coach
Shula ... Bama is now 7-7-1 all-time in games played on Nov. 12th ...