OT: Saturday will be Nick Saban's first game at Alabama without starting QB
October 24th, 2019 at 11:39 PM ^
Color me jealous...
October 24th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
I saw that too. Pretty crazy.
Luck? Protection? Lack of QB running (until recently)?
October 25th, 2019 at 12:22 AM ^
Drugs, probably
October 25th, 2019 at 12:43 AM ^
Having great offensive lines helps, keeps the QB clean, fewer hits etc etc. Saban has generally shied away from running the QB in high contact risk plays, almost always run to sideline and out of bounds, never up the middle into waiting LB, Safeties or Corners looking to light up the QB. Alabama QB runs are almost always scrambles.
Alabama has also been so good under Saban the starting QB rarely has to finish a 4Quarter game, fewer plays, less contact, less risk of injury.
and some luck.
October 24th, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
Im sure the mighty Razorbacks of Arkansas are breathing a sigh of relief at their good fortune.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:04 AM ^
And he will win
October 25th, 2019 at 12:39 AM ^
Michigan was very lucky with starting QB's under Bo, Mo, Lloyd for the most part. Its been a real struggle for M to get to the finish line with a healthy starting qb since 2007.
In a kind of absurd way really.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:23 AM ^
Biggest one I can remember was Matt Gutierrez, which only served to give us a full four years of Henne. That worked out.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:46 AM ^
1984 was the disaster year. Jim Harbaugh broke a color bone recovering a fumble against Michigan State. We were shortly introduced to Russ Rein and Chris Zurbrugg. One of them ended up hurt as well.
A Michigan team that had beaten #1 Miami and potentially a Big 10 contender was relegated to scrapping together a 6-6 season while barely losing to an unbeaten BYU in the Holiday bowl.
October 25th, 2019 at 8:15 AM ^
Wow that sounds almost exactly like 2017, except we managed 8-5. I bet if MGoBlog existed then we'd would have been calling for Bo's head and claiming UNACCEPTABLE that the backup QB wasn't ready.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
What color was his bone? (Spellcheck strikes again.)
October 25th, 2019 at 6:54 AM ^
Drew Henson missed the first 3 games of 2000 but it was due to an injury (stress fracture) suffered while playing baseball.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^
Here are the ones I remember.
1973: Dennis Franklin's shoulder separation against (sigh) Ohio State leads to Michigan getting screwed out of the Rose Bowl and staying home. I was too young then to remember most of the details.
1979-1980: John Wangler has a serious knee injury in the Gator Bowl and misses a couple of starts in 1980 for Rich Hewlett. Hewlett finished up his career on defense.
1984: Harbaugh's injury as described by BlueInLansing.
1989: Michael Taylor is hurt against Notre Dame and freshman Elvis Grbac has a couple of starts in his place.
1992: Elvis Grbac is hurt against Notre Dame and Todd Collins has a couple of starts in his place. Collins also plays most of the (sigh) Ohio State game, which ends in a tie.
1995-1996: Scott Dreisbach is the starter as a freshman, but he misses most of 1995 and is hurt against Ohio State and misses the bowl game. Brian Griese starts when he's out and wins the job in 1997.
2000: Drew Henson hurts his foot (?) and John Navarre has a couple of starts. Henson comes back during the Illinois game.
2004: Matt Guttierez is hurt before the season and never starts a game because of Chad Henne.
2007: Henne is hurt against Oregon and the immortal Ryan Mallett starts in his place.
2008-2019: I've blacked it all out and you can't make me remember.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
Yes he did and I was glad for my chance to get on the field!
?
October 25th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
And then we had last year, where everyone said we would beat OSU if we could just keep Shea healthy.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:45 AM ^
October 25th, 2019 at 12:59 AM ^
Wow. That is a helluva stat, would never have even considered it.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:59 AM ^
And it won't matter because Arkansas. They can run the ball every single play and still win by 21 points. It would be much more interesting if they were playing LSU or Auburn.
October 25th, 2019 at 1:03 AM ^
I mean before Hurts/Tua they really never had a stud QB. Crazy stat for sure but they’re so loaded that they can get by regardless.
October 25th, 2019 at 2:00 AM ^
Pretty obvious someone made a business deal when he arrived in Tuscaloosa.
Who could it be... who could it be... let's see... SABAN, who does that remind me of...
October 25th, 2019 at 3:33 AM ^
Damn...didn't see your post ....well done - with imagery and all.
October 25th, 2019 at 6:08 AM ^
It certainly would lead one to believe that.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
updated for our times....
October 25th, 2019 at 3:32 AM ^
Strange, deals with the devil usually last until death. Just aks OSU fans.
October 25th, 2019 at 6:07 AM ^
Too bad they aren’t playing LSU this week.
October 25th, 2019 at 7:21 AM ^
They would still only drop down to #2 in the polls.
October 25th, 2019 at 6:17 AM ^
I guess he knows how to protect the QB?
What would he have done with Michigan's QB situation in 2017?
October 25th, 2019 at 6:26 AM ^
Probably win
October 25th, 2019 at 6:30 AM ^
I don't think he would have ended up in a situation like that. He has too much experience in running things.
October 25th, 2019 at 6:47 AM ^
Poor Nick Saban... my heart goes out to him
October 25th, 2019 at 7:41 AM ^
...at home vs 2-5 AR, I suspect Saban and the rest of the AL (many NFL caliber players) team will be fine without their starting QB Saturday
October 25th, 2019 at 7:52 AM ^
This may be true, he may never had a starting QB get injured, but I know for a fact he has played a starting QB when he Hurts....
Thats the best I got....only half way through my first cup of coffee....
October 25th, 2019 at 8:05 AM ^
Tua has had enough time to drink a cup of coffee in the pocket the last two years (aside from the Clemson beat down). That and being able to sit out the last 15-20 minutes of almost any game is pretty good for QB health.
October 25th, 2019 at 8:08 AM ^
Guy can't catch a break
October 25th, 2019 at 8:52 AM ^
OSU has been running their quarterbacks since 2003 and their only major injury helped them win a fucking national championship. Dylan can't even run the ball once without people launching at his head. You never seem teams like Wisconsin or MSU pull that shit against OSU, but they always do against us
October 25th, 2019 at 9:00 AM ^
I thought Michigan was playing Arkansas.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
Figures. The one time they're hit by something they get to play a scrub team. Whatever... I suspect the high-end 4-stars they have riding the pine will be just fine. Time for them to earn their paycheck.
October 25th, 2019 at 9:05 AM ^
I'll be rooting for Bama to be strong & make the CFP. Mich is already out - need good teams in to knock off OSU if they make it in.
October 25th, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
Its obvious that a good, healthy starting QB is the key to winning. Michigan has had a lot of problems with this over the past 15 years.
October 25th, 2019 at 3:47 PM ^
The SEC will probably spot Alabama a couple of TD's since they are being forced to with such hardship.