Contributed
(Nov. 5, 2009)

TUSCALOOSA – A trio of Alabama football players – Mark Ingram, Rolando McClain and Terrence Cody – were named semifinalists for three national college football awards, it was announced on Wednesday.

Ingram, a sophomore running back from Flint, Mich., was named one of 16 semifinalists for the 73rd Maxwell Award, given annually to the best player in college football.  Ingram and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow are the only two SEC players to be named semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.

McClain, a junior linebacker from Decatur, and Cody, a senior nose guard from Ft. Myers, Fla., were among the 16 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player in college football.  McClain and Cody were among six SEC players named to the Bednarik Award list.

“We’re happy to see that some of our players are getting considered and making some of the semifinalists list for national awards,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban following Wednesday’s practice.  “I think these are all function of successful teams. Most people that win these awards are guys that play on good teams and get a lot of recognition because of their team’s success.  Most of the time when you have good team success there’s a lot of positive accolades for everyone involved and we are certainly proud that we have some players being considered on the national level.”

Ingram leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with 125.5 rushing yards per game this season. In eight games, he has amassed 1,004 yards and eight rushing touchdowns.  He joins former UA running back Shaun Alexander (1999) as the fastest Alabama player to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season as both achieved the milestone in the eighth game of the season.  He has been twice named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after performances against No. 7 Virginia Tech (Sept. 7) and No. 22 South Carolina (Oct. 17), where he rushed for a Bryant-Denny Stadium record 246 yards in the 20-6 win.

In three games against top 25 teams, Ingram has 78 rushing attempts for 568 yards and three touchdowns in wins over Virginia Tech, Mississippi and South Carolina.  He is averaging 7.3 yards per carry and 189.3 yards per game against ranked teams this season.  In five SEC games, he averages 141.4 yards per game and has scored five touchdowns.

McClain is also a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and Lombardi Trophy this season.  He has anchored an Alabama defense that leads the nation in rushing defense (64.88) and ranks second nationally in total defense (236.63), scoring defense (11.0) and pass efficiency defense (88.43 rating) this season.

In eight games, McClain leads the Tide with 57 tackles and ranks second on the team with seven tackles for loss (-28 yards).  He has added seven quarterback pressures, two sacks (-21), two interceptions, one pass breakup and one recovered fumble.  He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after his 12-tackle performance at Kentucky on Oct. 3.  He was also responsible for three of the Tide’s four takeaways in the 38-20 win.  McClain was also named National Defensive Player of the Week twice this season against Kentucky and South Carolina (Oct. 27).

Cody is coming off one of his best games at Alabama, where he blocked two field goals in the Crimson Tide’s 12-10 win over Tennessee at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Oct. 24.  Cody blocked a Tennessee field goal with 10:33 left in the game and then sealed the Crimson Tide’s win when he blocked a potential game-winning field goal on the final play of the game.  The two blocked kicks tied the UA single-game record.

Cody has anchored an Alabama defensive front that leads the nation in rushing defense, yielding 64.88 yards per game. Cody has 17 tackles, five tackles for loss (-10), two quarterback pressures and one pass breakup in eight games this season.

Preparations continue for LSU

Alabama practiced for two hours in full pads at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility on Wednesday afternoon, as preparation continues for Saturday’s SEC Western Division game against No. 9 LSU.

“Practice is going well this week and the players are working hard to try and prepare,” Saban said following Wednesday’s practice. “We want to finish the week strong. Tomorrow is a real mental preparation day for us, lots of reps and I’ve been pleased with the effort and attitude. This is a challenging team to prepare for on both sides of the ball. They have lots of good players, especially skill guys on offense, and they utilize them in a lot of different ways and that’s always challenging. Defensively they are very good up front, very good in the secondary. They’ve really got good players in the secondary and have played extremely well all year, but especially in the last two games.”

Saban also discussed the injury status of senior tight end Colin Peek, junior running back Terry Grant and freshman defensive back Dre Kirkpatick.

“From an injury update standpoint, Dre practiced some today,” Saban said. “Terry Grant didn’t do much today and Colin Peek practiced a little bit yesterday and a little bit today, but those guys would still be, you know, day-to-day.”

The Alabama-LSU game will be nationally televised by CBS Sports with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. (CST) from Bryant-Denny Stadium. Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson will call the action. The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, with Eli Gold, Phil Savage and Barry Krauss.

Saban also participated in the SEC Head Coaches weekly teleconference on Wednesday and here are some of those comments:

On what has jumped out at you about LSU’s offense the last two weeks:

“I think they’ve had very good balance in their offense.  They utilize a lot of their skill players.  Russell Shepard has made a big contribution in the last couple of games and I think they have some very good receivers who can make plays down the field.  Jordan Jefferson has played more and more consistently throughout the season for them.  His pass efficiency is very good. They have the ability to run the ball and create balance, so they are just doing a little better job executing with consistency and I think scoring more points because of it.”

On the matchup between Alabama receivers and LSU secondary, particularly Julio Jones and Patrick Peterson:

“LSU’s got a really good secondary, very athletic, guys tackle well.  They play physical.  They all can judge the ball.  They have really nice-sized good physical safeties and they play well. It’s going to be important for our guys to play well against them.  They play a lot of close coverage and our guys are going to have to get away from them and give the quarterback an opportunity to throw the ball, so it’s going to be a key matchup in the game no doubt.  Hopefully our guys will be ready for it and the things that we do will give them a chance to be successful.”

On the importance of open date heading into a game like LSU:

“Regardless of the next game, I really felt like our team was a little bit tired and beat up, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally going into the last game. When you play eight games in a row, and five of them are SEC games, I think that can take its toll on you a little bit.  This was a good week for us to get some rest physically, have the players make some choices and decisions to help themselves to be able to come back and get focused, emotionally, physically and mentally be in a better place than they were. I think that’s happened for us and I’ve been pleased with that part of how our players have managed the bye week, in terms of the improvement that they’ve made and the rest that we’ve been able to get as well.”