2007 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

The Sagarin computer ratings calculated Alabama's strength of schedule to be the 31st most difficult out of the 245 Division I teams. The Cosgrove Computer Rankings calculated it as the 55th most difficult out of the 119 Division I FBS teams in its rankings. Alabama's 2007 schedule was officially released on July 24, 2006. It featured six pre-season AP Top 25 teams, eight of which made bowl games in 2006. In accordance with conference rules, Alabama faced all five Western Division opponents: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. They also faced three Eastern Division opponents: official SEC rival Tennessee, Georgia, and Vanderbilt. Alabama did not play SEC opponents Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina. For the 2007 Independence Bowl, Alabama played Colorado of the Big 12 Conference. }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} ==Rankings==

The Crimson Tide completed a 6–6 regular season record. Following their loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, head coach Mike Shula was fired on November 27, after four years. Athletic director Mal Moore announced defensive coordinator Joe Kines as interim head coach for the Independence Bowl, The most notable departures were Kenneth Darby and Le'Ron McClain on offense, and Dominic Lee, Jeremy Clark, Juwan Simpson, Terrence Jones, Jeffrey Dukes, and Ramzee Robinson on defense. The Crimson Tide offense returned all three quarterbacks, including starter John Parker Wilson. The entire starting offensive line returned, anchored by freshman All-American Andre Smith, along with reinforcements by the top four tight ends from the 2006 depth chart. Alabama's receiving unit was led by D. J. Hall, who broke nearly every Alabama-receiving record in school history in 2006. The Alabama defense returned five starters in 2007, based on the 3–3–5 scheme that was run in 2006. The Tide had a new starting nose tackle, outside linebacker, strongside linebacker, cornerback, and a starting safety. ;Offense ;Defense ;Special teams ==Game summaries==

Western Carolina {{AFB game box start Sources: The Nick Saban era commenced before a sold-out, home crowd of 92,138 by defeating the Western Carolina Catamounts 52–6 for both Nick Saban's first regular season game and victory as Alabama's head coach. Redshirt freshman running back Terry Grant scored the first touchdown of the season, on the first offensive play of the game, with a 47-yard touchdown run. Grant then scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run to give Alabama a 14–0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Vanderbilt {{AFB game box start Sources: For the 19th consecutive time, stretching back to the 1984 season, Alabama defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores to open conference play. In this contest, the Crimson Tide were victorious before a sold-out crowd of 39,773 at Vanderbilt Stadium 24–10 for Nick Saban's first conference victory as Alabama's head coach. After Javier Arenas returned the first punt of the game 69-yards to the one-yard line, for the second week in a row Terry Grant scored a touchdown on Alabama's first offensive play with his one-yard run. Leigh Tiffin hit a 20-yard field goal later in the quarter as did the Commodores' Bryant Hahnfeldt from 33 yards to make the score 10–3 at the end of the first. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against the Commodores to 58–19–4 (61–18–4 without NCAA vacations and forfeits). In what was considered their first true test of the season, Alabama built an early 21-point lead but had to mount a come-from-behind drive in the final two minutes of the game in order to capture a 41–38 victory against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Bama took a 21–0 lead into the second quarter after a pair of D. J. Hall touchdown receptions of nine and 35 yards from John Parker Wilson and a 14-yard Glen Coffee run. The Razorbacks closed the gap to 21–10 at the half after Casey Dick threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Crosby Tuck and Alex Tejada converted a 22-yard field goal. A week after upsetting Arkansas and entering both the AP and Coaches' Polls, Alabama was defeated in overtime by the Georgia Bulldogs 26–23. The Crimson Tide found themselves trailing 7–0 early in the first quarter after a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Thomas Brown. Brandon Coutu and Leigh Tiffin each added a field goal in the second quarter for their respective teams to give the Bulldogs a lead 10–3 at halftime. In what was Alabama's first regular season game played at a neutral site since the Kickoff Classic in 1986, Alabama was defeated in the inaugural River City Showdown at Jacksonville, Florida by the Florida State Seminoles 21–14. After a scoreless first half, the Seminoles got on the board first in the third quarter. Florida State scored on their first play of the second half when Xavier Lee connected with De'Cody Fagg for a seven-yard touchdown reception. The Seminoles extended their lead to 14–0 early in the fourth quarter on a five-yard Antone Smith touchdown run. Coming on the heels of two consecutive losses, the Crimson Tide defeated the Houston Cougars on homecoming in Tuscaloosa 30–24. After the first quarter, Alabama led Houston 23–0 after scoring a trio of touchdowns and a safety. On the ensuing Cougar drive, Wallace Gilberry sacked Houston quarterback Blake Joseph for a safety and a 9–0 Alabama lead. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against the Cougars to 9–0 (10–0 without NCAA vacations). Ole Miss {{AFB game box start Sources: In an unexpected offensive showcase, the Alabama managed to defeat the Ole Miss Rebels 27–24 in Oxford. Leigh Tiffin opened the scoring with a 27-yard field goal to give the Crimson Tide a 3–0 lead. The Rebels responded with an eight-yard Dexter McCluster touchdown reception from Seth Adams to take a 7–3 lead at the end of the first quarter. In their annual rivalry game, Alabama met the Tennessee Volunteers and was victorious 41–17 in Nick Saban's first "The Third Saturday in October" as head coach of Alabama. Saban elected to kick an onside kick on the opening kickoff that Alabama recovered. On the ensuing drive, Leigh Tiffin connected on a 39-yard field goal to give the Crimson Tide an early 3–0 lead. In the game dubbed "Saban Bowl I", in which Nick Saban's new Alabama team faced a LSU Tigers team that featured several players Saban himself had recruited during his tenure in Baton Rouge, the Tide found itself in an SEC shootout, but lost 41–34. Alabama struck first with a 36-yard Leigh Tiffin field goal. The Tigers quickly responded on their next drive when Flynn threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd to bring the Tigers back to within three points of Bama. The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against the Tigers to 43–23–5. Mississippi State {{AFB game box start Sources: Coming a week after a tough loss to LSU, the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated Alabama for the second consecutive season, this time by a score of 17–12. Alabama took a 9–0 lead halfway through the second quarter on Leigh Tiffin field goals of 39, 51 and 29 yards. In the third quarter, Mississippi State extended their lead to 17–9 after scoring the only offensive touchdown of the game. The score came on a three-yard run by Anthony Dixon. Coming off their second consecutive loss, Alabama suffered their worst loss of the season when the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks defeated the Crimson Tide 21–14 in Bryant–Denny Stadium. Alabama took an early 7–0 lead after a 17-yard Keith Brown touchdown reception from John Parker Wilson. Both teams then traded touchdowns to tie the game at 14–14 at the half. Alabama scored on a 12-yard Terry Grant run and Louisiana–Monroe scored on a 13-yard Frank Goodin run. Coming off their third consecutive loss, Alabama lost in the Iron Bowl for the sixth consecutive time against the arch-rival Auburn Tigers 17–10 on "The Plains". Auburn took a 10–0 lead in the first quarter with Ben Tate scoring on a three-yard touchdown run and Wes Byrum connecting on a 37-yard field goal. Alabama was able to cut the lead to 17–10 after a 49-yard Leigh Tiffin field goal with 2:11 remaining in the game. After a four-game slide to end a once promising season, Alabama defeated the Colorado Buffaloes in the 2007 Independence Bowl 30–24 to finish the season with an overall record of 7–6. Alabama scored on their opening drive on a 41-yard Leigh Tiffin field goal to lead 3–0. Once again, Alabama relied on another field goal from Tiffin to push their lead to 6–0. Later in the quarter, John Parker Wilson threw touchdown strikes of 15-yards to Keith Brown and 34-yards to Matt Caddell to extend the Crimson Tide lead to 20–0 after one quarter. Early in the second quarter, Wilson connected with Nikita Stover on a 31-yard touchdown pass and the Crimson Tide lead 27–0. The Buffaloes controlled the majority of the second quarter after Wilson threw an interception to Ryan Walters with just under six minutes remaining in the half. Colorado cut the Alabama lead to 27–14 at the half on a pair of Cody Hawkins touchdown passes. The first was a four-yard pass to Tyson DeVree and the second a 25-yard pass to Dusty Sprague. The only score in the third quarter would come from Kevin Eberhart on a 39-yard Colorado field goal. Tiffin kicked a field goal as the Crimson Tide lead 30–17 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Colorado responded on the following drive with a 14-yard Hawkins touchdown pass to DeVree to cut the Alabama lead to 30–24 with 3:51 remaining in the game. Alabama was able to run the clock down, and after receiving the 49-yard P. J. Fitzgerald punt, only 0:01 remained in the game. On the final play of the game, Colorado attempted several lateral passes but would fall short of midfield. The 30–24 victory sent Alabama to a 7–6 overall record as they avoided a second consecutive losing season. ==Personnel==

Coaching staff On January 3, 2007, Alabama announced that Nick Saban was hired from the Miami Dolphins to serve as the program's 27th head coach. In the weeks that followed, Saban worked to fill his staff. The first hires came on January 9 with Kirby Smart hired from the Dolphins to serve as defensive coordinator; Kevin Steele from Florida State to serve as head defensive coach; and Lance Thompson from UCF to serve as linebackers coach. On January 11, Joe Pendry of the Houston Texans was hired to serve as an assistant head and linebackers coach. On January 12 Saban hired two more assistants. Ron Middleton was hired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to serve as both the tight ends and special teams coach and Bo Davis from the Dolphins was hired as defensive line coach. On January 13 Major Applewhite was hired from Rice to serve as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. On January 16 Burton Burns was hired from Clemson to serve as both associate head and running backs coach. On February 19 Curt Cignetti was hired from NC State to serve as both receivers coach and recruiting coordinator to fill the final position on Saban's inaugural coaching staff. Roster Recruiting class Alabama's recruiting class was highlighted by three players from the "ESPN 150": No. 72 Kerry Murphy (DT); No. 80 William Vlachos (OG); and No. 118 Luther Davis (DE). Alabama signed the No. 10 recruiting class according to Rivals and the No. 22 according to Scout. Statistics On the defensive side of the ball, of the 119 FBS schools Alabama ranked 28th in rushing defense (124.15 yards per game), 27th in scoring defense (22.00 points per game), 31st in total defense (345.46 yards per game) and 48th in passing defense (221.31 yards per game). Individually, Rashad Johnson led the team with 94 total tackles, 57 solo tackles and 37 assisted tackles. Wallace Gilberry was 23rd nationally, third in conference and first on the team with 10 quarterback sacks. Gilberry was also third nationally, first in conference and first on the team with 22 tackles for loss. Rashad Johnson led the team with six of Alabama's nineteen total interceptions of the season. On offense, of the 119 FBS teams, Alabama ranked 59th in passing offense (224.54 yards per game), 60th in rushing offense (149.23 yards per game), 64th in scoring offense (27.08 points per game) and 75th in total offense (373.77 yards per game). John Parker Wilson led the team in passing offense and completed 255 of 462 passes for 2,846 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. D. J. Hall led the team with 67 receptions for 1,005 yards and six touchdown receptions. ==After the season==

In the week following the Independence Bowl victory, several changes were made to the Alabama coaching staff. Alabama lost their tight ends and special teams coach, Ron Middleton, on January 4, 2008, when he was hired as assistant head coach for Duke and their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Major Applewhite, on January 16, 2008, when he was hired as running backs coach for Texas. During the following weeks, Saban named former Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams as his team's new as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, and Jim McElwain from Fresno State as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. As part of the A-Day celebrations on April 12, 2008, the 2007 team captains Antoine Caldwell, Rashad Johnson and Darren Mustin were honored at the Walk of Fame ceremony at the base of Denny Chimes. Awards Following the SEC Championship Game, the conference named its award winners. Four players were named to the Coaches' All-SEC First Team, including Andre Smith, Wallace Gilberry, Simeon Castille and Rashad Johnson. D. J. Hall and Antoine Caldwell were named to the Coaches' All-SEC Second Team. McClain was also named to the 2007 Freshman All-America team by the Football Writers Association of America. NCAA sanctions In October 2007, the athletic department discovered a potential NCAA-violation present throughout the athletics program. The violations stemmed from athletes from several sports, including football, receiving improper benefits as a result of a failure in the distribution system of textbooks to student athletes from the university. After a prolonged investigation, in June 2009 the NCAA ruled all athletes that received improper benefits related to the textbook distribution system were deemed ineligible. As such, as part of the penalties imposed on the football program, all victories which those included in the inquiry participated, were officially vacated from the all-time record. As such, all five victories from the 2007 season prior to the suspension of the ineligible players on October 20 (Western Carolina, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Houston and Ole Miss) were vacated making the official record for the season two wins and six losses (2–6). The first round selection was Andre Smith (6th Cincinnati Bengals); and the third round picks were Coffee (74th San Francisco 49ers), Caldwell (77th Houston Texans) and Rashad Johnson (95th Arizona Cardinals). In the 2010 NFL draft, Alabama had six players selected that competed as part of the 2007 team. The first round selections were McClain (8th Oakland Raiders) and Jackson (20th Houston Texans); the second round pick was Arenas (50th Kansas City Chiefs); the third round pick was Mike Johnson (98th Atlanta Falcons); and the seventh round picks were Marquis Johnson (211th St. Louis Rams) and Deaderick (247th New England Patriots). Following the 2010 season, Alabama had two players selected that competed as part of the 2007 team in the 2011 NFL draft. James Carpenter was selected in the first round (25th Seattle Seahawks) and Greg McElroy was selected in the seventh round (208th New York Jets). ==References==