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see pictures from Homecoming against the Utah State Aggies

Yea Alabama! ... Aggies Stuffed 35-3
Brodie Croyle (#12 QB, Sr. 6-3 205 lbs. 3VL Rainbow City, AL-Westbrook Christian High School)
DeMeco Ryans (#35 SLB, Sr. 6-2 232 lbs. 3VL Bessemer, AL-Jess Lanier High School)

Brodie Croyle and DeMeco Ryans answer questions after the game

These post game comments came as Brodie Croyle and DeMeco Ryans answered post game questions from the press pool ...

Press Pool ... Brodie, how's the elbow?

Brodie Croyle ...It's broke.

(press pool laughs)

Croyle ... Naaa ... I'm just kidding. I just got some stitches. It's just got knocked up a little bit, it aint' no big deal. I was coming out after that drive anyway.

Didn't you also take some shots to your knee today where the brace is?

Yeah, I did, but it ain't no big deal. If anything, the brace probably helped as much as I hate to say it because I hate wearing it. Coach Shula and Coach Rader know about quarterbacks, and they know that is your lead leg where all your weight is going to be while people are diving all around your ankles and knees. I think it might have helped out a little bit.

How many stitches did you get?

He only put one in there because he said he didn't want to get it too stiff, so I only got one.

Brodie, y'all got off to such a quick start ... what happened?

Well, we've got a lot of young guys and we're still trying to mature as an offense. We came out with the mindset that we had something to prove and that we had to put up a lot of points. Then Bam, it happened all of a sudden and I think everyone kind of started patting themselves on the back a little bit. Then we went through a little lull there where we didn't get anything done. But that's just young guys maturing and getting more confidence, and realizing that if you score on the first two drives, the defense isn't just going to lay down. So I think that was probably good for us. Overall, we had a pretty good day and at least we found the endzone again.

Talk about Zeke Knight and how you got him involved today.

Zeke had a big day. He caught the first touchdown pass in traffic and almost caught a second touchdown pass. He had a big day. Even after he dropped that one ball. The old Zeke, that's usually when his day would be over. He used to have that mindset where he would kind of go into a shell. But he came back and had two more catches after that drop and I think that shows how much maturity he's gotten throughout the year. Having him as a threat is going to be big for us throughout the year.

DeMeco, can you kind of assess what the day was like for you defensively?

DeMeco ... We started out pretty well with a couple of three and outs. Then they got a couple of drives on us. They were throwing and catching the ball well. We knew they had a great quarterback, and their receiver, #1, was pretty good. So we expected them to catch and throw the ball well. They got a couple of big drives, but we were strong enough to stand up and stop them and hold them to only 3 points.

Brodie, can you talk about exactly what happened with the injury. Did your elbow get caught on a facemask or something?

Brodie ... I was in the process of throwing and the guy's helmet just hit it right on the elbow. It happens every day, but it just happened today that my elbow got caught on something on his helmet and just ripped it open. I don't even know if it's bruised, but it just feels like a cut right. It isn't anything to look into. Probably could have had another touchdown on that last pass if I'd had any feeling in my arm.

It looked like you about to come out right after than happened in the middle of the series. What was the conversation with the coaches about that?

Oh I didn't know that (grins, everyone laughs). I didn't know that was an option. I went over there to Coach Shula and he was asking me if I was all right and what wrong. I told him I had a little cut and it wasn't any big deal. I just went back out there, and I'm glad KD (Kenneth Darby) decided to break one long.

Did this game serve you guys well considering the stretch run you've got.

DeMeco ... Oh yeah. We had a chance to get a lot of the younger guys out there. They were able to get some playing experience. It helped get our team better today by getting those younger guys reps. Now we have more depth on defense and those young guys can come in, step up and make big plays if one of our other players goes down.

Brodie, is there anything you can say to answer the question about whether the wear and tear of the season is going to get to you?

I've played eight games and I've got a cut on my elbow. Take it from there.

Brodie, can you talk about John Parker Wilson getting a touchdown pass today. He's had some trouble recently (DUI arrest).

It's fun watching John Parker get out there. He's just a guy that loves playing the game of football. Everybody loves it, but he really just ... football is it. To watch him after he throws a touchdown, he takes it to a whole new level. But he's going to be a very good football player here and he'll get through all that and make everybody forget about that. He's going to set a lot of records and win a lot of football games for the University of Alabama.

(question inaudible)

It does. This is where it all begins. We don't want to go 10 and 1 and get left out of the SEC championship game. If we don't show up every week these next three weeks we could very easily do that. This is it. This is where we've got to bear down and start playing our best football of the year.

You've been trying to make strides as an offense. Do you feel like you've made those strides to the satisfaction of the coaches, or is there more to do?

There's still strides to make obviously. We had three or four series there in the first quarter after we scored the first two touchdowns that we went three and out. We can't do that. We have to find a way to keep the defense off the field and find a way when we have an opponent down to step on their throat and finish it. We kind of kept them in it for a little while. But we did make strides. We found the endzone and I think along the way that DJ proved he's going to be our play maker and our go to guy. And I think we found another playmaker in Zeke Knight. He needed a game like this. He needed a game where he could come in and make the tough catches, and make some big catches for us in clutch situations. He did that.

You've thrown a lot of passes without an interception. Can you talk about that a little?

I kind of started out bad with two games and two interceptions. Since then, I've been trying to just take care of the ball and I almost threw one today, but Zeke saved me. It's just taking care of the ball. The way we've been playing, we've got to take care of the ball. We can't have turnovers. We can't give teams hope. That requires me sometimes when I have the chance to thread the needle to just sit back and go to my checkdown guy as opposed to trying to make the big-time throw.

DeMeco, could you comment on what Brodie said about November being the month that you really have to step up?

DeMeco ... It's crunch time. It's a time when our team needs to be getting better and go out with a bang, with a big finish. We started fast, now we're 8-0. Now it's time to finish our season strong by doing the things we did at the beginning of the season .. taking one game at a time and keeping our focus.

How closely do you guys watch scores from around the nation and keep us with that.

We just keep our focus on what we can control. We can control next week and that's where all our focus is. We can't control the national picture so there's no need to get all bent out of shape or get concerned about it because we can't control it. We just have to go out an win each week.

What would you say is the strong point of this team?

It's the comradere we have and the family that our team has become. Our guys are so close. We have a special team with great leaders in our senior class. Our seniors stepped up and said we were going to put Bama back on top where it's supposed to be and that's what we've been doing week in and week out. We come out and prove ourselves by winning and that's what we want to continue to do.