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Shaud Williams for Heisman?
Rodney Orr (publisher Tider Insider)

This analysis was provided by Rodney Orr following Alabama's 27-17 win over the Kentucky Wildcats ...

Tide Home Games - Your impressions of the game tonight Rodney?

Rodney Orr- It was about like I had expected to be quite honest with you. I knew that Kentucky was going to be tough. (Jared) Lorenzen obviously lived up to everything that people thought he would. He made a few plays when he had to and showed a lot of grit. He runs pretty well for a big guy too. So he did pretty well. Alabama’s offense had problems sticking the ball in the endzone when they had the opportunity. I think that was the biggest thing that really kept Alabama from putting this game away.

Shaud had a big game.

Shaud was incredible. But he always is. I think every game he does something to make things happen. He’s got about as much determination as anyone I’ve ever seen play here at Alabama. And that includes a lot of great players. He just runs so hard and runs so much bigger than what he is. He’s just a great player and I’ll tell you what, they’re going to have a difficult time replacing him next year.

Do you think Shaud is a legitimate candidate for Heisman?

I think he could be. Why not? He’s putting up some good numbers. He means as much to this football team as probably any player around the country means to theirs. You take him away from this offense … I mean, the other backs are good, but he brings so much in terms of leadership. He’s older than the others and I just think he means a lot. But yeah, I think he’s definitely a candidate. You never know what could happen. It depends on what kind of numbers he puts up down the road.

Is this Alabama team where you thought it would be five months ago, when it was going through all the turmoil?

Probably a little farther along. First of all, I think because Coach Shula kept Joe Kines and the defensive staff intact. So the defense hasn’t missed a beat since Spring practice. As far as the offense goes, I think the best thing it does is run the football. You can win a lot of football games running the ball. You look at those Gene Stallings teams. The knock on him was that he ran so much and was so conservative. But a win is a win. And Alabama needs to win football games right now.

What about next week. What do you expect?

I don’t really know. I don’t know much about Northern Illinios. I know that a lot of people think they are a very dangerous team. They knocked off Maryland. So they cannot be taken lightly. Again, with the scholarship situation the way it is across college football, teams are getting a lot of good players that they used to not get. So I think it’s going to be another tough game there’s no question about it. Alabama has a lot of injuries it looks like. They’re going to have to really dig down and play hard again.

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Click on the name for parts of their post-game interviews ..
Coach Mike Shula (Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach)

Shaud Williams (#21 Sr. TB, 5-8 191 lbs. Andrews, TX - Texas Tech transfer)

Derrick Pope (#6 Sr. MLB, 6-0 226 lbs. Galveston, TX - Garden City CC)

Thurman Ward (#1 Jr. RCB, 6-1 186 lbs. Starkville, MS - Starkville High)

Brodie Croyle (#12 So. QB, 6-3 200 lbs. Rainbow City, AL - Westbrook Christian High)

Postgame Analysis from Rodney Orr - Tider Insider

Rodney Orr (Tider Insider publisher)

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