APOne of the more under-the-radar storylines heading into next week’s BCS championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame is the status of one of the top offensive linemen in the country.
Barrett Jones suffered a foot injury in the Tide’s SEC championship game win over Georgia Dec. 1 and had not practiced since. That changed Tuesday afternoon as Jones returned to practice with his Tide teammates in the run-up to what will be UA’s third BCS title-game appearance in four years.
Jones had missed all nine of the Tide’s postseason workouts because of the sprained foot. There’s no official word yet, though, on Jones’ availability for the Jan. 7 game against the Irish.
After moving to center this season from left tackle, Jones was named to numerous postseason All-American teams after starting every game for the SEC champs.
First
Reblogged this on COS- Charles Olson Sports and commented:
The key matchup for the BCS National Championship game is focused on Alabama’s offensive live, versus Notre Dame’s defensive line. Barrett Jones is the anchor on the Tide’s front, and his presence alone should be enough to help the Tide “Roll.”
Alabama currently sits as a 10-point favorite for the January 7th title matchup.
The line on this game is 9 1/2 points. Las Vegas usually gets it correct. But I think this is way too many points and the spread will drop as we get closer to game-day. ND is using this as bulletin board fodder even though ‘Bama is not the one stating they will win by that amount. ND is ranked #1 yet they are being relegated as heavy underdogs. Believe me, I am rooting 100% for “The Tide” to win. But the media is using Vegas point spread to hype this game. If ND happens to win, it will go down as one of the most impressive “upsets” of all time. It just help ND claim its position as the top football factory in the collegiate world. Therefore this game is truly positioned as the “SEC vs. ND” for top billing.
Bama will win by 17.
NDs RG, Golic, is their Achilles Heel. Watch him get manhandled by the Bama DL. Good kid & I hate to beat him up, but he’s not athletic or quick enough to compete vs top tier DL.
I suspect a half-speed #75 is better than most college offensive linemen.
Won’t matter, Irish are going to roll these clowns!