ALABAMA FOOTBALL: Stopping Mallett key for Tide defense

TUSCALOOSA — Javier Arenas didn’t look at the final score of Georgia’s 52-41 victory over Arkansas last week.

He looked at the highlights — and came away impressed with Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett.

“I’m pretty astonished at how confident the quarterback was,” Arenas said this week. “I didn’t know of him before this point, but, I mean, he’s an excellent quarterback, you know? It came as a surprise to me, because I’d never seen him before.”

He knows him now — as does the rest of the Alabama defense. They will see him Saturday afternoon when the Razorbacks visit Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Crimson Tide’s SEC opener.

Mallett, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Michigan who sat out last season, has the tools to run Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino’s pro-style passing attack.
His five touchdown passes and 408 passing yards against Georgia were both single-game Arkansas records.

But Arenas noticed the sophomore’s poise was just as impressive as his numbers.

“Just him sitting there in the pocket and playing his ball,” Arenas said. “I mean, just throwing the ball and being able to relax back there. He looked real good.”

Mallett was 3-0 as a starter at Michigan in 2007 — beating Notre Dame, Penn State and Minnesota.

This year, he leads the nation in passing efficiency, and the Razorbacks are second in the nation in passing offense (428 yards per game) and total offense (538 ypg).

Of course, the key to Arenas’ evaluation was “sitting there.” Petrino knows Alabama’s gameplan will certainly be to pressure the quarterback.

“You know, those guys really rush,” Petrino said this week. “I think that’s the thing that stands out most is you’ve got to get yourself, we’ve got to get ourselves to third-and-medium, third-and-short because they like to tee off with their pass rush.

“Third down is when they really like to do their blitzing, and they have a lot of experience, so they can get a little exotic with some of the blitzes that they do and they’re very good at it.”

But Alabama coach Nick Saban said blitzing every play is similar to being a pitcher with only one pitch. “They are probably eventually going to hit you,” the coach said.

Instead, Saban stressed the importance of getting pressure with three and four rushers.

“You need to affect him with disguise, with different coverages, with different ways to pressure,” Saban said. “Obviously, it’s most critical to be able to rush three and four guys and get some pressure to make the ball come out on time so he can’t hold it and let you get extended down the field.”

That means Terrence Cody’s wish of being a third-down pass rusher will be granted — at least on first and second down. Several Razorbacks, including Mallett, said that neutralizing Cody’s penetration is a must.

“They are athletic and guys that can cover, and big Cody up front.” Mallett said about the Tide defense. “You’ve got to block him and execute our offense. When we do that, you see what happens.”

Razorbacks center Seth Oxner, who replaces the graduated Jonathan Luigs, knows his job is important.

“He’s a big guy, but we’re big guys, too. It will be a battle,” he said of the matchup against Cody. “He’s big, he’s strong with a little quickness off the ball. We’ve got to be quick and move our feet. ... Georgia was quicker. They had speed and power. He tries to bullrush you, and you just have to hunker down and block him.”

Cody is only a part of the puzzle, Oxner said.

“They are a whole lot better than last year,” he said about the Alabama defense. “Not only is Terrence a good player but their other players are good players, too. He’s one you worry about ... but all their D-tackles and D-ends are great players.”

Offensive guard Mitch Petrus said it will be a team effort to stop Cody.

“I know he’s big and he can move. We don’t have anybody on the offensive line that’s 360 (pounds), so we are going to have to make sure we use good technique and come off the ball,” Petrus said. “You can’t go in there and be scared and freaked out. You can’t let him dictate where you go.

“We have plays where we double-team different people, but we can’t let him change our game plan. ... If we can hold him off three seconds, Mallett will make the pass. We just have to give him time so he can follow through on his throws and not be off his back foot.”

Cody said he’s eager to match the Tide’s defensive front against a passing attack.

“It’s a chance to prove I can rush the passer and affect the quarterback and make moves on the line of scrimmage,” Cody said. “If we just come out there and play ... how we’re capable of playing, then we can stop them and pretty much do what we did last year — hold them to 14 points.”

Middle linebacker Rolando McClain said this will be a team defense game.

“Everybody’s involved, from the front four or blitzing or everybody in coverage. They have to do a good job,” McClain said. “If he (Mallett) has time to sit in the pocket, he will make plays. He has a very strong arm. He’s tall. He can sit in the pocket and see the whole field. We just got to do a good job of containing, keeping him in the pocket to try to get some pressure on him so he don’t get those good looks.”