Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
The Alabama Crimson Tide are fresh off their throttling of Arkansas on the road and they return home on Saturday to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls before embarking on a run of six straight SEC contests.
The Crimson Tide defense has pitched consecutive shutouts against Western Kentucky and Arkansas, and now face an anemic Florida Atlantic Offense that enters the game ranked 119 out of 120 in points per game at 14.7.
Their offense has gotten a little better each week so far. After putting up just 7 points in a win over Wagner, the Owls scored 17 on Middle Tennessee State and 20 on Georgia last week.
Under first-year head coach Carl Pelini, the brother of Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, Florida Atlantic has moved from a pro-style offense to an up-tempo spread attack with a lot of no-huddles.
The jury is still out on if Pelini’s offense is going to work in Boca Raton, but it has struggled through the first three games of 2012.
Senior starting quarterback Graham Wilbert is off to a much better start in 2012 after a dismal 2011. He completed 52 percent of his passes with 7 touchdowns and 15 interceptions a year ago.
So far this year, Wilbert has thrown for 569 yards, completed 68 percent of his passes, and thrown four touchdowns to just one interception.
Wilbert has the great size for the quarterback position at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, but he is far from the prototypical quarterback for Pelini’s spread offense, but Pelini is making do with what he has at the moment.
Wilbert’s passing efficiency of 143.6 ranks ahead of quarterbacks such as Landry Jones and Logan Thomas.
Alabama’s pass defense currently ranks 10th in the nation, but they have shown some deficiencies that better teams will take advantage of in the coming weeks. Against an experienced quarterback such as Wilbert, Alabama’s secondary will get a good test.
At receiver, Florida Atlantic’s William Dukes has the size at 6-foot-4 to cause some matchup problems against the Crimson Tide. Dukes had a strong game against Georgia last week, catching 5 passes for 98 yards. He has 162 yards on 12 receptions this year.
Senior Byron Hankerson is the big-play threat of the group. Through three games, Hankerson has a 16.8 yards per catch average and leads the team with two touchdown grabs. He was quiet last week against the Bulldogs, with just one catch for seven yards.
For those wondering, Alabama transfer and possible myth Duron Carter will not be suiting up for Florida Atlantic on Saturday at Bryant-Denny or any time this season, as the NCAA did not grant him a hardship waiver to allow him to play this season. Did you really think there was a chance of him stepping foot on a Tuscaloosa gridiron?
As you might imagine, the tight end isn’t utilized much in Pelini’s up-tempo attack as junior starter Nexon Dorvilus has 5 catches for 40 yards through three games, although he did have a touchdown reception against Georgia.
The Owls haven’t found much success on the ground this year either, rushing for 131.7 yards per game, which ranks 89th in the nation.
They have utilized three running backs so far in 2012 led by leading rusher Damian Fortner. The sophomore from Miami has 123 yards rushing on a 4.6 yards per carry average and a touchdown this year.
Fortner is more of a power back and so is junior Jonathan Wallace, who has 60 rushing yards on 16 attempts this season. Wallace got 12 carries last week, but was ineffective against Georgia’s defensive front, gaining just 33 yards.
Junior Martese Jackson is a change of pace back. At 5-foot-6 165 pounds, Jackson is smaller and shiftier than the other two. He has 28 carries for 110 yards this season, and fell just one yard shy of the century mark in the team’s season opener against Wagner.
Traditionally, these smaller backs like Jackson haven’t fared well against the Crimson Tide.
The Tide’s rushing defense has given up 58 yards per game in the first three weeks, and with the way Florida Atlantic has struggled to run the ball this year, it would seem they won’t find much success against Alabama. The Owls offensive line should be overwhelmed against a much more talented defensive front.
Despite Florida Atlantic’s offensive struggles in 2012, this will be a good test for Alabama’s defense against an offense they don’t see all that often. Pelini’s up-tempo no-huddle offensive attack will help prepare Alabama for games against fast paced offenses like Ole Miss and Tennessee in the coming weeks.
Alabama’s defense has back-to-back shutouts on its resume, and will look to make it three straight on Saturday. Don’t be surprised if they do.
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