Perhaps the star of this year’s Alabama team will be Redshirt Senior Quarterback AJ McCarron. He’s one year removed from leading the FBS in passing efficiency. A year where he threw an interception only once for every ten Touchdowns he tossed. There is no doubting it. AJ McCarron, winner of two BCS National Championships, is one of the nation’s best passers. He holds multiple Alabama career and season records already, and safe bet is that he’ll hold almost every record that he can when it’s all said and done. The icing on the cake? He can do something that no one though could be done. Something no one thought he would do. Win three straight.
After standout Sophomore-to-be Amari Cooper, who is AJ McCarron’s go to guy? Look no further than fellow fifth year Senior, Kevin Norwood. This past season, Norwood had 29 catches for 461 yards and 4 Touchdowns, good for second place on the team in each category. Most of us won’t remember Kevin Norwood for the number of Touchdowns he caught. We won’t remember him for the number of yards he had, or how many passes he caught. Norwood will long be remembered for his clutch plays in big games. McCarron has earned a reputation as maybe the nation’s most clutch QB, but his partner in crime is Kevin “Surehands” Norwood, or Kevin Clutchwood, whichever you prefer. Who can forget the infamous leaping grab he had in the 2012 BCS Championship Game. Who was in coverage? None other than Heisman Trophy Finalist Tyrann Mathieu. When Alabama lost the lead against LSU in Tiger Stadium last year, who came through for AJ? Kevin Norwood caught three in a row to setup TJ Yeldon’s season defining moment. Kevin Norwood has a strong case for “Most Under appreciated Player of the Year”.
Chance Warmack and DJ Fluker were both drafted in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Barrett Jones won a National Championship at Guard, Left Tackle, and Center. He also won the Outland and the Rimington, given to the nation’s premier lineman and best Center, respectively. Cyrus Kouandjio is being talked about as a top five pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. What do these four have in common? In 2012, all four gave up a sack. Only one member of what may very well have been the Capstone’s greatest front five went without allowing a sack through 14 games. Right Guard, Anthony Steen. “Steen Roller” came to Alabama from Clarksdale, Mississippi as a 3 star recruit and the 31st best Offensive Guard in High School football, according to 247sports. After starting in 2011, he entered 2012 as the least hyped Offensive Lineman amongst a group of what was believed to be 4 first round picks. The 2012 season ended the same way. As it turns out, Barrett Jones wasn’t drafted in the first round, but that doesn’t mean that the 2012 line will go without four first rounders. Cyrus Kouandjio is almost perceived as a first round lock, and of course there is Anthony Steen, who right now is considered “good, not great”. Steen is the most experienced player on the line now, he’s the leader. A year after giving up 0 sacks and making holes for two 1000 yard rushers, he is ready to prove to the nation that the Capstone’s Good Ol’ Boy is good enough to have his name called on the first night of the draft.
For McCarron, Steen, and Norwood, things certainly seem to be looking bright. They’re leaders, they’re fifth year seniors, and ever year they’ve started, Bama has won it all. But it wasn’t always this way for this trio of offensive players. They all redshirted in 2009, the year Alabama went 14-0 and won the BCS Championship for the first time. In 2010, they played valuable snaps in garbage time as Nick Saban prepared his team for the future. For these three, they spent 11 games doing the same thing. That all changed in game number 12. It was #11 Alabama, the defending National Champions, hosting arch rival and unbeaten #2 Auburn, led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. Barrett Jones, starting Right Guard at the time, couldn’t go, so Anthony Steen had to step up. Julio Jones got hurt during the game, so Norwood took increased snaps. And late in the game, Greg McElroy took a hard hit and couldn’t finish, so AJ McCarron would have to step up, down by 1 point, with 51 seconds on the clock, and win the game.
It may be a game that still haunts Anthony Steen. Nick Fairley had his way with the then Redshirt Freshman. Time and time again Steen wast beaten and dominated. Despite Alabama leading 24-7 at the half, Steen rarely had an easy time out there. Nick Fairley had 2 sacks and forced a fumble en route to a 28-27 Auburn Tiger win. It’s no secret that Alabama had no chance for a National Championship if they won, they would have been 10-2, and at best jump to #6 in the BCS. Everything was about the Iron Bowl. Stop Auburn. Ruin their season. It can be said that Steen’s struggles that day played a factor in what has been coined the “Camback”. We now know Steen as a guy who uses technique, grit, and heart to be a force in pass protection, and power and toughness to grind open holes in the run game, but on the night, he was a Redshirt Freshman who failed to step up.
Norwood didn’t catch a pass against Auburn. That season, he had 3 catches for 56 yards and a Touchdown. But those three catches meant nothing during those final 51 seconds. Two very specific times Norwood was thrown to, and he came up with 0 catches. On his final target of the game, it’s 3rd and 10 and he drops the pass. Had he hauled it in, he had room to get a first down, and maybe that wouldn’t have done much, but we’ll never know now. We will long remember Norwood for his clutch ability. He lives for the moment. But on that night, he was a Redshirt Freshman who failed to step up.
Against Mississippi State, AJ made highlights in 2010. Not for his play, but because Nick Saban got into him and gave him a pop on the behind. When the drive started, AJ led the team onto the field. He had to drive them down the field and just score points of any kind to win the game. At this point, he was a lanky kid from Mobile who had one claim to fame, and it was getting spanked. If he drives this team down, if he wins this game, if…if…if. AJ McCarron would have went down in Alabama, and Iron Bowl, lore. The problem? He didn’t do it. 1st and 10, AJ throws, misses Julio Jones. 2nd and 10, AJ tries to force a ball to Kevin Norwood in triple coverage, and it should have been picked, but Norwood turned into the DB and broke it up. On this play, AJ had Maze wide open a few yards past the LOS with no Tigers near him. If AJ makes the safe throw, Maze at least gets a first down, AJ gets confidence, and Bama may get the win. AJ didn’t think about it, instead he showed us all that he really was once a gunslinger who blindly threw the football anywhere and everywhere. 3rd and 10, AJ throws to a wide open Kevin Norwood, but Norwood drops it. 4th and 10, this is it. This is the moment. The moment in time when everything goes slow. You don’t hear the crowd. You hear your breath, your heart, your cadence. AJ drops back, throws to a covered Julio Jones, who was about three yards behind the first down marker, and Jones drops it. AJ will go down as the greatest Alabama QB ever. He may go down as one of the most celebrated QBs in College Football history. But on that night, he was a Redshirt Freshman who failed to step up.
Anthony Steen was the not so athletic kid from Lee Academy who got dominated by a first round draft pick. Kevin Norwood was a former 3 star wideout from Biloxi, and he dropped what could have been a game changing play. AJ McCarron was the hotheaded gunslinger who maybe weighed 200 pounds soaking wet with pads on. As Redshirt Freshman, none of them rose to the occasion, but they’re not the same. They’re on award watch lists. They all expect to be drafted. They’re playmakers. They’re leaders. They’re ready, and they’re not the same.