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• Mocs face tall task in clash with Crimson Tide

  
  

  Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) - In what appears to be a monumental mismatch, the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide welcome the Chattanooga Mocs, a mediocre FCS team, to Tuscaloosa this weekend.

  Chattanooga closes out its regular season on Saturday and carries a 6-4 record into the tilt. Last time out, the club knocked off The Citadel by a 31-28 final, the second victory in the last three outings. Still, the fact that the club has lost by double figures to the likes of Elon, Georgia Southern, Furman and Appalachian State suggests that this game won't be close.

  As for Alabama, it improved to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in SEC play with a 31-3 romp over Mississippi State last weekend. The Crimson Tide has already captured the SEC West Division title and will take on Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Still, the Tide need to take care of business against Chattanooga and Auburn in the finale to remain on course to keep their national title hopes alive. The proud program has won its first 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1973-74, and coach Nick Saban continues to shine at the helm.

  Alabama has won all 10 of its previous meetings with Chattanooga, the most recent of which took place in 1994.

  Chattanooga is scoring 23.6 ppg this season to go along with 323.6 total ypg, numbers that aren't going to scare many opponents. The Mocs struggle running the football, as they are gaining a mere 88.7 ypg at a clip of 2.8 yards per carry on the ground. Of the 26 offensive touchdowns that they have posted, 17 have come through the air. All 17 of those touchdown passes have been thrown by B.J. Coleman, who has 2,312 yards and only seven interceptions to his credit. The star of the receiving corps is Blue Cooper, who has 82 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns.

  The Mocs have had some shaky defensive showings this season, but the unit has been rather solid for the most part. Opponents are averaging 23.8 ppg and 296.3 total ypg against Chattanooga this season, and the Mocs are yielding only 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. It is also worth mentioning that they have the same number of interceptions (11) as passing touchdowns allowed. Josh Beard leads Chattanooga with 12 sacks, so he will have to be accounted for by Alabama.

  After scoring only 13 total points through the first three quarters of the most recent game against The Citadel, Chattanooga tallied 18 points in the fourth quarter alone to steal the victory. The game-winning touchdown was registered with under five minutes remaining, as Coleman tossed a one-yard scoring pass to Cooper. Coleman threw for 356 yards and three scores, while Cooper finished with 14 catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

  "I think the sky is the limit for him, he is not even close to where he can be," Chattanooga head coach Russ Huesman said of Coleman.

  The Mocs allowed 22 first downs and 311 total yards to The Citadel, which posted three passing touchdowns in the contest. Chattanooga wasn't dominant defensively by any means, but after allowing 21 points in the first half, the squad yielded just seven points over the final two quarters.

  "We took 45 seconds to make any adjustments we had to make and proceeded to really get the guys motivated," said Huesman of his halftime adjustments. "Our coaches did a fantastic job." Alabama sophomore tailback Mark Ingram is considered by some to be the frontrunner in a race for the Heisman Trophy, and he strengthened his resume' last Saturday with 149 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries against Mississippi State. Quarterback Greg McElroy, who has been a bit inconsistent this season, played quite well, completing 13-of-18 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Top receiver, Julio Jones, had four grabs for 66 yards for the Tide, who totaled 444 total yards and didn't commit a single turnover.

  "I think we had a lot of balance on offense," said Saban after the game. "During the bye week a while back, we talked about opening it up. Tonight, we utilized alot of players. We have to spread teams out and make them defend." It is no secret that Alabama is among the best defensive teams in the nation, and the club put forth another stellar effort against Mississippi State. The Tide allowed just 11 first downs and 213 total yards, including 99 passing yards on 9-of-20 efficiency. Three interceptions were registered by 'Bama, which enabled the Bulldogs to make good on only 2-of-13 third down conversion attempts.

  "We don't want to get complacent and not play to the level we know we can," said defensive back Javier Arenas, a leader for the stellar Alabama defense. "That's been coach's mantra since he got here and we've adopted that." Alabama carried an average of 30.9 ppg and 414.7 total ypg into the Mississippi State contest, and Saban's group eclipsed both marks. Ingram has rushed for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging nearly seven yards per carry. He also has three receiving touchdowns and may very well win college football's most coveted individual award with three more strong performances against Chattanooga, Auburn and Florida. As for McElroy, he has thrown 13 touchdowns against four interceptions while completing 60 percent of his passes.

  Opponents are only scoring 10.9 ppg against Alabama, which is allowing a mere 239.0 total ypg. The Tide has been tremendous against the run, permitting less than two-and-a-half yards per carry, and opposing quarterbacks have completed fewer than half of their pass attempts.

  11/18 11:08:57 ET