Alabama’s passing attack is far from a statistical machine.
The Crimson Tide rank seventh in the Southeastern Conference in aerial yards per game and eighth in passing efficiency. Yet when the times have been tough in recent weeks, everything seems to click.
“I see improvement,” coach Nick Saban said Tuesday in his lone news conference of the Tide’s open week. “I think we’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity and obstacles in the passing game, like losing Robert Foster, who was a very good player for us, early on.
“That really affected our depth, and Calvin Ridley got thrown in a little before he was ready, but he responded really well.”
Alabama practiced Thursday afternoon and will take a couple of days off before resuming workouts in preparation for next week’s key clash against visiting LSU.
Ridley, a touted freshman from Coconut Creek, Fla., had six catches for 62 yards in last week’s 19-14 topping of Tennessee in Bryant-Denny Stadium. He is the only Crimson Tide receiver ranked among the top 10 in the league, checking in at 10th with 62.4 yards per game.
In Alabama’s 38-10 win at Georgia on Oct. 3, Ridley caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Jake Coker late in the first half, extending the Tide’s lead to 24-3. The Tide hosted Arkansas the following week and trailed 7-3 late in the third quarter until Coker and Ridley hooked up for an 81-yard score.
Last Saturday, Ridley made a 15-yard reception on third-and-6 from Tennessee’s 40-yard line to get Alabama in field-goal range with 3:22 remaining and the Tide trailing 14-13. Ridley’s catch followed an acrobatic 29-yard reception by ArDarius Stewart, who landed at Tennessee’s 44-yard line with 5:00 left after a second-and-12 pass from Coker.
Stewart, a redshirt sophomore from the Birmingham suburb of Fultondale, had six catches for a career-best 114 yards against the Vols. He had 149 yards all of last year, when Amari Cooper was Alabama’s primary receiving target, followed by DeAndrew White and Christion Jones.
“ArDarius plays hard every game and does everything as hard as he can do it,” Coker said after helping defeat the Vols. “I love that guy. He really helps me during the games and off the field as well. He means a lot to me.”
Said junior tight end O.J. Howard: “He made some great plays for us. We need him to keep doing that, and I think he will.”
Alabama is averaging 233.4 passing yards per game, which is behind last year’s weekly clip of 277.9. Coker has thrown 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions, a ratio that pales so far to the 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions predecessor Blake Sims had last season for the league champions.
Yet Ridley has delivered as a newcomer, and with Stewart coming off the most productive game of his career, the Crimson Tide could continue to make plays when it matters most, even if they’re not tearing up the SEC passing charts.
“ArDarius played great in this last game,” Saban said. “He’s had a lot of opportunities to make plays, and he’s had three or four big plays that were just misses. He made a great catch in this last game that couldn’t have come at a better time, and I’m sure that will help his confidence.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.