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Star-crossed Darby hurts shoulder on only run 10/19/03 Huntsville Times OXFORD, Miss. - A miserable season for Alabama tailback Kenneth Darby got a lot worse on Saturday. Darby, a redshirt freshman from Butler High School, separated his right shoulder at the end of a 41-yard run in the third quarter. After the game, Darby had his right arm in a sling and was visibly in pain - both from the shoulder and the prospect that his season may be over. He said the injury was to the AC joint in the shoulder, which is similar to the injury Tide backup quarterback Spencer Pennington sustained. Pennington's injury will come him out at least four weeks. Darby got his first carry in four weeks and blasted over right tackle, flattening Ole Miss defensive back Eric Oliver and sprinting to a career-long 41-yard gain. But the injury occurred on the tackle at the end of the play. Darby was finally getting back into action after being limited the past three games with an injury to his ribs and the surrounding cartilage. He did not play in last week's game against Southern Mississippi and also missed the Arkansas game. Croyle to have surgery: Tide quarterback Brodie Croyle said afterward he would require surgery on his injured left shoulder. The shoulder has been separated at least three times this season. "I'm going to have surgery," Croyle said. "There's no way around that. We'll worry about that when the time comes." Croyle met reporters with his left arm in a sling and an icepack on his shoulder. He took a shot to the shoulder late in the game, but said he never considered coming out despite being in obvious pain. But the two braces he wore on the shoulder did the job. The shoulder did not separate on the hit, as it did two weeks ago against Georgia that forced him to miss last week's game. "It held it in," Croyle said. "There's just not a lot you can do for it. It's just so loose and so many different things are wrong with it." Luke goes down: Alabama's walking wounded got another customer Saturday when receiver Triandos Luke did not play in the second half. Luke apparently sat out the second half after getting hit hard on a pass from Croyle that Ole Miss' Von Hutchins intercepted. Luke took a jolting hit on the play and spent the rest of the game standing on the sidelines in full uniform without his helmet. Most of Alabama's players nursing injuries were back on the field beyond Croyle. Back in action after missing last week's game against Southern Mississippi was linebacker Derrick Pope and defensive tackle Kyle Tatum. Missing the game was tight end David Cavan, who was not in uniform after missing practice last week with his season-long hand injury. Donald Clarke got his first start of the season in place of Cavan. The Brothers Manning: Eli Manning was a bit late talking to reporters on Saturday. He had some things to do - like posing for a photograph with his father, Archie, and brothers Peyton and Cooper. The pictures were set up by Ole Miss sports information director Langston Rogers for use in future publicity. Preceding him in addressing the media, Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe had already described Manning's performance as "really outstanding.'' "He was awfully sharp,'' Cutcliffe said. "Our offense rallied around him.'' "It was a great performance by the offense today,'' Manning said. "The line deserves a lot of credit. Rushing the ball put us in good situations, and we were able to do some play-action.'' Manning said: "When you run the ball so well, it puts the defense in a bind. When you can run, it makes the quarterback's job so much earlier. "We're 3-0 (in the SEC) and we've got a tough stretech left,'' Manning said. "But this is big. We knew and talked about it all week that it had been 33 years.'' A little credit, please: Ole Miss offensive guard Doug Buckles was a happy 300-pounder after the game. He and his colleagues cleared the way for the Rebels to rush for over 200 yards against Alabama. "I think we need to give credit to the the running backs,'' Buckles said. "We just did our job up front and layed hard. We remember the whipping we got last year, and used that as a motivation.'' Buckles said, "We need to give our offensive line coach credit, too - coach (John) Latina. He teaches and stresses fundamentals, and we were going against a big, physical team. We knew we had to block for a minimum of three and a half seconds. "We fought hard for three and a half, and teried to give him a little more time. We went back to our fundamentals and technique, and we were able to give him the time he needed.'' Road woes: When Alabama's hit the road this season, the road has hit back. Hard. In its two road games, Alabama has been outscored 69-20 in the first half. Georgia slapped Alabama with a 37-10 halftime deficit two weeks ago while Ole Miss stormed to a 31-10 lead at halftime Saturday. "I don't know what it is," Tide tailback Shaud Williams said. "If any of you guys figure it out, let us know because we've got to get it figured out pretty quick. If we don't, it's going to be a long remainder of the season." Frustration builds: The bus ride back to Tuscaloosa was no doubt a long excursion for the Crimson Tide, which failed for the third time this season to win on consecutive Saturdays. "Whether it's intensity or execution or both. . . . Neither was satisfactory," coach Mike Shula said. "It hard to be intense when you're making mistakes - a receiver slipping down and all of a sudden, it's an interception." Said tailback Shaud Williams, "It's frustrating. I'd be lying if I told you otherwise. We're going to have to find a way to start winning." James strikes again: For the second straight week and the third time this season, Alabama special teams member Chris James blocked a punt. The three blocks tied a school record for a single player. James blocked a Cody Ridgeway punt with 4:59 left in the third quarter, scooped up the loose ball and was credited with a 44-yard return for a touchdown. It's the second time in the last three games that Alabama's punt return team has scored a touchdown. Against Georgia, Decatur's Juwan Garth recovered a dropped snap and returned it for the TD. Bad field position: Alabama fought from behind not only on the scoreboard Saturday but also in field position. Of the Tide's six first-half possessions, it started five of those drives on its 20 or worse. Alabama took over with the ball at its 17, 17, 11, 35, 20 and 20. The drive that began at the 35 resulted in the Tide's only touchdown of the first half. But it also came after Ole Miss was hit with a 15-yard celebration penalty following the preceding touchdown. The Rebels kicked off from the 20 instead of the 35. Ole Miss twice began drives on Alabama's side of the field and converted both into touchdowns. Snap decisions: For the fourth straight game, Alabama has had fewer offensive snaps than its opponent. Ole Miss ran 72 plays Saturday to Alabama's 59 - even though the time of possession was differed by less than only 3 1/2 minutes and the Rebels had just two more first downs than Alabama. Over the past four games, Alabama's opponents have run a combined 80 more plays than the Tide. Alabama is 1-3 in those games. Furthermore: Freshman Tyrone Prothro caught his first career pass, finishing with three catches for 29 yards. ... The Rebels' 43 points are the second-most in the series against Alabama, behind only the 48-33 shootout in 1970. ... The 24 first-quarter points Alabama gave up are the most since Louisville scored 25 in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. ... Redshirt freshman Nic Luke made his Tide debut, playing on special teams. ... Punter Bo Freelend tied a school record by averaging 52.4 yards per punt. Paul Gattis and John Pruett ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
