Wilson remains plenty confident
November 22, 2007
Ken Rogers
TUSCALOOSA — John Parker Wilson had an opportunity to turn an embarrassing afternoon into a close call last Saturday.
With less than a minute to play, trailing 21-14 against Louisiana Monroe and playing with a first down on his 37, Alabama’s junior quarterback needed a miracle and almost got one.
Tide receiver Keith Brown inexplicably broke free deep up the right sideline, uncovered. Wilson saw it and fired for Brown, who ran under the pass and grabbed it — two steps out of bounds.
It’s been that kind of month for Wilson and the Alabama offense.
“I didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. That ball to Keith at the end, I should have completed that,” Wilson said this week. “Just little things here and there that aren’t producing wins. Something’s got to change.”
Wilson says his confidence hasn’t been shaken — his or the team’s. Still, things seem different since he led the team to a sharp, convincing win over Tennessee. Alabama has managed just one offensive touchdown in the second half since that game.
“I think the confidence is there, we just haven’t been putting it together,” Wilson said. “I think everybody has a good mindset. The confidence is there. I don’t think that’s a question. It just a matter of putting it together.”
There have been passes thrown in this stretch that missed open receivers, who were animated in their reaction to the play. Brown and DJ Hall have appeared particularly frustrated.
“I wouldn’t say (it’s) anger. Just missed opportunities,” senior receiver Matt Caddell said. “We need to capitalize on some opportunities that we might have missed in the game.”
Caddell was asked if he still has confidence in Wilson.
“Oh, yeah. I always have confidence in John Parker,” he said. “That’s the only way you can do it — to always believe and keep him confident. Just the confidence and everybody being positive overlap. We’re going to play better.”
Crimson Tide linebacker Darren Mustin said he supports his quarterback.
“Yeah, we have confidence in John Parker. Everybody has bad games,” Mustin said. “That’s my quarterback. And you know, sometimes, the offense bails the defense out. We have not bailed him out yet this year. We have not done that. I feel like we’ve failed him. We got to bail him out in certain situations.”
Alabama’s junior quarterback will start his 25th consecutive game when the Crimson Tide visits Auburn Saturday night at 7 p.m.
He is 12-12 the past two season, 6-9 in SEC games. In his six SEC victories, Wilson is 130-for-226 passing for 1,518 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
In the nine SEC losses, he is 177-for-336 for 1,911 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
When he’s on, he’s been good; but when he’s been bad, well, weird things have happened.
Things like the sack and fumble against Florida State. Things like the 100-yard interception return against Mississippi State. Like the fumble and sack at the 3-yard line against LSU. Like an interception Louisiana Monroe returned inside the 1 last week.
Wilson said he can’t play the game worrying about making mistakes.
“You have to be conscious of the mistakes you’ve made, but you can’t go out there and not throw a ball because you might get it picked,” he said. “You have to understand what you’re seeing and understand what the defense is doing and you have to protect the ball. That’s the number one goal.”
The goal gets tougher when things are going poorly around the quarterback.
“I think you’ve got go back to what you know, what you see and what you’ve seen on tape and try not to make (the same mistake) again,” he said. “You learn different things in every game and you just try to carry it over to the whole season.”
There was a lot to learn in last year’s Iron Bowl. Quentin Groves caused two fumbles with sacks against Wilson in the second quarter.
Wilson finished 18-for-33 passing for 252 yards and two touchdowns that game. He threw an interception as Alabama lost the turnover battle 4-1. Still, the Tide did come back and led 15-14 midway through the third quarter.
“We just have to take care of the ball,” Wilson said. “These guys are good, they’re coming to play and I don’t think anything to do with last year is going to affect this year.”
Asked about Groves, Wilson said, “He’s a fast, aggressive player. He likes to rush upfield and rush the passer and he’s good at it.”
Wilson said the challenge is evident this week.
“Especially after these last two or three weeks, we have to get back on the right track,” Wilson said. “Of course, everyone knows the magnitude of this game, the history and the rivalry, so it’s a huge game for us.”
