Stopping Amari Cooper?

[jbcarol]

Dorf on Cooper

...despite Cooper's best efforts against Ole Miss, nine catches for 91 yards, the Alabama passing game still struggled in last Saturday's loss to Ole Miss.

That is because the Crimson Tide need somebody else to step up.

[EastexHawg]

When New York Giants coach Steve Owen was asked before the NFL Championship Game how his team planned to stop Bronko Nagurski he replied, "With a shotgun as he's leaving the dressing room."

Of course he would probably be arrested for terroristic threat and banned from the league for life if he made that comment today...

[jbcarol]

I should have had Derby over Cooper in the SEC Fantasy League.

[apcapri]

3 touches for 16yds....pretty much a non factor.

[jbcarol]

Michael Casagrande @ByCasagrande  · 8 minutes ago
Alabama film review: Where was Amari Cooper? Throw-by-throw analysis of WR's quiet night http://ow.ly/CE3J4

[IBleedRazorbackRed]

True freshman corner Henre Toliver, that's how

[jbcarol]

Amari Cooper among players who could be limited at practice, but injury not serious

Saban said there were no significant injuries to report during his opening statement at Monday's press conference, but he indicated Cooper and defensive end D.J. Pettway would be limited at practice to start the week.

Cooper took a hard hit during Saturday's second quarter but returned for the second half. He received medical attention on the sidelines throughout a game in which he caught a season-low two passes for 22 yards.

Saban did not specify what was ailing Cooper, who is among the nation's leaders in receptions per game (nine) and receiving yards (768).

[jbcarol]

Saban says they need more balance in the offense since defenses are doubling up on Amari Cooper. They have to establish a running game too. -- "It's been a month since we played a whole game."

-- Saban asked if Amari Cooper could return kicks. Saban said he was capable, but they're getting more people involved. "If one guy's doing everything, what about the other guys?" There are other skilled guys on the team and they have confidence in all of them. Christion Jones is getting frustrated he isn't getting good punts to return and he made a bad decision at Arkansas.

-- Does the fear of injury play into the decision to not return kicks? Saban said it factors into the decision. Cooper certainly would like to...

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker @wesrucker247  ·  2m 2 minutes ago
Touchdown Bama. 41 yards. The Amari Cooper Show continues. #Vols can't cover that guy.

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker @wesrucker247  ·  3m 3 minutes ago
#Vols got Bama in two third-and-longs there. But TN can't cover Amari Cooper. That's a problem.

[jbcarol]

Cecil Hurt @CecilHurt  ·  44m 44 minutes ago
Amari Cooper now with a school single game record of 224 receiving yards.

[jbcarol]

Kyle Tucker @KyleTucker_CJ  ·  29m 29 minutes ago
One more from today: I think Amari Cooper might've moved to the top line of my Heisman ballot.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  17m 17 minutes ago
SEC honors Alabama WR Amari Cooper for his historic performance vs. Tennessee http://ow.ly/DqZjf

[jbcarol]

On a night when he elicited Heisman-worthy praise, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper was good enough to earn recognition from the SEC.

Cooper was named the SEC's Co-offensive Player of the Week for his nine-catch, 224-yard, two-touchdown performance against Tennessee. Mississippi State running back Josh Robinson, who ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Kentucky, shared the honor with Cooper.

He's just 55 yards away from Alabama's all-time career receiving record.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  2 hours ago

LSU's faced some of SEC's best receivers, now it'll get 'awfully smooth' Amari Cooper http://ow.ly/DNvLF

Bama's Amari Cooper is a cut above the rest statistically and LSU knows that translates to explosive play on the field. Tiger cornerbacks Tre'Davious White and Jalen Collins both said Cooper reminded them of former LSU star Odell Beckham Jr. for his speed and athleticism.

"He's able to make big plays you know so with him you just have to watch a lot of film and grasp some of the things he's doing and what he's going to give me in certain situations and how he's going to line up," White said. "So we'll just go with that and we've been watching film on him and we have been coming up with some things."

Two weeks ago, LSU faced one its highest-ranked SEC receiver when Laquan Treadwell came to Baton Rouge. The Ole Miss Rebel, who's season ended Saturday with a broken ankle against Auburn, finished near his season averages against LSU. He caught four passes (after averaging almost 6) for 71 yards (after averaging 70.2). The SEC's No. 8 receiver, Rebel Vince Sanders, was held well below his averages with one catch for seven yards.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  5 hours ago

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. likens Alabama WR Amari Cooper to NFL legend Jerry Rice http://ow.ly/DVGv6

[jbcarol]

NFL draft watch: Will any wide receiver be taken ahead of Amari Cooper?

How good has he been this season? Cooper received a write-in vote for governor of Alabama...

OK, that's just for fun. But based on the way he has played this season, is Cooper for certain the top wideout available?

[jbcarol]

College GameDay @CollegeGameDay  ·  1 hour ago
Amari Cooper has been responsible for 49% of Alabama's receiving yards this season, the highest percentage for any FBS player. #BAMAvsLSU

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  3 hours ago
.@JimKleinpeter provides insight on LSU's offensive improvement, chances of stopping Amari Cooper http://ow.ly/DZ0mt

How confident is LSU about shutting down Amari Cooper? Who will be the likeliest CB to cover him?

JK: I think LSU DBs are realistic and know Cooper is going to get some yards. They are just going to try and limit him as much as possible. Jalen Collins is a junior who is long like Cooper and a good match at 6-2. He's having a good season and may earn a start this week in place of Rashard Robinson. Cooper won't be shadowed by one CB. It will depend where he lines up. Bama might try to match him against 5-11 Tre'Davious White.

[jbcarol]

Glenn Guilbeau @LSUBeatTweet  ·  2 hours ago
"I'd love the opportunity," CB Jalen Collins said of covering Bama WR Amari Cooper. W Robinson suspended, he will.
http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/lsu/2014/11/08/lsus-top-cb-suspended-alabama-game/18714447/ ...

BATON ROUGE – LSU's best defensive weapon for Alabama's best offensive weapon will not play tonight when the No. 14 Tigers host No. 4 Alabama at 7 in Tiger Stadium.

Sophomore starting cornerback Rashard Robinson has been suspended and will not play, a relative of Robinson said Saturday when asked to confirm the original story of Robinson's suspension by the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Details of Robinson's suspension, including the length of it, were not immediately available. Robinson, the No. 26 cornerback in the nation out of Blanche Ely High in Pompano Beach, Fla., in 2013, has had academic issues...

[jbcarol]

You can only hope to contain him.

[jbcarol]

Ross Dellenger @DellengerAdv  ·  36 seconds ago
#Bama has targeted Amari Cooper a whopping nine times in the first half. #LSU

[jbcarol]

CBS Sports @CBSSports  ·  19 hours ago
Amari Cooper is on top by himself.

He now has more receiving yards than anyone in the history of @AlabamaFTBL.

[jbcarol]

Michael Bonner @MikeBBonner  ·  3 hours ago
Geoff Collins: 'We do what we do" in the secondary. MSU plans to single-cover Amari Cooper. http://on.thec-l.com/1qEzQhk

[jbcarol]

State's pass defense will be a target for Alabama quarterback Blake Sims.

The No. 1 Bulldogs head into Tuscaloosa Saturday ranked No. 120th in that unit.

And for Sims, a senior, he has one of the best receivers in the country in Amari Cooper.

Cooper is second in receiving yards (1,132) and fourth in receptions (79). Compare that to MSU's top four pass-catchers, who combine for 78 receptions for 1,034 yards.

"The key and throughout the season, you kind of notice people when they go against Alabama's offense is making sure they understand where (Cooper) is," MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins said. "He's such a pivotal role in that offense."

MSU (9-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) may pay less attention to Cooper than most teams. Its defense focuses on the line of scrimmage, sometimes putting as many as nine in the box. It's helped the Bulldogs boast a top-five unit in sacks per game, while producing more than seven tackles for loss a game.

But that many defenders upfront leaves its defensive backs in single coverages.

"It's always a challenge at corner to go out there and stop those guys from catching it," cornerbacks coach Deshea Townsend said. "This week, it's just another guy. Really great player, has a lot of great catches. The challenge always comes to us in the back end."

Even with Cooper threatening the secondary, MSU insists its coverages won't change.

"We do what we do," Collins said. "The emphasis all year and all the time is to stop the run. At times, there's going to be kids put in one-on-one situations."

[jbcarol]

Cooper scores the first TD in the State-Bama game, over 22 minutes into the game.

[jbcarol]

NFL.com: In a game with huge implications for the SEC title game and College Football Playoff, Alabama's top two stars, WR Amari Cooper and S Landon Collins, stepped up and Mississippi State's, QB Dak Prescott, did not Saturday.

t was clear to see that Cooper and Collins had big-game experience. They rose to the occasion.

It wasn't a flawless game for Cooper, but he cemented his status as the best wide receiver in college football, making eight catches for 88 yards and a TD. He was coming off what might have been the worst game of his career in terms of drops, against LSU, so it was good to see him show resiliency and rebound.

Cooper caught his TD pass out of the slot, which brought to mind New York Giants rookie WR Odell Beckham. Cooper, like Beckham, can play anywhere, is explosive in and out of his cuts and can high-point the ball.

[jbcarol]

ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo  ·  18 hours ago
Alabama's Amari Cooper is the 5th player in SEC history with 3,000 career receiving yards.

Passed Jarius Wright

Alabama's Amari Cooper now has 26 career TD catches, tying Dwayne Bowe (LSU) and Reidel Anthony (UF) for the 9th-most in SEC history.

Marcus Monk has 27.

[TheRazorbackGuy]

ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfo  ·  18 hours ago
Alabama's Amari Cooper is the 5th player in SEC history with 3,000 career receiving yards.

Passed Jarius Wright

Alabama's Amari Cooper now has 26 career TD catches, tying Dwayne Bowe (LSU) and Reidel Anthony (UF) for the 9th-most in SEC history.

Marcus Monk has 27.

Amari Cooper is a legendary college WR

[jbcarol]

Take a closer look at Amari Cooper battling Mississippi State's defensive backs

Link has a selection of shots of Amari Cooper working against the Mississippi State defense Saturday.


Vasha Hunt/al.com

Cooper led the Tide receiving corps with 8 catches for 88 yards and a TD and now has 87 catches for 1303 yards and 11 Tds in 10 games this season. Cooper is averaging 130 yards per game on the 2014 season with two regular-season games to play.

[jbcarol]

SEC Network @SECNetwork  ·  2 hours ago
Amari Cooper moves up, Dak Prescott slips in the latest #HeismanWatch » http://es.pn/1jKfMGS

[jbcarol]

Julio Jones finally weighs in on Amari Cooper

Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones was on the radio to talk about the Falcons' 19-17 victory over the Cam Newton-led Carolina Panthers... When asked what he thought of Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper, Jones didn't hold back...

"Just the character he's going to have when he gets to the league. You've never heard anything negative about him. He's going to be a professional. He's going to be a great player on the next level. He has the talent and everything else, but also it's off-the-field that matters the most."

Cooper and Jones have been linked in the past few weeks as the current Alabama receiving star surpassed records set by Jones, who played for the Crimson Tide from 2008 through 2010 after starring at Foley High...

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  16 hours ago

Watch Amari Cooper, Alabama WRs leaping for deep passes at full speed, then slow motion. http://ow.ly/ECVRV

[jbcarol]

SEC Network @SECNetwork  ·  15 hours ago

#SEC All-Time Rec Yds 1) Jordan Matthews: 3,759 2) Terrence Edwards: 3,093 3) Alshon Jeffery: 3,042 4) Amari Cooper: 3,039 (avg 103 rec ypg)


If not for Arkansas in 2014, Cooper would already be at #2 staring down Matthews.

[jbcarol]

Michael Casagrande @ByCasagrande  ·  2 minutes ago
Amari Cooper comes up limping.

Turf monster is hungry today.

[jbcarol]

Andrew Gribble @Andrew_Gribble  ·  3 minutes ago
Amari Cooper headed to the locker room.

[jbcarol]

Andrew Gribble @Andrew_Gribble  ·  18 minutes ago
Amari Cooper jogs back to the sidelines from the locker room. A nice ovation from the people who noticed.

[jbcarol]

Andrew Gribble @Andrew_Gribble  ·  6 minutes ago
Blake Sims had gone 157 passes without an interception. That streak was good for third in Alabama history.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  2 hours ago
No way to simulate Amari Cooper in practice, Gus Malzahn says http://s.al.com/IYizNcf

[jbcarol]

Brandon Marcello @bmarcello  ·  5 hours ago

Auburn decided to defend Alabama's Amari Cooper like he was 'any other person' http://ow.ly/F5JsT

"I felt we could have played man (defense) with him," Auburn cornerback Jonathon Mincy said. "We've just got to make plays."

The Tide's top receiver exploded in the third quarter with five catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns on his way to a career night: 13 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns, an Iron Bowl record.

Mincy hinted the Tigers' plans included playing more double coverages against Cooper, though that hasn't necessarily been defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson's style this season.

"We were going to go out there and play man with him and always have somebody in the post," Mincy said. "We just didn't capitalize. After halftime we felt they were going to come out and take shots. We just didn't capitalize."

"He's a top receiver, we've got top receivers," Auburn safety Johnathan Ford said. "We just play him as any other person."

It was a called play and I called it

"I kept saying to (offensive coordinator) Lane (Kiffin) we've made a lot of explosive plays throwing the ball down the field," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, "let's take some shots on these guys and see if they can cover us deep."

[jbcarol]

Chris Low @ClowESPN  ·  2 hours ago

Mariota and Gordon are the Heisman leaders, but is there really a more dynamic offensive playmaker in college football than Amari Cooper?

[jbcarol]

Walter Camp National Players of Week

Amari Cooper and Arizona LB Scooby "Dooby Do" Wright

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC @ESPN_SEC  ·  8 hours ago
Amari Cooper has had enough Heisman moments to earn the trip to New York http://es.pn/1zdXx5c


Has been nearly unstoppable in 2014.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  8 minutes ago

Film Study: Auburn's defense rarely doubles Amari Cooper, cuts rotations drastically in Iron Bowl http://s.al.com/00lEDeP

Breaking it down

[jbcarol]

Jordan Matthews @jmattjmattjmatt  ·  1 hour ago
Congrats 2 @AmariCooper9 on the record! Couldn't ask for a better player to represent that accomplishment! Go get my career yards too!

[jbcarol]

Chuck Dunlap @SEC_Chuck  ·  2 hours ago

Leaving hotel, saw Amari Cooper showing elderly lady how to find lobby. She had no idea who he was-just a kind stranger in her eyes.

[snoot hoggy hog]

The moment this season that stood out to him was..............................The Arkansas Game.

[ldfergu]

Where he got shut down!!

#shutdownhogs

[Choctaw Hog]

The moment this season that stood out to him was..............................The Arkansas Game.

Spoken like a true champion.  Tough overall game, he personally had minimal effect on the game, and it took some fortunate breaks for his team to win but they found a way.  That's what champions do.  Just like a pitcher who doesn't have his best "stuff" but finds a way to keep his team in the game. 

I really like Cooper and I personally think he is the most valuable offensive player in college football.   

[clutch]

Spoken like a true champion.  Tough overall game, he personally had minimal effect on the game, and it took some fortunate breaks for his team to win but they found a way.  That's what champions do.  Just like a pitcher who doesn't have his best "stuff" but finds a way to keep his team in the game. 

I really like Cooper and I personally think he is the most valuable offensive player in college football.   

I think he's probably the best player in college football. At least the most dominate at his specific position.