When former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones joined the Alabama coaching staff as an analyst last offseason, Crimson Tide fans had a field day poking fun at him. Alabama’s players have gotten in on the action as well.
“We kind of joke with him about the situation. He’s, you know, never smoked the cigar before,” Alabama running back Josh Jacobs said.
On top of the obvious motivations for beating Tennessee, Jacobs said, the opportunity to have Jones to smoke a customary victory cigar after the game adds some extra incentive.
“We’re trying to make that a goal of his.” Jacobs said. “We joke with him all the time.”
Red zone
Alabama struggled to convert red-zone trips into touchdowns against Missouri. Of the Crimson Tide’s seven drives that advanced past the 20-yard line, only three ended in the end zone.
“We had a lot of mental errors throughout the week (before Missouri) at practice, and it just came to get us in the game.” Jacobs said. “So, I think we converted like 3 of 7 in the red zone, so that’s probably our main focus going into this week, just trying to finish drives.”
