NINE
— Carson Tinker (@carsontink) December 29, 2012
Each day until the BCS National Championship Game, Daily Bama Blog contributor Brett Hudson will count down to kickoff, giving us bits and pieces of that day’s significance to Alabama and Notre Dame. Today is nine days until the game, which means Brett is examining the number “nine.”
–Alabama has given up only nine rushing touchdowns this season.
–Notre Dame has a turnover margin of plus-nine.
–Alabama averages 9.2 yards per pass attempt when playing on the road or at a neutral site. That ranks the Crimson Tide at 87th in the nation. Notre Dame stands at 7.5 yards a pass attempt when away from home to rank 90th nationally.
–Alabama is tied for 9th in the nation in penalties (or lack thereof) with Maryland at 50. The Irish are 52nd in the country with 69.
–Alabama’s lone No. 9 on the roster is true freshman wide receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper, who will return to his hometown of Miami for the BCS National Championship Game, leads the Tide in all major receiving statistics with 53 catches, 895 yards and nine touchdowns. The closest threat to Cooper statistically is Kevin Norwood, who has tallied 26 catches for 395 yards and four touchdowns.
–One of Notre Dame’s two No. 9′s is also a wide receiver, senior Robbie Toma of Laie, Hawaii. Toma is 5th on the team in both receptions and receiving yards, with 24 and 252.
–No. 9 on the defensive side of the ball for the Irish is Louis Nix III, the 6-foot-3, 326-pound defensive tackle from Jacksonville that has been the center of a lot of talk regarding Barrett Jones‘ foot injury and the impact Nix could have. Nix is ninth on the team with 45 tackles, 15 of them solo efforts, and tied for fourth on the team with 5.5 tackles for a loss.
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