Alabama
Catapult launched investigation amid Alabama, Michigan concerns
Catapult, a company that provides video storage for college football programs and other organizations, said it is supporting an ongoing investigation with the NCAA and local authorities after players from Alabama and Michigan said they were made aware of security concerns with the platform.
“We are aware of the ongoing investigation of the alleged unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage,” a Catapult spokesperson said in a statement. “We have conducted an internal investigation and have not found any security breach in our systems. We have shared this with local authorities that are conducting an investigation.”
The company did not specify which local authorities were investigating or which schools were involved. A Michigan spokesman said the school took down its cloud-based storage system in early November amid concerns it had been targeted in a potential breach. Players could access film from Michigan’s servers while inside university facilities but weren’t given access to watch it remotely on tablets or other devices.
“We watched it in-house and handled it that way,” said Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s offensive coordinator. “It was something that we decided from our own perspective. People heard some things and we wanted to make sure we were safe on our end.”
Concerns about the Catapult platform became public Thursday when players from Alabama said they were only watching film in group meetings in preparation for Monday’s Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan. This isn’t the first time teams have taken extra precautions before a game against Michigan, but concerns about the security of practice film is a separate issue from the sign-stealing allegations involving former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who allegedly compiled video footage of other teams’ signals shot from the stands during games.
The law enforcement agency investigating the potential breach has not been identified. The University of Michigan Police Department, which has been collaborating with the FBI to investigate potential computer-access crimes involving former Michigan offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, said it is “not involved in any investigation regarding unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage originating from the Michigan football program.”
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy didn’t fault Alabama for taking extra precautions and said Michigan has been doing the same.
“It makes sense with everything going on and the society we live in today,” McCarthy said. “Like them, we haven’t been watching film on our iPads all of November because of everything that’s been going on. We’re just making sure we’re getting that time in the facility, that time to watch film and really dissect whoever we’re playing.”
Required reading
(Photo: David McNew / Getty Images)
Alabama
Who Are Alabama’s Best 10 Football Players on The Joe Gaither Show
Let’s have a bye week Football Friday on “The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral” as we help you get through a bit of a slower week. Mason Woods joins the program to help look at a summer list we threw together as we named the top 10 football players on the Crimson Tide.
How many players in the summer list have lived up to expectations? We identify four players that haven’t had the strong season that we were expecting and highlight several that have pleasantly surprised us.
After moving four players out of the top 10 and four players in, Woods and Gaither re-order their lists and compare and contrast. Could a true freshman be the best player on the entire roster?
The show takes a detour into Alabama’s offensive philosophy and wonders if the Crimson Tide coaching staff had a bit of a breakthrough against Missouri.
Lastly we turn our attention to this weekend in college football as the final month commences. It’s not a great bye week slate of games for the Alabama fans to enjoy as there are only a handful of ranked matchups. Will Penn State defeat Ohio State? Can Vanderbilt go into Auburn and win? And will a former Alabama quarterback keep his team undefeated and in the College Football Playoff hunt?
The show can be seen on the BamaCentral YouTube channel. Keep up with each show on YouTube,Facebook and Twitter. Shows can also be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon.
Alabama
Jaguar buzz: South Alabama hosts first-place Georgia Southern
WHAT: Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) at South Alabama (4-4, 3-1)
WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Saturday
WHERE: Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile
SERIES: Georgia Southern leads 7-2
TV: ESPNU
LINE: South Alabama by 6
THIS GAME WILL DETERMINE IF: South Alabama can get over the .500 mark for the first time all season and stay in the Sun Belt West championship race
South Alabama running game back on track behind Kentrel Bullock
THREE THINGS TO LOOK FOR
1. Will South Alabama end its bizarre up-and-down streak?
Dating to the end of the 2022 regular season, South Alabama has not won or lost more than two consecutive games at any stretch. The Jaguars began this season with two losses, followed by two wins, two more losses and then two wins. A victory over the Eagles would give South Alabama its first three-game winning streak in more than two years. The Jaguars would also stay in the hunt in the Sun Belt West, where they are one of three teams (along with ULM and Arkansas State) a game back of first-place Louisiana.
2. Can the Jaguars’ running game shine once again?
South Alabama ran all over Louisiana-Monroe to the tune of 355 yards, the most in program history against an FBS opponent. Georgia Southern is better against the run than the past, but it’s still likely the Jaguars will keep it on the ground at least in the beginning in order to keep the Eagles’ explosive passing game on the sideline. Look for a steady dose of Kentrel Bullock, Fluff Bothwell and maybe even Braylon McReynolds in the first half on Saturday.
3. Which Georgia Southern team will show up this week?
The Eagles have been even more Jekyll-and-Hyde than the Jaguars this season, looking dominant against the likes of Georgia State and James Madison, but needing a second-half miracle to beat Marshall before getting throttled by Old Dominion last time out. Georgia Southern doesn’t air it out quite as much under new offensive coordinator Ryan Aplin as it did in previous years, the Eagles have a tendency to turn the ball over (13 times in 8 games).
KEY MATCHUP
South Alabama QB Gio Lopez vs. Georgia Southern secondary
The Eagles have allowed a Sun Belt-worst 2,180 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air, but do have seven interceptions this season. Lopez has thrown just one pick all year, and could test the Georgia Southern secondary early and often with both his arms and legs.
BY THE NUMBERS
+10 — South Alabama’s turnover margin this season, second-best in the Sun Belt and tied for ninth among 133 FBS teams nationally.
Alabama
Fire Danger Advisory issued for all Alabama counties
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The Alabama Forestry Commission has issued a fire danger advisory for all counties in Alabama.
The advisory will remain in effect until we receive enough rain to improve the drought conditions.
Shelby County forester Dave Holley said this isn’t a burn ban, but a recommendation to not burn during this time because of the dry conditions we’re experiencing.
Foresters say during this time, think twice before starting a fire.
“You want to make sure leaves are raked up or mowed. If you have leaves on your roof or pine straw in your gutters things that can bring the fire from the forest to your house,” Holley said.
Holley says certain fuels can cause a wild fire to spark up and spread easily.
“We’ve had a lot of beetle kill this year, pine beetles have infested a lot so there is a lot of dead timber but really the most significant is the leaf fall this year,” Holley said.
And open fires or fires left unattended are discouraged during this time. “A BBQ grill or a contained fire in a barrel or something perhaps, but still that’s not something you want to leave unattended with the dry conditions,” Holley said.
Holley says just in the last 30 days, 246 wildfires have burned nearly 3,000 acres.
Fire safety tips can be found here.
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