Q&A with ESPN college football sideline reporter Holly Rowe

ESPN College football sideline reporter Holly Rowe spoke the the New Horizons Credit Union-1st & 10 Club Monday night at Heron Lakes Country Club. Here, Rowe poses for a photograph with club member Murray Cape. (Photo by Julie Jeter)
Tommy Hicks | By Tommy Hicks |
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on November 05, 2013 at 6:22 AM, updated November 05, 2013 at 6:24 AM

MOBILE, Alabama -- Holly Rowe was in Mobile Monday night to serve as guest speaker at the GoDaddy Bowl's New Horizons Credit Union-1st & 10 Club meeting at Heron Lakes Country Club.

Before speaking to the club, Rowe sat down with reporters for a short question-and-answer session. Here are some of her comments:

Q: What stands out about this college football season?

A: There's still so much to go. People want to talk about why Florida State is edging out Oregon in the BCS and that stuff and there's still so much football left to be played. So to me there's still a lot of unknowns. I don't think we know how good Florida State is even though they just came off a dominating win of Miami. I want to see them against maybe an SEC team and see how they stack up against a team that can run the ball down their throat. I don't know if they've faced that yet. I don't know, there's too much football left to be played I believe.

Q: If you had a vote for the four teams to participate in a playoff, if the playoff system was used this season, what four teams would you pick?

A: Today with the records the way they are and there's still games left to be played, I do believe Alabama, I do believe Florida State and I do believe in Ohio State. I had them two weeks ago and their offense can play with anybody in the country. I don't know that their defense is an elite defense yet, but IO believe in Ohio State, I believe they're good. So I would put them in that four. And then the last one, I don't know. I believe in Baylor's system; we covered them last year when they upset Kansas State who was ranked No. 1 at the time. I like their process and their offense and I believe in that system but can they stop a big-time team with a big-time running back? I don't know that yet. I don't know who to put in that fourth spot.

Q: No Oregon? It's not a lock for you?

A: Not yet. Stanford this week - I wish I didn't know they were playing Stanford in (three) days, but they are, and Stanford is a rugged, difficult team who made it difficult for Oregon last year. I had Oregon's bowl game last year so I went back and watched the Stanford game, their only loss of the season, as how do you stop Oregon? Stanford knows how to stop them. They have a way - Oregon does a lot of their handoffs and a lot of their work and a lot of their tricky offense in this little pocket right behind where the quarterback is, in between the offensive line and the quarterback. What Stanford did was they collapsed that space and the offensive line gets pushed back into the space where Oregon likes to operate. And nobody else can do that to Oregon in the Pac 12, but Stanford can. And that disrupts all the timing and all the zone reads and stuff, so Oregon has to show me this week I guess.

Q: What separates Alabama? Why is it so good?

A: You guys are going to think I'm crazy but Nick Saban will know exactly what I'm talking about. Their bodies are different than everybody elses. He recruits a certain body type of kid and from the waist down their legs and the thickness of these kids, they are just stouter and bigger and stronger. I'm telling you, the way that they are built when you look at Alabama is different than anyone else across the country. Only LSU looks similar to that.

Q: When you travel around to the different campuses and things, what makes Alabama unique?

A: I think the fans' passion. I don't think there's any more passionate fans around than Alabama fans. There's not. We were staying at the team hotel with Alabama the other day and this is like three hours before the game and fans are lined up in the hotel just to get a glimpse of the kids as they go from the elevator to the bus. And I don't know how long they must have been waiting there, probably hours to see those kids. There's a lot of teams and schools and campuses that have great passion. Nobody has more than Alabama. ... I think Ohio State has some very passionate fans and they're very into it. I don't know that they live their life around football. I feel like people live their life around Alabama football. They probably plan weddings and they probably plan events. I'm from Utah and football is big there, but it's nothing like that.

Q: If you could cover any one regular season game this year the rest of the way, which one would you choose?

A: It's this week, LSU-Alabama. To me, that's the remaining roadblock for Alabama. The East in the SEC has had so many injuries problems. Even the teams that are good like Missouri and teams that still have an opportunity to win it, they are depleted by injuries. So I think this is the last roadblock for Alabama, so I think LSU-Alabama this week is the game.

But don't sleep on Auburn-Alabama this year. I don't know how good Auburn is yet. I saw Auburn in a game earlier this year, their only loss of the year and they didn't look great in that game. But they could give Alabama some trouble. ... I think their quarterback has gotten healthier and I think he's gotten more comfortable with what they're and their defense is coming around. They've had some good, top 10 recruiting classes, op recruiting classes under gene Chizik and I think some of those kids are starting to develop now. I'm not surprised that they are as good as they are this year to be honest with you. But the toughest part of their schedule is still ahead. They have some tough games in the next three weeks.

Q: How different is Auburn from a year ago?

A: Oh my gosh, night and day. The game we did they struggled the first three quarters but in the fourth quarter they moved the ball on LSU and started to come back against LSU. Now, LSU had some subs in and it was a different situation. But I could see then that things were starting to click for Auburn. When that offense clicks, as you guys know, it's deadly. It's hard to stop. When you have a mobile quarterback and a guy who can run, it changes the numbers and the mismatches and everything. Auburn will be as good as their defense is this year. And that's what I'll be curious to see.