“That fumble by Eddie was really a great thing, in the long term. Obviously, you never want to fumble, you never want to give up possession in the red zone and especially in the end zone,” McElroy said. “But the way he was able to bounce back, the way it didn’t affect him …  I believe it was his fourth career carry. It was obviously a very negative result, but he bounced back and had himself a great game. That’s really encouraging for me as a player to see a young guy like that not get down in the dumps, not just go into his little shell, to just continue to move on.”

Lacy carried the ball only once more the rest of the half, but finished with a game-high 111 yards in his collegiate debut.

The first step toward that goal has begun as Ray has enrolled at Tallahassee (Fla.)  Community College to complete eligibility requirements, according to his father, Melvin Sr.

“He’s taking 15 hours right now and we’re praying he can get finished up this December and be ready to go in January,” said the elder Ray.

But will Ray Jr. be part of Alabama’s next signing class? That still remains to be seen.

Ray was part of Alabama’s lauded 2008 signing class that produced such current standouts as Mark Ingram, Julio Jones and Mark Barron. He did not meet eligibility requirements, however, and chose to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a 33rd-round draft choice. After two-plus seasons of offensive struggles as an outfielder in the Dodgers’ chain, Ray decided to return to football. He wants to play at Alabama, but may have more to prove to make that happen. According to senior, the former Tide signee received a text message from UA assistant coach Kirby Smart after reaching out to the Alabama coaching staff about his decision, but has yet to receive any confirmation that there is room for him to be part of UA’s next signing class.

“I told him ‘You’ve got to prove to them that you can get eligible first,’” said Ray Sr. “So he’s going to get done what he has to get done, and then we’ll see where we’re at.”

* In case you were wondering, Dorothy ‘Dot’ Davidson’s notorious splash as a Bessemer mayoral candidate didn’t result in a victory. You may recall Davidson’s campaign tactics were the center of attention for a few days when a doctored photo of Davidson and UA coach Nick Saban was distributed without Saban’s authorization or endorsement. While she instantly became the most recognizable face in the race, the photo scandal apparently cost her more votes than the recognition bought her. Davidson pulled 13.06 percent of the vote.

* Former UA freshman linebacker Alfy Hill officially landed at East Carolina Wednesday, but has yet to comment publicly on the circumstances that led to his transfer. The NCAA Clearinghouse failed to accept two online classes Hill took at West Brunswick High in Shallotte (N.C.), which forced him out at UA two weeks into fall camp despite two successful summer school terms. Some on my twitter feed have asked how Hill’s academics could be suitable for one FBS program and not another. Simple: Conference-USA’s academic standards, not being as stringent as those in the Southeastern Conference, are such that Hill could attend ECU with certain restrictions. He cannot be on scholarship or participate in any football activities in his first year on campus. With good academic standing after one year, he can become a scholarship player at ECU and eligible to play beginning in 2011.

Having seen this guy for two weeks running drills, you can look for Hill to be a man among boys in C-USA, particularly if he improves his technique. As a pure athlete, he’ll be special in that league – and grow into a hand-on-the-ground end.

* On an encouraging note, twitter updates on hospitalized former UA basketball player Mikhail Torrance have been positive. Torrance, who revealed a heart condition not long after his college career ended, collapsed in Bradenton, Fla., on a basketball court and was placed in an induced coma. He has since been revived.

Not on Sept. 11, anyway.

Bowden, a native of Birmingham, has accepted an invitation to attend the University of Alabama’s home game against Big Ten power Penn State that day. For more on Bowden’s anticipation for the visit, check out this Orlando Sentinel Q&A. Not in a clicking mood? In short, Bowden discusses his younger days when his father took him to see what Alabama football was about.

With Bowden coming Sept. 11 for the Penn State game, and former UA coach Gene Stallings in town three weeks later to be honored by the National Football Foundation when Alabama hosts Florida, some heavy-hitting names in the college football world will be in Tuscaloosa this fall, and not all of them will be on the sideline.

OK, so maybe if you’re attuned to Bessemer politics, you can do it.

If not, you’re probably like the thousands who had no idea who Davidson was until a doctored photo illustrating an alleged — and later proven false — endorsement by UA coach Nick Saban of her mayoral candidacy in Bessemer turned up Wednesday. Turns out, a cutout image of Davidson was photo-shopped onto a years-old Saban picture that originally included his wife, Terry. Davidson’s image replaced Mrs. Saban’s for the appearance of Saban and Davidson together. Of course, UA officials said Saban in no way endorsed Davidson, and a campaign manager was promptly fired.

Now for the rub: There’s an old saying that bad press is better than no press. And on Tuesday, that theory will be put to the test at polling locations all over Bessemer. Naturally, Davidson will lose some votes over Wednesday’s scandalous revelation. But she’s also instantly become the most recognizable face in the race, and don’t think for a minute that won’t drive voters to at least check out her platform. Throw in a few sympathy votes from those who believe she was victimized by an overzealous campaign manager, and you just might be looking at the next mayor of Bessemer.

The election is Tuesday.

And if Davidson wins it, she’ll have Saban to thank.

Here’s guessing Nick won’t be at the after-party.

He calls it ‘finishing’.

“After I caught the ball last year, I got tackled pretty easily,” Hanks said. “This year I want to be able to catch the ball, break a tackle, and score. … I try to take some of (running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson’s) game and add it to mine. I see things they do to try to break tackles, and I try to add it to my repertoire.”

Hanks is listed at 184 pounds, but said it’s more about muscle than weight when it comes to picking up yards after the catch. Hanks made 17 catches on the season for 272 yards, but by his own admission, didn’t exactly drag defenders with him. So what does he see from the Crimson Tide’s running backs that he’d like to mimic?

“When people are coming to tackle you, just get those knees up, stiff-arms, everything. (Julio) is physical, too. Me being a smaller guy, I’ve got to have that in my game also. I’ve got to be physical,” Hanks said.

Hanks

San Jose State redshirt freshman kicker Harrison Waid told the San Jose Mercury News that he is looking forward to coming to Tuscaloosa against the nation’s No.1 team and “knock them around.”

The comments landed on cnnsi.com’s College Football Truth & Rumors page.

The comments as re-posted by cnnsi.com: “We’re excited we get to go knock them around. If we can beat them we’ll remember it for the rest of our lives no matter what else happens.”

Gotta think there is a senior lineman or two in the Spartans locker room that isn’t too happy about a freshman kicker baiting the likes of Marcell Dareus, D.J. Fluker, and various other long shadows he’ll never have to come in contact with. Will also be interesting to see if he gets a love tap from someone on Alabama’s kickoff return team.

When UA practices indoors, presumably by coincidence, the vantage point for the media is essentially reversed. All the positions which practice from a longer distance outdoors work out directly in front of the media indoors. It provides a chance to watch certain positions much more closely, running backs among them. Eyeballing Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram go through drillwork up close is impressive enough, but the size and athleticism Alabama’s depth at the position displays is hard to fathom.

Beyond Ingram and sophomore Trent Richardson, there is little to no game experience among them. But physically, the reserves look ready to handle an SEC rushing load tomorrow. Wide receivers, too, put on an indoor display that can’t quite be appreciated as much from the outdoor distance. Marquis Maze is bigger than he looks; Earl Alexander faster. Julio Jones often navigates the entire media viewing period without dropping one ball, and younger players like Michael Bowman look just a biscuit short of tight end size.

At one time or another, every college football program has to put players on the field who are unproven. But far fewer have the sort of size and athleticism currently being stacked for depth in Tuscaloosa.

In UA coach Nick Saban’s first year, in fact.

But if anything strikes the eye at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility as fall camp 2010 reaches the end of its first week, it’s the look of the second and third groups of linemen on both sides of the ball.

Can they play on Saturdays? Remains to be seen. Do they look the part? Absolutely.

Take Brandon Moore, for instance. The redshirt freshman nose guard  hasn’t played a down of SEC football yet, but if you lined him up next to the rest of the starting interior defensive linemen in the league, he wouldn’t look out of place physically. Whether it’s Anthony Orr and Damion Square on defense, or Anthony Steen and Tyler Love on offense, the physical appearance of the Crimson Tide’s young big men is short on baby fat and long on potential. Freshman offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio has the long arms coaches look for in an offensive tackle, but lacks the belly that makes many freshmen linemen a year-long project.

They may lack technique, and they certainly lack experience. But one gets the feeling graduation losses up front aren’t going to hurt the Crimson Tide in the near term.

McElroy said his experience as a MPA veteran was much different than when he attended the camp a year earlier.

“I think this year was a little bit more rewarding because I didn’t feel as out of place. I think last year I felt a little more nervous, a little more apprehensive as far as my approach to those guys. This year, I was really comfortable. I felt more comfortable picking their brains and asking a lot of questions,” McElroy said. “They had such a diverse set of guys. Jesse Palmer was there, they had some media members there, they had Mike Mayock from the NFL Network there. It was cool getting to pick those guys’ brains a little bit. Obviously you like spending time with the quarterbacks, which is obviously rewarding. But this year I felt a lot more in my element. I got a lot more out of it.”

Buddy Teevens, one of the camp’s directors and a longtime tutor of the college passing game, has said McElroy was a no-brainer for a return invite – not every quarterback gets one.

“Last year I was kind of the guy cracking jokes, giving people a hard time. That was totally reversed as far as my role this year. People were giving me a hard time, “Where’s your ring?” stuff like that,” McElroy said. “People were asking questions and I like to see guys have success and when you develop relationships with those guys like you do over the course of four days, it’s nice to be able to talk football and pass along as much knowledge as you can.”