Julio Jones scores his only touchdown of the season, on a 50-yard pass from Greg McElroy on a trick play against Arkansas. (The Birmingham News / Mark Almond)TUSCALOOSA - Will this be the breakout game Alabama fans have been waiting for from Julio Jones?
The wide receiver caught a season-high seven passes for a season-high 128 yards last year in Alabama's 27-21 overtime victory at LSU.
He finished his freshman season with a team-leading 58 catches for a team-leading 924 yards.
Imaginations ran wild as fans anticipated Jones' sophomore season, but here he is, going into the ninth game with only 20 catches for 229 yards and one touchdown.
He caught four passes for 46 yards in the season-opening 34-24 victory over Virginia Tech, but he was hurt during the first series of the second game, against Florida International. He missed the rest of that game and all of the third game.
He came back to play against Arkansas and caught two passes, including one for a 50-yard touchdown.
But he had only six catches over the next three games, including none in a 20-6 victory over South Carolina.
He caught a season-high seven passes for 54 yards in third-ranked Alabama's most recent game, a 12-10 victory over Tennessee.
Now comes No. 9 LSU.
"I'm just going to go out there and play ball," Jones said. "LSU, they're a team that just goes out there, lines up, good on good, and play ball."
A matchup with Patrick Peterson, LSU's sophomore right cornerback, could be one of the key matchups in the game.
"He's a very talented corner," Jones said. "He's good."
The past few games, Alabama has faced soft pass defenses that conceded underneath throws while focusing on taking deep passes away. Jones is looking forward to playing against an aggressive pass defense.
"LSU, they're man-to-man," Jones said.
So he's ready to break loose?
"I do what they need me to do, whether it's blocking, catching the ball, whatever," Jones said.
Jones, in fact, has distinguished himself as a blocker this season. His block on a fourth-and-1 play just before halftime at Ole Miss sprang Mark Ingram free for a 36-yard run for the only touchdown in a 22-3 victory.
"I just go out there and have fun," Jones said. "Blocking is having fun to me. Catching the ball ... I just go out there and try to have fun."
Blocking's as much fun as catching the ball?
"Yeah," he said.
Really?
"Yeah."
Senior linebacker Cory Reamer is impressed with Jones' blocking.
"You see it on the film," Reamer said. "We come back on Sundays and Mondays and watch the film on him. He's making pancake blocks on safeties or linebackers and breaking Mark and Trent (Richardson) and all those guys free.
"What else can you ask of a guy to just take a guy completely out of the play? He's driving people off the field and to the sidelines. He's a physical guy, one of the bigger receivers we have. He plays as physical as anybody I've seen at that position."
Jones said the Pittsburgh Steelers' Hines Ward is the best blocking wide receiver he has seen. Can Jones throw the ball like the former University of Georgia quarterback?
"I don't know," Jones said. "We'll have to wait and see."
Jones also has impressed others with his jumping ability. Photos of Terrence Cody's game-winning blocked field-goal attempt show Jones way up in the air behind the line.
So what is his vertical jump?
"I haven't been tested in a while," he said. "When I was in the ninth grade, I had a 42 (inches)."
If Cody had not blocked the kick that would have beaten Alabama, would Jones have gotten it?
"I was going to try," he said.
Jones was asked if anyone on the team can jump higher.
"Not that I know of," he said.
Jones was asked if he is 100 percent healthy.
"Yes, sir," he said.
And how long has he been 100 percent healthy?
"A couple weeks," he said.

An all-points-bulletin has been out for Julio Jones most of this season.

There’s some irony in that, too, because Jones’ popularity soared above rock-star status a long time ago in the state of Alabama. He shows up at shopping malls, and they might as well start setting up the barricades.


AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Julio Jones has only one touchdown in his last 16 games going back to last season.
He’s the ultimate show-stopper, the player every Alabama fan wants to reach out and touch.

All you have to do is utter his first name, and heads turn in Linda Blair-like fashion.

“First they stare, and then they don’t believe it’s me,” Jones says in his own quiet way. “I really don’t go out much anymore.”

He’s been equally scarce in Alabama’s offense, at least the version of Jones that burst onto the scene last season as a freshman and paired with Georgia’s A.J. Green to provide the SEC with one of its hottest debates.

Who was the better receiver: Green or Jones?

A year later, that question has been amended: How is it that Jones has gone missing in the Crimson Tide’s offense?

“He’s a guy who needs to make plays for us,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He’s got a lot of talent and a lot of ability. He’s got great size and speed. He’s a great competitor and has to become a part of the offense for us.”

Sooner rather than later, too.

If Jones can’t help loosen up the LSU defense Saturday with some bigger plays down the field, the Tigers will look like they have 14 or 15 guys up on the line of scrimmage.

“We had a lot of explosive plays and play-action down the field early in the year, and we’ve got to get back to that,” Alabama senior offensive guard Mike Johnson said.

For the most part, teams have been able to take Jones out of the downfield passing equation this season with a heavy dose of double coverage.

Of course, in Alabama’s last three games, there hasn’t been a downfield passing game -- period.

The Crimson Tide have managed just four passing plays of 15 yards or longer in their last three games and only two to wide receivers. Marquis Maze had a 19-yard catch against Tennessee and a 16-yard catch against Ole Miss.

Jones had a season-high seven catches against the Vols, but they were all shorter tosses.

“Different teams have tried to do different things against me, and we’re just trying to take what the defense is giving us,” said Jones, who has 20 catches for 229 yards and one touchdown this season.

Against LSU a year ago, he had seven catches for 128 yards.

If Jones is growing frustrated by his lack of production, he’s done a marvelous job of hiding it.

“I’m happy with what we’re doing as a team,” said Jones, who’s scored just one touchdown in his last 16 games dating back to last season. “I’ll do what they need me to do. If it’s blocking, I’ll block. If it’s catching passes, I’ll catch passes.

“It’s bigger than just me right now. We have other guys who can make plays, and we’re winning. That’s what matters.”

His teammates insist that it’s just a matter of time before he unleashes a breakout game on somebody this season, complete with his patented stiff-arms and tackle-breaking romps to the end zone.

The 6-foot-4, 211-pound Jones hasn’t been completely healthy until now. He missed almost two complete games earlier this season with a bruised knee and wasn’t 100 percent when he came back, Saban said.

During the preseason, Jones was battling an ankle injury and underwent three different surgeries (sports hernia, shoulder and wrist) in the offseason.

“All that’s behind me. I’m healthy now,” said Jones, adding that the bye week was big for him and the entire team. “I’m flying around a lot better and getting in and out of my routes.”

LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson figures to match up with Jones for much of Saturday’s game. Peterson’s one of the few cornerbacks in the league big enough, physical enough and talented enough to handle one-on-one duty against Jones.

Then again, maybe not.

“We just have to get him the ball in the right situation,” said Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who carried the offense during the month of October. “Julio’s explosive and can break out any time and at any moment in the game. I’m always confident that when he gets the ball, he can take it the distance and make a big play. We just have to get him the ball.”

Sounds like Saban has made a similar mandate.

“To me, to have a good passing game, you have to attack the middle of the field,” Saban said. “You have got to give players chances to make plays, and I think we need to do a better job of that.”

Jones isn’t the demanding type. It's not his style. You’re not going to hear any Keyshawn Johnson impersonations or see any Terrell Owens-esque tirades from him about not getting the ball.

You probably won’t see him at the mall, either.

But all those people who love chanting his name (HOOOO-lio) would love it even more if the Crimson Tide can rediscover him in their offense.

Well he had a break out game against LSU, couldn't have come at better time either, that run down the sidelines was a thing of beauty.

It is refreshing that he's a humble type, not a showboat, and has a good all around game, taking pride in blocking and such.

I could not be happier! He deserved this great play! (and he made it look so easy!)