Bama Prepares For Ole Miss
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football began their two-hour practice session yesterday fully aware that this week begins the march through the Southeastern Conference. Bama worked in shells on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in preparation for nationally-ranked Ole Miss.
The Ole Miss offense has been very potent in its first two games, racking up over 1,200 offensive yards and more than 70 points scored in each of its games. It will indeed be a huge test for the Tide defense. Alabama leads the series 47-10-2, winning 10 of the last 11 games
The Alabama-Ole Miss contest is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. CT this Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and will be aired on ESPN. On the call will be Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox.
Alabama will practice today and tomorrow in full pads to prepare for a game that means more to the squad this season than the previous two. Yes, one reason is that this is an SEC West foe. The other reason is to avenge last season's loss.
The defense will definitely have to play its best game of the season to slow down, and hopefully stop, the Rebel offense. Focus on specifics has already begun on that very thing. Pass protection by the Bama offensive line is also being worked, as is working the quarterbacks on better decisions when finding targets down the field.
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Nick Saban Talks To The Press
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban addressed the press concerning the Alabama-MTSU game last week, as well as this week's SEC season-opening contest with the Ole Miss Rebels.
In his opening comments Saban said, "It's always good to win and we did some good things in the game (UA-MTSU), but we were a little inconsistent in the way we played on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of things to work on, and a lot of things to improve. A key thing that players and everybody needs to understand is playing a team like we are playing this week, it's going to be necessary for us to play better in this game; execute better; be more consistent; have better fundamental execution. I think the best way to do that is to focus on preparation each day this week. What do you do on Monday? What do you do on Tuesday? What do you do on Wednesday? What do you do on Thursday? You have to really get it down and carry that preparation into the game with good focus."
Saban then called out several players and addressed injuries, saying, "We had some outstanding performances. You've got the players of the week: Kenyan Drake, Derrick Henry, A'Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Tony Brown, Michael Nysewander and Maurice Smith on special teams. We don't really have any injuries to report. We've got a couple of guys that will be in black jerseys today, but I don't think anybody that will be out for this game."
And what about the Old Miss Rebels? What do they have? What can they do? What is Alabama looking at this week? Saban commented, "Ole Miss certainly has an outstanding team. They have a lot of experience returning, I think 18 starters. Obviously when you score over 75 points a game, you have a pretty dynamic offense in a lot of ways. They have a lot of good players, they have a great scheme, and they do a really good job at executing; they play fast. They are leading the nation in a lot of categories when it comes to offense. I think (quarterback) Chad Kelly has done a really good job for them. They have a really good runner, and they've got really good receivers. (Laquon) Treadwell is probably as good as anybody in the country, and overall they have a really good receiving corp. On their defense, they've got seven starters back. It is one of the best defenses in the SEC; they've given up 12 points a game so far this year. They are one of the best defensive teams in our conference. This is a very good all-around team. It's certainly going to be a challenging game for us. We are looking forward to begin playing SEC competition, playing in our conference. This is the conference opener for us, and if you're a great competitor and you love to play in the games like this, then this is certainly going to offer as many challenges anyone could hope for as far as a competitor."
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Bama Football
7 Players Recognized By Tide Coaching Staff
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Seven of Bama's best have been recognized by the University of Alabama football coaching staff following the match-up this past weekend with MTSU. The Tide handily won their home-opener 37-10.
Those being recognized as the players of the week are, on offense, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake, with the defense being represented by A'Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed, and on special teams it is Tony Brown, Michael Nysewander and Maurice Smith.
Junior Derrick Henry was just four yards shy of the century mark this past weekend before being pulled from the game. He rushed for 96 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns. He is leading the nation in touchdowns this young season with three in each game, for a total of six.
Kenyan Drake produced 202 all-purpose yards in last week's contest. He had a career-best 91 yards on five receptions while rushing for an additional 40 yards on six carries. He was a big contributor on special teams also, adding another 71 yards on kickoff return duty.
Smith was the leading tackler on the special teams. He had two stops in his punt coverage duties, limiting one return to less than three yards as well as keeping the other punt returner inside their own 20. Another player honored for the second consecutive week, Tony Brown, had one tackle as a gunner on punt coverage and was responsible for forcing two fair catches by the receiving team. Nysewander added one tackle on punt coverage, nailing the returner inside his own 20-yard line.
Congratulations to these seven.
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What About Bama's Kicking?
He was the number one ranked kicker in the 2012 recruiting class according to 247Sports.com. He was known to be able to hit field goals from 50-plus yards. So what has happened to kicker Adam Griffith?
Boos could be heard across Bryant-Denny Stadium as Griffiths 49-yard field goal attempt fell well short of the uprights. But that's not the only missed attempt. He hasn't hit a single field goal in four attempts this season. Griffith missed two field goals in the game against Wisconsin, a 39-yard chip shot and a 44-yarder. This past week against MTSU he missed another chip shot of 24-yards and the 49er.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has defended his kicker, and on more than one occasion. However, Saban has also suggested a change could be coming if Griffith can't fix the problem.
"We obviously need to get more production there, but we also have confidence in him and we thing he can get the job done," Saban said. "But there may come a point sometime where we give somebody else an opportunity."
Griffith has only made five of his last 16 field goal attempts for a paltry 31.25 percentage. The last one he hit was back on November 15, 2014. It was a 36-yarder in the third quarter of the Mississippi State game.
Concerning this past Saturday's misses, Saban said, "One (miss) was a long one today and one was a short one. The short one was disappointing. He kicks extra points just great, and it was not much more than an extra point."
With the misses on the field, booing has begun from the stands. That also takes its toll. Whatever is "in his head" is only made worse by the sound of boos coming from the Alabama side of Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Saban said, "I think a lot of these type things are mental, confidence, psychological, mental disposition. I think he needs to make some kicks. I think it woul be really good for him, and I think it'd be really good for us."
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Alabama & Louisiana-Monroe Televised
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The game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Louisiana-Monroe will be televised on the SEC Network, the SEC office announced yesterday. The home game si scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday, September 26th.
