Crimson Tide Opens As Big Favorite Over Mississippi State
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| Alabama's Nick Saban (right) with MSU's Dan Mullen Photo Credit: New York Post |
Despite showing big improvement in their overall performance, despite pulling a huge upset over the soon-to-be former fourth seed in the College Football Playoffs, Mississippi State opens the week as a tremendous underdog in their game with the Alabama Crimson Tide scheduled for this Saturday, November 12th at Bryant-Denny Stadium. According to Vegas Insider, the No. 1 team in the country has been installed as a whopping 29 point favorite over the Bulldogs.
Obviously the Las Vegas oddsmakers don't see Mississippi State being able to hang, at all, with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama improved to 9-0 on the season overall, and 6-0 in the ever-competitive toughest division in the country, the SEC West. The Crimson Tide halted the hopes of the LSU Tigers from entering the playoff picture with a 10-0 shutout over the No. 13 Tigers this past Saturday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Mississippi State is 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference this season. Those five losses have come against LSU, Auburn, South Alabama, BYU and Kentucky. The Dogs have defeated South Carolina (by 13 points), UMass (by 12 after giving up 35 points), Samford (after giving up 41 points) and Texas A&M (by 7). Though State appears to have an offense, it's evident that there isn't much of a defense to field.
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Alabama Volleyball Takes Four-Set Win Over Arkansas
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
That would be the word to describe the University of Alabama volleyball team in their four-set victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks yesterday. After dropping the first set, the Crimson Tide came back with three straight wins to take the 3-1 win over the Hogs yesterday at Foster Auditorium. Alabama improves to 16-10 overall, 5-8 in the SEC while Arkansas dropped to 5-19 overall, 3-9 SEC.
Krystal Rivers led the Tide with a triple-double, 10 kills, 18 digs and a career-high 12 blocks, including four solo and two block assists. She is now only 61 kills away from tying Alabama's career record.
Setter Alexa Tomlak stepped up big yesterday, finishing with 37 assists and 13 digs, and got her second double-double. Brittany Thomas finished the contest one dig shy of her own with 12 kills, nine digs and one block. Hayley McSparin picked up 11 kills, hitting .526 with just one error on 19 swings and two blocks. Leah Lawrence added nine kills, two aces, and eight blocks. The Tide posted a season-high 14.0 team blocks while able to hold Arkansas to .055, including a .000 hitting percentage in the deciding fourth set.
Alabama hosts Auburn (13-12, 7-5 SEC) on Wednesday, November 9th in Foster Auditorium. Start time is set for 5 p.m. CT, and will be aired live on ESPNU.
| Game Stats | AR | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Kills | 39 | 47 |
| Errors | 31 | 19 |
| Hitting % | .055 | .181 |
| Points | 49.0 | 68.0 |
| Aces | 2 | 7 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 14.0 |
| TA | 145 | 155 |
| Assists | 36 | 41 |
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| Krystal Rivers in action Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
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| Crimson Tide's Alexa Tomlak |
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Crimson Tide Football Coaches Name Players Of The Week
Entire Defense Plus Five Honored
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Crimson Tide Football Coaches Name Players Of The Week
Entire Defense Plus Five Honored
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| Graphics/Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama football coaching staff have payed tribute to the entire defensive unit plus five additional players in honor of their performances in the Crimson Tide's 10-0 shutout victory over LSU in Baton Rouge this past Saturday. In addition to the defensive
unit, the coaches named Bradley Bozeman, Cam Robinson and Bo Scarbrough from the offense, while JK Scott and Keaton Anderson were the honorees on special teams.
The
offensive line played well, and especially Bozeman and Robinson, as they opened the lanes for quarterback Jalen Hurts and the running backs to pick up the 216
yards in the rushing attack last Saturday. Robinson graded out at 87 percent, and did not allow a single quarterback hurry or a sack. Big Bozeman anchored
the line, making all the calls from the center position despite the roar of the crowd at Death Valley. Alabama
average 4.2 yards per carry against one of the nation's best rushing
defenses and allowed Hurts
to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time this season, picking up 114 yards. Scarbrough contributed 52 rushing yards
on 11 carries with a 4.7 yards per carry average.
Alabama's
defense was sensational against the LSU offense, limiting the Tigers to only six first
downs and 125 yards of total offense. Sacks? Oh yeah there were sacks. The defense recorded five sacks while limiting the LSU offense to just 33 rushing yards on 27 attempts. Reuben Foster led the defense with 11 total tackles. Marlon Humphrey contributed from the secondary in shutting down the Tigers' passing attack finishing with eight tackles. Dalvin Tomlinson (six tackles, 1.5 TFL), Ryan Anderson (six tackles, 1.0 sacks), Tim Williams (1.5 TFL) and Jonathan Allen (three tackles, 1.0 sacks) were all in on the Tide's five sacks. All-in-all the defense had nine tackles for loss on the night.
On Saturday night after the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said, "Our defense was outstanding."
And later during the post-game press interview Saban said, "We have some pretty hateful guys that play defense around here that are pretty good competitors. And when they get challenged, they usually respond, and I thought they responded really well [Saturday] night."
And later during the post-game press interview Saban said, "We have some pretty hateful guys that play defense around here that are pretty good competitors. And when they get challenged, they usually respond, and I thought they responded really well [Saturday] night."
On special teams, Scott
punted five times for 258 yards for an average of 51.6 yards per punt. He had a season-long boot of 66 yards while helping keep the Tigers in
favorable field position all evening. Anderson helped limit the Tigers
to just 16 punt return yards.
Alabama Rowing Adds Four Top-10 Finishes Sunday
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| Alabama Crimson Tide Rowing Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Alabama head rowing coach Larry Davis commented, "This is the strongest finish we've had at the Head of the Hooch. It's the first time we've come away with three medals and the silver is the highest finish we had at the event. It was a weekend with a lot of firsts. We did a really good job as a team and it was a great way to finish the fall."
With the four top-10 finishes yesterday, Alabama's weekend total comes to 10, including three silver medals over three events including Sunday's Open 8+ and Saturday's Novice 8+ and Championship 2x.
The Tennessee River in Chattanooga is where the season both began and ended, giving the Crimson Tide the opportunity to truly gauge their improvement through the fall season.
"Our overall our team performance as much more consistent this weekend than it was earlier this year at the Chattanooga Head Race," Davis said. "We picked up some medals in the first series earlier in October but this time around was a big step up the first race. We were able to compete and get some medals against some high-powered teams so we were certainly pleased to see that."
Thus ends Alabama's fall racing schedule. The Crimson Tide won't be racing again until Saturday, February 25th against Eastern Michigan in Tuscaloosa.
Davis concluded, "We need to make sure they continue to work over the next few months to make sure to maintain our competitive level. It was great to have good conditions in Chattanooga this weekend and really challenge our team and see success to conclude our fall season."
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Bama Women's Tennis Concludes Seminole Showdown
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
senior Danielle Spielmann and freshman Maddie Pothoff picked up two the Tide's two singles victories on Sunday afternoon. Alabama picked up seven doubles wins and eight singles victories in the three-day event, which ends the last competition of the 2016 fall season.
Spielmann defeated UCF's Monica Matias in straight sets, while Pothoff won her match against Kelsey Grambeau of Wisconsin in straight sets also.
Alabama officially begins the 2017 regular season on Sunday, January 15th hosting the UAB Blazers at 10 a.m. CT, before taking on Alabama State later that same evening at 4 p.m. CT.
Alabama Results:
Singles:
Danielle Spielmann (Alabama) defeated Monica Matias (UCF) 6-2, 6-4
Maddie Pothoff (Alabama) defeated Kelsey Grambeau (Wisconsin) 6-0, 6-1
Nandini Das (Florida State) defeated Smith Hinton (Alabama) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Malene Strip (Oklahoma) defeated Joanna Savva (Alabama) 6-0, 6-1
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2016 Alabama Football Cumulative Statistics
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| 2016 University Of Alabama Football |
Here's how the 2016 edition of University of Alabama Crimson Tide football looks through nine games of the season:
Overall Team Statistics
| Statistic | ALABAMA | |
|---|---|---|
Scoring |
||
| 40.11 | 13.22 | |
| 361 | 119 | |
First Downs |
||
| 118 | 42 | |
| 76 | 66 | |
| 5 | 14 | |
| 199 | 122 | |
Rushing |
||
| 2607 | 986 | |
| 244 | 392 | |
| 406 | 284 | |
| 5.8 | 2.1 | |
| 262.6 | 66.0 | |
| 22 | 3 | |
| 2363 | 594 | |
Passing |
||
| 251-158-6 | 287-151-9 | |
| 7.75 | 6.02 | |
| 216.00 | 191.89 | |
| 13 | 9 | |
| 1944 | 1727 | |
Total Offense |
||
| 657 | 571 | |
| 6.6 | 4.1 | |
| 478.6 | 257.9 | |
| 4307 | 2321 | |
| 47 | 13 | |
Returns |
||
| 20.28 | 21.71 | |
| 18-365 | 31-673 | |
| 17.18 | 10.90 | |
| 22-378 | 10-109 | |
| 27.89 | 3.50 | |
| 9-251 | 6-21 | |
Kicking |
||
| 48.12 | 45.61 | |
| 44.82 | 43.99 | |
| 33-1588 | 67-3056 | |
| 11-17 | 10-13 | |
| 0-0 | 1-2 | |
Penalties |
||
| 47.22 | 34.78 | |
| 56-425 | 35-313 | |
Time Of Possession |
||
| 32:09 | 27:51 | |
| 04:49:21 | 04:10:39 | |
Miscellaneous |
||
| (48.03 %) | (29.58 %) | |
| (54.55 %) | (28.57 %) | |
| 16-8 | 16-8 | |
| 37-300 | 16-100 | |
| 0 | 0 | |
| 33-40 | 13-16 | |
| 24-40 | 6-16 | |
*Statistics Provided By University of Alabama Athletics
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Crimson Tide Defense Receives Big Honor
Named Walter Camp Defensive Player Of The Week
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| Entire Alabama defensive unit is Player of the Week Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Wow! Talk about an honor!
The University of Alabama football team is used to its members receiving various honors week after week and year after year. But this one - special!
The entire Alabama Crimson Tide defense has been named as the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week for this past Saturday's shutout of top-15 and SEC West foe LSU 10-0 in Baton Rouge on Saturday night. The Alabama defense is the second team to earn this honor, with Virginia Tech's defense being the first.
The "hateful guys", as Alabama head football coach Nick Saban called Alabama's defense, totally shut down the potent LSU offensive unit. The Bama D shut down the passing game, as well as the vaunted running game of the Tigers. The Tide defense recorded five sacks on the night, limited the rushing game to just 33 yards on 27 attempts, 92 yards in the air and kept the Bengal Tigers out of the red zone the entire evening.
Reuben Foster led the Bama D with 11 tackles, Marlon Humphrey recorded eight tackles, Dalvin Tomlinson had six tackles including 1.5 TFL, Ryan Anderson had six tackles and one sack, Tim Williams got into the backfield to record 1.5 TFL and Jonathan Allen delivered three tackles including one sack. Then there's Minkah Fitzpatrick picking off his third pass of the season while delivering on three tackles as well as a pass breakup.
When it came to his defense, Saban commented after the game, "Our defense was outstanding." That they were, Nick, that they were.
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Tide Men's Tennis Wins 3 To Conclude SEC Coaches Classic
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Tide Men's Tennis Wins 3 To Conclude SEC Coaches Classic
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The Alabama men's tennis team concluded play at the Southeastern Conference Coaches Classic with three singles wins on Sunday at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. Sophomore Mazen Osama and freshman Thibault Cancel were announced as champions of their respective singles draws.
In all, the Crimson Tide men captured six doubles victories and 14 singles wins in the three-day event.
UA head men's tennis coach George Husack said, "Super weekend of tennis, and it is always special to play at home. Mother Nature was more than kind and our athletic department staff put
all their hands and hearts together to host a quality event. Our guys
ended their fall tournament season on a high note as they were
challenged physically and mentally from start to finish."
Osama won the
championship of the Jeff Robinson singles draw in straight sets against Kentucky's Trey Yates. Osama reached the
semifinals of the Southern Region and Yates fell short in the finals of
the Ohio Valley Region.
Cancel defeated Tim Sandkaulen of Ole Miss in three sets to claim the championship of the Francisco
Rodriguez singles draw.
Ritchie Kruunenberg won the consolation championship in the John
Stimpson singles draw in straight sets over Gus Benson of Kentucky.
Husack said, "I felt our players improved as the tournament went on so they could
give it their all through the finish line. I'm happy for
the guys that won their respective divisions as it's always nice to get a
carrot or two for the effort. We will continue to train until the fall
semester ends and be ready to tackle the Spring season in early
January."
Alabama Results:
Singles Results:
Cameron Andry (LSU) defeated Hayes Brewer (Alabama) 6-2, 6-1
Mazen Osama (Alabama) defeated Trey Yates (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-3
Filip Kraljevic (Ole Miss) defeated Spencer Richey (Alabama) 6-3, 7-5
Ritchie Kruunenberg (Alabama) defeated Gus Benson (Kentucky) 6-1, 6-3
Tate Allwardt (Vanderbilt) defeated Alexey Nesterov (Alabama) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Thibault Cancel (Alabama) defeated Tim Sandkaulen (Ole Miss) 6-1, 6-7(8), 6-1
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What Nick Saban Said Following The Win Over LSU
Watch Him On Tide TV
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| Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Click The Link To View |
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