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Alabama Preps For Georgia
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
It was another two-hour practice yesterday for the University of Alabama football team. Bama worked in shells in the outdoors on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields. This week's practices will be geared toward working out the kinks in the offense, such as better receiver selection and not making throws into coverage for the quarterback, not dropping the ball for the receivers, and pass protection for the offensive line.
Returning as a full-practice participant is freshman Bo Scarbrough, who has been medically cleared according to Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Scarbrough suffered a torn ACL in the spring, and then was later suspended for four games due to an undisclosed NCAA issue. Saban said he would try to create a role for the freshman. Though he has practiced with the team since the preseason he's been limited because of his health.
Also back practicing on Monday was Jonathan Allen, who had injured his left shoulder in last Saturday's game with ULM. Saban said the injury is day-to-day but plans to play him this week against Georgia.
Backup safety Jabriel Washington was also practicing yesterday. He has missed all four games this season with a sprained knee, but according to Saban "should probably" play this week. He was seen with a brace on his knee at practice.
This is the week that most thought would be Bama's first opportunity to lose a football game, but alas that went by the wayside two Saturday's ago via Ole Miss. This week it's a trip to Athens, Georgia where the Crimson Tide will take on the Georgia Bulldogs for their second SEC contest of the season.
Georgia is 4-0 on the young season, and is ranked 8th or 6th, according to the poll on which your trust is based. And this top-10 team has already won 3 games at home, and looking to make it four when Alabama comes to town. Georgia ranks near the top of every offensive category, giving the Tide defense a very strong opponent for which to prepare.
The last time the two teams met was in the 2012 SEC Championship, with the Tide coming away with a 32-28 win. Bama leads the series with the 'Dogs 37-25-4.
The game will air live on CBS. Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce will be making the call. Game time is 2:30 pm CT, with a 2:39 pm kickoff scheduled.
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Saban Addresses The Press
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama head coach Nick Saban addressed reporters, talking about last Saturday's game with Louisiana-Monroe and looking forward to the contest with Georgia this Saturday over in Athens.
In his opening statement Saban said, "Comments on the last game, it was obviously a good one for our team. It's great defensively when you have a team effort where we put together a shutout. I was really pleased with the way our guys responded in that game. We got to play a lot of players in that game, which I think helps the development in a lot of young players at certain positions, and now we have quite of few young players involved in the game so that's good for them. I have a lot of faith in this team; we are certainly a developing team right now. We have got to play with more passion and aggressiveness on a consistent basis and be confident in what we are doing. We need to focus on what we need to do to play well down in and down out. We have just got to be aggressive, that's the most important thing for our team to do right now."
Saban commented on the coaching staff's selections for players of the week this week, saying, "We had our players of the week: Calvin Ridley and Kenyan Drake on offense. Seven guys on defense, I think you've got them all. (See related story following.) It was an entire defensive team effort, and we should of given it to all the guys, but we played so many players we just gave it to the guys who had 10-plus production points. On special teams, Adam Griffith and Cyrus Jones did a really good job."
Concerning injuries Saban said, "Jonathan Allen will be at practice today, so we don't really have any injury updates. Jabriel Washington will probably be available for this game. He practiced some last week, and we are hopeful he will be okay to play in this game as well.
Saban then got down to the nitty-gritty of the game coming up this Saturday with the Georgia Bulldogs. He said, "This game is obviously an exciting game for our team. Any time you play what is arguably one of the best teams in the country, Georgia, based on what they've been able to do over the past four games, and I'm talking about a total complete team. (Georgia head coach) Mark (Richt) has done a fantastic job in his tenure there, which has been a long time. They've been consistently very good. This year's team has a lot of players coming back. Offensively, defensively, special teams... they are very solid in all areas as their statistics really prove out. Greyson Lambert has done an outstanding job for them at quarterback. He has been very efficient, one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country, and has created a tremendous amount of balance for them because they do have one of the best running teams in the country. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, both outstanding players and both of them are very, very productive for their team. (Malcolm) Mitchell has been a big player for them at receiver, so they have a lot of weapons. Defensively, they are one of the highest-ranked teams statistically in the conference as well as the country. (Defensive coordinator) Jeremy Pruitt has done a really good job with their players and with their scheme. They play hard and very aggressive, they are a very, very good team. This is a good team all the way around, and it's going to be challenging to go on the road and play a team like this. I think our team is excited about the challenges that we have ahead of us. We certainly want to focus on the things we need to do, and go over there and play the best game possible."
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Coaches Recognize 11 Players For The Week
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The Alabama football coaching staff recognized 11 players this week for their performance in this past Saturday's 34-0 shellacking of Louisiana-Monore. Two players from the offense, seven from the defense and two from special teams were chosen for their outstanding performance. Kenyan Drake and Calvin Ridley were recognized from the offense, Jarren Reed, Reggie Ragland, Dalvin Tomlinson, minkah Fitzpatrick, Da'Shawn Hand, Tim Williams and Denzel Devall from the defense, and Adam Griffith and Cyrus Jones were honored from special teams.
Receiving the honor for the second week in a row is senior Kenyan Drake. Drake was used in a limited capacity last Saturday but still led the team in rushing yards with 65 on only 10 carries. Freshman Calvin Ridley had four catches for 38 yards on the day, including scoring his first touchdown in the crimson and white on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Jacob Coker.
Honored on special teams for the second week in a row is kicker Adam Griffith who made both field goal attempts against the Warhawks this past weekend, one for 35 yards and the other a 40-yarder. He also made all four extra points following touchdowns, directly contributing 10 points to the contest. He also averaged just over 64 yards per kickoff for seven kickoffs against ULM. Senior Cyrus Jones was honored for his punt return abilities. Jones had 43 yards on five punt returns, with a 22-yard return as his longest of the game.
Defensively it was Reed, Tomlinson and Hand all coming up big with five total tackles. Reed has been recognized all four weeks by the coaching staff this season. He had one sack, two tackles for a loss as well as one quarterback hurry. Leading the Tide in tackles for the ULM game was freshman Minkah Fitzpatrick with seven, including one for a loss. Senior Reggie Ragland had four tackles on the day, Williams had 1.5 tackles for a loss as well as credited for half a sack and a quarterback hurry, and Devall was credited with a sack, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.
Congratulations to these eleven players for their work this past Saturday.
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SEC Sets Alabama-Arkansas Game Time
The Southeastern Conference office announced yesterday a start time for the Alabama-Arkansas matchup. The game is to be played Saturday, October 10th with a 6 pm CT kick off. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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Men's & Women's Cross Country Continue Ranking
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The University of Alabama men's and women's cross country teams held onto their positions this week in the South Region rankings in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associaltion (USTFCCCA) Regional Rankings. The Tide men held at number 11, while the women remained in the number two slot as they have been since the first preseason poll.
