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Saban: It Wasn't A Pretty Game For Us
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama head football coach Nick Saban had barely finished the traditional handshake with Vols coach Butch Jones when Allie LaForce of CBS Sports pulled him aside and asked Saban what he was most impressed by in last night's game. Saban wasted no time in replying, "Just the way the guys competed in the game, because it wasn't a pretty game for us. It wasn't one of our best games...but when we needed to make plays, guys made plays. I guess that's what it's all about. It shows a lot of competitive character. This is great for our fans and I'm really happy for our team."
LaForce then asked Saban about Alabama quarterback Jake Coker, and the coaches thoughts of Coker concerning Bama's final scoring drive. "Hitting those fades, " Saban said. "Man. They were great catches but they were great throws."
Concerning the play of Tennessee, Saban said, "They were playing us man to man, loading the box, and did a great job."
Of course once the guys made the locker room, and the coach finished his comments, out came the stogies. The air was thick with the smoke of the "Third Saturday in October" celebratory cigars. And out in the stands, the fans, too, were lighting up. Yes, it's against NCAA rules, but Alabama accepts that violation in order to keep up the long-standing tradition of cigar-smoking following the victory over the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Crimson Tide defeated the Volunteers for the 9th consecutive year last night. A great run.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Tide Receives One 1st-Place Vote
Alabama Ranked 7th In A.P. Top-25
The Alabama Crimson Tide moved up one slot, from 8th to 7th, in this week's Associated Press College Football poll. Alabama aslo recieved its first 1st-place vote since losing to the Ole Miss Rebels a few weeks ago.
There are five Southeastern Conference schools among this week's elite, with LSU ranked the highest at 4th. They are followed by Alabama (7), Florida (11), Ole Miss (19) and Mississippi State at 25th.
Here are the current Top-25 college football teams as determined by the Associated Press:
1 Ohio State
2 Baylor
3 Clemson
4 LSU
5 TCU
6 Michigan State
7 ALABAMA
8 Stanford
9 Notre Dame
10 Iowa
11 Florida
12 Oklahoma State
13 Utah
14 Oklahoma
15 Michigan
16 Memphis
17 Florida State
18 Houston
19 Ole Miss
20 Toledo
21 Temple
22 Duke
23 Pittsburg
24 UCLA
25 Mississippi State
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8th-Ranked Tide Defeats Vols 19-14
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Alabama head football coach Nick Saban said it wasn't a pretty game. And that's true. But when it counted, and with their backs against the wall, the 8th-ranked Crimson Tide came from behind to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 19-14 yesterday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The win improved Alabama to 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the SEC, while Tennessee fell to 3-3 overall, 1-2 in the SEC.
Tide quarterback Jake Coker engineered a brilliant come-from-behind touchdown drive following a Jalen Hurd 12-yard touchdown run to give Tennessee a 14-13 lead with only 5:49 remaining in the game. Coker completed tosses of 29 yards to wide receiver ArDarius Stewart, and one of 15 yards to wide receiver Calvin Ridley before the running of Derrick Henry produced 35 yards on five carries, including the 14-yard run to score with just 2:24 remaining in the game.
Henry had 143 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns. Steward caught six passes for 114 yards, while Coker racked up 247 yards completing 21 of 27 passes. Leading the defense was linebacker Reggie Ragland with a game-high 12 tackles, eight of which were solo.
Saban said that not only were there great catches, especially on that last scoring drive, but "(there) were great throws." He was complementary of Coker, say, "He did a great job today." Concerning the play of Tennessee, the Bama big man said, "They were playing us man-to-man...loading the box...and did a great job."
Coach Saban was disappointed in the energy level coming from the Tide on the field yesterday afternooon, saying there wasn't a lot of it.
It may not, indeed, have been pretty, but Saban said concerning the the win, " I don't like to lose so I like to win however we win."
Alabama gets a bye-week to try to heal up and rest a big from a grueling schedule, one most pundits say is the toughest in the country. Saban said this bye week "will be very welcomed for us." He they needed to get some people healed up after a bruising afternoon yesterday.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
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Members Of Men's Tennis Record 4 Wins
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Yesterday was a day of wins for members of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's tennis team. Members of the team brought home four more wins yesterday at the SEC Fall Tournament at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Alabama.
Junior Hayes Brewer and redshirt freshman Langford Hills advanced to the finals yesterday of the consolation draw by defeating Tennessee in a doubles match. Brewer and Hills will face off today against Tennessee freshmen Jack Heslin and Marshall Sullivan in the finals.
Sophomore Sam Edwards and freshman Spencer Richey won their first match but later fell in the second.
Match play resumes this morning at 9 a.m. CT with the doubles matches. Singles matches will begin following completion of the doubles.
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Women's Golf Tied For 3rd
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
The University of Alabama women's golf team is currently tied with Notre Dame for third place in the second round of The Landfall Tradition being held on the Pete Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, North Carolina. Bama sports a 9-over (585) heading into the final round of play. Bama has 15 birdies thus far in the tournament.
Duke currently leads the tourney, after carding a 4-under 284 in the second round. The Blue Devils have a 10-stroke lead (-5, 571) over Oklahoma State in the number two slot with a +5, 581. Four shots back are Alabama and Notre Dame.
Today's final round tees off at 7:45 a.m. CT. The Crimson Tide is paired with the Duke Blue Devils and the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Alabama 19 Tennessee 14
A Win Is A Win Is A Win
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
At halftime during the contest between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers yesterday, Alabama head football coach Nick Saban said, "We're not playing very well. We got a couple of stops, but we've got to play better. We're just not playing very well. We don't have the kind of intensity and energy we need, and we're losing our poise on things, getting penalties, giving up field position. It's not really playing to our kind of character."
Things actually got a little worse before they got better.
The Alabama Crimson Tide football team came through when they had too, though. With only 5:39 remaining in the contest, lightning struck as Tennessee put together a four-play, 75 yard scoring drive in only 79 seconds to snatch the lead 14-13. Bama had allowed the Volunteers to hang with them all night, and now it was do or die. The season was hanging on a much-needed scoring drive if only the offensive line could keep the rush off Tide quarterback Jake Coker.
The Tennessee football team was now enjoying the first lead on the Tide since 2006, which was also the last time the Volunteers beat Alabama. The clock was ticking as Bama began their march to victory.
This would be a 71-yard scoring drive. Crimson Tide quarterback Jake Coker hit a 29-yard pass to wide receiver ArDarius Stewart, then a 15-yarder to Calvin Ridley, before allowing the man who has scored touchdowns in 13 consecutive games carry the pigskin home. Running back Derrick Henry carried the ball for 35 yards on five carries on that final scoring drive to put it all on his big shoulders, including the 14-yard run to the end zone with 2:24 remaining in the game. The two point conversion was no good, but Bama now had the lead 19-14.
Henry rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns Saturday. Steward had six receptions for 114 yards, and Jacob Coker passed for 247 yards on 21 of 27 attempts with one interception.
On the defensive side of the ball linebacker Reggie Ragland had a game-high 12 tackles, eight of which were solo, to lead the Tide in that category. Punter J.K. Scott had an average of 49.8 yards in punts, including his longest of 56 yards for the afternoon.
The Alabama defense rose to the occasion to secure the victory yesterday afternoon. Junior linebacker Ryan Anderson was able to get to Vol quarterback Josh Dobbs to cause a fumble, which was promptly scooped up by defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson. He was able to return the ball to the Tennessee four-yard line before several Vol players were able to take him down.
Jake Coker then took a knee on three consecutive plays to run out the clock and secure the 19-14 victory. Alabama moves to 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference while Tennessee falls to 3-3, 1-2.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
