Last Full Practice Held In Preparation For Ole Miss
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| Alabama head coach Nick Saban Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Yesterday was the final full practice for the University of Alabama football team prior to heading to Oxford, Mississippi today to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in a game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The Crimson Tide worked out at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility for nearly two hours in shells on Thursday afternoon.
Bama continues to hone and fine-tune the game plan for the contest that promises to be one of the better Southeastern Conference matchups when the Tide and the Rebs kick it off at 2:30 p.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium tomorrow. The game will be broadcast live on the CBS Network, with Verne Lundquist handling play-by-play duties, Verne Lundquist providing color commentary and Allie LaForce working the sidelines.
Alabama was using a combination of Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell taking turns as the scout team quarterback. Saban believes the three help better prepare the team for what they will face tomorrow against Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly.
The offensive line was getting into specifics to cut down the penalties and protect the quarterbacks.
This will be the 64th meeting between the two teams in a series that dates back to 1894. Bama holds a commanding 47-112 (51-10-2 actual) lead, and is 7-4 all-time in Oxford. The Tide has won four of its last five meetings with the Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, but dropped the last one there in 2014 by a score of 23-17.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 8-1 in road conference openers during his tenure with the Tide, outscoring his opponents 332-163 (36.8-18.1 ppg) in his first nine seasons at the Capstone.
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What Saban Said...On "Hey Coach"
What Saban Said...On "Hey Coach"
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Several topics came up last night during University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban's weekly radio show, "Hey Coach."
Before getting into overall team information and the upcoming contest with Ole Miss tomorrow, Saban mentioned that former Alabama-great Rolando McClain stopped by to visit with him for about 30 minutes this week. McClain is currently suspended 10 games for substance abuse and not allowed to participate with his NFL team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Saban said the Tide has worked hard this week to prepare for Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly. He felt it would be more effective using a combination of Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell taking turns as the scout team quarterback. The rotation of the three brought different aspects of the position and person into play in the preparation.
"Our scout team did about as good a job as we ever have done," Saban said. "When you have two older quarterbacks like David Cornwell, who’s been here for a long time, even Cooper Bateman -- and all the guys rotate down there -- Blake Barnett, because the kind of offense they have and the kind of athletic quarterback they have in Chad Kelly, and those guys’ leadership just helps everybody do a better job.
"I think it helped significantly this week that we had a pretty good practice. Now, we made a lot of errors on defense because of going fast, but I think hopefully we made those errors in practice and maybe we won’t make them in the game."
In order to prepare for the hostile environment of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Saban had quarterback Jalen Hurts use a silent count in practice as well as pumping in noise during drills to help him in what is sure to be a difficult adjustment for the true freshman.
Coach also added that he wants the players around Hurts to step up their performance to help him out. The penalties have to stop and the line must be cohesive in their play to give Hurts time in the backfield to make a play.
Saban said he was very disappointed with the offense this past week in the Western Kentucky game. Though the Tide came away with the win, 10 penalties for various miscues was no way for a team to perform.
Ole Miss has great strength in its defensive front, and the hand placement by the Crimson Tide linemen will be critical to keeping them off the quarterbacks as well as knocking out penalties in this game.
Saban was complimentary of Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram, saying the young man could pose some problems for the Tide and is capable of exploiting mismatches.
Things lightened up a bit during the next segment of the program, with Saban sharing smiles and fond memories with the audience and listeners. He mentioned how a hamburger or hot dog with baked beans was his favorite meal as a child, and smiled as he shared it. He also spoke of how he loved his grandmother's homemade soup.
Saban addressed the change from artificial turf to natural grass at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Seems that one isn't going to pose a problem as far as coach is concerned, saying he prefers natural grass as a playing surface. He commented, "We are always happy to play on grass."
Saban was complimentary in that Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze has improved the talent pool in Oxford. He then went on to say how the Tide hasn't "executed well" well against Ole Miss.
Concerning Bama's number one national ranking and all the buzz about how dominant they are, etc...Saban says that the Tide "hasn't earned the reputation" that it has been given. It's time to earn it, and went on to say that there "is not a better test" of Alabama's abilities than the game this weekend against Ole Miss.
Speaking of the Ole Miss offensive line, Saban said that the group is composed of players who really don't have a lot of experience, but the unit has the potential to be really good. In their loss to Florida State, Saban pointed out that the line struggled to block FSU's DeMarcus Walker.
Concerning "confronting" a player, Saban said that lack of effort, not playing with toughness and not being responsible enough to do one's assignment will not be tolerated, and only then will a player be "confronted."
Saban again addressed Rebel quarterback Chad Kelly, saying the combination of all things the quarterback can do make it difficult for Alabama to use a one-size-fits-all scheme to defend him. He commented that the run-pass options are troublesome and that "mental errors" can't happen against a team like Ole Miss.
When it comes to the impact he has had on college football, Saban says he doesn't even thing about that. He then spoke a bit on the "Lane Kiffin incident" on the sidelines in the WKU game. He spoke of obedience and a chain of command.
Saban spoke of the importance of taking "the crowd out of the game." And in a hostile environment like Vault-Hemingway Stadium it will be a big deal. He said the way to do it is by executing consistently, and that this team has yet to do that this season.
Concerning his own attitude, as well as that of the assistant coaches, Saban said that a head coach's attitude has to balance out the attitudes of the assistants on staff.
Alabama and Ole Miss will kick it off tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. CT, with the game being broadcast live on the CBS Network.
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Chatham DeProspo Receives Honor
Named ESPNW National Soccer Player Of The Week
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| Chatham DeProspo Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
DeProspo is the first Crimson Tide soccer player to earn ESPNW Soccer Player of the Week honor, and the first to earn weekly conference honors since the 2014 season, when goalkeeper Emily Rusk was recognized.
DeProspo commented, "Winning an award like this doesn't happen without the support of your teammates, coaches and wonderful staff at Alabama. Every player on our roster is a big part of the award. I want to thank them and my incredible family for always believing in me. This is truly a great honor and it is very humbling. Big thanks to ESPNW for recognizing women's athletics!"
Alabama will be back on the field on Sunday, September 18th when they face Kentucky in Lexington. The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network beginning at 4 p.m. CT.
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Alabama Crimson Tide Men's Basketball
To Participate In ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The Marathon enters its ninth year this season, and will feature 13 men's and women's college basketball games beginning on Monday, November 14th and continuing Tuesday, November 15th, across ESPN and ESPN2, and will bring viewers more than 24 hours of game action to mark the start of the 2016-17 college basketball season. The schedule includes 11 men's games and two top-15 women's matchups concluding with the sixth annual State Farm Champions Classic from Madison Square Garden in New York.
The schedule includes 11 games tipping off about every two hours beginning Monday at 6 p.m. with a tripleheader featuring the four-time defending national champion UConn women.
Alabama returns two starters and eight letterwinners from last season's 18-15 team that reached the National Invitation Tournament in head coach Avery Johnson's first season at the Capstone. The Crimson Tide will have to find a way to replace three of its top four scorers and its top three assist leaders from last season's team, however. Part of that void will be filled with the return of redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram, back from a season-ending foot injury after starting the first seven games of last season.
Also back for the Crimson Tide are a pair of senior forwards in Shannon Hale, who returns as the team's leading scorer at 10.8 points per game, and Jimmie Taylor. Other returnees include junior forward Riley Norris, who led the team with 5.3 rebounds per game last season.
Four transfers will be making their debut with the Tide this season. Fifth-year graduate transfers Corban Collins (Morehead State) and Bola Olaniyan (Southern Illinois) were both all-conference at their previous school, and are expected to contribute immediately. Also, Johnson welcomes junior Nick King (Memphis) and sophomore Avery Johnson Jr. (Texas A&M), who both had to sit out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Alabama will play an exhibition game on November 3rd at 7 p.m. CT when it welcomes Faulkner to Coleman Coliseum. Then Crimson Tide will then open the 2016-17 regular season on November 11th hosting Coastal Carolina.
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Cullman's Owen Lovell Decommits From Tide Baseball
Cullman's Owen Lovell Decommits From Tide Baseball
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| Owen Lovell Photo Credit: Cullman Times |
Cullman senior outfielder Owen Lovell has decommitted from the University of Alabama and will not be playing baseball for the Crimson Tide. The state of Alabama's "Mr. Baseball" has flipped his commitment to Mississippi according to The Cullman Times. He had been committed to UA since his freshman season.
Lovell said, "The town of Starkville, I just like the way it's set up. It's a lot like Cullman. It's just a good baseball program. I really like all the coaches. I feel like I can fit in good there."
Lovell said, "The town of Starkville, I just like the way it's set up. It's a lot like Cullman. It's just a good baseball program. I really like all the coaches. I feel like I can fit in good there."
