Crimson Tide Preps To Beat Ole Miss In Oxford
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The University of Alabama football team concluded the second full practice session of the week in preparation for the this Saturday's contest with the Ole Miss Rebels. The Crimson Tide practiced for two hours in full pads on Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
Bama will be going up against the only team to beat them in both of the past two seasons. The Tide continued to hone their skills and work on its plan to stop a potent Ole Miss offense, one of the Southeastern Conference's top-ranked units, while exploiting a weak secondary to take advantage of the great receivers in the Bama arsenal. Bama is also working to shore up some trouble-spots in the offense line that resulted in penalites, sacks and quarterback hurries in the past, as well as an ineffective running game.
There were no changes seen in the lineup on the offensive line during the media viewing period yesterday.
Receiver Cam Sims was once again on the field, seeming to show improvement after his opening-game shoulder injury that cause him to miss last week's contest with WKU.
The Crimson Tide travels to Oxford, Mississippi this Saturday to take on the Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on CBS, with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson handling the call in the booth and Allie LaForce on the sidelines.
Practice resumes this afternoon and then another tomorrow before Bama hits the road on for a formidable road game. The Crimson Tide leads the Ole Miss series overall 47-11-2 (51-10-2 actual) in a series that dates all the way back to 1894. Head coach Nick Saban is 8-1 in road conference openers during his time with the Crimson Tide. He and the Tide have outscored opponents, 332-163 (36.8-18.1 ppg) in Saban's first nine seasons at Alabama.
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What Saban Said...In Today's Media Address
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What Saban Said...In Today's Media Address
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban addressed the media this evening at the conclusion of the two hour practice session.
Saban said that this has so far been a better week of practice for Bama. The team has done some preparation work for hurry-up offenses, which is of couse what Ole Miss is known to do.
The coach stated that this "team will be tested." Saban said that great teams have to prove themselves in games like this.
No one has to remind Saban, the team, the fans or Ole Miss, for that matter, that the Tide has gone down in defeat the past two seasons to this Rebel squad. With rain in the forecast, it's more important that the practices have been going well, the Tide is working the hurry-up and concentration is being stressed.
Thankfully Saban says there are no injuries to report this week, so the team will be pretty healthy heading into this week's contest.
Saban jumped to the defense of running back Bo Scarbrough. The coach said he, personally, has no issues with the play of the young man and further commented that expectations for him were set too high. He was quick to fire at the media for creating expectations that he said are just too hard to meet.
Concerning the Ole Miss offense, and run game in particular, Saban commented that the Rebel run game tests the defensive perimeter, offering a lot of run-pass options to try to catch a missed assignment or opening. He commented these don't require the offensive line to dominate, but he has seen improvement coming along steadily from that group.
Now that Alphonse Taylor is back in the mix, many expected him to pretty much move right in. That isn't the case, according to Saban. He said they have not as yet decided who will start at the guard spots this week.
Saban offered up some praise for a pair of Crimson Tide offensive tackles. He said that Cam Robinson and Jonah Williams have been the bright spots on the line.
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Crimson Tide Soccer Falls To Samford 1-0
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| Abbie Boswell (6) and Lacey Clarida (88) Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
It was a tough loss for the Alabama Crimson Tide soccer team last night, losing to the Samford Bulldogs 1-0 at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium to conclude its non-conference portion of the schedule. Bama falls to a 6-2 record, while the Bulldogs improve to 3-2-2.
Head soccer coach Wes Hart had this to say following the Tuesday night loss, "I'm obviously disappointed with the result, but not in the way we played. I thought we did some good things. We possessed the ball well at times and we created some good chances. Unfortunately our shots didn't fall tonight. Credit to Samford though, as they played a great game. Our focus now needs to shift to Kentucky. We can't let this loss take away from all the good things we have done to this point."
The first half score was tied at 0-0 going into halftime, with the Crimson Tide leading in shots (6-3) and corner kicks (3-0) going into intermission. Sophomore Abbie Boswell tallied five shots for the Tide plus one on goal, while senior Auburn Mercer tallied one shot in the half.
The only score in the contest came in the second half, the 49th minute, on a 15-yarder from Samford's Jermaine Seoposenw.
In the second half for Bama, the Tide recorded nine shots, two shots on goal and three corner kicks. Stratton garnered seven saves between the posts, and it was Boswell leading Alabama's offense in the half registering four shots including one shot on goal.
In all, the Crimson Tide tallied 15 shots, three shots on goal and six corner kicks. Stratton contributed eight total saves in the contest.
Overall, Boswell had 9 shots and two on goal, Emma Welch contributed two shots with one on goal, and then Tori Gann and Taylor Hubbard contributed one shot apiece.
Alabama will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, September 18th. The match will be broadcast live on the SEC Network at 4 p.m. CT.
| Game Stats | UA | SAM |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0 | 1 |
| Shots | 15 | 14 |
| Shots on Goal | 3 | 9 |
| Saves | 8 | 3 |
| Corners | 6 | 2 |
| Offsides | 2 | 7 |
| Fouls | 9 | 7 |
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Bama Men 4th, Women 5th In Regional Cross Country Rankings
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The first regular season U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Rankings for 2016 have been released, and the Alabama men's and women's teams are both ranked in the regional. The Bama men came in at number four, after having been ranked seventh in the preseason. The Tide women came in at number five.
The men have posted back-to-back second place finishes so far this season. The women captured one victory at the Brooks Twilight, then finished second in the other.
The next contest for both teams will be a trip to South Bend, Indiana to compete in the Joe Piane
Notre Dame Invitational.
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University Of Alabama Releases 2017 Football Schedule
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The University of Alabama Athletic Department has released the 2017 Alabama football schedule. Seven games are to be played at Bryant-Denny Stadium, a neutral-site game (Atlanta, Georgia) against Florida State as well as four Southeastern Conference road games.
The Crimson Tide will open the 2017 season with the Florida State Seminoles on September 2nd. This particular contest will be the first regular season college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. This will be the fifth consecutive year Alabama has opened the season with a neutral-site game and the fifth time in the Nick Saban era that Bama has opened the season in Atlanta.
Alabama will host Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU from the Southeastern Conference, and travel to face Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Auburn next season.
Bama will also host three non-conference games at Bryant-Denny Stadium; Those are Fresno State on September 9th, Colorado State on September 16th and Mercer on November 18th.
Alabama will open the SEC season playing the Vanderbilt Commodores in their house on September 23rd, then open the SEC home portion of home games on September 30th against Ole Miss. The Tide will get an open date on October 28th. Alabama will play at Texas A&M (October 7th), and host Arkansas (October 14th) and Tennessee (October 21st) before the bye week. Alabama then travels to LSU on November 4th and Mississippi State on November 11th before hosting Mercer. The 2017 regular season closes out with a trip to the Plains to play the Auburn Tigers on November 25th.
The 2017 Southeastern Conference Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, December 2nd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
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Pelham Forward Alex Reese Looking Hard At Bama
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Narrows His Selections To Alabama & UAB
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| Alabama Basketball Prospect Alex Reese Photo Credit: 247Sports |
Reese said he'd really like to stay closer to home rather than go off someplace to play. Reese was offered by former Alabama head coach Anthony Grant, and second-year head coach Avery Johnson kept that offer intact. Johnson, incidentally, visited the Reese home on Sunday.
Last season, Reese averaged 25.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and one block for Pelham High School while earning first-team All-State honors.
