Wednesday Football Practice Focuses On Details
For Upcoming Game With Nationally-Ranked Ole Miss
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| Photo Credit: Anniston Star |
Plan the work and work the plan.
Of course, going by The Process takes care of that anyway.
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team practiced for approximately two hours in full pads on a partly cloudy, 93-degree day yesterday afternoon on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields working on the gameplan for this week's matchup with the 17th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
Cam Sims was looking well after working to recover from an opening-game shoulder injury. He was running routes and looking pretty smooth.
Jalen Hurts and Blake Barnett were getting the reps with the running backs.
Offensvie lineman Richie Petitbon practiced again without a non-contact jersey. Petitbon is recovering from a knee injury.
Bama will take its number ranking to Oxford, Mississippi to do battle with the only team to beat them both of the last two seasons. Kickoff for Alabama-Mississippi is scheduled for this Saturday, September 17th at 2:30 p.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on the CBS Network, with Verne Lundquist handling play-by-play, Gary Danielson as analyst and Allie LaForce reporting from the sidelines.
The Tide and the Rebels will be meeting for the 64th time, with Bama holding a comfortable 47-11-2 series lead (51-10-2 actual). The series dates back to 1894. The Crimson Tide is 7-4 all-time in Oxford, won four of its last five games at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, but losing the last two contests with one being at home and the other in Oxford. Bama fell 23-17 in the last contest in Mississippi back in 2014.
Alabama head football coach Nick Saban commented, "We’ve had a better week of practice, players have been more focused. "This is a difficult preparation, trying to get the scout team to do no-huddle for the offense and trying to work out some of the bugs and some of the mistakes that we need to get corrected from a week ago in terms of our ability to execute with any kind of consistency, which this week will be compounded a bit by the fact that we’re playing on the road, compounded by the fact that we’ll have to deal with noise and also the fact that it’s going to take greater focus and concentration to be able to go out there and execute play in and play out. This team will be tested by a very good team."
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What Saban Said...In Wednesday's Media Address
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban addressed the media yesterday evening at the conclusion of the two hour practice session.
Saban said, "We’ve had a better week of practice, players have been more focused. This is a difficult preparation, trying to get the scout team to do no-huddle for the offense and trying to work out some of the bugs and some of the mistakes that we need to get corrected from a week ago in terms of our ability to execute with any kind of consistency, which this week will be compounded a bit by the fact that we’re playing on the road, compounded by the fact that we’ll have to deal with noise and also the fact that it’s going to take greater focus and concentration to be able to go out there and execute play in and play out. This team will be tested by a very good team.”
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.
Saban said that the Tide has cleaned up some things in this week's practice. He commented that they are "hoping to not have penalties."
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.
Coach said, "I think you all create an expectation to people that there's no basis for. You do that for a lot of guys. It puts a lot of pressure on them, creates a lot of anxiety for them. What we're trying to do here is get guys to develop and be able to get comfortable and develop and gain the knowledge and experience that they need to go out there and play with confidence, play fast."
Damien Harris was selected as the starter for the first two games of the season with Scarbrough coming in off the bench. Harris has rushed for 183 yards on 20 attempts to lead the three backs. B.J. Emmons is second with 12 rushes for 59 yards and finally Scarbrough with 55 yards on 16 rushes.
Saban continued, "We think Bo has a lot of potential and we're going to keep working with him so he can be a very productive player for us. So I don't think he has any issues. I think he has issues created to the expectation that you created for him. But that's not what we're all about here."
When asked about the quarterbacks, and Jalen Hurts in particular, Saban said that the one thing he liked about Hurts is that he’s got a good disposition to play the next play. He also commented that they were "going through a learning curve, and it’s going to be a work in progress." Saban likes that Hurts doesn't get frustrated. He also said the true freshman has "a lot of poise."
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.
Three players, Lester Cotton, Ross Pierschbacher and Alphonse Taylor, are all three being considered for the two guard spots. Saban said, "But we have not decided who we are starting at those positions yet."
Saban continued, "Last week we played Shank (Taylor) half the game at right guard. And [this week] we practiced Ross back at left guard, Shank at right guard, Lester Cotton at left guard, and we feel confident in all three of those players. Obviously, Shank and Ross have more experience because they have started for a whole season, and I think that experience may be beneficial to them in this game."
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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Former Tide Soccer Player Merel van Dongen/Netherlands
Faces Off Against U.S. National Soccer Team This Weekend
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| Former Tide Standout Merel van Dongen Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Dongen has participated in 10 international matches this far, and has played in three World Cup matches for the Dutch National Team, going up against the likes of China, Canada and Japan.
While at Alabama, Dongen became the Tides single-season assists leader with 10 in 2014. She leads Bama in career assists per game with 0.30 through a total of 44 games, with her 10 assists in 2014 allowing her to take the top spot on the single season assists per game list with 0.53 through 19 games. Van Dongen converted four penalty kicks during her career with Alabama, which ranks fourth on the career penalty kicks made list.
Like to see Dongen play again? Tickets can be purchased for the Netherlands vs. U.S. Women's National Team at all Atlanta area Ticketmaster outlets (including Walmart stores) and the Georgia Dome ticket office (open Monday-Friday, 9a.m.-5 p.m.)
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DeAndrew White Is Now A New England Patriot
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| Photo Credit: Associated Press |
Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri is also a member of New England's 10-player practice squad.
Also from the Crimson Tide, on the Patriot's active roster, are linebacker Dont'a Hightower and cornerback Cyrus Jones.
White was signed by the Patriots after attending a workout held by the team on Tuesday.
Each of the NFL teams are allowed to carry a practice squad of up to 10 players. The practice-squad players do what the active-roster players do except they are not allowed to participate in the games.
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Crimson Tide Fall Baseball Practice Underway
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| Alabama baseball 1st year head coach Greg Goff Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Scrimmages and practices are all open to the public during the fall for all who are interested. Everyone that plans to attend are asked to enter through Gate 3 which is located directly behind home plate. All are asked to remain on the main concourse for seating.
