High Tide: What Saban Said About The Game; Noteworthy News From Alabama's 48-0 Win; Crimson Tide Shuts Out Kent State In Front Of Capacity Crowd; Amway Coaches Poll; Women's Golf 2nd After 36 Holes; AP Top 25 Football Poll

What Saban Said...In The Post-Kent State Game Press Briefing

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

There were several things with which Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban found himself happy. He shared those with us during his post-game press conference after Alabama's dismantling of the Kent State Golden Flashes.

In his opening statement, Saban said, "The goal going into this game was to play a complete game. We started fast and finished. I think we probably did that as well as we've done all year. The players were focused. We had three straight scoring drives right off the bat. The first play on defense, we didn't execute exactly right, and they made a big play, but we got a stop. We were pleased with the fact that we got to play a lot of players. We almost played a whole quarter and a half of a lot of different players. Maybe there were a few more we wish we could have played as well. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the way we played.

"It was the plan to play Blake (Barnett) some in the second quarter regardless of how it was going in the game for his development as a quarterback. He may have to play at some point in time down the road. He did some good things when he was in there. I thought Jalen (Hurts) did well.

"The only injury that we really have is Damien Harris. He has an ankle sprain, so he'll be day to day. I don't know what his status will be. ArDarius Stewart will probably start doing some work this week. It's still questionable as to whether he'll be ready for this game this week. Robert Foster will be questionable as well. That's basically the injury report. I know we had a couple other guys come out of the game, but they all went back in the game and really didn't have a problem."

Saban commented that the team hasn't played a complete game all year until this one. He liked the way the offense handled itself. Having already commented he liked that the backups were able to get in more than a full quarter of work in an actual game, Saban said that getting all those players into the game was more important than the shutout.

Concerning the execution of the offense yesterday, Saban said, "It was better. Much better. That's what we've been trying to emphasize. I think we only had one false start today, which was monumental. I thought we did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage, had good balance on offense and did a pretty good job executing overall."

The touchdown pass to Mac Wilson was not a called play specifically for him. "Mack Wilson has been playing in goal line and short yardage situations all season in that formation. That's his position. That's what he plays. That was not really a play that was necessarily for him, but it was for whoever was in that position to complement the other things that we did. He made a nice catch, and I'm happy that he was able to score a touchdown. I'm also happy that he was able to play a significant amount on defense as well, which will certainly help his development."

On the performance of Joshua Jacobs and the Crimson Tide running back corp, Saban said, "He (Joshua Jacobs) did a nice job [yesterday]. B.J. Emmons got to play a little bit more. We would have played Bo (Scarbrough) a little bit more, but he got a little banged up and could have gone back in and played but we just left him out. He's got a thigh bruise and could have gone back in the game, but we would have liked to play him more as well. Those three guys will be the guys that have to get the reps if Damien (Harris) is unable to go, but they have all played a significant amount and I think they can do a good job for us."

Saban was pleased getting O.J. Howard more touches, more involved in yesterday's passing game. And speaking of passing, Saban said pass protection definitely needed improvement.

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Noteworthy News From Alabama's 48-0 Win

The Alabama Crimson Tide owns the nations longest winning streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, boasting a 16-game streak dating back to last season's loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. The streak is the seventh-longest in Alabama football history, with the longest being two 28-game streaks. One was from 1991 through 1993 with the other being from 1978 to 1980. The Tide's second-longest streak is under head coach Nick Saban's tenure with the Tide, 19 games from 2009-10.

With yesterday's 48-0 win over Kent State, Saban is now 117-19 in home games, including all head coaching venues. He is 58-7 while at Alabama.

Nick Saban is now 73-18 against non-conference opponents, with a 42-5 record of the same at the Capstone. Saban and the Tide are currently riding a 26-game win streak against non-conference opponents at home, with the last loss being to ULM in 2007.

The Crimson Tide has now defeated 62 consecutive unranked teams under Saban. The last loss was at Auburn to close out the 2007 season.

Following the Kent State victory, Saban is now the second winningest coach in SEC history in all time winning percentage at .817 (152-34). He is tied for eighth in all-time career wins with Phil Fulmer at 152.

Yesterday's contest was the Crimson Tide's 1,236th college football game. Alabama is 76-10 this decade. The Tide is 345-65-3 in Tuscaloosa, and 247-53-3 all-time in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

An interesting tidbit...Alabama is now 13-0 in games televised by the SEC Network.

Yesterday's shutout is the 17th under head coach Nick Saban, dating back to 2007. During Saban's tenure the Tide has shut out at least one opponent in nine of 11 seasons.

Jalen Hurts first touchdown of the game in the first quarter extended the Crimson Tide's first half scoring streak to 122 games, which happens to be the longest streak in the country. The last time Alabama failed to score in the first half of a game was in the September 2007 contest between the Tide and the Florida State Seminoles when both teams headed into the locker room in a scoreless tie.

The Tide's school record consecutive games scoring streak now stands at 202 with the Hurts score.

Alabama has now scored 52 non-offensive touchdowns under Saban, and the sixth this season alone.

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Crimson Tide Shuts Out Kent State Before Capacity Crowd

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

A capacity crowd of 101,821 was on hand yesterday at Bryant-Denny Stadium dismantled and shut out University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban's alma mater, Kent State, by a score of 48-0. Perhaps it was the opponent. Perhaps it was the team coming together. Perhaps it was a combination of the two, but it was a complete game performance for the top-ranked Crimson Tide, according to head coach Nick Saban. The Tide improves to 4-0 on the season.

"I thought we did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage and had good balance on offense and did a pretty good job of executing," Saban said. "We have to be more consistent. That was the goal for [yesterday]. Incomplete can be a habit. And complete can be a habit. We'd like to develop a habit of being a compete team."

Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts appears to have solidified the starting spot as he accounted for 218 total yards on the day. Hurts passed for 164 yards while adding another 54 yards using his feet. Bama wide receiver Cam Sims boasts a career-best four catches for 54 yards while tight end O.J. Howard contributed 60 yards and a touchdown hauling in three receptions of his own. Receiver Trevon Diggs added 23 yards to the mix catching three passes, while Derek Kief contributed 17 yards on three catches. All-in-all, 12 Alabama players caught at least one pass and nine players had at least one rushing attempt in the contest. Freshman running back Joshua Jacobs rushed for 97 yards on 11 attempts and scored two touchdowns. B.J. Emmons added 51 yards on eight carries, and Bo Scarbrough gained 19 yards on three carries before suffering an injury which removed him from the game. Damien Harris also left the game with an injury after gaining 19 yards on four attempts. Scarbrough will be back while Harris is day-to-day according to Saban.

The Crimson Tide racked up 502 yards of total offense (217 passing and 285 rushing), picked up 26 first downs, and averaged 6.3 yards per play. Kent State totaled 166 yards (84 passing and 82 rushing), along with converting five first downs and averaging 3.6 yards per play. State had 71 yards on eight passes.

The false starts and penalty-situation the Tide has experienced in the first three games of the season were were greatly lessened this week. Bama had only two penalties in this contest totaling 20 yards.

Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster put on a great performance for the Tide, recording a team-best seven total tackles, including two solos. Overall, the Bama defense sacked the Golden Flash quarterback three times, had five tackles for loss, forced one fumble and was credited with six quarterback hurries.

The Crimson Tide's JK Scott averaged 49.0 yards on two punts, including a long of 53 yards. It was a good day for placekicker Adam Griffith, who came through on both field goal attempts, connecting from 28 and 48 yards. Andy Pappanastos was able to get into the game in relief of Griffith and did a good job himself.

Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network spoke to head coach Nick Saban immediately following the game and asked him if he was pleased with the effort of the team for four quarters. Saban replied, "I sure was. I was really proud of the way our guys came out, and sort of tried to play to a standard. That's what we've been trying to get all year, and we got to play a lot of players in the second half which was good, and I'm sure they'll learn a lot from their experience."

Cubelic then asked what it meant for the program to get guys some experience that usually don't get into games very often. Saban replied, "Well we have a lot of guys that we really need to sort of work so that we can use them down the road. Hopefully this experience that they gained today will be helpful to them. We like to play a lot of players, and we probably played as many freshmen this year as anybody in the country."

Tight end O.J. Howard said, "We came out, and wanted to get it going early. We needed good tempo going into it early. Everyone did their assignment and came out here to dominate."

On how they played as a team, linebacker Keith Holcombe said, "I think we played extremely well. Like Coach Saban said, our goal [yesterday] was to get that complete game. I know we still have some stuff to fix on Monday, but we are getting closer to being there at that overall and complete game that Alabama is built on, so I think it went extremely well for us."

Alabama continues its season next Saturday, October 1, by hosting Kentucky, which is slated to play South Carolina tonight. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central Time at Bryant-Denny Stadium and the game, which will serve as Homecoming for the Tide, will be televised by ESPN.

**Team Statistics**
Game Stats	KENT	UA
Total Yards	166	502
Pass Yards	84	217
Rushing Yards	82	285
Penalty Yards	0-0	2-20
1st Downs	5	26
3rd Downs	1-13	6-14
4th Downs	1-2	2-3
TOP	26:27	33:33

Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports/Marvin Gentry

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Crimson Tide Again Number One In Amway Coaches Poll

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team is again the top-ranked team in the land, according to the Amway Coaches Poll. Alabama has been the No. 1 team since before the season began. Seven teams from the Southeastern Conference are listed in the Top 25, with former 17th-ranked LSU dropping out of the poll. Two SEC teams are in the Top 10.

Those teams from the SEC making the Amway Coaches Poll this week are Alabama (1), Texas A&M (10), Tennessee (11), Ole Miss (17), Georgia (20), Florida (21) and Arkansas (22).

Also receiving votes were LSU just out of the Top 25 at 31st and Auburn at 36th.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Louisville

5. Michigan

6. Stanford

7. Houston

8. Wisconsin

9. Washington

10. Texas A&M

11. Tennessee

12. Florida State

13. Baylor

14. Miami

15. Nebraska

16. Michigan State

17. Ole Miss

18. Utah

19. TCU

20. Georgia

21. Florida

22. Arkansas

23. North Carolina

24. San Diego State

25. Texas

Others Receiving Votes

Iowa 127; Boise State 126; Arizona State 94; Oklahoma 77; West Virginia 46; LSU 30; Western Michigan 25; Memphis 23; Virginia Tech 20; UCLA 20; Auburn 18; Colorado 16; Minnesota 14; Navy 14; Wake Forest 9; Kansas State 6; Air Force 4; Toledo 4; Oregon 3; Maryland 2; Appalachian State 1; South Florida 1; Troy 1.

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Women's Golf In 2nd After 36 Holes Yesterday

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

The University of Alabama women's golf team continues to roll this fall season with a with an 11-under par performance on Saturday to claim second place after the first two rounds of competition in the Schooner Fall Classic at the par-71, 5,939-yard Belmar Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma.

A change in the tournament schedule had to be made due to projected inclement weather Saturday night and Sunday morning. Officials made the decision that the first two rounds of the tournament would need to be played on Saturday. The third round, originally scheduled for Monday, will now be played today beginning at 11 a.m. CT.

Alabama (275-282/557) trails first place Florida State by eight shots after the Seminoles recorded a 19-under par 549 (270-279) over Saturday's two rounds. The Clemson Tigers are third at two-under par (281-285/566). Tournament host Oklahoma is sitting at fourth at even par (283-285/568). Kent State is fifth at eight-over par (292-284/576).

Sophomore Cheyenne Knight continues to be a shining star for the Crimson Tide, and is tied for the overall individual lead at seven-under par (66-69/135). Her 36-hole total is just one stroke off the school record of 134, shared by former Bama standouts Brooke Pancake (2011) and Stephanie Meadow (2013). Knight also shot 135 over the first two rounds at the Mason Rudolph Championship just one week ago.

Tide junior Lakareber Abe is tied for seventh at three-under par (69-70/139). Freshman Kristen Gillman is tied for 11th at two-under par (67-73/140). Sophomore Lauren Stephenson is tied for 22nd at one-over par (73-70/143). Senior Mia Landegren is tied for 32nd at five-over par (74-73/147).

Alabama will be grouped with Florida State and Clemson in the third round of the tournament today. Mia Landegren has a noon (CT) tee time, followed by Lauren Stephenson at 12:10 p.m. Then it's Kristen Gillman at 12:20 p.m., Lakareber Abe at 12:30 p.m. and finally Cheyenne Knight at 12:40 p.m.

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

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Associated Press College Football Poll

The University of Alabama comes in at Number One in this week's AP College Football Poll. Seven teams from the Southeastern Conference made the Top 25, with two coming in the Top 10.

1		Alabama (50) SEC Record: 4-0
2		Ohio State (4) Big Ten Record: 3-0
3		Louisville (6) ACC Record: 4-0
4		Michigan (1) Big Ten Record: 4-0
5		Clemson ACC Record: 4-0
6		Houston The American Record: 4-0
7		Stanford Pac-12 Record: 3-0
8		Wisconsin Big Ten Record: 4-0
9		Texas A&M SEC Record: 4-0
10		Washington Pac-12 Record: 4-0
11		Tennessee SEC Record: 4-0
12		Florida State ACC Record: 3-1
13		Baylor Big 12 Record: 4-0
14		Miami (FL) ACC Record: 3-0
15		Nebraska Big Ten Record: 4-0
16		Mississippi SEC Record: 2-2
17		Michigan State Big Ten Record: 2-1
18		Utah Pac-12 Record: 4-0
19		San Diego State Mountain West Record: 3-0
20		Arkansas SEC Record: 3-1
21		TCU Big 12 Record: 3-1
22		Texas Big 12 Record: 2-1
23		Florida SEC Record: 3-1
24		Boise State Mountain West Record: 3-0
25		Georgia SEC Record: 3-1