Crimson Tide Captures 34-6 Homecoming Win
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| Ainsley LeBlanc 2016 Homecoming Queen Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
It was a sluggish start. Very sluggish. But the Alabama Crimson Tide finally shook themselves from their lethargy and began to finally roll. Bama took the Homecoming contest by a score of 34-6.
The Wildcats got on the board first when kicker Austin MacGinnis capped an eight-play, 36-yard drive with a 45 yard field goal that hit the goalpost and popped inside. Kentucky led the Tide 3-0 with 8:52 remaining in the first quarter.
A couple of plays into Bama's second drive, quarterback Jalen Hurts lost the ball to Kentucky's De'Niro Laster at the Alabama 43-yard line. The Cats were unable to hold onto the ball, with Bama's Christian Miller and Ryan Anderson forcing a fumble on a Stephen Johnson sack. Anderson came up with the ball at the Alabama 39-yard line, giving Anderson 3.5 sacks so far this season to lead the Tide.
With 1:15 remaining in the quarter, kicker Adam Griffith connected on a 44-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 35-yard drive by the Crimson Tide to tie it at 3-3.
The first touchdown of the contest came at the 9:50 mark of the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by running back Joshua Jacobs. The seven points came after a seven-play, 61-yard drive, giving the Tide a 10-3 lead.
It was the Crimson Tide defense that stepped up to score next, giving Alabama it's seventh consecutive game scoring a non-offensive touchdown. It happened on another Stephen Johnson sack, but this time Ronnie Harrison was able to pick up the ball at the Bama 45 and run it for six. The PAT was good, giving Alabama a 17-3 lead with 6:56 remaining in the half.
Alabama had one more chance to score at 44 seconds remaining, but Griffith missed on the 35-yard field goal attempt, with the ball veering wide left. That was his third missed field goal of the season, going 7-of-10 thus far.
The Tide's first score of the second half came as the result of an eight-play, 78-yard drive culminating in a Hurts to Calvin Ridley pass giving Bama a 24-3 lead at the 10:58 mark of the third quarter. Hurts, at this point, is 14-of-26 for 161 yards and one touchdown with another 23 yards rushing. This was, incidentally, Hurts sixth touchdown pass of the season. Calvin Ridley, at the end of this drive, has seven catches for 107 yards and one touchdown.
Bama's next score of the second half came on another Hurts to Ridley touchdown pass, giving Hurts seven touchdown passes on the season and Ridley three TD receptions. The score came after a nine-play, 76-yard drive. On the night Ridley has 10 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. The Crimson Tide lead is now 31-3.
The Crimson Tide started the fourth quarter threatening, after moving the ball to the Kentucky six-yard line. On third and goal Ridley couldn't bring the ball in. Griffith hit a 24-yard field goal, giving the Tide a 34-3 lead, reeling off 34 consecutive points.
At this point Ridley now has a new career-high game, with 174 receiving yards, beating the old mark of 138 yards against Michigan State in the 2015 Cotton Bowl.
Kentucky managed another score, MacGinnis kicking a 30-yard field goal, capping a 16-play, 63-yard drive with just 5:09 remaining in the game, closing the gap to 34-6, which also turned out to be the final score.
Cooper Bateman then came on in relief of Jalen Hurts to run out the clock.
(Updates to follow)
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| Calvin Ridley Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt |
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| Lined Up For Homecoming Parade Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
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Alabama Volleyball Picks Up 2nd SEC Victory
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Defeats Georgia 3-1 In Four Sets
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| Crimson Tide Volleyball Wins Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
It was a great road win for the Alabama Crimson Tide volleyball team last night, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs in four sets in Athens, Georgia. The Bama Belles took the first two sets 32-30 and 25-15 before the Dogs managed a rally to pick up the third set 21-25. Then it was the Tide's turn once again, winning the fourth set by a score of 30-28. Alabama improves to 13-3 overall, 2-1 SEC while Georgia falls to 12-4, 0-3 SEC.
Leading the Bama offense last night was Krystal Rivers with 38 kills, tying a career high, along with a .485 hitting percentage. She also had one ace and two blocks. Shannon Mikesky and Abolanle Onipede each also maganged season highs. Mikesky had six blocks while Onipede picked up four. Brittany Thomas wasn't far off the mark for a double-double with eight kills and 11 digs. Thomas also had two aces and one block. Leah Lawrence contributed five kills and five blocks in the victory.
Alabama will next face Mississippi State (9-7, 1-1 SEC). That contest is scheduled for tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT in Starkville, Mississippi and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.
| Game Stats | UA | UG |
|---|---|---|
| Kills | 68 | 58 |
| Errors | 22 | 25 |
| Hitting % | .307 | .220 |
| Points | 81.0 | 72.0 |
| Aces | 3 | 7 |
| Blocks | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| TA | 150 | 150 |
| Assists | 62 | 56 |
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Bama Swimming & Diving Wins A Pair Yesterday
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Crimson Tide head coach Dennis Pursley said, "I thought we had a good meet out there today." We came out with a lot of enthusiasm and our men's team gave our ladies great support. Overall, we put up some times that were a little ahead of where I thought we'd be at this point in the season. Now we just have to keep working hard and building as we get deeper into the regular season."
Alabama swept all relay and individual swimming events for the second consecutive meet, while also picking up first place honors in one of the diving events. Friday's meet was also the start of Alabama Athletics' 2016-17 Power of Pink schedule of events, which is designed to help raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
Opening the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay were seniors Caroline Korst and Bridget Blood combined with juniors Hannah Musser and Bailey Scott with a time of 1:42.70. Juniors Temarie Tomley, Musser and Scott along with sophomore Morgan Fleming closed out the meet with a time of 1:32.77 to win the 200 freestyle relay.
Winning the first individual event of the day was freshman Alexis Preski in the 1,000 freestyle with a 10:08.05. This was Preski's first win with the Tide. Scott won the 50 freestyle, with a time of 23.11, and Tomley secured first place in the 100 freestyle with a 50.72.
It was a first through fourth sweep of the 200 freestyle with junior Mia Nonnenberg (1:50.81) winning the event. Nonnenberg also won the 500 freestyle with a 4:53.20 and the 200 individual medley with a 2:02.99.
Blood was victorious in the 100 breaststroke, swimming a 1:02.77, while sophomore Justine Macfarlane won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:16.14.
For the second meet in a row, Musser won both the 100 and 200 butterfly. She picked up the 100 with a time of 55.06, and captured the 200 with a time of 2:01.64.
It was freshman Lexi Souther winning the 100 backstroke with a 57.10, while freshman Kacey Oberlander (2:03.16) earned the win in the 200 backstroke. Sophomore Ayanna Woods won the 1-meter springboard with a score of 299.10.
The Alabama men's and women's teams will be back in action on October 14th in their first road meet of the season. Bama will head to Colombia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers.
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Crimson Tide Soccer Falls To Mississippi State 1-0
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| Alabama Freshman Nealy Martin Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The winning goal came just 36 seconds into the second half, when the Bulldogs' Johanna Hamblett converted from 15 yards out.
All-in-all, the Crimson Tide took 12 shots, five of which came on frame, and six corner kicks in the 90 minute contest. Between the posts, Kat Stratton totaled three saves. Her overall record drops to 7-4-1 and 2-2-1 in conference play.
Tori Gann took three shots, one shot on goal; Abbie Boswell had two shots, one on goal; Emma Welch took two shots, two shots on goal and Jordan Meier took one shot for the Crimson Tide.
This is only the third time this season that the Tide has finished a match scoreless.
Alabama soccer returns to action on Thursday, October 6th, when the Tide hosts Ole Miss at the Alabama Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. CT. Following that contest, Bama will head to Columbia, Missouri on Sunday, October 9th, to battle the Missouri Tigers at 1 p.m. CT.
| Game Stats | UA | MSU |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0 | 1 |
| Shots | 12 | 8 |
| Shots on Goal | 5 | 4 |
| Saves | 3 | 5 |
| Corners | 6 | 4 |
| Offsides | 0 | 1 |
| Fouls | 5 | 7 |
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Bama Cross Country Teams Post Top 20 Finishes
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The Alabama men's and women's cross country teams both posted top 20 finishes yesterday at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitation at South Bend, Indiana. The men finished 17th yesterday afternoon, while the women brought home a 15th-place finish. This was the third meet of the season for both squads.
Bama senior Antibahs Kosgei was the Crimson Tide's top runner yesterday in the men's five-mile race, finishing sixth in a time of 23:53.4. Kosgei now has three top 10 finishes in three meets already this season. The second and third finishers for the Alabama men were seniors Robbie Farnham-Rose (24:49.00) and Conner Thompson (24:58.4). Also scoring for Alabama were junior Garrett Bull (25:31.7) and senior Evan Prizy (25:32.3).
Other men's finishers for the Alabama men were sophomore Josh Short (25:59.3), freshman James Brinyark (26:06.9) and junior Andrew Bull (26:09.8).
Turning to the Crimson Tide women, it was senior Hannah Waggoner coming in as the top runner for Bama in the 5,000 meter race, finishing 47th in a personal best time of 17:06.7. Waggoner has been the Tide's No. 1 runner in both of her appearances this season. Freshman McKenzie Yanek was Alabama's second finisher, coming in 69th in 17:21.2. Sophomore Rachael Reddy came in 76th at 17:27.3. Freshman Rebecca Buteau (17:50.5) and junior Emily Edwards (17:51.00) completed the scoring for the Tide.
Also finishing for Alabama were junior Caroline Barlow (17:54.00), freshman Elisabeth Danis (18:12.1), sophomore Calli Coggins (18:12.6) and freshman Alexa Cruz (18:27.5).
Next up for the Crimson Tide is the Crimson Classic on October 14th at Harry Pritchett Running Park in Tuscaloosa. The men's 8,000-meter race will take place at 9 a.m. CT, and will be followed by the women's 6,000-meter race scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m.
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Tide Men's & Women's Basketball To Open Season Together
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Alabama women's basketball head coach Kristy Curry begins her fourth season at the helm of the Tide basketball squad. Four starters and seven letterwinners return from last season's WNIT team.
The head coach of the men's squad, Avery Johnson, begins his second season leading the young men. Seven lettermen return from last season, and one injury and another ineligible will be ready to help the squad this season.
Tickets to watch both games are just $6 each. Single-game tickets will go on sale beginning October 24th.
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