Alabama Football Finalizes Plans For The Battle At Neyland
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team worked through the final practice to ready themselves for the Tennessee Volunteers tomorrow. The Tide practiced for approximately 90 minutes yesterday in shells inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in Tuscaloosa. It was an afternoon of game plan prep, putting into motion the plan the coaches had come up with to battle the No. 9/11 Vols.
Alabama is working to slow down the "comeback kids" end of game shenanigans. The Tide is working on the Hail Mary defense, deep passing routes, putting extreme pressure on the quarterback and generally looking for ways to stop a potent Volunteer offense. Additionally you can bet that Alabama offensive coordinator, and former Tennessee head coach, Lane Kiffin is working a a few wrinkles to get the ball up and down the field on a Vol defense that seems to toughen when it has to.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide will be ready for the battle at Neyland Stadium tomorrow afternoon, with a 2:30 p.m CT kickoff planned. The game will be broadcast live on CBS, with Verne Lundquist handling the play-by-play, Gary Danielson on the set as color analyst and Allie LaForce handling sideline duties.
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Alabama Soccer Defeats Georgia 3-1 Last Night
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| Hailey Brohaugh Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Alabama racked up 13 shots, including seven shots on goal and four corner kicks in the contest. Goal keeper Kat Stratton ended up with four saves on the day, improving her overall record to 8-6-1 including a 3-4-1 mark in SEC play.
Lacey Clarida had five shots, two shots on goal as well as one goal. Hailey Brohaugh had two shots, one shot on goal and one goal. Logue Samburger took one shot, one shot on goal and scored one goal. Abbie Boswell contributed one shot and one assist in the competition.
The Crimson Tide is now just one win shy of breaking into the Alabama's top-10 all-time single season wins list.
Next up for the Tide will be the Florida Gators in a match to be held in Gainsville. The match is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. CT start time next Thursday, October 20th.
| Game Stats | UGA | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 1 | 3 |
| Shots | 10 | 13 |
| Shots on Goal | 5 | 7 |
| Saves | 4 | 4 |
| Corners | 5 | 4 |
| Offsides | 0 | 6 |
| Fouls | 12 | 12 |
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
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Alabama Cross Country Hosts Crimson Classic
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2016 Supe Store Tide Tipoff Names Musical Act
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Alabama Cross Country Hosts Crimson Classic
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| Tide Cross Country Runner Alexa Cruz Photo Credit: Cruz Photos |
The University of Alabama men's and women's cross country teams is currently hosting its lone meet of the season at the Harry Pritchett Running Park in Tuscaloosa. The meet will last through today. College races are scheduled for today, with the high school races held yesterday. There will be an 8,000-meter men's race as well as a 6,000 meter women's race today scheduled at two different start times. The men's race begins at 9 a.m. CT followed by the women at 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Conference teams competing are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee in both the men's and women's races. Competing only in the men's race are Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, while South Carolina will only field a women's team.
There will be 29 student-athletes participating today for the Crimson Tide, nine men and 20 women. For the men it will be Antibahs, Kosgei, Robbie Farnham-Rose, Evan Prizy, Conner Thompson, Andrew Bull, Garret Bull, Josh Short, Clay Austell and James Brinyark. For the women it will be Hannah Waggoner, Caroline Barlow, Emily Edwards, Jessica Gray, Veronica Lyle, Alison Ringle, Calli Coggins, Nicole Gardner, Brianna Koshy, Sarah Mohan, Rachael Reddy, Kaitlin York, Caroline Brooks, Rebecca Buteau, Hannah Capek, Alexa Cruz, Elisabeth Danis, Brittany Tolson, Haley Wright and McKenzie Yanek.
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2016 Supe Store Tide Tipoff Names Musical Act
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama basketball/athletic program is proud to announce that Metro Boomin, record producer and DJ, has signed to be the featured musical artist to be featured as the musical act at the 2016 Supe Store Tide Tipoff event. This year's event has been set for October 21st, and will be held in Coleman Coliseum, with a 6 p.m. start time scheduled.
Fans will be able to get signed autographs from both the players and coaches at that time. All members of the men's and ladies teams and coaching staff will be stationed throughout the concourse for a 45-minute period. The teams will then be introduced at 7 p.m., followed by on-court activities which will involve students and representatives from both the men's and women's squads. A dunk contest has been scheduled, and will be performed in front of a panel of celebrity judges to be announced prior to the competition. In addition, there will be a skills competition and a three-point shootout.
Performing that night is Metro Boomin, as previously mentioned, and has worked with such celebrities as Drake, Future, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy and others.
University of Alabama students will be admitted free, as well as season ticket holders for either the men's or women's basketball teams. General admission tickets for everyone else will be only $5.
All seating at the event will be first-come, first-serve general
admission seating. UA students will have a choice to sit in the student
section or walk down and stand on the floor for both the basketball
portion and the entertainment portion of the night.
Tickets for Supe Store Tide Tipoff, along with men's and women's
basketball season tickets, can be purchased
online at RollTide.com/Tickets, by phone at 1-877-TIDETIX (843-3849) or
at the Alabama Ticket Office, located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum.
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What Saban Said Last Night On "Hey Coach"
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| Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban "Hey Coach" Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Saban addressed numerous topics last night on the latest edition of his radio talk show, "Hey Coach." He dealt not only with the freshman issue, but the quarterback play, defense, the last game as well as tomorrow's contest with Tennessee.
Speaking of Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts, Saban said, "He doesn't do things to lose."
Concerning the slow starts and big spurts of offense from Tennessee that have occurred this season, Saban says that UT is a "momentum team." Saban says these things, like momentum, happen for a reason. He spoke of the Volunteers as having good energy and intensity while knowing and following a game plan. He said that relaxing against Tennessee is not something that Alabama should do.
One fan asked what Saban liked to do in the offseason. Saban replied that he has to dream about going to the lake or beach or playing golf during the football season because he doesn't have a second to spare with all that has to be done.
It was mentioned that Saban met with the undefeated 1966 football team a short while ago. The team went 12-0 that year, and the coach believed they were true champions.
Saban spoke of his players being afraid of him, and how his kids used to be. But, he said, his almost three year old granddaughter wasn't afraid of him.
With fast-paced offenses being the rage in this day and age in college football, defenses have had to make adjustments in the way they call their plays. Saban said that plays are now called with just one word, like "Buckeye." Word association is how he explained it, and said players were better with it now than in the past. He gave the internet a little credit for it.
Saban did say that it takes a really special kind of person to stay focused throughout an entire football season, along with a conference championship game and now two games to decide the national championship. Not everyone can do it.
Tennessee hosts Alabama tomorrow in Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. CT.
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Tide Swimming & Diving Will Face Missouri Today
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The 2016 edition of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's swimming and diving team takes to the water today in a road contest against the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Missouri. The meet is scheduled for a noon CT start time.
Alabama head coach Dennis Pursley said, "It's a big advantage to have the opportunity to compete against
Missouri, because the top SEC teams are among the best in the country. It is the strongest conference in the country. By the time we
get to the NCAA Championships, we will be battle tested and will know
what it's going to take to be successful."
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Crimson Tide Secondary Needs To Show Improvement
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| One of the turnovers caused by the Tide secondary Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
During the Monday press briefing, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said, "We just didn’t play smart at times in terms of executing what we are supposed to do. There were several opportunities where we had a chance to make the decision, ‘Do I intercept the ball, do I swat hook the guy, do I have to break down and tackle this guy.’ We didn’t do that very well."
Not once, but twice this season Bama has given up more than 400 yards in a game. Ole Miss was the other team. See the connection? The two best teams on the schedule with two of the best offenses were able to move the ball against the Tide. The Alabama secondary will again face a really good offense, a quarterback that will air it out.
Minkah Fitzpatrick and the secondary met this week to talk about how they "need to execute and get back to that national championship secondary, " he said. "We got to do that by just staying focused, executing and just paying attention to the details."
Last Saturday Arkansas was able to convert on 8-of-16 third down attempts, with five of those coming through the air. Fitz said, "We were out there a whole lot [last] Saturday. I was kind of getting frustrated." He spoke of being tired and needing to get off the field and tried to pump up the defense.
It's not Bama football. A defense that is used to being in the top 10 every year, even the top 5 in most categories, is mired as the number 61 defense in the nation through the air, giving up 223.3 yards per game.
UT quarterback Joshua Dobbs last week passed for 398 yards against Texas A&M last week. Sure, Tennessee lost, but it took two overtimes to do so to the No. 6 team in the nation.
Fitzpatrick was extremely complimentary of Dobbs saying, "He's a great quarterback. He has great receivers and running backs around him."
Alabama and Tennessee square off tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. CT in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Alabama Focus Must Be On Tennessee
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The game this week is a true hate game...on both sides of the ball. There is no love lost between the Tide and the Vols. Many fans still blame UT for a season that was "stolen" in their eyes because of the then-head coach turning in the Tide on some NCAA infractions. Of course Tennessee would like to show up their former head coach, Lane Kiffin, the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator.
Tennessee has players from Alabama...and Alabama has players from Tennessee. Personnel exist in both camps that once served at the other school. Recruiting is always a battle between the two, though the Crimson Tide has usually come out on top. On Top. Yes, as the Tide has of late in these football games.
Saban says to forget who comes after Tennessee this week. All the focus has to be on this one. "We have one game that we are concerned about. So there's no stretch or anything. It's just one game. So that's this week."
That "stretch" to which he was referring began last week with Arkansas and continues this week with Tennessee, and will be followed by Texas A&M. "This (Tennessee) is a very, very good team," Saban said. "For sure a top 10 team in the country. It's going to be a very challenging game for us."
Saban is disappointed that the Tide has failed to play an entire 60 minutes in a game this season. He blames lack of discipline and execution. Penalties and big plays have been a problem for Alabama.
Alabama leads the nation in defensive touchdowns with seven. The Tide has a total of nine non-offensive touchdowns this season.
More will be needed in the contest tomorrow.
Alabama and Tennessee will kick it off in Neyland Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air live on the CBS Network.
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