Bama Football Wraps Up Bye Week Practices
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team concluded its bye week of three practices on Thursday afternoon. Bama worked for two hours in full pads outdoors on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in Tuscaloosa. The emphasis this week has been on working out the kinks, improving on fundamentals and techniques, as well as the concentration factor. That concentration means mental toughness both on and off the field. On the field mental toughness to get the timing and routes right, and off the field to turn off the outside "noise."
This was the third and final practice of the week, and now the young men can enjoy a long weekend of the university's fall break. The squad will return to work this Monday to begin more specific preparation for the LSU Tigers. (There was, however, a bit of prep specially for the Tigers in yesterday's practice.)
Alphonse Taylor was once again noticeably absent from yesterday's contact. He is still trying to recover from a concussion suffered a few weeks ago and is awaiting medical clearance to both practice and play.
According to a couple of different accounts, Hootie Jones was working in the first-team safety position replacing the injured Eddie Jackson who suffered a broken leg last Saturday. Tony Brown and Minkah Fitzpatrick were also playing big roles in yesterday's workout.
This will be the 81st meeting between the two teams, with the Tide riding a five-game win streak dating back to the 2012 National Championship when Alabama handed LSU a 21-0 shellacking. Bama leads the series 50-25-5. The game will air live on CBS, with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce on the call.
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Tide Soccer Defeats Commodores In Regular Season Finale
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| Alabama Soccer Defeats Vanderbilt 2-0 Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Alabama punched eight shots, four shots on goal and three corner kicks in the 90 minute contest. Goalie Kat Stratton garnered four saves in the match, and her overall record between the posts improves to 9-7-2 including a 4-5-2 mark in league play.
Abbie Boswell provided Bama with two shots, one shot on goal as well as one of the two goals scored on the evening. Taylor Hubbard took one shot, one shot on goal and scored the other goal of the contest for the Tide. Nealy Martin had one shot and one assist while Tori Gann also provided one shot and one assist on the evening.
The Tide will now move into tournament play, facing the Texas A&M Aggies this coming Monday at 6 p.m. CT at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. The winner of that contest will battle the South Carolina Gamecocks the following Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT. All SEC Tournament matches will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
| Game Stats | VANDY | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0 | 2 |
| Shots | 13 | 8 |
| Shots on Goal | 4 | 4 |
| Saves | 2 | 4 |
| Corners | 6 | 3 |
| Offsides | 0 | 2 |
| Fouls | 5 | 8 |
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Ghosts Haunt Goblins In Gymnastics Intrasquad Win
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| Ghosts Win In Annual Ghosts & Goblins Contest Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
Alabama head gymnastics coach Dana Duckworth said, "It was good to get our ladies out there under the lights and to let them feel some butterflies. I can't thank our fans enough for coming out at the start of fall break and cheer our ladies on. It was a tremendous atmosphere. I especially want to thank the members of The Medalist Club, our booster organization, who were here tonight. They do so much for our program and our University."
The winning Ghosts squad is made up of seniors Keely McNeer and Mary Lillian Sanders, juniors Mackenzie Brannan and Jennie Loeb, sophomores Abby Armbrecht and Jenna Bresette along with freshmen Shea Mahoney, Maddie Desch and Wynter Childers. The Goblins team is made up by seniors Aja Sims, Katie Bailey, Mackenzie Valentin and Amanda Jetter, juniors Kiana Winston and Nickie Guerrero, sophomores Ari Guerra and Angelina Giancroce and freshman Caitlin Cole.
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Bama Adds UL-Lafayette To 2018 Schedule
The University of Alabama has added another non-conference contest to its 2018 football schedule. The Alabama Athletic Department has announced that the Crimson Tide will host the Louisiana-Lafayette Rain' Cajuns at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. The game has been scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 2018.
The game has been confirmed, and has been posted on the university's athletic website. It has been reported by KATC-TV 3 that Alabama will pay out a $1.25 million guarantee.
The Crimson Tide leads the all-time series 8-0, with the last meeting a 25-6 victory in 1990. The first meeting dates back to 1941.
The non-conference portion of the 2018 schedule for UA is now complete. In addition to playing UL-Lafayette, the Tide will open the 2018 football season with the Louisville Cardinals in Orlando on September 1st. The two other non-conference games for the season will be Arkansas State on September 8th and The Citadel on November 17th.
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| Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
The University of Alabama men's tennis team will be competing in the USTA 10k Futures 10-day event scheduled for the Highland Park Tennis Center in Birmingham, Alabama. A total of 119 student-athletes are registered to play, with five of those representing the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The young men playing for the Univeristy of Alabama this weekend are seniors Hayes Brewer and Ritchie Kruunenberg, sophomore Spencer Richey and freshmen Alexey Nesterov and Thibault Cancel. The 10-day event continues through Monday, November 6th. will participate this weekend.
Spencer Richie goes up against Romania's Gabrial Vladut Niculescu on court five at 8:30 a.m. CT, Ritchie Kruunenberg squares off against Alexis Salazar of Ecuador on court one at 11:30 a.m. CT, Hayes Brewer faces Nicolas Rouanet of France at 1 p.m. CT on court four, while Thibault Cancel battles Mathias Degardin at 2:30 p.m. CT on court one
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Eight Crimson Tide Players In ESPN Top-50 Players
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| Great Players Bring Championships |
More lists, more honors just keep happening to athletes from the University of Alabama. And of course most fans have come to expect that, especially from their beloved football team.
ESPN has ranked the Top-50 players in college football. Well, according to them. Eight players from the Alabama Crimson Tide have found themselves on that list.
Alabama senior defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, senior linebacker Tim Williams, senior linebacker Reuben Foster, sophomore defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, senior defensive back Eddie Jackson, freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts, sophomore wide receiver Calvin Ridley and junior offensive lineman Cam Robinson have all been named, according to ESPN.
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Let The Trash Talk Begin
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| 2015 Alabama-LSU game in Tuscaloosa Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics |
With still more than a week to go before the clash between the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama and the No. 19 Bengal Tigers of LSU, the smack or trash talk has begun. More than one Tiger has made his voice heard, and one of the most recent is defensive back Dwayne Thomas. Whether "true" trash talk, or the young man is delusional, he has something to say about the Tide's dominating the series recently, five consecutive victories, over his team.
Thomas said, "I really see us dominating this offense. I see us really dominating this team." This quote comes just in the past couple of days as reported by Ross Dellenger of the Advocate. But that's not all. Thomas also commented, "This is the year. We've been letting them off the hook for the last couple of years. This is my senior year. We're going out with a bang. It's time for us to bring that win back. We're going to be at home. I feel like we have the edge going to take it to them, and we're going to take it to them. I feel like we're going to dominate this game."
Others have said that this season. All others have failed. The Crimson Tide stands unvanquished and unhumbled with a perfect 8-0 record on the season. And the boys from Bama are currently riding a 20-game winning streak, best in the nation and among the best in school history.
Thomas likes the idea that Alabama comes into next week's contest ranked as the number one team in the country. "We put stuff up too," he said. "If that helps motivate them, so be it. We know what motivates us. We want that No. 1 next to their (name)."
After the firing of former LSU head football coach Les Miles, the interim head man, Ed Orgeron, has helped the Tigers reel off three consecutive victories. However, only one of those wins is against a ranked opponent, so much remains to be seen from this "honeymoon."
It appears running back Leonard Fournette is back...with a vengeance. He reeled off 284 yards last week against the Ole Miss Rebels en route to the LSU win. This is another reason the Tigers are so cocky, uh, confident.
This group of LSU seniors has never beaten a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team. And they aren't happy about that. Thomas said, "We're not going to be the only senior class not to beat Alabama. I feel confident in this game. We know we have our shot. We need to get back and put banners on these walls."
Last season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama had to drive down the field in the final minute of the game to tie it up and send the contest into overtime. Bama came away with that one. LSU thinks that playing in their own house will make the difference, besides their recent resurgence.
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