Alabama Football Continues Prep For Fresno State
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team practiced in full pads during a two-hour session on Tuesday afternoon on the beautiful campus in Tuscaloosa at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.
Bama is working to make the home-opener this week one that UA fans will enjoy by coming away with victory number two of the 2017 football season. The Tide must stop a Fresno State offense was was able to produce a whopping 613 yards of total offense and 66 points last Saturday against Incarnate Word. The Tide and Bulldogs are slated for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Bryant-Denny Stadium, with the contest being aired on ESPN2.
Receivers coach Mike Locksley was back at practice on Tuesday after having missed Monday's practice due to the death of his son.
With all of the injuries after Saturday's contest with FSU, the Crimson Tide is working to plug the vacant holes. Seven players were working with coach Tosh Lupoi and the outside linebackers corp. Two players went down to season-ending injuries from this group.
Rashaan Evans did not practice yesterday due to the groin injury he received in Alabama's 24-7 win over Florida State on Saturday.
Running back Josh Jacobs was practicing in full pads on Tuesday. He has been absent since the beginning of camp due to a hamstring injury.
Prior to the Tuesday practice session, senior linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton was named Madness National Defensive Player of the Week in a Tuesday morning announcement. The Montgomery, Alabama native finished with a team-high eight tackles, including a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack in the victory over FSU.
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Alabama Again Ranked No. 1 In Both Polls
Once again the Alabama Crimson Tide sits atop the two main college football polls. A total of six teams from the Southeastern Conference made both of the two Top-25 polls. Here's a look at how the teams stack up in both the AP and Coaches polls:
AP POLL
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (60)*
2. Ohio State (1)
3. Clemson
4. Penn State
5. Oklahoma
6. USC
7. Washington
8. Michigan
9. Wisconsin
10. Florida State
11. Oklahoma State
12. LSU*
13. Auburn*
14. Stanford
15. Georgia*
16. Miami (FL)
17. Louisville
18. Virginia Tech
19. Kansas State
20. Washington State
21. South Florida
22. Florida*
23. TCU
24. Notre Dame
25. Tennessee*
AMWAY COACHES POLL
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (59)*
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Clemson (3)
4. Penn State
5. USC
6. Oklahoma
7. Washington
8. Michigan
9. Florida State
10. Oklahoma State
11. Wisconsin
12. LSU*
13. Auburn*
14. Stanford
15. Georgia*
16. Louisville
17. Miami
18. Virginia Tech
19. Kansas State
20. South Florida
21. Tennessee*
22. Washington State
23. Utah
24. Florida*
25. Notre Dame
*SEC Teams
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Crimson Tide Soccer Advances To No. 22
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
For the second straight week, Bama was also among several other teams that received votes on TopDrawerSoccer.com and NSCAA's top-25 rankings. Additionally, the Crimson Tide holds steady at No. 8 in the NSCAA Southeast Regional poll.
The Tide will travel to Kennesaw, Georgia on Thursday to face Kennesaw State at 6 p.m. CT at the Fifth Third Bank Stadium and will return to Tuscaloosa on Sunday, September 10th to face Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m. CT at the Alabama Soccer Complex. Thursday's game will air live on ESPN3 and Sunday's match will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
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Alabama-Miami To Open 2021 Season
In Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game In Atlanta
Once again the University of Alabama football program will be nationally showcased in yet another Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. This one will come in 2021. The opponent will be Mark Richt and the Miami Hurricanes.
The 2021 matchup will mark the 18th time that Alabama and Miami have done battle, yet the first game since the 1993 Sugar Bowl to determine the national championship. The Crimson Tide was the underdog, but won that game quite handily 34-13. That was Bama's first national championship since 1979, as well as putting a top to the Hurricane's 29-game win streak.
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Alabama-FSU Dominates
Most Watched CFB Kickoff Game In History
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| FSU's Jimbo Fisher & Alabama's Nick Saban Photo Credit: Getty Images/Stacy Revere |
It was No. 1 versus No. 3. The hype had been going on most of the year, and only intensified during the summer. Finally it was here. And on Saturday the people watched. The people watched in massive numbers. The people watched in record numbers. The people watched the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Florida State Seminoles 24-7 in Atlanta, Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game this past Saturday on ABC. The total? 12.5 million viewers.
Yesterday ESPN sent out a press release saying that this is the third consecutive year that the prime-time game on Saturday on ABC drew a record number of viewers. Get this, more than 1.4 million MORE viewers tuned in to this year's clash of Titans than last year's Texas-Notre Dame game which had previously held the top spot. The press release also stated that peak viewership was 14.1 million between 8-8:30 p.m. CT which was in the first half of play.
The Crimson Tide has now defeated a nationally ranked opponent in each of the past three opening games dating back to 2015.
