Crimson Tide Football Preps For Vols
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Though it seldom falls on the "Third Saturday in October" any more, it still carries that moniker for many of the Crimson Tide faithful. The University of Alabama football team began the new week of practice getting ready for this week's matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers with a 75-minute workout in helmets and shorts on Monday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields on the beautiful campus of UA.
At Alabama it's different. The focus isn't on recovering from a loss. Rather the focus is coming back from an overwhelming win, to look to the next game and forget the press clippings, accolades and highlight reels. It's time to focus on the task at hand: the UT Vols.
The 41-9 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks was a great victory, but now the team focuses on a long-standing rivalry, one that dates back to 1901. This will be the 100th meeting between the Tide and Vols, with Alabama holding a 54-37-8 (52-38-7 after vacations) advantage. In addition, the Crimson Tide has defeated the Volunteers for 10-consecutive seasons now, with the most recent being a 49-10 beat down last year in Knoxville.
Running back Damien Harris, thankfully, was at practice yesterday with some added padding on his left knee. He appeared to be doing well. Isaiah Buggs, also injured in the Arkansas game, also appeared to be doing well. Anfernee Jennings and Keith Holcombe were somewhat limited yesterday in practice, and Tony Brown was in a brace. Da'Shawn Hand was not seen at all during the limited media viewing period.
The annual "Third Saturday in October" matchup is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Bryant-Denny Stadium this Saturday, October 21st. The game will be broadcast live on the CBS Network with Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson making the call from the booth, while Allie LaForce works the sidelines.
Tennessee currently stands at 3-3 on the season, with a lot of unhappy Volunteer fans calling for the head of Vols head coach Butch Jones. Most thought the Vols would be a major player in SEC football this season, with some even believing Smokey would be lying on the sidelines in Atlanta this year at the SEC Championship Game representing the Eastern Division. Instead, the Volunteers are 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference with all hopes dashed on that front. Jones is currently 33-24 in his fifth season on Rocky Top, and many believe this is his last hurrah. He has an overall 83-51 slate at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee.
Congratulations as honors went out to Alabama defensive backs Levi Wallace and Minkah Fitzpatrick as well as offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman as the trio were named to TheAthletic.com's Midseason All-America Team. This is the second such honor for both Fitzpatrick and Bozeman and a first for Wallace.
Prior to the Monday practice session Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban met with the media as is his custom to begin each game week. Here is Saban's opening statement:
"Reviewing the last game, we showed that when we play with discipline and execution, give effort, be physical, finish plays and play with the kind of toughness that we're looking for to create the identity that we want as a team, we're a pretty good team. Obviously the key to that is to do that with consistency play in and play out in a game, as well as game in and game out during the season. I think that's going to be the point of emphasis that we want to try and show our players: good plays that we did very well as those things were apparent, and on some plays that we didn't do so well, it wasn't apparent.
"Obviously this is a rivalry game, it means a lot to a lot of people, including the people in this organization and the people that play in this game. We've had some real struggles at times with this team and this is a team we have a lot of respect for. Butch Jones has done a nice job there. This team could very easily be 5-1, they lost two games on the last play of the game basically or it came down to the last play of the game whether they scored or gave up a score. They've got good players. They've got a really good running back in (John) Kelly, who's one of the top rushers in the SEC. Their defense, especially the secondary, has played really well as they're the top ranked pass defense in the SEC and one of the top ranked pass defenses in the country. They do a good job with their schemes on both sides of the ball and on special teams.
"We have a lot of respect for this team and what we'll have to do and how we'll have to play to be able to have success against this team. With rivalry games, you can pretty much throw out the record book, throw out the records of the team, throw out what happened last year, throw out what happened so far this year and make sure that you're ready to play your best game when you play in these type of games."
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Nick Saban Press Conference
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| Press HERE to view press conference via Tide TV |
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Alabama Football Coaching Staff
Recognizes 10 Players Of The Week
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| University of Alabama football coaching staff Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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Tide Men Third, Women Ninth In
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Both the Bama squads will begin postseason competition at the Southeastern Conference Cross Country Championships Friday, October 27th at the University of Georgia.
