Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner, named SEC Player of the Week, reflects on the Michigan game and looks ahead to Western Kentucky on Saturday.

University of Alabama coach Nick Saban took to the SEC teleconference on Wednesday morning to talk about how his team is feeling after beating Michigan, as well as what the mood is heading into a Week 2 matchup with Western Kentucky. Here is some of what the sixth-year head coach had to say:

Opening statement: "Any time you play a first game, you kind of see what areas of the team you really need to improve, work hard on. That's certainly been our focus. We have a tremendous amount of respect for every team we play. Western Kentucky has won eight of their last nine game, and we certainly respect what they do. They do a good job of coaching their players. ... We just want to continue to do the things we need to do to improve and progress as a team because we know we need a tremendous amount of improvement to be the team we need to be."

Saban on having too many penalties: "Since we've been here, we've been pretty good with the penalties. We've always been one of the better teams in the SEC, statistically. We have a goal in terms of how many penalties we get and we have officials at practice every day so players are learning what they can and can't do so they don't develop bad habits."

Scouting Western Kentucky: "They do a really good job offensively, use their personnel really well, lots of shifts and motion. They get a hat on a hat. They have good runners. They run the ball effectively. The quarterback does a great job for them in terms of being accurate, getting the ball out of his hand. They've been a pretty good third-down team for the most part. Defensively, they're very active with a lot of pressure. They try to give you a lot of bad plays. ... We have a tremendous amount of respect for them. They're probably, in my opinion, maybe the best team in the Sun Belt."

(Read full post)

Alex Scarborough and Greg Ostendorf discuss Alabama's No. 1 ranking and break down the injuries leading up to the Western Kentucky game on Saturday.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It took exactly one week for Alabama to convince voters it's the best team in college football. A 41-14 thrashing of a top 10 team in Michigan on Saturday was enough to throw 28 more first-place votes the Crimson Tide's way and earn Alabama the No. 1 spot in the both the USA Today Coaches' and Associated Press Top 25 polls.

The championship hangover many pundits expected hasn't shown itself thus far. Alabama went to Texas and dominated the Wolverines, derailing Denard Robinson's Heisman campaign while putting on a display of nearly flawless offensive execution. UA jumped out to a three-touchdown lead before the first quarter had ended.

USC, LSU, Oregon and Oklahoma rounded out the top five. The Trojans received 11 first-pace votes to Alabama's 45. LSU had four such votes.

(Read full post)

Every week, RecruitingNation sends out a fleet of writers to report from high school football games across the country. From the Road breaks down the top performances by the recruits they saw in person over the weekend.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama made a statement with its 41-14 thrashing of Michigan on Saturday.

Those that predicted a championship hangover for the Crimson Tide were shown otherwise as UA dominated all phases of the game, turning back Big Blue's hopes of an upset before the third commercial break.

The chorus of praise rung out from Arlington, Texas, to both coasts -- and Tuesday, Alabama claimed the top spot in the AP poll. With 45 first-place votes this week, the Crimson Tide's gain of 17 first-place votes since the preseason poll eclipsed the week's combined total for USC (11) and SEC rival LSU (four).

Too bad the Dixie hymn hadn't made it to Nick Saban's ears. The gruff coach had stepped to the podium on Monday ready to rebuke all claims that Alabama is back on top of college football.

"Everyone thought we were too young, too inexperienced, couldn't handle success," Saban said. "Everybody was saying those things about our team. Now, people are saying something different.

"But my question is, what's different? Nothing."

The Crimson Tide's celebratory parade apparently never made it home to Tuscaloosa. It likely never made it to the home locker room in Cowboys Stadium.

"We're still inexperienced, we still have things to work on," Saban said. "It's going to be all about the maturity the team has to be able to focus on what they need to do to correct the deficits we have."

The stat line will tell one story about Alabama's win over Michigan, the coach's analysis quite another. Had Denard Robinson executed better, the score might not have been so lopsided. Missed opportunities plagued the Wolverines, chances Saban would rather not see occur in the first place.

(Read full post)

The first weekend of the college football season brought some changes to our power rankings. As we enter Week 2, some teams are trending down, while others are on the up. And some look pretty much like we thought they'd look in their first games.

It's still early, but this weekend could help to better shape the conference race, especially in the SEC East where Florida travels to Texas A&M and Georgia heads to Missouri. Also, keep an eye on Mississippi State's home game with Auburn.

OK, time for the rankings:

1. Alabama (1-0): The Crimson Tide made quite the statement by absolutely dominating No. 8 Michigan inside Cowboys Stadium. The defense, which lost a host of top talent from last year's national championship team, took Denard Robinson out of the game from the start. The offense should be fun to watch this fall with freshman T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacy carrying the ball and AJ McCarron throwing to those young, explosive receivers.

2. LSU (1-0): It's not like the Tigers looked bad against overmatched North Texas, but Alabama's performance was just that good. Zach Mettenberger did well in his LSU debut, passing for 192 yards and a touchdown, while running backs Kenny Hilliard (141 yards) and Alfred Blue (123) pounded away at North Texas' defense. The Tigers racked up 508 total yards and limited North Texas to just nine first downs and 219 total yards.

3. Arkansas (1-0): We know Arkansas can score and churn out yards. The Hogs made both of those things look very easy against Jacksonville State, especially quarterback Tyler Wilson, who threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. But the defense still has some questions surrounding it, as the Hogs gave up 24 points. The defense settled down the second half and gave up 322 total yards, which was one yard less than the average given up by top 15 teams this weekend.

4. Georgia (1-0): The Bulldogs' defense is obviously hurting without Bacarri Rambo and Alec Ogletree and it showed in the win over Buffalo. There was a lot of give in the pass defense and the Bulldogs struggled stopping quarterback runs. Improving in both of those areas will be crucial heading into the Missouri game. The offense looked pretty good, especially with freshman running back Todd Gurley carrying the ball. He registered 100 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

5. South Carolina (1-0): The offense was shaky when it came to throwing the ball, and it certainly wasn't any better after quarterback Connor Shaw went down with that shoulder injury. His health is critical, as there isn't much experience at all behind him. Running back Marcus Lattimore looked solid in his return and was back to his workhorse ways. The defense played well overall, but the secondary still has concerns.

6. Tennessee (1-0): Everything went right for the Vols against NC State. It became blatenly obvious that they have more depth across the board now than they've had during Derek Dooley's tenure. Getting the tough yards running the ball was still an issue at times, but Marlin Lane showed that he might have what it takes to be that explosive running back Tennessee needs. Tyler Bray had no issue throwing the ball with Justin Hunter back and newcomer Cordarrelle Patterson going off.

(Read full post)

Each week at TideNation we'll take a look at how Alabama's players up for postseason awards fared in action. All told, 12 Alabama players were put on watch lists this offseason.

QB AJ McCarron, Jr. (Maxwell, Manning, O'Brien, Camp): McCarron's numbers against Michigan weren't overwhelming -- 11-for-21 for 199 yards and two touchdowns -- but the product was impressive. He was accurate and decisive, building on his success against LSU in the national championship game. He simply wasn't needed after the first half against Michigan.

RB Eddie Lacy, Jr. (Maxwell, Walker): The junior running back didn't do anything to hurt his campaign with limited carries against Michigan -- nine carries for 36 yards and a touchdown -- but he can't stand on the sideline and win awards. The coaching staff wants him healthy for SEC play when he's needed.

TE Michael Williams, Sr. (Mackey): Williams caught a 2-yard pass for the game's first touchdown, but closed the game without another reception. If you look past the numbers, Williams was superb in the blocking game, but he'll need better stats to try and claim the hardware at the end of the year.

OLs Barrett Jones/Chance Warmack/D.J. Fluker (Rimington, Outland, Lombardi, Camp): They're all up for major awards on the offensive line, and after their dominating performance over Michigan -- leading the way for 236 yards rushing -- they've made a good first impression. McCarron was sacked just twice. Jones helped himself the most by looking comfortable in his first career start at center. He did not botch a snap all game.

(Read full post)

Here's a quick primer for Week 2 in the SEC:

SATURDAY

Auburn (0-1) at Mississippi State (1-0), Noon ET, ESPN: Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is looking for his first win against a West opponent not named Ole Miss. Auburn is looking to rebound after its rush defense was shredded against Clemson. It won't get easier for that defense Saturday. This game set the tone for both teams last year and probably will again.

East Carolina (1-0) at No. 9 South Carolina (1-0), 12:21 p.m. ET, SEC Network: Quarterback Connor Shaw's shoulder will be monitored all week, and the receivers have got to step up this week. The good news is that Marcus Lattimore shook off the rust early in his return against Vanderbilt and is back to his bullish ways. The Gamecocks know all too well that they can't sleep on the Pirates, so the focus should be good this week.

No. 23 Florida (1-0) at Texas A&M (0-0), 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN: The Gators have named Jeff Driskel the starting quarterback and that's a step in the right direction. This offense struggled mightily in the opener, but now those players know who their quarterback is. That can only help with chemistry and timing. The Aggies are opening the season with Florida after their original opener was postponed. Florida's defense could provide first-time starting quarterback Johnny Manziel with a bunch of problems, but this team will be itching to get on the field. Expect an electric environment in College Station.

Western Kentucky (1-0) at No. 2 Alabama (1-0), 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network: The defending champs proved to still have a little something left in the tank after routing Michigan on Saturday. The secondary needs some work, especially on the deep ball, but this will be a chance for the Tide to work out some of those kinks. Expect Alabama's offense to try and go down field with its passing game even more in Week 2.

(Read full post)