Alabama Crimson Tide

Editor's note: Every day from now until kickoff in Miami, TideNation will break down the match-ups position-by-position. Today we'll look at the battle of the special teams.

Alabama: If there's an area Alabama improved the most dramatically from a season ago, it was on special teams in the kicking game. Cade Foster, who was maligned for much of last season for missing three field goals against LSU, showed off a much stronger leg his junior year. He made four of nine field goal attempts, including three of five from 50 or more yards. That confidence bled over to kickoffs, where he had 37 more touchbacks than a season ago. He and short-range specialist Jeremy Shelley, who made all 11 of his field goal attempts, gave Alabama a piece it had previously been missing -- a safety net when the offense couldn't punch the ball in from scoring range.

Punter Cody Mandell experienced a renaissance as well. The junior from Texas increased his yards per punt and went from two punts of 50 or more yards in 2011 to 12 this season. More importantly, he landed six more punts inside the 20-yard line.

(Read full post)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The big game is returning to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The last time it was here? Nov. 5 of last year against LSU.

While the 11th-ranked Mississippi Bulldogs don't pose quite the same challenges as the Tigers did in 2011, the danger of a home upset lingers.

"This is a difficult preparation on both sides of the ball," UA coach Nick Saban said. "Mississippi State's obviously a very good team. Anybody that's undefeated at this point in the season, ranked 11th in the BCS, has obviously earned their stripes."

Alabama hasn't lost to Mississippi State since 2007 and has won five of their last seven meetings. Still, UA cornerback Dee Milliner expects a challenge from the Bulldogs. Despite the lopsided record, he feels it has always been that way.

"It's going to be a competitive game coming in with both teams undefeated," he said. "Mississippi State, they always give us a great game each year, no matter what the record is. Just going to be a tough game. They like to do a lot with running the ball. They’re going to be aggressive. They're just like us. They like to be aggressive with things. It’ll be very competitive."

" Read about five storylines for the game .

Alabama players to watch

1. S Robert Lester: Lester went down late in the game at Tennessee and hasn't looked quite the same this week during practice. How he recovers and competes against Mississippi State will be vital. His importance to the pass and rush defense cannot be understated.

(Read full post)

Nick Saban's time on the weekly SEC football coaches teleconference was short, just over 5 minutes in length, but fruitful. The sixth-year coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide talked about motivating his team, the improvement in the kicking game and the value of getting young players experience in game situations.


Here are the highlights from the Q&A:

Opening statement: "We tried to emphasize with our team to demand more of themselves so that we can improve as a team and be the best we can be, and hopefully play our best when our best is needed. We certainly try to challenge our players to do that. It's human nature to get motivated when something bad happens. But why do you need one of these 'I told you so' games and just respond by doing what you need to do to be the best that you can be.

"If you asked a great player like Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan, they could probably write a novel on what you need to do to get better. If you asked some average guy on the street, he'd probably have to think about it."

On kicker Cade Foster's improvement: "He's kicking the ball better than he did a year ago. I think he's tightened up his technique. He's always had a really strong leg. The struggle has always been consistency. He's kicking field goals better. He's hitting the ball better. Even though he's missed a couple long ones, he's made a couple long ones. The ones he missed were certainly long enough."

On fighting complacency, mediocrity: "There's a lot of things we do very well. Sometimes if you're a baseball pitcher, you pitch a really good game and lose. You pitch the best, you strike out a lot of guys, you get a lot of guys out, but something happens in a game and you lose. Sometimes you pitch a game and play OK, you play better, you pitch pretty good, but you end up winning. But the big thing is, at the end of all that, you sort of self-analyze what you did and how you did it and how you can improve it so you can pitch better the next time. That's what we're trying to get our guys to do. ... We have a lot of things that we need to improve ourselves on so we can be the best that we can be, so we can play our best and be our best when our best is needed."

On the value playing time for rookies: "Some guys that are younger guys that probably have less experience, I think the experience that they gain playing games is invaluable. That actually enhances their improvement. We have a really young team and we have a lot of guys that need to focus on doing things fundamentally better."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- It's wasn't that long ago that Cade Foster was the butt of jokes, widely viewed as the reason the University of Alabama didn't go undefeated in 2011. His three missed field goals against LSU on Nov. 5 nearly cost the Crimson Tide a shot at the national championship.

Clearly, Foster's errors in the kicking game weren't the death knell to Alabama's season. A 14th national title made its way to Tuscaloosa nonetheless.

Still, the junior kicker felt he had work to do after the season had ended. He had trust to rebuild and an attitude to redevelop.

(Read full post)