Combined Reports
(Dec. 24, 2009)

TUSCALOOSA – Alabama wrapped up the first portion of its bowl preparations with a 90-minute practice in full pads Wednesday morning at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility and will now take a three-day before returning to campus on Sunday to continue practice for the upcoming BCS National Championship Game against Texas.

No. 1 Alabama (13-0, 8-0 SEC) and No. 2 Texas (13-0, 8-0 Big 12) will meet in the BCS National Championship Game on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.  The game will be nationally televised by ABC Sports.

Alabama held five practices this past week stressing the fundamentals.

“This week we really haven’t worked on Texas," senior Eryk Anders said.  "We’ve gone back to the basics and fundamentals, getting our blocks and putting the pads on and hitting again.”

After a three-day holiday break, the Crimson Tide will return to practice on Sunday to begin its game plan for the second-ranked Longhorns.  Alabama will hold five practices in Tuscaloosa next week, concluding on Thursday, Dec. 31.  The team will depart for California on Friday, Jan. 1, 2010, and begin normal game-week preparations on the following Saturday.

Brown counting on help from Applewhite, Muschamp

Texas coach Mack Brown stated in a press conference earlier this week that he can lean on former Alabama assistant coach Major Applewhite for ideas on the current crop of juniors and seniors at Alabama.

But that information only goes so far.

It helps in that we have a pretty good feel of at least their juniors and seniors,” Brown said. “And most of their players are juniors and seniors. And Major was there as an offensive coordinator, and he knows those kids. He knows how they’ll think. He knows how they’ll practice.”

Applewhite was part of the initial coaching staff when Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa three years ago. He left Alabama for Texas, his alma mater, after just one season.

Another former Saban assistant, Will Muschamp, also has some idea of what to expect from the Crimson Tide in the championship game.

“Will and Major have said their bowl practices will be exactly like ours,” Brown said. “There will not be any difference in the preparation for the two teams.

“Will was kind of raised by Nick. He had five years under him as a defensive coordinator. And it’s really funny when you start looking at the defenses, they’re exactly the same. The calls are the same. That’s the positive for us. The negative is that both staffs will be trying to outthink what the other one is going to do, because we know so much about each other. And you have to be careful not to outthink yourself and do what you do best. Nick’s done a tremendous job. He’s a great coach. We have tremendous respect. Great players, they coach them hard and coach them well.”