Combined Reports
(August 26, 2010)

TUSCALOOSA – The Alabama football team practiced for two hours in full pads on Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility.  It was the fall’s 21st training session as the Crimson Tide continues to prepare for the September 4 season opener against San Jose State in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Following two days off on Sunday and Monday, Alabama hit the practice field on Wednesday for its second workout session of the week. In his post-practice press conference on Tuesday, head coach Nick Saban said his challenge to the players going forward is to take ownership of the team.

“I think the focus for this week needs to be on the players taking ownership for what they need to do to make improvements,” Saban said.  “We as coaches want to help them do that in any way we can, but we’re looking for players to take ownership.”

Coming off a season-ending knee injury last season, sophomore linebacker Dont’a Hightower has taken on that leadership role as part of a young defense in need of players willing to take control.

“We’ve been really pleased with his leadership, what he’s done and how he’s affected the other players,” Saban said of Hightower’s expanded role.  “He’s done a good job of making calls.  He doesn’t make a lot of errors out there in the new role, and he has a good understanding of what we’re doing.”

The PricewaterhouseCoopers SMU Athletic Forum announced today the candidates for the 2010 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation’s top college running back, with 2009 Heisman Trophy recipient Mark Ingram headlining the list.

Nominations for the award will be accepted through October, with semifinalists being selected on November 10, finalists being determined on November 22 and the winner being chosen on November 29.  The recipient of the Doak Walker award will be announced live on ESPN on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards on Thursday, December 9.

Alabama will continue to prepare for its 2010 campaign this week with practices on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  All practices are closed to the public.

Auburn moves closer to Game Week

AUBURN - The Auburn football team practiced for two hours Wednesday evening behind the Athletics Complex. With less than two weeks before the first game of the season, the focus of practice is turning to scout team work and game preparation.

Working out in full pads, practice started with special teams drills, then moved to individual and position drills. After more special teams work, the offensive and defensive units worked against the scout teams, before finishing up together.

Head Coach Gene Chizik was pleased with Wednesday’s practice, particularly with the energy level and physicality.

"I thought we had a good practice today, we went out in full pads and tried to have a more physical practice, which is good," said Chizik. "We got a lot out of it and their energy level was up. All preparation for our first game was what we focused on and I think we got a lot out of it."

Now in game preparation mode, Chizik said the team is now working against situations they expect to see on Sept. 4.

"Arkansas State runs some similar things as us, and that is good for us because we have seen some of those things, but there are deviations that vary off the path as well," said Chizik. "They are a pace team, which means they are going to try to get in as many plays as they can. We are really trying to work the pace, getting lined up against the fast-paced offense that we face a good bit of the time."    

Auburn will return to the practice fields at 5 p.m., Thursday in the team’s last practice of the week.

Huntingdon holds second scrimmage

The Huntingdon football team battled each other for the second scrimmage of the fall at Charles Lee Field on Wednesday afternoon, and Coach Turk wasn’t pleased with the performance.

The practice, which featured over 100 plays, lasted for 2 1/2 hours. During the scrimmage, the first-team and second-team offense and defense competed in the majority of the plays.

“We are not as far along as we need to be in grasping the concept of our playbook at the quarterback position right now,” said head coach Mike Turk.

Sophomore David Solomon and freshman Tyler Robinson are looking to add more depth to the receiver position this season.
“David (Solomon) and Tyler (Robinson) both made some nice catches this afternoon for us,” said Turk.

“There were some plays made on both sides of the ball, but overall our emotions were dull on the field,” head coach Mike Turk said. “We didn’t play with enough intensity on offense or defense today to call this scrimmage a step in the right direction.”

The Hawks will continue to work on improving before their season-opener against Maryville College. Huntingdon and the Scots will square off on Saturday, Sept. 4, in Montgomery.