Jimmy Sexton quoted Nick Saban in the middle of his first season as saying "I don't know if you can win here (at LSU)." He told Jimmy he had ruined his life. The rest is history. Scarbinsky goes into detail with Sexton in today's article.
Saban doesn't talk until today (actually, I'm sure he's talking right now), but his impact was felt on the first day. Quentin Groves shows how smart he is by saying “They are a great team,” Groves said. “But if they work 365 days to dominate one team, you forget that you have to play 11 other teams. If you work that hard to dominate us, you go 1-11 and hey, what is the $4 million for?"
The Dothan Eagle takes a look at some of yesterday's highlights at media days. And does anybody else find it a little bit funny that Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Kayat was the SEC representative on the BCS presidential oversight committee? I doubt we'll ever see Ole Miss in a BCS game. Haha.
Auburn answered quite a few questions yesterday about being under the radar. People don't really care about that program right now and they can't stand it. You want proof? "There was a long pause while Tuberville, who followed South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, waited for someone to ask him a question. "Spurrier wear you all out, didn't he? He could wear anybody out."
The Opelika-Auburn News previews Alabama. They seem to have quite a bit of respect for us. That's cool.
Not sure how I missed it, but Ray Melick had an article a few days ago about how much attention Nick Saban is getting at Alabama...and it's not all good for the program. " In his seven months at Alabama, Saban's name has turned up more than any other coach's in other schools' allegations of secondary NCAA rules violations, an official with knowledge of the infractions process says. That doesn't mean he's breaking more rules than anyone else - or that he's breaking any rules at all. It just shows how closely rival coaches are monitoring the Alabama staff."
Saban talked to Scarbinsky previously, and mentioned that he wants all the SEC coaches to "just get along." Turning each other in hurts the league as a whole - and that if anyone has a problem with something he's doing, they should just call him rather than the league office. Sounds like somebody that's not really afraid of anyone's accusations, if you ask me.
Simeon Castille is a Preseason Jim Thorpe Award candidate. Of course he is.
Apparently Tubbs didn't get many questions about the team that he coaches...y'know, the Barn. He got asked about anything and everything else thought. Melick thinks that SEC Media is taking Tommy for granted. I think people just don't really care.
THE MIKE SHULA ERA
#9: Tennessee 51 Alabama 43Oct. 25th, 2003 in Tuscaloosa, AL
If you've watched CSS at all this summer, then you've seen the replay of this game...at least twice. They show it 2 times a week.
And it's a great game to watch...if you don't really care, or if you're a UT fan. To us Bama fans, it's a reminder that we had a coach and a team that didn't know what it took to win. It's a painful thing to watch. The deer-in-headlights looks all over again.
Alabama started off the scoring in the first quarter with a Brian Bostick 33 yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Tennessee scored first in the 2nd, making it 3-3. Then we took the ball down the field and made it 6-3 on a 48 yard Bostick field goal. That's how the half ended.
In the 2nd half, Tennessee opened the 3rd quarter with a 25 yard run by Banks to make it 10-6. We didn't do anything on offense and they marched down the field again and capped off a scoring drive with a 38 yard field goal by James Wilhoit. 13-6 UT.
We ended the 3rd quarter scoring with a 36 yard touchdown pass to Triandos Luke to make it 13-13 going into the 4th. The 4th quarter was pretty much a stalemate until midway through the 4th, when we marched the ball down the field and Ray Hudson ran it in from 2 yards to give us a 20-13 lead with 4:47 remaining.
But Tennessee answered. And it ripped my heart out. They drove all the way down the field and Clausen threw a 1 yard touchdown pass to Troy Fleming to tie the game at 20-20 with :25 left.
Alabama, of course, toyed with my emotions. Tyrone Prothro returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards, and a facemask call moved the ball to the Tennessee 32 yard line. After a couple of plays, Bostick's 45-yard field goal attempt was partially blocked, sending the game into overtime.
The 2nd overtime is, of course, where we lost the game. After scoring and making it 34-27, our defense forced Tennessee into a 4th-and-19 from the 34 yard line. Our defense, like idiots played zone and watched as Clausen lofted a pass over the middle to CJ Leak at the 10 yard line for a first down. They went on to score a touchdown, and eventually, after 5 overtimes, held off our offense for a 51-43 win in Bryant Denny Stadium.
