Written by Ell
| 29 September 2008
Talk about a tough act to follow.... Bama hit the practice field in shells today trying to refocus after a dominating that win the propelled the Tide to a #2 ranking in the AP poll. Kentucky will walk into Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday at 2:30 an undefeated team, looking to be a giant killer for the second consecutive year.
Preston Dial and Mike McCoy were both in black no contact jerseys, and each guy is doubtful for Saturday's game. Dial had his injured knee scoped late last week and almost certainly will not play. McCoy has a hamstring issue, which means he is listed as "day to day."
The news was better for Mark Ingram, who seemed to be showing no ill effects from a slight knee injury that kept him out of the second half of the game in Athens. He is expected to be 100% ready to play on Saturday.
The big thing for the Tide this week will be keeping focus. As the national hype grows around the team, so will the distractions. Alabama's worst game of the season came against Tulane after the Tide beat a top ten team in Clemson. Kentucky is talented enough to win the game if Alabama has a similar effort this Saturday.
After demonstrating that the passing attack can help the Tide win a big game, Bama's receiving corps is looking to build on their momentum from Saturday. With McCoy out the Tide will be looking for someone to emerge as the #2 receiver along side Julio Jones. The likely candidates are Earl Alexander, Nikita Stover, Marquis Maze and B.J. Scott.
They caught passes today from the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week. For his effecient game in Athens Saturday night John Parker Wilson was given that award today. That's a huge pat on the back for a guy who was thought by many Bama fans to be incapable of having a great game in a big game.
Special Teams are seeing a great deal of attention this week. While the kicks by Leigh Tiffin and PJ Fitzgerald were solid on Saturday, the Tide made several key mistakes in the kicking game. Extra time will be used to shore up execution problems, but also to try out some new guys on the return coverage teams.
The Tide will be back in full pads tomorrow afternoon and we'll have a report then.
