Alabama notebook: No pay-per-view for Tide due to afternoon start
Ken Rogers/Dothan Eagle
The advertised pay-per-view broadcast of this week’s game against the University of Louisiana at Monroe was scrubbed, although Tide head coach Nick Saban said he didn’t know why.
Alabama kicks off at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Because of TV contract obligations, the pay-per-view game would have had to kick off at 6 p.m. to avoid conflict with the CBS game.
“I think for a staff and a players’ standpoint, finish the game a little earlier and have a little more recovery time for the next game would be my only response to that,” Saban said.
“Why? Is somebody mad?” he asked. “Are we back at LSU now where if you don’t play at night, we don’t have enough time to get ready for the game by drinking and eating all day and all that?
“If that’s the case, I’ll be glad to do it at night. We’d have less time to recover and all that, but ... I didn’t know that was the case here.”
Players recognized: Alabama coaches recognized seven athletes for their performances in the Mississippi State game.
On offense, DJ Hall and sophomore Andre Smith were cited by the staff. Hall had five catches for 46 yards despite facing double coverage much of the afternoon. Smith graded out highest on the offensive line, which helped Alabama rush for 153 yards in the game.
On defense, inside linebacker Darren Mustin and outside linebacker Ezekial Knight were recognized. Mustin led the team with seven tackles. Knight had five, including a 9-yard tackle for loss.
On special teams, kicker Leigh Tiffin was the easy winner. In fact, he could have been the offensive player of the week, too, providing the Tide its only points on four field goals. Tiffin was recognized as the SEC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for making kicks of 29, 39, 50 and 51 yards.
Punter P.J. Fitzgerald had a 56-yard kick, had two punts downed inside the MSU 20 and averaged 44.8 yards on his four punts.
Joining the kickers was Eryk Anders, who made two tackles on the special teams.
Injury update: Several Alabama players wore black (no-contact) jerseys at Monday’s practice. Demarcus Waldrop, Rolando McClain, Roy Upchurch were in black. B.J. Stabler was in a white jersey, although his knee is tender.
“Upchurch will be in non-contact to see how his shoulder responds,” Saban said. “He has a possibility to play in the game.
“B.J. Stabler we just have to sort of manage him day-to-day and week-to-week relative to his knee. He may be able to practice but it will be on a limited basis.
“Demarcus Waldrop was injured in the game with a groin injury that will probably keep him out for a couple days; we will see how he responds from that. We don’t know what his status for this game will be.”
Ironically, Waldrop has never missed a game. He and fellow seniors Matt Caddell and Gilberry have played in 47 consecutive games.
Who are the Warhawks?
ULM’s notes says, “We are the University of Louisiana at Monroe, not Louisiana-Monroe. We are ULM, not Monroe, La.-Monroe, LAM or La.-Mon.” ULM is 2-29-1 against members of the Southeastern Conference.
