Football Set to Begin the 2015 Season against Wisconsin
8/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama football team entered its game week schedule and preparations for the season opener. Head coach Nick Saban and select players met with the media at noon, before the Crimson Tide put in a two-hour session in full pads on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
Monday marked the first of four practices before Alabama heads to Arlington, Texas, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in the AdvoCare Classic. The game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. inside AT&T Stadium with the contest airing live on ABC.
The Crimson Tide will practice three more times this week before traveling to Texas on Friday.
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Head Coach Nick Saban
Opening Statement:
"This game is what this team has worked all offseason for. We've talked a lot about establishing an identity, and now is the time to create the identity of this team. We could say, `Are we going to play with a reputation of the Alabama teams of the past, or is this team going to create an identity of its own on being a dangerous team?' I don't think anyone is every really afraid of you until you become a scary team in terms of how you execute, what you do, the discipline you play with, the grit that you have - which is the perseverance and passion that help you accomplish the goals. You become scary if you show the ability to stay focused on those things and do those things effectively and consistently over a long period of time, which is the entire season. I have been pleased with the way our players have approached things this fall. I thought we had good days of work on Friday and Saturday, and we still have a little extra time.
"This is obviously a very good team that we are playing; they won 11 games last year. They've got a significant number of starters returning, including five or six on offense and five or six on defense. They have their quarterback back and their runner, even though that wasn't their star, he gained almost 1,000 yards a year ago. Wisconsin has a couple of offensive linemen, good tight ends, and they are a very, very good defensive team, one of the top defensive teams in the country. They are very well coached and they do a really good job at executing and playing together on defense. They play with a tremendous amount of toughness and really, really play with a lot of energy and effort. We are going to have to do a really good job playing against them.
"Paul Chryst is someone who I have a tremendous amount of respect for as a coach. I thought he did a fabulous job at the University of Pittsburgh. He's a great offensive coach, and he did a great job at Wisconsin when we was there before. This team has obviously been a very strong running team, but I think Paul has always been a guy that has been able to create balance with what he has. He has a lot of pro background and is a very good developer with quarterbacks. I think that his touch will be something that we'll definitely see with what he does with Wisconsin's offense. They've got their specialist back, so this is a really good team and will be a challenge for our team to go out and play a game of football for 60 minutes on the field while still having a chance to be successful.
"We have two players that will come back to practice this week but maybe not today, and maybe not have enough practice time to be able to play in the game. Those players are Parker Barrineau and Korren Kirven. We just have to wait and see. Each one of those guys is in a little bit different position in terms of where they are in their rehab. Those are the two guys that I think would be questionable as to whether they will be able to play in this game."
