Football Straps on Full Pads as Home Opener Preparations Continue
9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama football team strapped on full pads for a two-hour practice outdoors Tuesday afternoon on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
The Crimson Tide welcomes the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders to Bryant-Denny Stadium this Saturday for Alabama's 2015 home opener. The focus will be on stopping an MTSU offense that produced 605 total yards and 70 points last weekend in the season opener. Rick Stockstill's Blue Raiders finished 6-6 a season ago as the veteran head coach enters his 10th season in Murfreesboro.
Alabama will return to work Wednesday, once again in full pads, before fine-tuning the gameplan for this weekend at Thursday's practice. The contest between UA and MTSU is scheduled for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff and will air live on the SEC Network with Tom Hart, Andre Ware and Laura Rutledge on the call.
Earlier in the day, Derrick Henry claimed his second award of the week after being named the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) National Offensive Player of the Week. His offensive line, which helped the junior tailbacl rush for a career-high 147 yards, also received recognition for their efforts earning a spot on the Joe Moore Award Honor Roll. The award recognizes and promotes top-performing units across the country based on six criteria that includes toughness, effort, teamwork, physicality, tone setting and finishing.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaFTBL on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaFBL on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
