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Things You Should Know About Alabama 9/8/2006 Vanderbilt plays its second game of the season and kicks off its 2006 Southeastern Conference schedule against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Saturday Sept. 9, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Net South. Here are some notes about the Crimson Tide: Alabama Players to Watch #14 John Parker Wilson: Sophomore QB (6-2, 209). A graduate of Alabama’s Hoover High School — currently the focus of an MTV reality television show as one of the nation’s preeminent high school football programs — Wilson made a stellar debut as Alabama’s starting quarterback in the Crimson Tide’s 25-17 season-opening win over Hawaii last week. Wilson completed 16 of 29 passes for 253 yards and one touchdown. He played in five games in 2005, completing seven of 11 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns as well as one rushing touchdown. #81 Keith Brown: Junior WR (6-3, 204). Brown heads a talented and experienced Alabama receiving corps. In his career thus far, Brown has 57 receptions for 1,069 yards and six touchdowns. He had a breakout game last week for the Crimson Tide, catching 6 balls for 132 yards and a touchdown. Brown led Alabama in 2005 with 34 catches for 642 yards and four touchdowns. #34 Kenneth Darby: Senior RB (5-11, 215). Darby is Alabama’s sixth all-time leading rusher with 2,512 career rushing yards. He needs 1,052 yards to break the Alabama career rushing record currently held by the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player Shaun Alexander. In 35 career games at Alabama, Brown has amassed his 2,512 yards on 508 carries and has scored 11 touchdowns. He has rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide, and is looking to become the first running back in school history to accumulate 1,000 yards or more in each of his first three seasons. #59 Antoine Caldwell: Sophomore C (6-4, 288). Caldwell moved from guard to center just prior to Alabama’s 13-10 win over Texas Tech in the 2006 AT&T Cotton Bowl and was named to the preseason watch list for the Rimington Trophy awarded to the nation’s most outstanding Center. He was also named to several preseason All-SEC teams. #42 Juwan Simpson: Senior OLB (6-3, 226). Simpson is the lone returning starter on what is a relatively inexperienced linebacker corps for Alabama. In his Crimson Tide career, Simpson has logged 166 career tackles, 12 tackles for losses and four sacks. #86 Jamie Christensen: Junior PK (6-0, 183). The only one of Alabama’s four specialists to return in 2006, Christensen hit 16 of 25 field goals in 2005 and established himself as one of the nation’s most clutch kickers by booting a school-record three game winning field goals: a 31-yarder as time expired at Mississippi, a 34-yarder the following week with 13 seconds left against Tennessee and 45-yarder as time expired in the Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech. Talking Points: Alabama is 46-20-4 all-time in SEC openers, and hasn’t lost its initial conference tilt since being dismantled by Florida 35-0 in Gainesville in 1992. Alabama has steadily turned its program back around the past three years under Head Coach Mike Shula, a former starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide. After Shula’s first year ended at 4-9 in 2003, the Tide went 6-6 in 2004 and 10-2 last year, including a Cotton Bowl victory. Alabama has forced at least one turnover in 32 of its 38 games under Shula. Alabama’s 10-win season last year was the 28th in school history, the most of any Division I school. Overall, Alabama is fifth on the all-time victory list for Division I with 775 wins, and its football legacy includes 12 national championships and 21 SEC championships. Alabama also holds the NCAA records for most bowl games played — 53 — and most bowl game victories — 30. Alabama dropped from being ranked 24th in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll to 25th after a lackluster season-opening win against Hawaii. The Tide remained unranked by the Associated Press for a second consecutive week. Senior running back Kenneth Darby sustained a hip pointer early in the Crimson Tide’s game last week and despite high expectations coming into the season rushed for just 25 yards on 16 carries. Sophomore running back Jimmy Johns picked up the slack, however, gaining 58 yards on just eight carries. Alabama has more SEC wins — 335 — and more SEC championships — 21 — than any other SEC football program and has more SEC wins than Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and South Carolina combined. Vanderbilt is Alabama’s most common opponent in SEC openers, as the two teams will square off to start the conference schedule for the 21st time. Alabama holds the all-time edge against Vanderbilt in conference openers 16-3-1. Overall, Vanderbilt and Alabama will be meeting for the 81st time Saturday, with the Crimson Tide holding 58-19-4 lead in the series that dates back to 1904. Alabama used 18 first-time players against Hawaii in its 2006 season opener, including seven true freshmen and 11 redshirt freshmen. Alabama will be playing just its second game in a renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium, which underwent a $47 million expansion recently, that resulted in the stadium’s capacity increasing to 92,138, the fifth-largest on-campus football stadium in the nation. Alabama has compiled a 287-54-3 (.839) record in 344 home games in Tuscaloosa and was 6-1 at home last season. The Crimson Tide are 14-8 at home during Head Coach Mike Shula’s tenure. |
