Alabama
Alabama gets season opener win over WKU – WBBJ TV
![Alabama gets season opener win over WKU – WBBJ TV Alabama gets season opener win over WKU – WBBJ TV](https://www.wbbjtv.com/content/uploads/2024/09/t/j/e695411b63ed1f5ca66dc288ae542edd30925417.jpg)
Alabama
Vote: North Alabama high school football Player of the Week (9/2/2024)
![Vote: North Alabama high school football Player of the Week (9/2/2024) Vote: North Alabama high school football Player of the Week (9/2/2024)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_888,h_499,x_0,y_26/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/high_school/01j6w7jxee1m1a8mppt9.png)
The 2024 Alabama high school football season is moving into high geart. We’ve watched and evaluated the action and have come up a list nominees for North Alabama High School Football Player of the Week.
Review this group of athletes and vote for the player you find most deserving.
SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. – SBLive Sports
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sep. 8th. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Helped Austin in a 41-0 victory over Decatur. Potter had 111 yards on four receptions. Potter is currently committed to Murray State.
McClure ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over Plainview, 37-33.
Pierce completed 13 of 17 with 272 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Pirates defeated Albertville 56-7. Pierce is not committed anywhere at this time.
Was 16-20 passing for 305 yards and 4 touchdowns. Frye also ran for 38 yards in a blowout victory over Ramsay, 62-7. Frye is a Junior, and looks to continue to help the Cougars win.
Ran the ball 11 times for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. Grant helped the Vikings snap their 12 game losing streak in a 52-14 victory over Columbia.
Was 4-6 passing for 41 yards, but ran 15 times for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns in their 28-19 victory over Shades Valley. Nelson is listed as a three star according to 247Sports and holds offers from Murray State, Samford, and UT Martin.
Had 5 tackles, 3 sacks and interception for a touchdown in their 36-6 victory over Fultondale.
Ran for 249 yards and 3 touchdowns on 16 carries. Unruh also had a 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Yellow Jackets in a 35-18 victory over Dora.
Johnson ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries in a 42-10 win over Brooks. Johnson looks to help the Rebels return to the playoffs this season
Gilbert went 20-for-25 with 298 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground in a 30-22 victory over Fyffe, their first victory over the Red Devils since 2003.
Alabama
Rich Rodriguez: 'Alabama can beat our brains in for a couple million dollars'
![Rich Rodriguez: 'Alabama can beat our brains in for a couple million dollars' Rich Rodriguez: 'Alabama can beat our brains in for a couple million dollars'](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2023/11/02055732/looking-back-rich-rodriguez-saga-south-carolina.jpeg)
Jacksonville State is in its second year as an FBS program with Rich Rodriguez leading the way. Sometimes, these schools rely on nonconference games for financial purposes, facing off against big-time foes. An in-state option for the Gamecocks could be the Alabama Crimson Tide, a matchup Rodriguez certainly was asked about during a press conference on Monday.
And based on his response, he is more than willing to bring his team to Bryant-Denny Stadium. In fact, Rodriguez will actively seek out getting the Crimson Tide on the schedule.
CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use code ON3 to receive a guaranteed $50 once you play $5 in lineups!
“If they want to pay me $2 million, I’ll be down there on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll play them twice and help our budget,” Rodriguez said. “They can beat our brains in for a couple million dollars, for sure.
“I’ll call my buddy Greg Byrne, the AD down there, and say ‘listen, Greg, we’ll go down there for $2 million, and if you want to do the back-to-back, we’ll go for $4 million and have a great time.’ I’ll even sing ‘Roll Tide’ for them, if they want.”
Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW
Outside of the Iron Bowl with Auburn, there is not much history of Alabama facing teams from the Yellowhammer State. The Crimson Tide have historically scheduled out-of-state foes when looking for buy games. This season, it’s Western Kentucky — a game that resulted in a comfortable 63-0 win on Saturday night.
Jacksonville State will face Louisville on Saturday, likely trading a loss for cash. Future opponents included UCF in 2025 and Auburn in 2026. Rodriguez is potentially looking to make the travel a whole lot easier for his team, going to Tuscaloosa while getting the program a few million dollars.
All of this without mentioning the history, or lack thereof, Rodriguez has with Alabama. He was the leading candidate to take over the job back in 2007 before turning the Crimson Tide at the last moment. This led to the hiring of Nick Saban, changing the history of college football forever.
Unfortunately, Alabama’s schedule is full through 2026, having an opening in 2027. However, Byrne recently discussed a pause on adding future games due to the uncertainty of the SEC’s conference schedule moving forward. Rodriguez may have to be a salesmen to get the game.
Alabama
How Kane Wommack is challenging Alabama football defense after first game
Alabama football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack liked plenty of what he saw from his defense against Western Kentucky. It was a shutout after all.
Wommack liked how the defense played dominant up front, the handling of WKU’s tempo offense, affecting the quarterback, battling in the red zone, and more.
But like any coach, Wommack saw areas for improvement for his defenders.
For the most part, he thought Alabama tackled well. But not completely.
“There was a drive where we had a couple of missed tackles on some critical third downs and we’ve got to get those things cleaned up, particularly some vision coverage where our guys did not have their eyes on the quarterback and so their feet weren’t in the ground to drive on the ball once the ball was thrown,” Wommack said.
Wommack also didn’t like how his defense failed to capitalize more on takeaways. He called Keon Sabb’s two first-quarter interceptions a positive, but he wanted more than that.
“I thought we had opportunities to score on defense multiple times and we did not make the most of those opportunities,” Wommack said. “We also had opportunities in the backfield, sacks are great, but sack fumbles are way better to get the ball back for our offense right there on the spot. So those are things that the guys have really been challenged on.”
Wommack said he didn’t think the defense “met the standard of what we are capable of as a defense there.” He wants to see a response from his players on that front.
“In terms of their intentionality to take the ball away, punching, raking at the ball, all those types of things did not show up to the level that I think we’re capable of,” Wommack said. “So we will make that a huge point of emphasis.”
No. 5 Alabama (1-0) will face South Florida (1-0) on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
-
Politics1 week ago
Why won't Pennsylvania voters have results on Election Night?
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump sets intense pace with campaign events as questions swirl about Harris' policy positions
-
World1 week ago
Portugal coast hit by 5.3 magnitude earthquake
-
News1 week ago
Former national security adviser McMaster says he won’t work for Trump again
-
World1 week ago
Who is Telegram CEO Pavel Durov? What to know about his arrest in France
-
Politics1 week ago
VP Harris' tiebreaker votes in Senate were key to inflation-boosting Biden policies: expert
-
World1 week ago
Photos: 300,000 in emergency shelters after Bangladesh floods
-
Science1 week ago
How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don't want you to know