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Nick Saban said that practice today was "a lot better" than it was on Tuesday. The Tide coach also noted following today's practice that he was looking forward to this Saturday's home opener against Middle Tennessee and that he hoped the fans were excited, too.
"Our fans have been great. We've had a tremendous amount of support in Bryant Denny Stadium and we've had our share of success there as well," Saban said.
"This team (Middle Tennessee) is one of those fastball, no-huddle teams, go as fast as they can. I think when you play a team like this and make a lot of noise and make them go on silent, it helps our players, especially on defense. Our crowd can create a big advantage in this game. I think if they're looking forward to it like I'm looking forward to it, they'll be excited about it, because it's not necessarily about anything but helping our team."
Blue Raider offense rolled up big numbers
In last week's opener against Jackson State, the Middle Tennessee offense put up 605 yards of offense in a 70-14 win.
"I think, conceptually, they're one of the most difficult offenses we play to defend," Saban said. "They're very well coached. They do a really, really good job of using personnel. They use, not just four wideouts, but they use three wideouts and a tight end, they use two backs and three wideouts, they use regular people. There's a lot of multiples. There's a lot of formation adjustments. They really do a good job in the passing game to see what you're doing defensively. There's a lot of challenges playing this team and their players do a really nice job of executing. They're very well coached."
Saban compared the Middle Tennessee offensive style to Auburn and Ole Miss.
"Their running game is a lot of wide zone," he said. "They're really trying to stretch the gaps with big splits and run wide plays to spread the defenders out and try to get a crease. They're pretty effective."
Stockstill has impressive debut
In his first start, redshirt freshman quarterback Brent Stockstill, the son of head coach Rick Stockstill, was 25 of 31 for 364 yards and four touchdowns.
"He's a coach's son and he plays like that," Saban said. "He's a very bright player, very instinctive, very smart. Has a quick release and is very accurate with the ball.
"They've got some very good receivers. They did a very, very nice job of throwing and catching it. But they had very good balance. They ran the ball well, too. It's going to be a challenge for us both ways. They're going to package their runs and passes. When you're in a good pass defense, they're going to run the ball. When you're in a run defense, they're going to pass it. It's always a challenge for a defense in these kind of games."
Middle Tennessee safety ranks at the top nationally in interceptions
Middle Tennessee safety Kevin Byard is tied for first nationally among active players in career interceptions, with 15. Byard needs just three more interceptions to become the school's all-time leader.
"He's a good player. A really good player," Saban said. "He's definitely a playmaker. I think the way their scheme is, it's setup for their safeties to make a lot of plays and he's certainly one of their best players."
OL could've done better in pass pro
Even though the Tide offense amassed 502 yards of total offense against Wisconsin, Saban said the offensive line could've done better in pass protection. The Badgers recorded three sacks on Tide quarterbacks.
"I think anytime you get sacked, you didn't pass protect very well," Saban said. "It's something we definitely need to improve on, especially on the edges. The quarterback has got to do a better job of not taking sacks when we do get pressure. Get the ball out of your hand. Make a guy miss. Take off running. Do whatever you've got to do. We don't want to have negative plays. It stops drives."
Drake hard to defend
All summer talk was that the Tide staff had plans of using Kenyan Drake in multiple ways. In his return on Saturday night, Drake contributed from different spots on the field in racking up 77 yards rushing and 48 yards in receptions.
"When you have players like Kenyan Drake with a lot of diversity in terms of their ability to run the ball (and are) very good receivers, very good space players, ability to make you miss, those kind of guys are very, very valuable to your team," Saban said. "Kenyan Drake is very valuable to our team because of what he can do.
"When you play against guys like (him), it's always a problem (for the defense), because they're mismatch guys for certain guys to cover and when you motion them around and move them around a lot, it's hard (for the opposing defense) to control who is going to cover him. Plus, he can run the ball effectively and he's a good pass protector and he's a good third down back. Guy has a lot of diversity as a player.
"What we're trying to get him to do is just focus on not trying to make big plays, just take what they give you and make the most of it. When he does that, he's extremely effective."
Sims continues to progress
One of the bigger stories coming out of camp was the recovery of receiver Cam Sims from a severe knee injury suffered in the spring.
Sims played against Wisconsin.
"He's doing okay," Saban said. "The plan for him is we're not trying to throw him totally into the fire. We've got a plan where he gets so many reps a day. We trying to increase that on a weekly basis by ten percent or so in terms of how many reps he gets.
"When you have guys that have these kind of injuries, the worst thing you can do is push them too hard. They get overuse problems. They get tendinitis. They get swelling in the knee. Then all of a sudden you've got to shut them down. That's what we're trying to avoid and so far it's worked pretty well.
"He practiced yesterday and practiced today. Is he one-hundred percent? I think he's healthy. I don't think he's been able to put enough work in to get back to a hundred percent, but he's getting closer and closer. We're very encouraged with the progress he's made to get to the point he's at right now."