Tide Tidbits - September 3, 2008

Nation's eyes on Tide after opening romp
Seemingly everyone outside of Alabama's football complex isn't abiding by Nick Saban's 24-hour rule. The Crimson Tide has landed a cover story in this week's Sports Illustrated, one of many platitudes pouring in as a result of Saturday's resounding 34-10 victory over then-No. 9 Clemson. While the national attention is unavoidable given the high-profile nature of Alabama's opener in the Georgia Dome, it's about the last thing Saban would want heading into Saturday's 6 p.m. visit from heavy underdog Tulane. "The last game is over," Saban said. "Nothing that happened in the last game will help us win the next game and the players need to realize that and understand it. They have to re-center and refocus."

Bowden calls on coaches for advice after loss to Tide
Call it immersion therapy, delving back into a hurtful event to prevent its recurrence. Clemson coach Tommy Bowden took the plunge Monday, calling colleague Nick Saban after his Alabama club knocked the ninth-ranked Tigers out of the top 25 with a 34-10 loss this past Saturday. “As I talked to Coach Saban, I said, ’I’m not one to have enough pride where I’ve got all the answers. I see you got six months to study me, a guy like you, what did you see?’” Bowden said Tuesday. Saban wasn’t the only high-profile coach Bowden called on this week. He said he also spoke with his father, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, Georgia coach Mark Richt and Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer about how the Tigers would recover from the beatdown at the Georgia Dome last Saturday night.

Tide Continues Work for Home Opener
The University of Alabama football team practiced for two hours in full pads Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility, as preparations for Saturday's home opener with Tulane continue. The Crimson Tide will host the Tulane Green Wave on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.(CDT) in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised on a pay-per-view basis and fans should contact their cable or satellite provider to order the game.

Nick Walker: All I had to do was catch it
The University of Alabama didn’t go into the season opener planning to make Nick Walker a primary target, but the Crimson Tide just couldn’t help itself. Clemson never did anything to stop the 6-foot-5, 248-pound senior from Brundidge, and he had a career game. By halftime he had set personal bests with six catches for 55 yards and ended up with 67 receiving yards on seven receptions with a touchdown. If Alabama hadn’t elected to pound the Tigers with its ground game for most of the second half, Walker’s numbers could have been even more impressive.

Should polls start midseason? Absolutely not
You hear it every year, experts arguing that the college football polls shouldn't start until at least a month into the season if not later. Wrong. The polls inevitably correct themselves, as evidenced by Alabama climbing to No. 13 and Clemson falling out of the AP Top 25 and to No. 22 in the coaches poll. So what's the problem? Mistakes by voters can be made just as easily at midseason as they can at the beginning of the season. Each week, teams should go through great scrutiny from voters and are lined up in the poll all over again before the next game.

Roll Tide!