Published On: 10.06.22 | 

By: Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Football preview: No. 1 Alabama welcomes Aggies, Auburn travels to No. 2 Georgia, UAB seeks reset vs. Middle Tennessee State

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) runs the ball against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Coach Nick Saban isn't sharing any offensive strategies he has for Milroe this week following the injury of starting quarterback Bryce Young. (Alabama Athletics)

For weeks, fans have been buzzing about Alabama welcoming Texas A&M to Bryant-Denny Stadium for their 7 p.m. Saturday game on CBS.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban celebrates against Arkansas during last week’s victory, which restored Alabama’s No. 1 ranking. Saban says he’s trying to keep the “rat poison” of public chatter from affecting his team going into Saturday’s game vs. Texas A&M. (Alabama Athletics)

The talk had been about Nick Saban facing Jimbo Fisher after the head coaches lit up the airwaves with talk about one another. That shifted a bit Saturday after Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young left the Crimson Tide’s 49-26 victory at Arkansas with an injured shoulder.

Saban was somewhat taken aback when asked if special packages were being installed for freshman quarterback Jalen Milroe, who subbed last week for Young.

“I don’t talk to Jimbo on a regular basis, but I’ll call him and tell him right after the conference if you want me to,” the coach quipped. “Do you guys think I’m going to tell you what we’re going to do with our offense and our team?”

Saban was also asked about dealing with criticism and outside noise. He said he doesn’t care what others say, but he is concerned about how what is said can affect his players.

“I think they have to show maturity in how they manage it and know that external opinion, external noise, whatever you want to call it – rat poison, whatever it is, absolutely has nothing to do with the outcome of the game,” the coach of the nation’s No. 1 team said. “These are external factors that cannot affect how you think as a competitor, in terms of respecting winning, respecting what you have to do to win and how important it is. (We know) that we’re going to get the other team’s best game because they can all get well beating us. That’s how I try to handle it. Does anybody listen? Sometimes, sometimes not.”

Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford (9) throws during Auburn’s game with LSU. Coach Bryan Harsin says the signal-caller is growing and gaining confidence. (Todd Van Emst / AU Athletics)

After starting the season 3-2 in five straight home games, Auburn takes on No. 2 Georgia at 2:30 p.m. Central on CBS. It will be quarterback Robbie Ashford’s first start on the road, where crowd noise will likely be a factor.

Bryan Harsin said he wasn’t going to bring extra fans to yell at his signal-caller during practice. He knows he’s going to go into a hostile environment and that the Tigers are not favored.

And while the noise between the hedges in Sanford Stadium will be a factor, Harsin is confident in the growth his young signal-caller has shown.

“He’s learning, he’s growing, he’s developing,” the coach said. “He did some really good things in that game (a loss to LSU). He’s a playmaker and he can do more, and I think the confidence that he took away from the LSU game, we have to build on that and then, obviously, be better going into this one.”

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UAB (2-2) is getting over a disappointing loss last week at Rice. Now the Blazers welcome Middle Tennessee State (3-2) to Protective Stadium for homecoming and the annual Children’s Harbor contest at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

“At the end of the day, when you do stumble and you do fall, you’ve got to regroup and come back stronger,” interim coach Bryant Vincent said. “You’ve got to bring a great focus on rewriting from what happened the week before, creating and fixing, really fixing the mistakes and the situations that maybe we didn’t necessarily handle well.

“We’ve got to maintain our focus and we’ve got to work on staying the course and being able to execute the next play,” Vincent continued. “Every loss is a tough loss here because that’s something we’re not used to doing here at UAB, and it’s something we’re not going to get accustomed to at UAB. The Children’s Harbor game is a personal game for us because we play for something much bigger than us.”

While the Blazers are playing at their new home, there is action at their former home. The 86th Morehouse Tuskegee Classic will be at 7 p.m. Saturday. For the second time, it will be played at Legion Field.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses, the Golden Tigers have won three in a row. Morehouse is winless in five starts this season.

In other college action:

North Alabama at Kennesaw State: UNA faces KSU at 5 p.m. Central on Saturday. The Owls are coming off an overtime loss to Jacksonville State. Each team is 1-3.

Alabama A&M notched its first win of the season last week and is hoping to make it two in a row vs. Grambling. (file)

Southern Miss at Troy: The Trojans (3-2) welcome the Golden Eagles (2-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Birmingham-Southern at Trinity: The Panthers (3-1) travel to San Antonio for a 1 p.m. meeting with the No. 5 Division III team in the country. The Tigers are 4-0.

Miles at Benedict: The Golden Bears (1-4) face the Tigers (5-0) at 1 p.m. Central on Saturday. Benedict has topped 40 points in three games this season and was two points shy of 60 in its season-opener.

Wofford at Samford: This dogfight features the Bulldogs (4-1) hosting the Terriers (0-5) at noon Saturday on ESPN Plus.

Jackson State at Alabama State: Coach Prime, a.k.a. Deion Sanders, brings his Tigers (4-0, 2-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to the ASU campus for a 2 p.m. homecoming contest. The Hornets are 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the SWAC.

Grambling at Alabama A&M: The Bulldogs (1-4) greet the Tigers (1-4, 0-2 SWAC) at 1 p.m. Saturday. A&M split its two SWAC games this season.

West Alabama at Valdosta State: The Tigers (3-2, 1-1 Gulf South Conference) visit Georgia to face the Blazers (3-2) at 6 p.m. Central on Saturday.

Thomas More at Faulkner: The Eagles (3-2) climbed over the .500 mark last week. They’ll look to improve on that at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against the Saints (2-3).

Idle this week: Huntingdon, Jacksonville State, South Alabama.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Class 7A: Tuscaloosa County, 5-1 coming off a road win against Spain Park, is No. 7 in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association prep poll. The Wildcats are at No. 3 Hoover (6-1) on Friday.

Class 6A: No. 9 Muscle Shoals (5-1) tasted defeat for the first time last week against No. 6 Hartselle (7-0). The Trojans don’t get a break Friday as they play at No. 8 Decatur (6-0).

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Class 5A: Charles Henderson travels to No. 9 Eufaula on Friday. Each team is 5-1.

Class 4A: Escambia (4-2) heads to No. 8 T.R. Miller (5-1) on Friday.

Class 3A: Trinity (6-1) is at No. 7 St. James (5-2) on Friday.

Class 2A: No. 7 B.B. Comer (5-2) hosts Thorsby (5-1) on Friday.

Class 1A: Appalachian (4-2) welcomes No. 5 Valley Head (6-0) tonight.

AISA: No. 1 Patrician Academy (6-0) plays at No. 5 Lowndes Academy (5-1) on Friday.

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