Bama Perspective

In case you didn't follow the Tide today: >🏈Lane Kiffin on LSU-Bama getting a 3:30 PM ET kickoff instead of a night game: "If someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what's been going on, they must have just been on Mars the last four months." - Reality check: ESPN sets kickoff times, not the SEC. And LSU is 1-6 in its last seven night home games against Alabama >🏈Kiffin also called Bama the most talented team LSU has played: "These guys really are loaded. Look like the old Alabama teams." >🏈Kiffin said LSU "came pretty close to getting" QB Keelon Russell. Bama247's Brett Greenberg had a one-word reply: "Nope." >🏈Alabama is an underdog to LSU for the first time since 2007, per Bama247 >🏈Kalen DeBoer on WR Ryan Coleman-Williams, C Racin Delgatty and DL Terrance Green: "All those guys are kind of on the same track as far as a timeline. We're really hopeful and optimistic." >🏈WR Noah Rogers has played just 12 offensive snaps in five games since returning from his A-Day knee injury. DeBoer: "We really think highly of Noah ... but that always means that you're taking someone else off the field." - He's also competing with the tight ends, and the TEs saved Bama in the fourth quarter against A&M >🏈K Conor Talty had made 15 straight field goal attempts before missing two against A&M. DeBoer said Talty went out Wednesday and executed all his kicks in practice >🏈DeBoer on where Bama stands in the NIL era: "I think we're competitive." >🏀F Amari Allen made the Julius Erving Award watch list (top small forward in the country), one of 20 players. Fan voting opens Friday >⚾Mountain Brook SS/RHP Paul Barnett, the top-ranked 2027 prospect in the state per Prep Baseball, reopened his recruitment after committing to Bama. He's the younger brother of Bama's Caleb Barnett >📝2027 CB Preston Glasco picked Tennessee over Alabama and Georgia. Bama247's Olivia Sayer says Bama was viewed as the early favorite >📝DL commit Kavarris "Duke" Duncan on his official visit: "It's just been my dream to come here." He's 6-2, 320 pounds, and he also plays quarterback >📝2028 CB Kam Roberts picked up a Bama offer on his latest visit: "Alabama's tradition and the players they have sent to the NFL make this opportunity mean a lot." >🏈Bama pro: Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. leads the NFL with 7.5 sacks >🏈Bama pro: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs went as Michael Jackson at the Grammys for Halloween: "I planned this for about four months." >🏈Bama pro: The Bills opened WR Tyrell Shavers' practice window as he works back from a torn ACL >⚾Bama pro: Colby Shelton went 2-for-5 with two doubles and 4 RBI in Peoria's 11-9 Arizona Fall League win >🏈CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reports LSU LB Whit Weeks (leg fracture Sept. 26) may return to practice next week and could even play against Alabama >🏀A Baton Rouge judge granted LSU's RJ Luis Jr. an injunction to be temporarily eligible. Former Bama G Rylan Griffen didn't get one at Texas A&M and is now ineligible Let me know what I missed 👇 Follow @bamaperspective for this every night. #RollTide

Amari Allen makes preseason first-team All-SEC per the coaches. Next stop: All-American?

Season college football bets: 118-97-4 (54.9%) 💰 Rest of the pre-Saturday bets I made: Florida Atlantic +14.5 (-112) FAU-North Texas under 77.5 (-108) Troy +21 (-116) Troy-James Madison under 52 (-110) Tulane -8 (-111) Sacramento State +10.5 (-110)

What to watch for today, Tide fans: >🏈Day 2 of the Grubb debate: Kalen DeBoer told the Tuscaloosa News the offense's slide is execution, not play-calling. Asked if he'd ever call plays himself: "Why?" - First five games: 49.6 points a game. Last three: 19.3 >🏈9 days to Alabama at LSU: Saturday, Nov 7, 3:30 PM ET on ABC - Bama is an underdog to LSU for the first time since 2007 >🏈LSU's November is a gauntlet: Alabama, then Texas on Nov 14, then at Tennessee on Nov 21 >🏀5 days to the opener: Sam Houston at Coleman, Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET on SEC Network+ - Drew Fielder on the new frontcourt: "We have someone for every type of situation." >📝Flip watch: Bama is pushing for FSU 4-star safety commit Jernard Albright, who's made two trips to Tuscaloosa in three weeks. Early signing period opens Dec 2 >📝2028 top-100 ATH CJ Whaley after his first Bama gameday visit: "I like Alabama a lot." >🏈SEC game to watch Saturday: Georgia vs Florida. Georgia owns the tiebreaker over Bama >🏀Women's hoops opens Monday vs Queens, 7 PM ET on SEC Network+ >🏃Cross country runs the SEC Championships Friday in Columbia, Mo. Women at 11:08 AM ET, men at 11:45 AM ET on SEC Network - Bama's Doris Lemngole holds the course record in the women's 6K >⚾Fall World Series Game 1 is Friday at 4:05 PM ET at Sewell-Thomas. Free admission >🏊Swim & dive hosts Miami Friday at 5 PM ET and Saturday at 11 AM ET >🎾Women's tennis plays ITA Sectionals in Knoxville Friday and Saturday >⚽Soccer closes the regular season at Mississippi State Sunday at 1 PM ET >🏐Volleyball hosts Mississippi State Sunday at 5 PM ET on SEC Network Execution or play-calling: what's really holding Bama's offense back? 👇 Follow @bamaperspective for this every morning. #RollTide

Gonna be interesting to monitor. LSU's defense is salty regardless. But Weeks when healthy and 100% is legit.

Alabama is currently a 4.5-point underdog at LSU per DraftKings.

Alabama's true freshmen by snap count through 8 games, per PFF 🐘 Trae'shawn Brown and Xavier Griffin are already big parts of the rotation. Maybe it's time to see more of Jireh Edwards or EJ Crowell? Just a thought. Who should get more playing time? 👇

A few more thoughts on this discussion of Noah Rogers/WRs: 1. In the last three games, WRs not named Rico Scott or Lotzeir Brooks have accounted for six catches for 66 yards. Ryan Coleman-Williams: 3 catches, 39 yards vs. Georgia. Derek Meadows: 3 catches for 26 yards total. 2. Total snap counts the last three games at WR: 1. Scott (172), 2. Brooks (114), 3. Meadows (103), 4. RCW (50), 5. Cederian Morgan (17), 6. Rogers (5). Meadows had just 9 snaps vs. Georgia with RCW playing and then jumped to 54 and 40 with RCW out. Based on this, though, Morgan is WR4 with RCW out and WR5 with RCW healthy, not Rogers. Or at least they're sorta co-listed there in the pecking order. 3. Meadows specifically: 7 targets, 3 catches, 26 yards. Given the overall lack of production at WR behind Scott/Brooks with RCW out, that's not enough production from Bama at WR. Espeically given the struggles/lack of volume in the traditional running game. And Meadows deserves a share of criticism for not getting open often enough. 4. However, Meadows easily could have had more production. I distinctly remember Keelon Russell overthrowing him deep downfield. I want to say he also had a catch nullified by a penalty, though my memory is a bit hazier on that. He also is a physical blocker. That's not everything, but it's worth noting. I'm not the best Xs and Os guy in the game. I know football, but I wouldn't compare myself to Christian Miller or Clint Lamb from that standpoint. But I also think Meadows and Rogers play different roles in terms of personnel groupings and packages/plays. 5. Kalen DeBoer is right in that Rogers isn't just competing with Meadows and Morgan for snaps. He's also competing with the tight ends. Bama has had a lot of success this season with its TEs as a group. And in the passing game, the TEs saved the team's bacon against Texas A&M in the fourth quarter. 6. Rogers is healthy enough to be a gunner on special teams. So from a physical standpoint, there's nothing to really suggest he's limited. Not sure whether he's at 100% capacity as far as athleticism from where he was pre-injury? He could be. But he doesn't seem limited injury-wise. 7. A lot of this discussion may be moot if RCW is back healthy. We sorely missed RCW the last two weeks. We are not super deep at WR (in part because of the setback with Rogers in terms of the injury and missed time). RCW, Brooks and Scott are legitimate SEC threats. Between those three and the TEs, that leaves Meadows, Morgan and Rogers fighting for scraps. 8. If being behind in terms of practice reps and the playbook is part of the reasoning for Rogers being where he is in the pecking order, this is a great week to try to get him some additional reps with practice today and tomorrow. Not sure how Bama's staff is running practice. But in a bye week, teams typically don't spend 100% of the practice periods on the next opponent.

Tough one. As a fan, I'd love to see him back. Especially the version of him this year when he's not injured. He's a better leader. He's tougher. He's stronger. And outside of Week 1, he's fixed his hands. But if he goes to the draft this year, he's a Day 2 pick, IMO. I don't know that another year is gonna turn him into a first-rounder. Always the chance. But he's an imperfect player. A player with some amazing physical tools and high upside, but imperfect nonetheless. Another year = more injury risk, a bit less exciting upside mystery and a chance that he plateaus. If I was advising him, I'd tell him to take a long, hard look at going into the draft after this season. Especially if he has a chance at the second round based on NFL feedback. As usual, a lot of his NFL draft stock will depend on how he plays in the final four-plus games.

This is spot on by @MPJohnson79. He articulates my own feelings on this offensive line perfectly. Extremely accurate take.

LSU has played Ole Miss, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Clemson. Realistically, it's between Bama and Ole Miss for "most talented." Probably close. But Kiffin isn't giving it to the Rebels. As much as this seems like gamesmanship, Kiffin is probably right, honestly.

On Noah Rogers: I know it's easy to play armchair head coach. "Why would you pay a transfer good money to be part of the offense and sit him?" That sort of thing. But when you miss all of fall camp and the beginning of the season, it's extremely hard to catch up to your teammates at the position. Rogers missed a ton of practice reps (as did AK Dear). If Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb thought Rogers could help the team win more than the guys on the field, he'd be playing more snaps. They see him in practice every day and are in a better position to evaluate where he is in the pecking order. Yes, it's frustrating that a guy who looked like a potential No. 3 in spring is now No. 5 or 6. Yes, a bye week is a good time to re-evaluate everything ... and maybe Rogers will get more snaps going forward. But I don't see the evidence of malpractice here to this point.

In case you didn't follow the Tide today: >🏈Alabama dismissed DB Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. Kalen DeBoer: "He did not live up to the standards and expectations that I have set for this team and our players." - Court records made public Tuesday allege he sent a Facebook message Oct. 20 to the UAPD officer involved in his 2025 arrest and posted a photo of the officer and his family. He's charged with two misdemeanors, harassing communications and doxxing. His attorney hasn't commented >🏈DeBoer is hopeful C Racin Delgatty (missed Tennessee and A&M) plays vs. LSU, but wants to see him handle full-speed practice first. Practice resumes Sunday >🏈DeBoer is also "hopeful" RB EJ Crowell can return to the practice field before LSU >🏈Derrick Henry sent every Alabama running back a pair of Alabama Gameday Boots: "Keep grinding, stay hungry, and go handle your business." >🏈DB Chuck McDonald III's first Bama interception vs. A&M came three days after the anniversary of his mother's passing, delivering on a pregame promise: "For TM!" >🏈Bama-A&M drew 5.9 million viewers on ABC, the third-most-watched game of Week 8 >🏈On my post about the dismissal, most of you backed DeBoer's call: "That's so not good. But it has to be done." >🏀G Aden Holloway is No. 9 in EvanMiya's top projected 3-point shooters for this season (41.2%) >🏀EvanMiya's model has Bama No. 12 in the preseason and second in the SEC, behind only Florida - That's higher than the AP (No. 20) and Coaches (tied No. 18) polls. I think this team is being underestimated >🏀My hoops poll is final: you picked Qayden Samuels as the most important player after Amari Allen and Holloway (44% of 355 votes) >🏀Women's hoops led Mississippi Christian 72-32 after three quarters in its exhibition at Coleman Coliseum >⚾Rob Vaughn on Eric Hines, back for year two: "That guy can just do stuff with the bat in his hands that most humans can't do." >📝2028 DL Jamarcus Johnson has Bama among his top options after his latest visit: "I've been on campus at least five times and it always gets better." >📝2027 DL Joshua Lane on his official visit, his second trip this season: "They were talking to me like I was family." >📝2028 EDGE CJ Whaley made his first game-day visit to Tuscaloosa and already has a return date set >📝Ole Miss DL commit Mitchell Turner shut down his recruitment after a surprise visit to Bama over the weekend >🏀Bama pro: Brandon Miller dropped a career-high 39 (6 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk, 5 threes) in Charlotte's win. He hit 500 career 3s in 170 games, the second-fastest in NBA history >🏈Bama pro: Jameson Williams is just the 10th Lion ever with back-to-back multi-TD games >🏈Bama pro: Brian Branch returned 10 months after a torn Achilles and made an immediate impact in Detroit's win over Green Bay >🏈Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury that requires surgery - He led the SEC with 17 TD passes in six games >🏈A judge set a Nov. 18 hearing (11 AM ET, Birmingham) on the latest motion in the SEC's federal lawsuit against LSU. Popcorn ready Let me know what I missed 👇 Follow @bamaperspective for this every night. #RollTide

Alabama special teams, 2025 vs. 2026 🐘 Seems like great progress so far. Kudos to Jay Nunez, Courtney Morgan and Kalen DeBoer for the turnaround. Which number jumps out to you? 👇

Well, that's that. I trust DeBoer and the Bama staff if they think this is the right decision. Super disappointing development. I hope Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. can find another program for next season and get it together.

Final results are in 🏀 After Amari Allen and Aden Holloway, who's Bama's most important player this season? Qayden Samuels: 44% (157) Someone else: 21% (73) Jaxon Richardson: 18% (63) Tarris Bouie: 17% (62) 355 votes. The "someone else" crowd mostly went big. Drew Fielder got the most love, with @CrimsonCoverage asking for "a 12 & 8 kind of player." Also named: the bigs as a group, Jemison, Garrison, Cole Cloer, Keitenn Bristow and Jamarion Davis Fleming. My take: the bigs are the key to this team, and Fielder is the most proven of them. Did you get it right? 👇

College football betting record this season: 116-96-4 (54.7%, +9.6 units). 💰🔥 My early-week bets: Western Kentucky +2 (-115) Missouri State -5 (-110) Jacksonville State -3 (-110)