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W. Kentucky-Alabama Preview
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Alabama Crimson Tide
- This will be the second meeting between the two programs, with the Crimson Tide leading the series 1-0. The two teams first met on September 13, 2008, in Tuscaloosa in a game that ended in a 41-7 decision in favor of Alabama.
- After their 41-14 victory over Michigan last week, Alabama is 19-6 against the Associated Press Top 25 over the past four seasons and 11-4 against AP top 10 teams.
- The Crimson Tide has allowed seven points or less in 17 of its last 18 first halves of play against opponents from the Football Bowl Subdivision.
- For the first time since 2005, Western Kentucky started the season 1-0, beating Austin Peay, 49-10, last weekend. Senior quarterback Kawaun Jakes set career highs with 296 passing yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hilltoppers to the victory. WKU racked up 596 yards of total offense, the most since finishing with 620 in a 63-3 win over West Virginia Tech on September 1, 2005
- C.J. Mosley intercepted a pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown with 4:31 left in the second period against Michigan in the Cowboys Classic. The touchdown was the third interception return for a score for Mosley in his Alabama career, tying Antonio Langham's (1990-93) school record.
- Running back T.J. Yeldon became the first Alabama true freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in his debut in the win over Michigan. He finished the game with 111 yards on 11 carries and one rushing touchdown.
By ALAN FERGUSON
(AP) -- With an eye-opening win over a highly ranked opponent, Alabama showed that it might have a strong shot at another national title.
Coach Nick Saban, though, doesn't want his now No. 1-ranked team to forget about all of the steps needed before another potential trip to the BCS championship.
The Crimson Tide will try to build on their dominating season opener Saturday against visiting Western Kentucky, a game that will serve as a tuneup for next week's showdown to begin conference play.
Despite a number of new faces, Alabama showed a fierceness in its first game that was reminiscent of last year's BCS title game win over LSU.
The Tide scored the first 31 points in a 41-14 win over then-No. 8 Michigan on Saturday and outgained the Wolverines 431-269. They intercepted star quarterback Denard Robinson three times, with C.J. Mosley returning one of the picks for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Alabama's A.J. McCarron threw for a pair of TDs and freshman T.J. Yeldon rushed for 111 yards and a score.
The result was the Tide moving past Southern California for the top spot in the AP poll. Even before that happened, Saban insisted not much had changed for his team.
"Everyone thought we were too young, too inexperienced, couldn't handle success," he said Monday. "Everybody was saying all those things about our team. Now, people are saying something different. But my question is what's different? Nothing.
"We're still young. We're still inexperienced. We've still got things to work on. It's going to be all about the maturity that the team has to be able to focus on what they need to do to correct the deficits that we have."
Alabama will try to do so against Western Kentucky (1-0) before facing No. 8 Arkansas on Sept. 15.
"(Saban) told us that (the Michigan win) was just the first game, so don't get all hyped up about that because we've got a lot more games to come and we've got a lot more improvement to do," Mosley said.
The Tide might not want to overlook the Hilltoppers, who also posted a lopsided victory in their opener last week, albeit against a lesser foe than Michigan.
Senior Kawaun Jakes had a career-high four touchdowns passes in a 49-10 win over Austin Peay and threw for 296 yards, helping his team finish with 596 total yards - its most in seven years. Leon Allen rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut.
Western Kentucky won its opener for the first time since 2005, as the Hilltoppers played major conference opponents to start each of its previous six seasons - three of which were ranked at the time.
They're 0-8 all-time against Top 25 foes.
"We feel like we can compete with anybody. They are human just like us. We have to go out there with confidence, play within ourselves, play together, play as one heartbeat and go out there and compete," Jakes said.
"This is my last go-around. We want everyone to play like it is their last go-around. No matter who it is, we are going to play together and play to win."
Alabama won 41-7 in its only meeting with Western Kentucky on Sept. 13, 2008.
Updated September 4, 2012
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