Alabama Football Practice Update

After a day off on Monday, the Alabama football team held its second straight practice on Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Facility. The weather was cool and rainy for the second consecutive afternoon as the team prepares for its showdown with third-ranked LSU in Tuscaloosa on November 3. The Tide practiced outdoors after spending Tuesday in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.

The Tide has an off week this Saturday, its first and only bye week of the 2007 campaign. Alabama Head coach Nick Saban said Tuesday that his team will focus primarily on fundamentals early in the week before opening preparation for the Tigers on Thursday.

“I don’t want to come out and be the same team every week,” said safety Rashad Johnson. “I want to get better every week. I believe we can do that. I don’t believe we’ve reached our full potential yet, but we have a lot of guys who work hard at practice. I think the best is still to come for us.”

Alabama will work out on Thursday before receiving a few days of rest heading into the contest with LSU, which could go far toward determining the fate of both teams in the Southeastern Conference Western division standings. Both teams are coming off wins last Saturday and have one loss in SEC play.

“I’m just trying to use this time to focus on getting better and doing the things that it takes to get better,” said cornerback Simeon Castille. “When you get this far into the season you kind of stray away from your fundamentals, because at the end of the week you’re just trying to prepare for the other team. At this point, we’re just trying to get back to the basics.”

Saban is set to appear on his hour-long weekly radio call-in show Thursday night live from Baumhower’s Wings Grille in Tuscaloosa beginning at 7 p.m. CDT.

Game time for the Alabama-LSU game has been set for 4 p.m. CDT in Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will be televised nationally on CBS, the Tide’s second appearance on the network this season.