Tide Coaches Pick Eight For Honors

Eight Alabama players earned player of the week honors following the Crimson Tide’s homecoming victory over Arkansas State, Coach Nick Saban announced Monday after the staff graded the film from Saturday’s game.

Senior center Antoine Caldwell, junior left tackle Andre Smith and freshman tailback Mark Ingram were recognized on offense. Caldwell and Smith led an Alabama offensive line that helped UA finish with 205 yards on the ground and 357 yards of total offense. UA leads the SEC in rushing offense and ranks third in the SEC in scoring offense (32.2 points per game). Ingram recorded his first 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 113 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns. He was also named Freshman of the Week by the Southeastern Conference.

On defense, senior safety Rashad Johnson, sophomore linebacker Rolando McClain and junior linebacker Brandon Fanney were named players of the week following the shutout. Johnson had one of the best games of his career with a game-high 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown. McClain recorded six tackles, including 1.5 TFL, a sack and a QB hurry. Fanney was second on the team with seven total tackles and was credited with a half tackle for loss. Arkansas State had just 13 snaps on Alabama’s side of the 50 and those plays resulted in (-5) yards of total offense.

Rashad Johnson was also selected as a player of the week on special teams with two of his 13 tackles coming on punt coverage. As one of the gunners on the punt team, he had tackles that resulted in returns of 0 and 5 yards. Junior Marquis Johnson was the second special teams performer recognized and is on the punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return teams. He had a tackle inside the 20-yard line as a member of the kickoff coverage team.

Alabama, 9-0 and ranked first in the nation, goes to LSU for a key game Saturday. Kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m. with national television coverage by CBS. LSU is 6-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play. Bama is 5-0 in the conference and can clinch the SEC Western Division championship with a win.