Bama Central

Nick Saban Honored at Halftime: Roll Call, September 8, 2024

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Alabama athletics and how to keep up with the Crimson Tide.

Katie Windham

Nick Saban and his family look on at the new signage at Bryant-Denny Stadium
Nick Saban and his family look on at the new signage at Bryant-Denny Stadium / Alabama Athletics

Nick Saban spent 17 years as the Alabama football head coach and cemented himself as one of the greatest coaches in the sport's history. When he retired in January, it was inevitable that his name would be immortalized in a tangible way on the Alabama campus.

Alabama named the playing field at Bryant-Denny Stadium "Saban Field" and officially unvieled the new honor before the game, but the program also recognized Saban and his family at halftime of Saturday's game between No. 4 Alabama and USF.

Saban was able to walk out of the tunnel to "Thunderstruck" one more time and gave a speech at midfield in front of the soldout crowd.

Today's Crimson Tide Schedule:

Soccer at Michigan, 12 p.m. CT, B1G+

Crimson Tide Results:

Volleyball: Arizona 3 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) , Alabama 1 (27-25)

Football: No. 4 Alabama 42, USF 16

Did You Notice?

  • Alabama celebrated the 10th anniversary of the 2014 SEC Championship team before Saturday night's game, and Blake Sims, Jalston Fowler and Landon Collins served as honorary captains.
  • Alabama linebacker Que Robinson had seven tackles and a sack in the Crimson Tide's win just two days after losing his father.
  • The SEC went 11-3 in non-conference matchups on Saturday. The three teams to lose were Auburn (at home to Cal), Arkansas (on the road at No. 16 Oklahoma State in OT) and Mississippi State (at Arizona State.)

On This Day in Crimson Tide History:

September 8, 1979:   Alabama began its defense of the national championship with a 30-6 trouncing of Pepper Rodgers' Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Grant Field in Atlanta. Defensive end E.J. Junior sparked the win with an interception for a touchdown while quarterback Steadman Shealy was nearly flawless in moving the wishbone attack. – Bryant Museum

September 8, 2008: Running back Glen Coffee appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated following Alabama’s impressive win over Clemson.

Crimson Tide Quote of the Day:

“What matters … is not the size of the dog in the fight, but of the fight in the dog.” – Paul W. “Bear” Bryant

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Katie Windham

KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports. 

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