Crimson Tide Roll Call, October 19, 2019

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Alabama athletics, including full TV listings
Crimson Tide Roll Call, October 19, 2019
Crimson Tide Roll Call, October 19, 2019 /

Today is … The Third Saturday in October

Today’s Crimson Tide schedule

• Men’s tennis at ITA Regional Championships, at Auburn, all day

• Women’s tennis at ITA Regional Championships, at Baton Rouge, La., all day

• Cross Country at Princeton Invitational, 9 a.m. CT

• Football: Tennessee at Alabama, 8 p.m., ESPN, Live Audio, Live Stats

Crimson Tide results

• Volleyball: LSU def. Alabama 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 25-21

Did you notice?

• With new men’s coach Nate Oats sporting a plaid sportscoat, and pronouncing “We’re going to get back to winning some games like they did in the Wimp [Sanderson] era,” the Alabama basketball teams welcomed the 2019-20 with the Tide Tipoff at Coleman Coliseum. Freshman Jaylen Forbes and sophomore Brittany Davis won the 3-point shooting contest, while Herbert Jones took the dunk challenge. Celebrity judges included former men’s basketball players Levi Randolph and Lawson Schaffer, former football standout Mack Wilson, ESPN personality Molly McGrath and SGA President Harrison Adams. “It’s good for the guys to get in front of the fans and have some fun,” Oats said.

Nate Oats and Wimp Sanderson
Nate Oats shakes hands with Wimp Sanderson at his introductory press conference at Alabama / Alabama Athletics

• As part of the NFL’s 100 season celebration, the NFL in conjunction with The Associated Press, announced the league's 100 greatest characters, which was topped by former Alabama quarterback Joe Namath. Kenny Stabler was No. 21,

• Senior Hayley McSparin had a season-high 13 kills, pushing her past the 900 kills mark for her career, and freshman setter Emily Janek tallied her third double-double of the season with 41 assists and 11 digs, but Alabama volleyball volleyball lost at LSU (10-7, 4-3 SEC) in four sets. The Crimson Tide (11-6, 3-3 SEC) will host No. 16 Kentucky in its annual Power if Pink match Sunday at 2 a.m.

• The Alabama women’s tennis team started the first day at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southern Regional Championships with five first-round singles wins in Baton Rouge, La. Meanwhile, junior Sam Fischer and freshman Avi Shugar finished up their consolation singles matches in the men’s tournament at Auburn. The main draw of doubles and singles will begin Saturday.

• Due to the threat of inclement weather, Alabama baseball’s scrimmage at Clemson was cancelled. The Crimson Tide will instead hold a scrimmage at Sewell-Thomas Stadium at 1:15 p.m.

• So with kickoff slated for 8 p.m., what movie did Alabama players see Friday night?

• USF senior quarterback Blake Barnett will undergo season-ending surgery on the ankle he injured in the second half against SMU. The graduate transfer who has played for three different teams including Alabama in 2015, has appeared in four games this season. He’s already redshirted, but could pursue a medical redshirt.

• Tim Tebow to USA Today about Alabama: “I think they’re being overlooked because of the championship game last year. I think they’re being overlooked because of the hype that they’ve had for the last 10 years. I think they’re being overlooked because they expected so much from Tua [Tagovailoa]."

• A track and field note:

• We’ll leave you with this …

On this date in Crimson Tide history:

October 19, 1935: Playing with a broken bone in his left leg, Paul W. “Bear” Bryant starred in Alabama's 25-0 win at Tennessee. Doubting the story of the injury the Atlanta newspapers requested to review x-rays, which indeed revealed a broken fibula, before using the account of Bryant's handicap in its features on the game. Alabama's first touchdown came on a pass to Bryant who then lateralled to Riley Smith. A key block by Bryant after the pitch to Smith enabled him to score.

Crimson Tide quote of the day:

"It was just one little bone." – Paul W. “Bear” Bryant on playing with a fractured leg against Tennessee in 1935.

Nate Oats at Tide Tipoff
Nate Oats at Tide Tipoff inside Coleman Coliseum on Friday night.  / Alabama Athletics

Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.