Practice Report: Alabama Conducts Full-Pad Workout Ahead of Tennessee

The Crimson Tide hosted its first full-pad practice of the week as it continued preparations for its trip to Knoxville this weekend

Joey Blackwell | Oct 20, 2020

Practice Report: Alabama Conducts Full-Pad Workout Ahead of Tennessee /

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football hosted its first full-pad practice of the week as the Crimson Tide continued its preparations for this weekend's trip to Knoxville, Tenn. to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.

No. 2 Alabama is coming off of its big 41-24 win over No. 3 Georgia. Tennessee, on the other hand, hosts its second-consecutive home game in Knoxville, where last Saturday resulted in a 34-7 loss to Kentucky.

Crimson Tide sophomore nose tackle DJ Dale told the media on Tuesday that he believes the defense's big second half against the Bulldogs — which saw Alabama hold Georgia to zero points — will play a big part in giving the defense confidence.

"I believe so," Dale said. "And the big thing for us, I believe, is we finished. We went into the locker room with our heads high and we knew we just had to go out and finish. We prepared really well for that game throughout the week and we were confident."

Another big part of last Saturday's game with just one second on the clock before the half when sophomore place kicker Will Reichard nailed a 52-yard field goal to bring Alabama within four points as both teams headed to their locker rooms.

According to Dale, that's exactly what he and his teammates expected from Reichard.

"[...] Everyone had the confidence in Will that if we got the chance, he was going to make the kick," Dale said. "I've seen him kick longer field goals than that, so I wasn't really worried about it. I knew if he had the opportunity, he was going to make the most of it."

Combining extra points and field goals, Reichard is now 30-for-30 on the season and has yet to miss a kick.

Alabama Practice, Oct. 20, 2020

Courtesy of Alabama Athletics

Published Oct 20, 2020

JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.