Morning Kickoff: Crimson Tide News 9/5

Get your Friday started with the morning kickoff. All of your Crimson Tide news in one place.

Alabama LB Trey DePriest’s return anticipated to affect entire defense

"“I think that Trey, because of his knowledge and experience and his ability to communicate, certainly allows the other players to be more confident in the calls and communication,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think sometimes people start looking over their shoulders because they’re not sure it affects everybody’s ability to play the way you’d like for them to. Because of Trey’s experience he’s able to do that.”"

After watching the game again, you can clearly tell the defense had communication issues. Both Reuben Foster and Reggie Ragland were making their first career starts, against West Virginia’s offense no less. DePriest may have struggled a bit too but he brings a lot of knowledge and leadership to the unit.

Is West Virginia’s Kevin White a top receiver in the nation?

"There are no arguments that can be made about White playing against lesser competition or taking advantage of a lesser role that turned into something bigger. He was getting coverage thrown at him each and every play that he was targeted, and was playing against one of the most talented defensive units that college football has to offer. White simply outplayed the competition and proved that he is an elite target."

Kevin White is a heck of a player, but is this more of the Alabama effect? The Tide definitely have a talented defense but let’s look at a couple things. First, Eddie Jackson was out which required Bradley Sylve to cover their top target. Obviously that didn’t go well. The second point, their was massive inexperience on the field in Atlanta. Communication issues like noted above, a lot of young guys in the rotation, and lots of guys making their first career starts. That wasn’t the Alabama defense we’re all accustomed to. Kevin White may play himself into being a top WR but how many of these kind of articles will we see if someone lights up Alabama?

CBS’ Gary Danielson Talks Alabama QB Competition

"“What I’ve said all along on Alabama- you have 9 or 10 games a year where they probably roll out their helmets and I could probably go play quarterback for them and they’re going to win. But for those 2 or 3 games, you have to hand it to what Greg McElroy did in the clutch and made those plays. What AJ McCarron did in the clutch, because there’s a tremendous amount of pressure playing for a team that has to win every game.”"

This is my concern as well. Sims played well, honestly, better than I thought he would. I really have no idea who will be starting by the time Florida rolls into town, but that’s when we need a final decision. Sims looked good, but I’m still very concerned he can out gun Texas A&M or go down to Death Valley and pull out a win. Coker has the higher ceiling and I still believe he will eventually be the guy this season.

Despite 48-point loss, FAU players feel they ‘could beat’ Nebraska in rematch

"“We’re a wa-a-a-y better team than we showed,”Smith told the Palm Beach Post. “We made simple mistakes and they capitalized on them. If we go back to Nebraska, I think, and we all think in our hearts, that we could beat them.”"

Simple mistakes don’t equal a near 50-point loss and a total of 784 total yards given up. I guess you can say they haven’t lost their confidence? As long as no one gets injured, I will consider this game a success. It would also be nice to see Jake Coker and our pass defense not get shredded. Don’t forget it’s an 11 a.m. kickoff Saturday morning. If you can’t make it to the game be sure to check out SEC Network for the game.

Birmingham is again the top market for ESPN’s Saturday football broadcasts

"Birmingham was again the top metered ESPN market for college football broadcasts on Saturday with an 8.1 average rating, and the Alabama-West Virginia and Cal-Northwestern games were the most-viewed games across all networks, according to numbers released this week by ESPN."

For the 13th straight season Birmingham finds itself on top, which is an absolutely ridiculous number when you think about it. With plenty of Alabama and Auburn fans in the region, the high viewerships will continue for a very long time. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about the SEC coverage on ESPN before but it’s simple, just look at the ratings. Out of the top 13 markets, 9 are in the SEC region. Which is exactly why ESPN pulled the trigger on the SEC Network, because you know, people actually care about this conference’s network.