Nov. 29, 2008

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ALABAMA BREAKS STREAK; EXTENDS LEAD IN AUBURN SERIES
With the victory over Auburn, Alabama holds a 39-33-1 lead in a series that dates back to the 1893 season. The Crimson Tide and Tigers first met on Feb. 22, 1893 at Birmingham's Lakeview Park with the Tigers claiming 32-22 victory in the inaugural meeting.  Prior to Saturday, Auburn had a six-game series winning streak, the longest in series history by the Tigers.  Alabama owns the longest series winning streak at nine games from 1973-81.  Before Saturday, Alabama's last win in the series was a 31-7 victory in Auburn on Nov. 17, 2001.

BIGGEST ALABAMA VICTORY MARGIN OVER AUBURN SINCE 1962      
Alabama's 36-0 victory over Auburn represents the largest Alabama victory margin in the series since a 38-0 win in 1962.  The Crimson Tide's 36 points scored is the most against Auburn since 1977 when the Tide scored 48 in a 48-21 win.  Alabama has shutout Auburn 14 times in series history, with the last coming in 1992 when Alabama beat Auburn 17-0 on Thanksgiving Day to close out the 1992 season.  Alabama has scored 30 or more points in six of its previous 14 shutouts in the series.  The 36-0 shutout win is the second largest shutout win by Alabama in series history.  The Tide beat Auburn 38-0 in 1962 for the largest shutout win.

IDE BOASTS 13-GAME WINNING STREAK
With the win over Auburn, the Crimson Tide has a 13-game winning streak, the longest by an Alabama team since also winning 28 straight from 1991-93, the longest win streak in Alabama history. The Tide's current 13-game winning streak began with a 30-24 win over Colorado last season in the Independence Bowl. The current streak marks the 21st winning streak of 10 or more games in school history, an NCAA record.

TIDE WINS 13th Straight
Alabama has reeled off 13 consecutive wins dating back to last year's win over Colorado in the Independence Bowl. The Crimson Tide's winning streak is tied for the longest in the nation with Utah's 13-game streak.

Current winning streaks
Utah                13
Alabama       13
Ball State       12
Boise State     12

ALABAMA 8-0 IN SEC FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 1994
The victory over Auburn improved Alabama to 8-0 in Southeastern Conference games this season, marking the first time since 1994 that the Crimson Tides has completed conference play with an 8-0 record. That year, Alabama completed the regular season with an 8-0 SEC mark before falling to Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

UA MATCHES SCHOOL RECORD FOR REGULAR SEASON WINS
The Crimson Tide's 12 regular season wins ties an Alabama record for most victories in the regular season, matching the 12 wins by Alabama in the 1992 season that culminated with a 13-0 record and a national championship. The 2008 squad is the seventh Alabama team to win at least 11 regular season games and the first since 1994. The other UA teams to win at least 11 regular season games are 1971 (11-0), 1973 (11-0), 1974 (11-0), 1979 (11-0), 1992 (11-0) and 1994 (11-0). A total of 12 Alabama teams have won 10 regular season games, most recently in 2002 (10-3).

SABAN SETS MARK FOR YEAR TWO IMPROVEMENT
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has guided the Crimson Tide to a No. 1 national ranking and 12-0 record this season. That is an improvement of five wins over last year's 7-6 record. With the win over Auburn, Saban broke the school record for largest increase in wins from year one to year two. The record was previously held by W.B. Blount (1903-04) and Gene Stallings (1990-91), who won four more games in their second year with the Crimson Tide than in year one.  Blount went from three wins in 1903 to seven wins in 1904, while Stallings saw an increase from seven wins in 1990 to 11 wins in 1991.

BEST COACHING STARTS IN ALABAMA HISTORY

Saban has compiled a 19-6 (.760) record in his career with the Crimson Tide and the 19 wins rank in a tie for the fourth-most for any Crimson Tide head football coach after 25 games.  Gene Stallings and J.W.H. Pollard also posted 19 wins through their first 25 games with the Crimson Tide.  Xen Scott holds the record for most wins after 25 games, with 22 victories. Wallace Wade ranks second with 21 wins through 25 games. Below are the most wins by Alabama coaches after the first 25 games coaching the Crimson Tide.

SENIOR DAY AT BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM
A total of 13 seniors were introduced to the crowd prior to today's game in recognition of their final home game with the Crimson Tide.  Twelve of that group of 13 have graduated already or are on track to graduate by May of 2009.  Eight of the 13 graduated before the start of the 2008 season: Antoine Caldwell, Charles Hoke, Rashad Johnson, Zeke Knight, Will Oakley, B.J. Stabler, Nikita Stover, John Parker Wilson.  Caldwell is believed to be the first Alabama football player ever to graduate from the University of Alabama in less than three years, having earned his degree in August of 2007.

AUBURN TURNOVERS LEAD TO ALABAMA POINTS
Two Auburn fumbles in the third quarter led to Alabama scoring drives to extend a 10-0 halftime lead to a 22-0 Alabama advantage midway through the third quarter.  One play after an Auburn fumble was recovered by linebacker Rolando McClain, quarterback John Parker Wilson hit Nikita Stover for a 39-yard touchdown pass for a 16-0 Alabama lead with 13:15 left in third quarter.  On Auburn's next possession, Tide defensive tackle Terrence Cody recovered an Auburn fumble at the Auburn 45.  Alabama drove 45 yards in eight plays to a touchdown on a Mark Ingram one-yard run for a 22-0 lead with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter.  The Alabama defense has forced 24 turnovers this season and 16 of those turnovers have resulted in points for the Crimson Tide. The offense has scored 11 times, including six touchdowns and five field goals. The defense has scored five touchdowns this season.

TIDE ACCUSTOMED TO LEADING
Alabama never trailed against Auburn.  The Crimson Tide has trailed for a total of 23:11 over the last 13 games dating back to a loss at Auburn in 2007. The Crimson Tide have been tied or led in just under 756 of the last 780 minutes of football. Alabama scored first in 12 of those 13 games (Mississippi) and led for the entire game in 11 of 13 (Mississippi and LSU).

FOURTH DOWN SUCCESS
Alabama converted a 4^th-and-1 situation into a first down late in the first quarter to keep alive a 76-yard drive in 15 plays that consumed 7:36 of game clock.  The drive culminated in a 37-yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin on the final play of the first quarter.  That successfully converted 4^th down play improved the Crimson Tide to a perfect 7-of-7 on 4^th down attempts this season, a perfect streak that was ended when a 4^th-and-12 play in the fourth quarter was stopped short by Auburn at the Tiger 23 with 6:00 left.

TIFFIN MAKES 50^TH FIELD GOAL OF CAREER; RANKS 6^TH IN UA FOR CAREER POINTS SCORED
Leigh Tiffin's 37-yard field goal in the first quarter was his 17^th made field goal of the season (in 24 attempts) and the 50^th made field goal of Tiffin's Alabama career.  His 17 field goals this season ranks tied for 7^th on the Alabama single-season field goals made list, matching Leigh's father, Van Tiffin, who kicked 17 in 1985.  Leigh holds the single-season record with 25 set last year.  Leigh Tiffin's 50 career field goals ranks him fourth in Alabama history behind Philip Doyle (78 from 1987-90), Michael Proctor (65 from 1992-95), and Van Tiffin (59 from 1983-86).  With 6 points scored today, Tiffin has scored 240 points in his Alabama career, ranking sixth on the UA career scoring list.

COFFEE ADDS TO HIS STELLAR SEASON
Junior running back Glen Coffee rushed for 144 yards on 20 carries (7.2-yard average) against Auburn.  It marked the fourth time this season that Coffee has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game and the fifth time in his Alabama career.  Coffee extended the Alabama lead to 10-0 in the second quarter on a 41-yard touchdown run with 10:28 remaining, Coffee's ninth rushing score this season.  Coffee rushed for 98 yards on 11 carries in the first half and surpassed the 100-yard mark on his first carry of the second half, a 5-yard run to the Alabama 39-yard line with 14:38 remaining in the period.  Through the Auburn game, Coffee has 1,235 yards on 199 carries. Coffee's rushing yardage ranks seventh on the Alabama single-season list.

INGRAM EXTENDS RECORD FOR RUSHING TDS BY A FRESHMAN
Freshman running back Mark Ingram rushed for two touchdowns against Auburn, extending the Alabama lead to 22-0 with 7:35 left in the third quarter and adding a 14-yard scoring run for a 29-0 Tide lead with 2:10 left in the third quarter.  Those scores give Ingram 11 rushing touchdowns this season, extending Ingram's Alabama record for touchdown runs by a freshman, eclipsing Terry Grant's eight rushing touchdowns in 2007.

INGRAM ON ROOKIE RUSHING CHARTS
Alabama freshman running back Mark Ingram already holds the single-season freshman record with nine rushing touchdowns, but the Flint, Mich., has his eyes on the Crimson Tide's rookie records for attempts and rushing yards in a season.  Ingram has 127 rushing attempts this season, the second most ever by an Alabama freshman.  He is 53 rushing attempts shy of Terry Grant's freshman record of 180 rushing attempts set during the 2007 season.  Ingram has also posted the third-highest rushing total by an Alabama freshman with 681 yards in 12 games.  Grant holds the UA freshman record with 891 yards set in 2007.  Ingram needs 211 yards to break that record.

ALABAMA FRESHMAN RUSHING RECORDS 

Most Rushing Attempts
Player (Year)                      Attempts
Terry Grant (2007)               180
Mark Ingram (2008)        127

Most Rushing Yards
Player (Year)                      Yards
Terry Grant (2007)               891
Kerry Goode (1983)               693
Mark Ingram (2008)        681

Most Rushing Touchdowns
Player (Year)                      TDs
Mark Ingram (2008)        11
Terry Grant (2007)               8
Shaun Alexander (1996)       6

Highest Average Per Rush (Min. 35 att.)
Player (Year)                      Avg.
Shaun Alexander (1996)       7.6
Linnie Patrick (1980)           7.2
Kerry Goode (1983)               6.7
Calvin Culliver (1972)          6.6
Gene Jelks (1985)                 6.3
Mark Ingram (2008)        5.4

MCCALL, WALKER PLAY 50TH GAME
A pair of Alabama seniors saw action in their 50th all-time game when the Crimson Tide hosted Auburn. Senior tight ends Travis McCall and Nick Walker both played their 50th game for the Crimson Tide and became the 13th and 14th players in school history to see action in 50 games. Former fullback Tarrant Lynch (1990-94) holds the Alabama record with 52 career games, which included a fifth year of eligibility due to a medical hardship. Former offensive lineman Matt Hammond (1990-93) and linebacker Lemanski Hall (1990-93) are second on the list with 51 games played.

ALL-TIME GAMES PLAYED
Player (Years)                             Games
Tarrant Lynch (1990-94)               52
Matt Hammond (1990-93)            51
Lemanski Hall (1990-93)             51
Anthony Bryant (2001-04)            50
Evan Mathis (2001-04)                 50
Mark Anderson (2002-05)           50
Anthony Madison (2002-05)        50
Freddie Roach (2002-05)             50
DeMeco Ryans (2002-05)             50
Ramzee Robinson (2003-06)       50
Matt Caddell (2004-07)                50
Wallace Gilberry (2004-07)         50
Travis McCall (2005-08)         50
Nick Walker (2005-08)            50

NEXT GAME
Alabama will participate in its first SEC Championship Game since 1999 on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Tide will face the Eastern Division champion Florida Gators.

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