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Alabama vs. Western Kentucky
Post Game Notes

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (3-0) vs. WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS (1-2)
 Saturday, September 13, 2008 Bryant-Denny Stadium (92,138) - Tuscaloosa, Ala.

WILSON TIES ALABAMA CAREER TD PASSES MARK
 Senior quarterback John Parker Wilson tied the Alabama career record for touchdown passes against Western Kentucky, getting the 41st passing TD of his Crimson Tide career on a 12-yard pass to Julio Jones with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter. Wilson tied Brodie Croyle (2002-05) for the lead.

COFFEE HAS BIG FIRST HALF
 Junior running back Glen Coffee rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries tonight – all in the first half against WKU, including a career-long 51-yard run to set up an Alabama touchdown late in the second quarter. While averaging 8.8 yards per rush in the first half, Coffee enters the second half just 25 yards shy of eclipsing his career single-game best for rushing yards at Alabama, a 121-yard effort against Houston in 2007.

WILSON SETS ALABAMA’S CAREER TOTAL OFFENSE RECORD
 Senior quarterback John Parker Wilson’s 8-yard pass to Mike McCoy in the final minute of the second quarter gave Wilson the Alabama career total offense record. He entered the WKU game with 6,086 career yards and accounted for 235 yards against WKU (215 passing, 20 rushing) to raise his career total to 6,321 yards. The record was previously held by Brodie Croyle (2002-05) with 6,205 yards.

WILSON NOW SECOND ON CAREER PASSING YARDAGE LIST
 Senior quarterback John Parker Wilson moved into second place on the Alabama career passing yardage list by completing a 27-yard pass to Earl Alexander early in the second quarter, giving him 99 yards passing at the time and passing Andrew Zow (5,983 yards from 1998-2001). Wilson passed for 215 yards for the game while completing 17 of 27 passes for a career yardage total of 6,117 entering the second half. He entered the game with 5,902 yards passing. Brodie Croyle (2002-05) holds the Alabama career passing yardage record with 6,382 yards.

TIFFIN MOVES INTO FOURTH IN UA FOR FIELD GOALS MADE IN A CAREER
 Junior placekicker Leigh Tiffin’s 25-yard field goal with 9:57 left in the third quarter moved him into fourth place on the Alabama career field goals made list with 39, passing Brian Bostick (38 from 2002-04). Tiffin, who also made a 22-yard field goal with 6:30 left in the first quarter, remains well behind Crimson Tide record holder Philip Doyle who made 78 field goals in his career that spanned 1987-90.

INGRAM SCORES TWICE
 True freshman running back Mark Ingram scored Alabama’s first two touchdowns against WKU, the first on a 7-yard run with 8:42 left in the first quarter and the second on a 5-yard run with 49 seconds remaining in the opening period. Ingram has three touchdown runs this season. The Alabama record for touchdown runs by a freshman is 8 by Terry Grant, set last year.

ARENAS – IS THERE ANYTHING HE CAN’T DO?
 Junior cornerback/return specialist Javier Arenas not only provided Alabama with its usual production in the return game, but he also showed an added dimension as a blitzer against WKU. Arenas garnered the first quarterback sack of his Alabama career on a sack of WKU quarterback David Wolke for a 12-yard loss on a third-and-7 play midway through the second quarter.

CODY RECOVERS FUMBLE TO SET UP ALABAMA SCORE
 Junior defensive tackle Terrence Cody set up a Crimson Tide field goal for a 10-0 Alabama lead by recovering a WKU fumble at the WKU 16-yard line with 8:31 left in the first quarter. The recovery was Cody’s first as a member of the Tide.

WELCOME TO PAYDIRT, TERRY GRANT!
 Sophomore running back Terry Grant extended Alabama’s lead to 24-0 with an 8-yard touchdown run with 9:51 left in the second quarter. The touchdown is Grant’s first of the season and the ninth of his Alabama career. Last year, Grant rushed for a freshman record 8 touchdowns for the Tide.

EXPLOSIVE FIRST HALF
 Alabama scored 31 points in the first half of Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky. The 31 points is the most in a half by Alabama since the Crimson Tide scored 31 in the second half of a 48-17 win over Utah State on September 4, 2004. The 31 points also is the most in a half for the Tide under the direction of head coach Nick Saban, surpassing the 28 points scored against Western Carolina on September 1, 2007. Below are the top scoring halves for Alabama under Saban:

31 Western Kentucky Sept. 13, 2008 (1st Half)
28 Western Carolina Sept. 1, 2007 (2nd Half)
27 Colorado Dec. 30, 2007 (1st Half)
24 Tennessee Oct. 20, 2007 (2nd Half)
24 Western Carolina Sept. 1, 2007 (1st Half)

TIDE SCORES ON FIRST POSSESSION
Alabama took its first possession of the game in for a touchdown following a Western Kentucky punt. The 11-play, 63-yard drive consuming 4:21 of clock was capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram with 8:42 left in the first quarter. The opening-drive score was Alabama’s second this season in three games.

ALI SHARRIEF & MARQUIS JOHNSON MAKE FIRST CAREER STARTS
The Crimson Tide defense started the WKU game using six defensive backs against the Hilltoppers’ spread offense, creating starting opportunities for junior safety Ali Sharrief and junior cornerback Marquis Johnson. The starting assignment was the first of either player’s Alabama career. Sharrief has now played in 28 games at Alabama while Johnson has now played in 25 contests for the Crimson Tide.

STOPPING THE RUN
The Crimson Tide held WKU to 42 yards rushing Saturday night, the fourth consecutive game an Alabama opponent has failed to rush for at least 100 yards in a game dating back to a 75-yard performance by Colorado in the 2007 Independence Bowl. Alabama is 6-2 under Coach Nick Saban when holding opponents to less than 100 rushing yards in a game. The Crimson Tide has held Clemson (0) and Tulane (86) to less than 100 rushing yards total in the first two games this season. Alabama was 3-2 last year when opponents failed to reach 100 rushing yards in a game.

TONIGHT’S CAPTAINS
Alabama’s game captains tonight were senior center Antoine Caldwell, senior safety Rashad Johnson and senior defensive end Bobby Greenwood. Joining the game captains on the field for the opening coin toss were honorary Crimson Tide captains Steve Webb and Martin Houston. Webb was a linebacker for the Crimson Tide from 1988-91 while Houston was a fullback on the Tide’s 1992 national championship team.

ALABAMA-WESTERN KENTUCKY SERIES
Saturday’s win over Western Kentucky was the first meeting between WKU and Alabama. With the win, the Crimson Tide owns a 16-1 record against members of the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky is the first of two games against Sun Belt opponents for Alabama this season. Arkansas State visits Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 1.

SABAN VS. SUN BELT CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 5-1 in his career against Sun Belt Conference teams after Saturday’s victory, including a 4-0 mark while the head coach at LSU. He is 1-0 in his career against WKU, Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas State and Troy and owns a 1-1 mark against Louisiana-Monroe.