Aug. 2, 2008

The University of Alabama football team held its first full squad workout on Saturday as the Crimson Tide veterans and freshmen practiced together for the first time.

The Crimson Tide held spilt squad workouts on Friday, with the majority of the veteran players working in the afternoon and the freshmen working out at night. The Crimson Tide worked for more than two hours on helmets and shorts on Saturday afternoon as the heat index topped 110 degrees.

Alabama preseason All-American tackle Andre Smith commented on the work ethic of the Tide's talented freshman class.

"All of them have done an outstanding job," Smith said. "Everybody has worked hard to finish and compete and ultimately made the team better by pushing the upper classmen and we push them and that makes them better as well."

UA senior quarterback John Parker Wilson is excited about the Tide's receiving corps.

"It's going to be fun," Wilson said. "We have a bunch of guys and they are fighting like heck to get out there and prove what they can do. It's a good situation, it really is. If somebody gets tired we can put a new guy in. We've got some playmakers out there.

"I'm more excited about camp now more than ever. The biggest thing is the kind of guys we have. This is a great group of guys that want to learn, want to do right. They ask questions. It's a lot different, it's really nice."

Alabama will host is annual "Fan Day" on Sunday, Aug. 3 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The gates will open at 1:30 p.m. The Crimson Tide will hold its only open practice of fall camp from 2:30 until 4:30 p.m., following by "Fan Day" from 4:45 until 5:30 p.m.