Sept. 4, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama football team worked for 90 minutes in helmets and shoulder pads Thursday afternoon in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, putting the finishing touches on its game plan for Saturday's home opener against the Tulane Green Wave.

"I think the big challenge for our team is to continue to try and create an identity and be a consistent, competitive football team that can play at high level and challenge themselves to play at their own capabilities all the time," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "The two things in the off-season that we emphasized was finish, which we did in the Clemson game, but also consistency and not play up and down. It's certainly something we want to address and improve on.

"This week will be a challenge for us. Bob Toledo is a very good coach. He's got a lot of experience and won a lot of games. They are tough and physical on defense and stop the run pretty good. Certainly they have some weapons and have some new players at key positions, like quarterback and so forth, so it's difficult to know exactly what you're going to see. This is almost like another opening game for us because we don't have a lot to go on, relative to what they have done this season."

No. 13 Alabama will host Tulane on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. (CDT) in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised on a pay-per-view basis. To order the game, call your local cable or satellite provider.