AUGUST CAMP: Monday Scoop

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Tony's Take: Alabama's backfield will be tough to stop, tricky to manage

Rankings: Top 25 Players Going Into Week 2

We’ve had three opportunities already to speak with Alabama Football Coaches Nick Saban, Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll, and Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, as well speak to several different Alabama Football Players. Today, we provide you with a Monday Scoop heading into Alabama’s fourth practice.

Alabama is now a seven point favorite against Florida State in their Atlanta Showdown on September 2. When asked about the benefits of opening with such a high caliber opponent, Saban said there are a lot of challenges.

“I think it's challenging to get your team ready to play anybody, but obviously when you play a really, really good team, they present a lot of challenges. That's why they're a good team. That goes without saying, in my opinion. But the positive side of that is the players are more into it and more focused because they understand who they're playing and they have respect for the quality of team they're playing. I think the benefit of it is, it helps the offseason program, it helps spring practice, it helps summer conditioning because the players are really looking forward to playing in a game where they have a tremendous amount of respect for their opponent.”

Saban on Jeremy Pruitt

"I think Jeremy was a very good coordinator at Florida State and Georgia playing a similar system to what he sort of learned here. I don't think it was a tremendously difficult transition for him to implement what we did here, but I think he did a fabulous job. I think statistically, we were better in a lot of categories than even the year before, granted we had a lot of good players, but he got the good players to play well and I think that's the key.”