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STARTERS NOTES: The Crimson Tide lineup also featured four first-time starters for the season opener ... On offense, Alabama employed three first-time starters, including Kyle Tatum (RT) and Tyrone Prothro (WR) ... On defense two players will be making their first career starts, including junior Rudy Griffin (LDT) and junior Juke King (SLB) ... Two other notes on the Tide's starting lineup include senior Evan Mathis (LG) and junior Charlie Peprah (SS) ... Mathis is making his 35th consecutive start, the longest current streak on the team ... This is is first career start at left guard after switching from the right tackle position this spring ... Peprah is making his 22nd career start for Alabama, but his first at strong safety ... Peprah started the last two years at left cornerback ... ALABAMA DEBUTS: A total of 26 Alabama players made their debut in tonight's game with Utah State ... The list includes freshman Simeon Castille (LCB), freshman Marcel Stamps (special teams), redshirt freshman Matt Caddell (WR), redshirt sophomore Marc Guillon (QB), freshman Marcus Carter (SS), freshman DJ Hall (WR), freshman Aaron Johns (TB), redshirt freshman Eric Gray (RCB), sophomore Brandon McAway (TB), sophomore Jeffrey Dukes (SS), redshirt freshman Demarcus Waldrop (WLB), freshman Justin Britt (RDT), junior Mark Sanders (RT), redshirt freshman Chris Capps (LT), redshirt freshman Justin Moon (RG), freshman Trent Davidson (special teams), freshman Keith Brown (WR), freshman Ezekial Knight (WR), senior Matt Ragland (SE), redshirt freshman Jamie Christensen (PK), junior Rudy Griffin (LDT), redshirt freshman Wallace Gilberry (LDE), redshirt freshman Matt Collins (special teams), redshirt freshman Keith Saunders (LDE), junior Drew Lane (snapper) and junior Chris Turner (LDE). BRODIE CROYLE: Junior quarterback Brodie Croyle (Rainbow City) completed 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Utah State ... With the 205 passing yards, Croyle (3,544) moved past Jeff Rutledge (9th, 3,351 yards) and Tyler Watts (8th, 3,540 yards) on the Tide's all-time passing yards list ... Croyle is now 7th all-time in passing yards at Alabama ... In addition, he has 258 career completions, 486 career completions and 23 touchdowns ... The Utah State game marked the first time in seven starts that Croyle did not have at least one interception ... TEAM NOTES: Alabama improves to 85-21-3 all-time in season openers ... Alabama has won three straight season openers ... The 48 points tonight are the most points in season opener since Alabama beat Cal 66-0 on Sept. 15, 1973 at Legion Field ... Alabama has scored 40 or more points in back-to-back season openers for the first time since 1941-42 ... During those two years, Alabama whipped Southwestern Louisiana 47-6 in 1941 and 54-0 in 1942 ... Alabama improves to 89-28 all-time against first-time opponents ... Utah State was the Crimson Tide's 117th different opponent ... The win over Utah State snaps a five-game losing streak to first-time opponents here at Bryant-Denny Stadium ... The streak included losses to Central Florida (2000), UCLA (2001), Auburn (2002), Oklahoma (2003) and Northern Illinois (2003) ... Alabama improves to 18-5 all-time in night games here at Bryant-Denny Stadium ... Alabama posted its 150th all-time win in the month of September ... The win over Utah State improves Alabama to 3-0 all-time on Sept. 4th ... The Castille brothers (Simeon and Tim) each scored a touchdown in the win over Utah State ... Simeon scored his first collegiate TD with a 31-yard interception return on the second play of the third quarter ... Tim added a one-yard TD run with 12:24 left in the fourth quarter ... OFFENSIVE NOTES: Alabama had two backs over 100 yards in the win over Utah State ... Senior Ray Hudson (Bonifay, Fla.) ran 16 times for 111 yards and one TD, while sophomore Kenneth Darby (Huntsville) ran 11 times for 111 yards and one TD ...Darby posted his first collegiate touchdown with a 29-yard run with 5:47 left in the first half ...The last time Alabama had two backs with 100 yards in the same game was Nov. 17, 2001 at Auburn when Santonio Beard (199) and Ahmaad Galloway (127) turned the trick ... The Utah State game is the first time the Crimson Tide has had two backs go over 100 yards in a season opener ... Freshman receiver Keith Brown (Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.) had an excellent first game (4-91-1) for the Crimson Tide, as he hauled in his first career TD pass with a 57-yard reception with 12:39 left in the third quarter ... Another freshman receiver DJ Hall (3-34) had three catches for 34 yards in his debut ... Alabama scored on its first possession of the 2004 season ... Senior Brian Bostick's (Cullman) 28-yard field goal capped a nine-play, 62-yard drive to open the season ... Junior tight end Clint Johnston (Wetumpka) caught his second career TD pass in the first quarter as he hauled in a 19-yard TD pass from Croyle ... Redshirt freshman Matt Caddell (1-8) and Ezekial Knight (1-3) each had their first career receptions for the Tide ... DEFENSIVE NOTES: Alabama forced two turnovers in the win over Utah State ... The Crimson Tide scored 14 points off those two turnovers ... Junior free safety Roman Harper recorded his second career interception in the first quarter of tonight's game ... Harper's 27-yard return gave Alabama a first down at the Utah State 21-yard line and led the first TD of the game ... True freshman Simeon Castille (Birmingham) opened the second half with a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown on the second play scrimmage SPECIAL TEAM NOTES: Redshirt freshman Jamie Christensen (Norcross, Ga.) handled the kickoffs for the first time in his career and boomed five touchbacks in his nine kickoffs and two were returned ... Senior punter Bo Freelend (Eutaw, Ala.) punted six times for a 40.2 average ... Bostick made all eight kicks in the win, including five extra points and two field goals (28 and 32 yds) ... NEXT GAME: Alabama hosts Ole Miss in the 2004 SEC opener next Saturday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. (CT) ... The game will be televised by espn2. POST-GAME QUOTES: Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy Post-Game Quotes "It was a great opportunity for us to come to the University of Alabama. They have a great facility and great tradition. I felt we made two real huge mistakes in the second half that allowed them to get two easy touchdowns that were really difficult for us to overcome. "I thought our guys played hard in the first half and made some plays in the second half. I think they wore us down a little bit late in the third quarter and a little bit in the fourth quarter. "I saw enough good things from our kids to make me believe that we've got a chance to be a good football team. We didn't tackle very well at times. We'll go back to work on Tuesday and get those things squared away." ON PLAYING AN SEC TEAM LIKE ALABAMA: "I do think that we did (play with Alabama). Obviously for us to beat an SEC team, we'd have to do things right all the time. We had a penalty on the reverse coming out of the blocks that stopped any momentum that we had in the second half. We had a great call with Jason Stephens. If he catches that ball he's going to run another 15 to 20 yards, and instead they tip it, catch it and run it in for the touchdown. It's a funny game. You've got to make plays when you have an opportunity to make them." Utah State Players Quotes #4 Travis Cox: "It was a very positive experience. We thought we were in the game going into halftime, we were very confident and couldn't wait to get back to the game." "When you are playing a team like Alabama, you cannot make mistakes." "42 (Garth) is probably one of the fastest players I have ever gone against." "We didn't feel like we were out until probably the start of the 4th ." #6 Kevin Robinson (freshman): "When you watch it on TV, and it's so big and you dream about it. The whole week I was scared, but when you get on the field, you've got to block all that stuff out. " (his TD catch) " It was the best feeling I've ever had. " #20 Jerome Dennis: "You've got to give respect to quarterback (Brodie Croyle.) (on USU ' s attitude at halftime): " It felt good. We figured that if we stay on top of these guys, we ' d have a good chance. But when they came out, they were on fire. " (on their defense): " We've got to do better on tackling. You can't let a team like Alabama break two or three tackles. It will definitely punish you. We improved on penalties from last year. " (on QB Croyle): "He is a tremendous quarterback and I tip my hat to him. " University of Alabama Head Coach Mike Shula Utah State Post-Game Quotes "It feels good to win a game. This team has been very resilient in the offseason about getting back on track. We came out tonight and we had a good look in our eye. We had talked about that, coming out and taking the field with confidence. We moved the ball a little bit there. We felt like we were going to get a touchdown on the first drive but we took a sack there on first or second down and had to settle for the field goal. We went back and forth in the first half but felt like we were doing some good things but we couldn't quite keep the momentum. We were up 17-7, kicked the ball out of bounds right before the half and they moved the ball and then punted. We got the ball inside our own one and can't make the first down. Then they got the ball and scored three points and made it a one score game. "At the half we talked about finishing the football game. We got a big play, obviously a huge play from Simeon (Castille). I teased Tim (Castille) and told him it took him two touches to score a touchdown and Simeon just took one. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The guy didn't catch the ball and Simeon made the adjustment and got the ball in the end zone. He made some other plays for us later on. He was playing with a lot of confidence. He made some mistakes but we know he's going to get better. We feel good about Simeon. "Then later on we hit the deep pass to Keith Brown and got up and got a little more momentum which is what we were trying to do earlier and then we just kind of kept going. Our offensive line did a good job running the football later. Defensively, toward the end of the second half we got a little pressure. We didn't get that much pressure in the first half. I think that resulted in some field position, getting them to punt a little bit and helped us score some more points in the second half. "So overall it was a good win. But we've got to put this one behind us as quick as we can and get ourselves ready for Ole Miss." University of Alabama Player Quotes Utah State Post-Game Simeon Castille: "I was more excited about Tim's (touchdown) than I was mine but I was really glad to score." "I was on the tight end (for the interception play). Usually I don't cover him. He missed the ball. I was able to catch it and run for a touchdown. I was ecstatic." "I felt better (before the game) than I thought I was going to. I've been waiting for this for a long time, to play for the Crimson Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium. I wanted to play well not only for me but for the team. I didn't want to be the weak link." Brodie Croyle: (On his confidence as a veteran) "This was a huge game for the young guys. They put up points, yards, and won the ball game. We gained a lot going into Ole Miss." "I played well tonight. There were a couple of times in the end zone where I could have led more. We were conservative and didn't show much but we put up points against a tough Utah State defense." (On the three freshmen) "All of them can run the ball. All of them bring something different to the table. They all had big plays. The coaches are seeing things from the box, the linebackers are going too far and sending them across, it was really a lot of good calls, and once the guys got the ball, they made one guy miss and then it's a touchdown." "Kenneth Darby brought us a little spark. After I hand the ball off I just kind of stand there watching him. I thought it was going to be a five-yard-gain and he kind of left those two guys standing still on that touchdown run. That's something you like to see just standing back there watching. It's very exciting to see the type of talent we do have." Tim Castille: "It was special to see it (Simeon's touchdown). I was excited. We had a number of people do that tonight (score)." "We believe we have one of the best backfields in the SEC. We have three guys in the end zone. Our backfield definitely played well." Keith Brown: (On the first drive): "It was lack of concentration (dropping the ball). I had the ball but couldn't get a good hold. I went on the sidelines and Coach told me to let it go, take advantage of it next time." ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup! 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