Alabama photo by Kent Gidley / By the time Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle scored his third touchdown in last year’s 56-14 pummelling of Louisiana-Lafayette, many of the Bryant-Denny Stadium seats were unoccupied.Alabama’s football game this Saturday against New Mexico State will mark the Crimson Tide’s home opener inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It also will debut the “Tide Loyalty Points” program that was unveiled during the spring.
Through this initiative, Alabama students will earn points for attending home games and for sticking around in the fourth quarter. The points will then contribute to the priority access for students to other regular-season tickets and to postseason tickets.
“That’s not really what I’m focused on,” Tide coach Nick Saban said Wednesday. “I’m not the athletic director and all that. From our perspective as a team, we love to see people stay and watch the game and support the team throughout, but to be honest with you, I don’t know anything about that.
“I hope it works, and I hope people stay to watch the whole game. We expect the players to compete for 60 minutes, and we would like to see the fans do the same thing.”
Saban has pointed out a lack of fourth-quarter support in Tuscaloosa on multiple occasions before, most recently after last year’s 56-14 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in a game the Crimson Tide led 56-0.
When discussing the students after that contest, Saban said, “I don’t think they’re entitled to anything either. Me personally, I think it ought to be first come, first served, and if they don’t want to come to the game, they don’t have to come, but I am sure there are enough people out here who would like to come to the games, and we would like for them to come, too, because they support the players.”
That rout had an 11 a.m. local start. Saturday’s game against the Aggies, who are coming off a 58-7 loss at Washington State, starts locally at 3 p.m.
The high temperature Saturday in Tuscaloosa is expected to be 98 degrees, and that does not include any heat index projections. Alabama is a 55-point favorite, but Saban is hopeful the crowd weathers the conditions and stays for the duration, or at least close to it.
“I think this is a little bit of an issue in college football,” Saban said. “All attendance is down, and to make the fan experience better for the fans, this is probably a good thing.”
Knott ruled out
Saban said in a news conference after Wednesday’s practice that redshirt junior defensive back Nigel Knott has been declared out by Alabama’s medical staff but will remain in school. The former four-star signee in the 2016 class out of Madison, Mississippi, played in 12 games for the Tide. His lone tackle occurred on special teams last season at Arkansas.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.