Jones Honored, Alabama Football Starts Prep for Title Game

The second-ranked Alabama football team returned practice on Monday inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility for a 90-minute workout as it finished up corrections from the 49-0 victory over Auburn and got preparations under way for this Saturday’s SEC Championship game against No. 3 Georgia.

Alabama returns to the SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., for the eighth time in the 21-year history of the game, which is the most of any Western Division team. Saturday’s game poses a challenge for the Alabama defense with Georgia’s quarterback, Aaron Murray, ranked first nationally in passing efficiency, while Georgia’s offense ranks third in the league and 24th nationally in total offense.

“Georgia has an outstanding team,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “They have great balance. They score a lot of points on offense; have a really good quarterback, a good running game. They have a couple of really good skilled guys outside, two really good freshman runners. Aaron Murray does a great job of putting them in the right plays and making all the plays that he needs to make to help them.”

Earlier, senior center Barrett Jones was honored by the SEC league office as the SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week and the league’s Offensive Lineman of the Week for his play against Auburn. Jones graded out at 96 percent, the highest by any Alabama offensive lineman this season. He led an offensive line that did not give up a sack in the game and churned out 483 yards of total offense, including 267 yards rushing.

Saturday’s SEC Championship Game will be televised nationally on CBS, with coverage starting at 3 p.m. (CST). Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson will call the game and Tracy Wolfson will join them, reporting for the sidelines.

The game can be heard locally on WFFN 95.3 FM, WDGM 99.1 FM, and WTSK 790 AM.