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The Tuscaloosa News
Notes: Dallas Turner details unforgettable 'welcome to Alabama' moment | Goodbread
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Notes: Dallas Turner details unforgettable 'welcome to Alabama' moment | Goodbread
PASADENA, Calif. — Know this about Alabama's football facility: cameras are everywhere. From security video to all the cameras that record practices, both outdoors and in the indoor facility, not much gets missed.
Still, the entirety of Dallas Turner 's 'welcome to college' moment couldn't be fully captured. Only Turner and former Crimson Tide first-round draft pick Evan Neal really know how it ended.
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"Evan Neal drove me off the screen (on the practice film). He didn't even drive me back, I was just out the screen," Turner explained Friday during Rose Bowl media interviews. Turner was recalling a midseason practice in 2021, his freshman year, when his role expanded rather quickly due to injuries at his position.
Neal was an utterly dominant force at the college level, easily moving from guard to right tackle and finally to left tackle over three seasons of exceptional play. Turner said he'd spent most of his practice time with the third string until injuries to Chris Allen and Drew Sanders forced him into a starting job and his turn to "step up."
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But first, he stepped off. The screen.
"I couldn't even be mad. I don't regret none of that, because he got me better," Turner added. "He got me prepared. Going against guys like that in practice made it easier to play the game."
Timely transfer
Nothing like swinging through the West Coast for a CFP appearance and securing a former five-star recruit from the transfer portal at the same time. Former USC cornerback Domani Jackson visited Alabama 's practice on Thursday and committed to the Crimson Tide hours later, becoming UA's second addition from the portal since the transfer window opened more than three weeks ago. It certainly figures to be a position of need for Alabama, as starting cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold are both considered strong draft prospects by NFL scouts.
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Pricy ducats
The Alabama- Michigan game is driving a ticket price that's far richer than the most recent College Football Playoff semifinal matchups. Try roughly double: according to ticketsmarter.com, the average price on the secondary market for a Rose Bowl ticket is currently $939. In the other semifinal, demand for a ticket to the Sugar Bowl matchup of Washington-Texas is at $462. A year ago for the semifinals, a Michigan-TCU ticket averaged $511, while a Georgia-Ohio State ticket ran $471.
Around the CFP
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has made himself plenty deserving of criticism this season, but his comments on Alabama QB Jalen Milroe — that he's a more polished version of UM backup QB Alex Orji — weren't exactly controversial. He was simply conveying that Orji is one of UM's elite athletes, as Milroe is on the Alabama roster, and that Orji hasn't gotten his chance to start yet, as Milroe has. If Alabama wants to pin that on the bulletin board, more power to them. But Harbaugh's put his foot in his mouth far more impressively than that. ... Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore on Trente Jones, the Wolverines backup right tackle who was pressed into starting duty in the Big Ten title game due to an injury to guard Zak Zinter , and will start again against Alabama: "You always want the sixth-best guy (to sub in). We knew Trente was the next guy in, so it was easy for us to do that." Jones played outstanding in UM's 26-0 win over Iowa , and has plenty of game experience as a fifth-year player with eight career starts.
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Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama's Dallas Turner details embarrassing 'welcome to college' moment
