MOBILE — There’s a new face wearing Alabama’s script-A on his chest and it’s a familiar one to Crimson Tide fans.

MOBILE — Not even the elevator in the players’ Mobile-area hotel proved fan-free for Jalen Hurts.

MOBILE — Even with six in-state players in attendance this week, the most intriguing name at this year’s Senior Bowl is a former Alabama player beloved as much for what he didn’t do as what he did.

TUSCALOOSA — Nate Oats has said repeatedly he wanted to see Alabama take more long-range shots.

TUSCALOOSA — As the final day for underclassmen to declare for the 2020 NFL draft came and went Friday, Alabama made its own declaration with the release of its official 2020 online roster earlier this week, including several significant returners.

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama’s Nate Oats made it clear both in his post-game press conference and in meetings with his team in the hours and days following Wednesday’s signature upset of Auburn — the win was important, but it won’t matter as much if more don’t follow.

TUSCALOOSA — As is required on most job sites, Alabama kept its hard hat on while working over No. 4 Auburn on Wednesday night. The Tide's raucous and overcrowded student section did the same.

TUSCALOOSA — Bruce Pearl said it more than once during the days leading up to No. 4 Auburn’s rivalry bout with Alabama: “We’re going to get beat.”

TUSCALOOSA — Nate Oats had heard Anfernee McLemore’s bold comments about Coleman Coliseum being his favorite place to play — because he liked to see the “disappointment” when Auburn wins — earlier this year at SEC Media Days.

TUSCALOOSA — Two weeks after closing out one decade, Alabama football is already working on the next.

TUSCALOOSA — Nate Oats isn’t shying away from one simple reality: the Iron Bowl of basketball is kind of a big deal at Alabama.

Something seemed to be weighing heavily on Henry Ruggs III’s mind.

TUSCALOOSA — When James "Beetle" Bolden was deciding what sort of basketball system he'd like to join, the former West Virginia point guard couldn't shake the impression Nate Oats' Buffalo squad left on him following the Mountaineers' 99-94 overtime loss Nov. 9, 2018.

TUSCALOOSA — For the third straight year, the St. Frances (Maryland) Academy pipeline will funnel premium talent to Alabama.

TUSCALOOSA — One game after watching a 21-point advantage dissipate to nothing in a double-overtime loss on the road, Alabama made this one stick in its return home Wednesday night.

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama's crowded running back room just got a little thinner after redshirt freshman running back Jerome Ford entered the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday afternoon.

Who remembers when Tua Tagovailoa signed with Alabama, and big dreams that radiated like sun rays from thought bubbles above the heads of Alabama fans?

TUSCALOOSA — Minutes after his quarterback declared he was turning pro, the other side of Alabama's famous "second-and-26" touchdown play from the 2017 national championship game made his own announcement.

TUSCALOOSA — The book on Tua Tagovailoa's roller-coaster career at Alabama came to a close Monday when he confirmed what many had long suspected — he's headed to the NFL.

Not even a 21-point advantage is safe for Alabama in 2020.

TUSCALOOSA — To the surprise of no one, Alabama will lose more of its junior stars to the NFL.

Should Tua stay or should he go?

ORLANDO, Fla. — DeVonta Smith emerged from Alabama’s locker room beneath Camping World Stadium and looked around like a man with more to do.

Monday is the big day for Tua watchers.

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Jerry Jeudy high-stepped the final 35 yards into the end zone, Mac Jones looked back toward the Alabama sideline and just shrugged.

The notion that Michigan would come to play was never in doubt.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mac Jones and Jerry Jeudy started the New Year’s Day fireworks early, but it was Alabama’s young defense that settled down and pitched a second-half shutout to hold off Michigan in Wednesday’s 35-16 win in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Postgame analysis of Alabama's 35-16 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl:

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dylan Moses’ surprise announcement of his impending return to Alabama sent the Crimson Tide fan base into a New Year’s Eve tizzy a day early.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Much like the six true freshmen defensive players who started games this season for Alabama, Pete Golding has had to learn on the fly in his first season as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Alabama fans had reason to celebrate the pending arrival of 2020 a little early.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Alabama junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was named the winner of the 2019 Bobby Bowden Award on Monday.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Make no mistake about it: Alabama is Mac Jones’ team now.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A year ago, Josh Gattis was helping put together a game plan for a record-breaking Alabama offense ahead of the program’s fourth straight national championship game appearance.

ORLANDO — For Jedrick Wills Jr., the NFL can wait another week.

TUSCALOOSA — There was arguably no more dominant program in all of college athletics than Alabama over the last decade, especially on the gridiron.

TUSCALOOSA — It’s a phrase that has been repeated ad nauseum throughout Alabama’s injury-plagued 2019 and will once again factor into whether the Crimson Tide opens 2020 the right way.

TUSCALOOSA — Three days after Trevon Diggs was confirmed as one of two Alabama players sitting out the Citrus Bowl, his familiar No. 7 returned to practice Thursday.

The way the ball was dropping Saturday, Alabama didn’t necessarily need another 30-point effort from John Petty Jr.

TUSCALOOSA — Mac Jones saw it on the face of every Alabama defender he went against Monday.

TUSCALOOSA — Jerry Jeudy did his best to squash the speculation regarding his availability for Alabama’s upcoming Citrus Bowl game with a single tweet a week ago.

TUSCALOOSA — Nick Saban will be the first to tell you: “It’s always important to do well in-state.”

TUSCALOOSA — Nick Saban doesn’t exactly gush over many players, especially those that have not played a down for him.

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama’s injury-ravaged defense will be without two of its veteran playmakers in next month’s bowl game.

With an important road win within its grasp, Alabama let the opportunity slip through as Penn State rallied to beat the Crimson Tide 73-71 at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

TUSCALOOSA — For the last dozen years, Alabama has had a significant presence during ESPN’s annual college football awards show, which airs Thursday night from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

TUSCALOOSA — John Lucido still remembers going to bed the night after the 2017 U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio not quite knowing where his star running back would land in the morning.

TUSCALOOSA — As much as he’d rather not deal with it, Nick Saban had been anticipating the question for several years now.

The Citrus Bowl iun Orlando, Fla., has paired Alabama and Michigan, while the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., gets Auburn and Minnesota.

TUSCALOOSA — Will he stay or will he go? Tua Tagovailoa says he doesn't know.