Begrüßungen » arson Palmer sees no common denominator in the roa

ARLINGTON, Texas -- While Nick Saban wants to see improvement, top-ranked Alabama was pretty impressive in the opening of its national-title defense -- without a proven quarterback and with Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Derrick Henry in the NFL.That Crimson Tide defense, down four players taken in the first two rounds of the NFL draft last spring, is still physical and dominating, too.On the seasons first Saturday, when two top-five teams lost, freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes to ArDarius Stewart and ran for two more scores in a 52-6 victory over No. 20 Southern California on Saturday night.We got off to a little bit of a shaky start in the first quarter, especially on offense, Saban said. We scored a lot of points, made a lot of big plays, but still our consistency in execution needs to be much improved. ... My focus with our team right now is what can we do better.At least the Tide is 1-0, unlike No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 5 LSU after their losses Saturday. And No. 16 UCLA lost as well.USC coach Clay Helton sees Alabama a little different than Saban after the Trojans were held to 194 yards in their most lopsided loss since a 51-0 setback to Notre Dame in 1966.Obviously one game does not make a season. We played a very good team, said Helton. They played to their potential. The cold hard truth is we did not play up to ours.Stewart was wide open in the end zone behind the secondary when Hurts hit him for a 39-yard score midway through the second quarter that made it 7-3 and put Alabama ahead to stay. They hooked up on a 71-yard touchdown right after halftime for a 24-3 lead, and Hurts later had TD runs of 7 and 6 yards.Hopefully its a statement were still going to fight, still going to play, Stewart said about the teams performance.The season-opening win came at AT&T Stadium -- the home of the NFLs Dallas Cowboys -- was also where the Crimson Tide started their 2012 and 2015 national championship seasons with victories.The Tide are 10-0 in season openers under Saban, including seven non-conference games at neutral sites against Power Five teams that they have won by an average margin of 23 points.THE TAKEAWAYUSC: The Trojans may be targeting their first Pac-12 title since 2008, but they werent ready to compete with the defending national champions.USC was held without a touchdown in a game for the first time since 1997, and for the first time in a season opener since 1960. It was the fewest points since a 10-6 loss to Utah in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl.Junior quarterback Max Browne waited three years for his first start, and had a tough time against the overwhelming Alabama defense. He was 14 of 29 for 101 yards with an interception. It certainly didnt help him that receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, had only one catch for 9 yards when targeted five times.ALABAMA: While the Tide are still unproven at quarterback after playing two freshmen, the biggest hole on offense was left by Henrys absence. Sophomore Damien Harris showed the ability for some big plays with runs of 46 and 73 yards. He finished with nine carries for 138 yards.STOMP AND YOURE GONESouthern Cal defender Jabari Ruffin was ejected from the game late in the first half when at the end of a punt return he stomped his foot into the groin area of Alabamas Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was on the ground. The play happened right in front of referee Reggie Smith, who immediately threw a flag. When announcing the penalty, Smith said, No. 40 has disqualified himself from the game.POLL IMPLICATIONSUSC: The Trojans will almost certainly be unranked before playing their next game. They still have a lot to prove to voters.ALABAMA: There shouldnt be any questions about Alabama staying the No. 1 team when the new poll comes out Tuesday.UP NEXTUSC: Before facing another top 10 team, the Trojans are home next week against Utah State. They go to No. 8 Stanford for their Pac-12 opener on Sept. 17.ALABAMA: The Crimson Tide play their home opener next week against defending C-USA champion Western Kentucky, a week before their SEC opener at No. 11 Ole Miss. Cliff Hagan Jersey . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. San Antonio Spurs Store . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. https://www.cheapspurs.com/286j-david-robinson-jersey-spurs.html . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Marco Belinelli Jersey . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Donnie Freeman Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. TEMPE, Ariz. -- These Arizona Cardinals are not morning people.The team heads east again this weekend, a direction that has not been kind to the Cardinals this season.Arizona enters Sundays game at Miami with an 0-3 record on the road against teams in the Eastern time zone. Its 0-4 if you throw in a game at Minnesota that also had an early start.The games have started at either 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. Arizona time, depending on whether they were played before daylight saving time ended. The state does not observe daylight saving time, preferring to end those torrid summer days as quickly as possible.The Cardinals lone road victory thus far was at San Francisco, a team with the worst record in the NFL at 1-11.The road losses include blowouts against Buffalo and Carolina and closer games against Minnesota and Atlanta.Poor starts, really poor starts, coach Bruce Arians said of the two one-sided defeats. A dropped pass in Buffalo, a busted assignment to a 50-yard run. A so-called fumble in Carolina thats a pick six. They picked it up and ran for a touchdown. It wasnt even a fumble.The officials said it was.Against Minnesota and Atlanta, Arians said, I thought we were in both games and played very well in spurts. ... Weve just got to make plays in the second half and handle the crowd noise when its chaotic.The Cardinals, coming off one of their best performances of a disappointing season in a home win over Washington, take a 5-6-1 record into Miami, with a kickoff at 11 a.m. Arizona time. Thats the same time the team practices during the week.Thats why we practice so early and meet so early, Arians said, just so were acclimated too Eastern time zones.ddddddddddddThe situation is puzzling, as is the entire Cardinals season, because most of the players were on a team that went 7-1 on the road last season.Quarterback Carson Palmer sees no common denominator in the road losses.Theyre just games we havent won, he said. ... You need to quiet the questions and you do that by winning this one.At least the slow start problem seems to be solved.The Cardinals scored on their first possession in the 38-19 loss at Atlanta and took the opening kickoff and used up more than eight minutes in a touchdown drive in Sundays 31-23 victory over the Redskins.Its something weve got to continue to do, Palmer said. Something weve put a ton of focus on the last four or five weeks and finally the last two weeks weve done it. You go on the road like this its huge if we can win the coin toss and get the ball and go down and score. Its a huge momentum gainer and weve got to do it this week.Game notes Running back David Johnson was named NFC offensive player of the week for his performance against Washington. ... Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald and Frostee Rucker -- old guys, Arians called them -- had the day off as has been the case on recent Wednesdays. ... Arians said your guess is as good as mine as to when safety Tyrann Mathieu returns from a shoulder injury that sidelined him against Washington. Range of motion is a little bit of a problem right now but the strength is coming back.---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '