ALABAMA GAMEDAY NOTEBOOK: FIU’s Cristobal has extensive history vs. Tide

TUSCALOOSA — Florida International head coach Mario Cristobal twice faced Alabama teams while he was an offensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes.

In the 1990 Sugar Bowl that capped the 1989 season, Cristobal was a true freshman when the Hurricanes beat Alabama, 33-25, and won the national championship.

He was a senior starter when the top-ranked Hurricanes fell to the No. 2 Tide, 34-13, in the national championship game.

“It was a rough game, obviously,” Cristobal said of the loss. “We had a chance to win two national titles in a row as a college football player and it didn’t work out.

“They showed up strong defensively, like they had all year long, and they made it real tough on our offense. And offensively, they were able to run the ball very, very effectively against our defense, which was real, real good all year long. It was one day you truly don’t want to remember, but hat’s off to them. They did a great job.”

Back home again
No. 4 Alabama hasn’t been ranked this high for a home opener since the second-ranked Crimson Tide played Tulane to open the 1993 season.

Alabama is 94-15-3 in home openers, which include games in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Mobile and Montgomery.

The Tide has won seven consecutive home openers, dating to a 20-17 loss to UCLA in 2001.

Series
Alabama is 1-0 against Florida International. The Crimson Tide won, 38-3, on Oct. 28, 2006.

Then-freshman Javier Arenas returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career. Now a senior preseason All-American, Arenas has returned six punts for touchdowns.

Several current Panthers played in that game. Daunte Owens returned five kicks for 72 yards. Quarterback Paul McCall completed one of two passes. Tyler Clawson and Jeremiah Weatherspoon each had three tackles in the game.

Pressure packed
Alabama’s focus on creating more defensive pressure on the quarterback paid dividends in the season opener.

Tide defenders recorded five sacks against Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor.

Rolando McClain had two sacks for a total loss of 19 yards. Arenas had a 10-yard sack. Marcell Dareus was credited with 1.5 sacks. Josh Chapman had half a sack.

Those five sacks were the most for an Alabama defense since the Tide had five against Middle Tennessee State in 2005.

Next game
Alabama stays in the Sun Belt Conference and plays at home against North Texas.

The Mean Green opened the season with an upset win over Ball State on the road. They play Ohio University at home today.

Kickoff next week is 11:20 a.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The game will be shown on the SEC Network.

Alabama leads the series 2-0, including a 33-7 victory in the last meeting in 2002.