Dein erstes Forum » a shot at making a dent. But thats a big if.Czec

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama didnt miss a beat after tailback Damien Harris went down a couple of minutes into the game.The youngsters made sure of it.Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed the opening drive with a 20-yard touchdown run and fellow freshman Joshua Jacobs scored his first two career touchdowns in the top-ranked Crimson Tides 48-0 win Saturday over Kent State.The Tide (4-0) dominated coach Nick Sabans alma mater from the start while scoring on a kickoff return and even a short touchdown throw to linebacker/short-yardage blocker Mack Wilson -- yet another freshman. The only bad news for Alabama was Harris sprained his right ankle on the opening drive and didnt return.He was hardly needed in this game, when No. 2 quarterback Blake Barnett played much of the way and the emerging Jacobs ran for 97 yards. It amounted to a Saturday afternoon respite for the Tide after a bruising 48-43 comeback win over No. 23 Mississippi.The goal going into this game was to play a complete game, start fast, finish, and I think we probably did that as well as weve done all year, Saban said.Hurts was 16-of-24 passing for 164 yards and ran for 54 yards while splitting time with Barnett. He found Wilson for a 1-yard third-quarter score that was supposed to go to tight end O.J. Howard.Its his first career (touchdown), so I cant be mad about that, Howard said. Im happy somebody caught it.He did catch a 34-yarder from Barnett, who first got into the game early in the second quarter. Saban said Harris is day to day and his status is uncertain against Kentucky. The Kentucky native came into the game ranked fifth in the Southeastern Conference with 327 yards.Its just tough to see a player who means so much to our offense go down, Howard said.Alabama did whatever it wanted in the first half, outgaining Kent State 352-53 and amassing a 41-0 lead. The Golden Flashes, who had trailed Penn State 16-13 at halftime in the opener, managed just 13 passing yards in the first three quarters before finally driving in the fourth.Backup quarterback George Bollas was initially given a touchdown on a fourth-quarter run toward the goal line, but was ruled down at the 1 after a review.Most of the fans, including all but a handful of students, were long gone by then.THE TAKEAWAYKent State: Theres a chance to bounce back in Mid-American Conference play when the playing field is more even. There were a lot of times we kind of gave them plays and werent being very disciplined, Kent State coach Paul Hayes said.Alabama: Dominated in every phase of the game (including a 502-166 advantage in total yards) and got plenty of reserves action, most notably Barnett and Jacobs. Harriss health was the only major issue, though receivers ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster sat out to rest injured knees. Both are questionable against Kentucky.POLL IMPLICATIONSAlabama cant be ranked any higher than No. 1 and this game wasnt much of an opportunity to impress poll voters anyway.SHUTOUTIt was the Tides 18th shutout under Saban. Thats what were looking for every week, linebacker Ryan Anderson said. Were glad we were able to go out there and do it and glad the second team was able to uphold that standard.UP NEXTKent State hosts Akron in homecoming game and MAC opener.Alabama hosts Kentucky in its first SEC home game.Fake Vans Toy Story . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Fake Vans Outlet . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. http://www.fakevans.com/ . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Fake Vans Store . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Fake Vans SK8 . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation.The jerseys are now on sale.The practice and pre-tournament schedules are set.The international flights have been booked.And so the clock ticks ever steadily toward the start of the World Cup of Hockey. In fact, one month from Wednesday the tournament -- which runs Sept. 17-Oct. 1, every game being at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto -- will begin with a doubleheader featuring Team USA and Team Europe in a matinee, and the Czech Republic taking on host Canada in the late game.Heres a look at the biggest question facing each of the tournaments eight teams.Team USAWhich elite goalie will carry the load?Sure, there will be questions about where the scoring will come from and whether Brandon Dubinsky will indeed drive Sidney Crosby crazy starting when the U.S. and Canada meet on Day 4 of the tournament. But the real question is which of the Americans three elite goalies will be the No. 1? You can certainly make a case for Jonathan Quick, he of the two Stanley Cup rings and a playoff MVP trophy to boot, to be the man, although he was merely OK in the Los Angeles Kings first-round playoff loss to the San Jose Sharks?this past spring. Two-time Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop, who has guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup finals and Eastern Conference finals the past two seasons, has emerged as a money goalie, and?Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils just might be the most technically sound of the three. No team in this tournament boasts as much depth in goal but picking the right goalie at the right time will be a key to Team USAs ultimate success.Team CanadaWill Price, Seguin and Benn be ready?Winners of the last two Olympic gold medals, the hosts certainly will be favored to win the World Cup while playing on home ice. As they should be. But one potentially vexing problem will be the health of key pieces of an impressive lineup. Carey Price, so dominant at the Sochi Olympics in giving up only three goals in five games with two shutouts, is coming off an injury-shortened season that saw him last play in late November. Then there are the Dallas Stars two stars: Tyler Seguin, who missed all but one of the last 23 games because of a partially torn Achilles tendon, and captain Jamie Benn, who is recovering from offseason abdominal surgery. Seguin told ESPN.com hes expecting to be fully ready for the World Cup. As for Benn, a member of the Sochi gold-medal team in 2014, he is also hopeful of being in the Canadian lineup next month. Still, thoss are lots of ifs for three key Canadian contributors.Team North AmericaWhat kind of difference will Matthews make?Weve gone from seeing Auston Matthews being a long shot for making the squad to now wondering just what kind of impact the No. 1 overall pick in June might have in the tournament with this speedy, talent-laden group of under-24s. The belief is that Matthews might start the tournament as the extra forward, but it would seem a shame not to have him in the lineup for the first game at the Air Canada Centre, given he was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I go back to comments made by a Canadian scout at the World Championships last spring who talked about Matthews emergence as a difference-maker and being a threat on almost every shift. My guess is that if the young stars are to prove a spoiler, or even more, Matthews will be a key factor.Team RussiaWill lack of depth on D spell an early exit?Nobody has the firepower up front that the Russians have with Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Pavel Datsyuk. But can anyone in the country play defense? Without Slava Voynov, banned from the tournament after charges of spousal abuse eventually forced him to leave North America for Russia a year ago, the Russian blue line is thin, which is an insult to thin things everywhere. Andrei Markov, 37, is the cornerrstone of a group that includes young but unproven NHLers Alexey Marchenko of the Detroit Red Wings, Nikita Zaitsev of the Maple Leafs and Nikita Nesterov of the Lightning who replaced Voynov on the Russian roster.dddddddddddd If this young group can come together quickly and get the puck to the Russian arsenal up front, this team could win it all. If not, well, this could get ugly early.Team SwedenCan they beat the favorites?Outside of Canada, no team boasts as complete a roster as the Swedes. No surprise, given that they were the silver medalists in Sochi, losing to Canada in the gold-medal game. The Swedes are blessed with all kinds of skill, great two-way forwards and superlative goaltending, not to mention leadership in spades with the Sedin twins, Henrik?and Daniel, captain Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. So, whats to worry about? Like all contenders, they have to get over the mental hurdle of not only playing Canada but beating Canada on its home ice. The Swedes, who play in the deeper of the two preliminary pools, wont play Canada until elimination time either, in a single-game semifinal or in the best-of-three finals. Given how easily Canada handled Sweden in the gold-medal game in Russia, Im not sure thats necessarily a good thing.Team FinlandWhos going to score?The Finns always find a way to be in the mix at these best-on-best shindigs, as witnessed by their bronze-medal performance in Sochi, and this tournament should be no different. Plus, the smaller ice surface in North America should play to the Finns strengths as a hard-nosed and tough-checking unit. Opponents will be hard-pressed to score, with the Nashville Predators Pekka Rinne expected to shoulder the load in goal, but can the Finns generate enough offense to keep pace? Only one player on the roster, Aleksander Barkov, scored more than 20 goals last season (he had 28). And no player on the roster had more than Jussi Jokinens 60 points. Thats going to put a lot of pressure on rookie and No. 2 overall pick Patrik Laine and the rest of the Finnish forwards to produce consistently. Too much pressure, perhaps.Team EuropeCan they bond quickly?Of all eight teams, this might be the most difficult to get your head around. The Euros have terrific talent and experience on the blue line, with Roman Josi, Mark Streit and Zdeno Chara, and lots of skill and grit up front in Anze Kopitar, Mats Zuccarello and Marian Hossa. But can this group of disparate players from disparate nations come together quickly enough to knock off the big boys? Theres lots of pressure on former Swiss national coach Ralph Krueger and his staff, which includes Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice, to forge an instant identity in the locker room. If the players can find some kind of cohesion through the short training camp and pre-tournament schedule, this collection of international leftovers has a shot at making a dent. But thats a big if.Czech RepublicCan their goalie be the difference?Lets be blunt: The Czechs are the least equal of the eight teams. While theyre solid down the middle, with Tomas Plekanec and David Krejci leading the way, their blue line is Russia-thin. And that brings us to the key question: Which of the Czech goalies has a shot at channeling Dominik Hasek and guiding the Czechs to unexpected success? The safe bet is Petr Mrazek, who recently signed an extension with the Detroit Red Wings, but lets not forget the magic of Michal Neuvirth in the first round of the playoffs, when he helped an undermanned Philadelphia Flyers team push the Presidents Trophy-winning Washington Capitals to six games, stopping an incredible 103 of 105 shots after replacing Steve Mason. ' ' '