Photos and Video from Alabama's First Full Practice of Vanderbilt Week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama football team returned to practice on Tuesday afternoon, spending two hours in full pads on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.

The Crimson Tide will continue to prepare on Wednesday as the team focuses on its weekly routine for this Saturday’s matchup with the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Vanderbilt marks Alabama's first conference game of the season, and is slated for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff. The game will be broadcast on CBS.

Head coach Nick Saban discussed the Crimson Tide's upcoming opener against the Commodores:

"Now, we're getting into SEC games and certainly this first game is going to be a challenge," Saban said. "It's an SEC game. Vanderbilt's 3-1. Much, much improved team over last year. They have like 14 starters back, but they're scoring 42 points a game and they play two quarterbacks. Both of them are very, very capable. Very good athletes. They run the ball. They run some options. Very capable passing.

"[Will] Sheppard is one of the leading receivers in the SEC. Offensively, they play hard, they're tough. They've given up some yards in the games but they've played well enough to be able to be effective in winning three games. The kicking game is good. The punter is one of the leading punters in the country in terms of a 48.9-yard average. Joseph has done a good job of kicking for them.

"This is a good all-around team and it's going to be a challenging game for us."