ATLANTA, Georgia -- The wait is over. Nearly eight months since it ended its 2013 season against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, Alabama is set to kick off with a fresh slate against West Virginia at the Georgia Dome.
This will be your one-stop shop for updates throughout the game, which is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. central. ABC and ESPN2 are carrying the broadcast.
-- Jacob Coker enters and hands off the ball twice to end it. Alabama 33, West Virginia 23
-- West Virginia got rolling with a first-down throw on the drive's first play. A big sack by Jonathan Allen moved the Mountaineers back 11 yards. Trickett's fourth-down pass was well short of the first down. Alabama 33, West Virginia 23
-- A big Yeldon run on first down was negated by a Cooper block in the back penalty. A perfectly thrown slant to Chris Black helped Alabama overcome it and move the sticks for an important first down. The Crimson Tide couldn't get another first down but milked more than four minutes of clock. Alabama 33, West Virginia 23
-- The Crimson Tide defense has stepped it up at the right time. Another three-and-out forces West Virginia to punt on back-to-back possessions. Alabama 33, West Virginia 23
-- Yeldon went 26 yards for a big gain on the first play of the possession. Alabama hit the 50-yard line on Cooper's 12th catch of the game. The drive ran out of steam once Alabama reached field-goal range and was hurt by another Jones drop. Griffith extended the lead to two possessions with a 45-yard field goal. Alabama 33, West Virginia 23
-- Thanks to a hard hit by Landon Collins on third down, the Crimson Tide forced its first three-and-out of the game. Alabama 30, West Virginia 23
-- Alabama's first attempted throw to O.J. Howard ended with the first turnover of the game, as Daryl Worley intercepted Sims to give West Virginia the ball in Alabama territory. A penalty on the return moved it back to West Virginia's 48. Alabama 30, West Virginia 23
-- Two big throws from Trickett moved West Virginia inside the Crimson Tide 10-yard line for the second time today. After a drop and a nice pass breakup by Cyrus Jones, West Virginia went 19 yards in the wrong direction because of a bad snap. Lambert made the field goal to keep the game within a possession. Alabama 30, West Virginia 23
-- Alabama was eying its first three-and-out of the game, but a 32-yard Trickett pass moved West Virginia into Crimson Tide territory. The Mountaineers are moving heading into the fourth quarter. Alabama 30, West Virginia 20
-- Alabama began yet another drive with a first-down throw to Cooper. Christion Jones dropped a wide open long pass that may have gone for a touchdown. A Sims scramble that was short of a first down was bailed out by a West Virginia unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Yeldon ran for 19 yards on the very next play. Alabama was stuffed on third-and-2 inside the red zone. Griffith made the field goal from 27 yards. Alabama 30, West Virginia 20
-- West Virginia got rolling with a 21-yard pass on its first play from scrimmage. Some poor tackling allowed the Mountaineers to gain even more momentum and once again move into Alabama territory. Two drops put a halt to the drive and set up a 42-yard Lambert field goal. Alabama 27, West Virginia 20
-- Sims showed good poise in the pocket and found Cooper for a 13-yard gain to get Alabama moving. A couple of big runs by Derrick Henry kept the sticks moving. Henry took it 19 yards for his first touchdown of the season to put Alabama up by two scores. Cooper went over 100 receiving yards on the possession while Henry and Yeldon have each cleared 50 rushing yards. Alabama 27, West Virginia 17
-- A Trickett scramble for 14 yards moved West Virginia into Alabama territory once again. A 26-yard pass to White moved the Mountaineers even deeper but a costly intentional grounding penalty slowed the momentum just a bit. Trickett's third-and-long pass was dropped to set up a 47-yard field goal, which Lambert missed. Alabama 20, West Virginia 17
-- Alabama got some help from the West Virginia defense on the first two plays thanks to consecutive holding and pass interference penalties. The Crimson Tide gave it back with a holding penalty of its own, but moved back into West Virginia territory on a 19-yard catch by White, who appeared to hurt his shoulder on the play. A second holding penalty by Leon Brown put Alabama in a tough spot and inspired a fourth-and-6 call from West Virginia's 36. Sims' pass sailed over Cooper's head. Alabama 20, West Virginia 17
-- Sims picked up a first down with his feet by running 21 yards to West Virginia's 49. A 14-yarder to White put the Crimson Tide into realistic field-goal range and an 8-yarder to Cooper moved it closer. Griffith hit the field goal from 41 yards to end the half. Alabama 20, West Virginia 17
-- One missed tackle was all it took for West Virginia to tie it up on a Mario Alford 100-yard kickoff return. Alabama 17, West Virginia 17
-- After a rough start to the drive, Alabama got moving when Sims hit Cooper on a cross to convert a third-and-7 deep inside West Virginia territory. A short pass to White on third-and-long turned into the biggest gain yet when he zigged and zagged 38 yards all the way to the 8. Yeldon capped the possession with his second touchdown, this one coming from 1 yard. Alabama 17, West Virginia 10
-- A booming JK Scott punt pinned the Mountaineers inside their own 10-yard line. Still, the Mountaineers made quick work to get rolling with a couple of first downs. The drive stalled thanks to a dropped second-down pass and an overthrow by Trickett. Alabama 10, West Virginia 10
-- First three-and-out of the game for either team. Sims rolled out and had DeAndrew White wide open but badly underthrew him. A pass to Cooper on third down wasn't enough. Alabama 10, West Virginia 10
-- For the third consecutive possession, West Virginia advanced into Alabama territory with quickness. The Mountaineers kept rolling from that point forward and capped the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kevin White. Trickett is 12-of-18 for 155 yards. Alabama 10, West Virginia 10
-- A Sims scramble and throw to Christion Jones moved Alabama 22 yards and into the red zone. After a timeout, T.J. Yeldon scored Alabama's first touchdown of the season when he darted up the middle, raced to the sidelines and dove in the end zone on a 15-yard run. That's a 14-play, 95-yard, 6:57 drive. Alabama 10, West Virginia 3
-- An illegal block in the back on a punt pinned Alabama to its own 5-yard line. On Third-and-11, Sims found Cooper across the middle with a much better pass than the first drive for a first down. That started a methodical march down the field with multiple third-down conversions. A 15-yard Derrick Henry run put Alabama in West Virginia territory as the quarter ended. Alabama 3, West Virginia 3
-- West Virginia picked up two quick first downs and advanced into Alabama territory, but the drive stalled from there. Xzavier Dickson sacked Clint Trickett on third-and-long. Alabama 3, West Virginia 3
-- Blake Sims' first pass as Alabama's starting quarterback was a quick and easy one to Amari Cooper, who picked up a sizable gain. His pass to Cooper on third-and-4 from the West Virginia 30, though, was short of the mark. Sophomore Adam Griffith nailed a 47-yard field goal to tie the score. Alabama 3, West Virginia 3
-- With a mix of runs and short passes, West Virginia drove down the field with relative ease on its opening drive, but Alabama tightened up inside the 10-yard line. Josh Lambert made the field goal from 21 yards. The Mountaineers picked on CB Bradley Sylve a couple of times. The drive lasted a little more than 4 minutes. West Virginia 3, Alabama 0
-- No surprise here, but senior Blake Sims will officially become the fourth starting quarterback of the Nick Saban era, Saban told ESPN during a pre-game interview.
-- Small note, but freshman cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Tony Brown were among those fielding kickoffs during warmups.
-- Landon Collins, Christion Jones and Austin Shepherd appear to be today's captains.
-- LB Trey DePriest (suspension) is the only noticeable absence.
-- Nick Perry is working alongside Landon Collins as Alabama practices out of its base defense. Denzel Devall and Xzavier Dickson are the outside linebackers. We won't be seeing much of that formation today.
-- Leon Brown is working with the first team at right guard during warmups.