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Jalston Fowler's knee injury will require surgery. Fowler is unlikely to return to the field in 2012.

Jalston Fowler's knee was injured late in the game, and there will be an MRI performed in the morning. Details pending MRI results. (via dothaneagle.com)

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Based on word of those who saw Fowler come off field up close, the news on him appears bleak. One of UA's best 11 talents on offense.

— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) September 8, 2012

That's the closest thing to information available about Jalston Fowler's injury at this point in time. I will update this blog with official news as soon as I get any.

Other than that, Alabama walks away with the win and a long list of things Nick Saban will be screaming at them about for the next 24 hours.

'Bama's second string QB, Blake Sims, hands off to Kenyan Drake for the Tide's fifth touchdown of the day.

The second string is breathing new life into this game, and it's welcomed by all fans on both sides of the ball.

*Fowler's injury appears to be to his left knee. Details coming as soon as they're made available.

Jalston Fowler (RB, Tide) assisted off the field with apparent injury to left leg. Will update as soon as more details are available.

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At this point, it's rather surprising that you can't hear Saban yelling at the players over the crowd noise.

Two illegal block-in-the-back calls on one punt return is going to have the Tide's ears bleeding in the locker room after the game.

The Tide is playing flat, and the tone in the stadium is the same. The bright side for Hilltopper fans is that they've gained almost as many total yards of offense as the Tide has.

That bodes well for their journey toward the Sun Belt conference championship in 2012.

'Bama looks out-of-focus in the second half, and the crowd sound like they know that.

Western Kentucky can still make a game of this, but time is closing in on them.

The crowd showed respect to WKU by making noise during the 3rd-and-long attempt. WKU responds by converting with a 19-yard pass.

The Tuscaloosa crowd is staying a little louder now, at the end of the 3rd.

Western Kentucky forces another punt. The crowd in Tuscaloosa is conspicuously quiet. I'm not sure they are used to seeing a Sun Belt team force the Tide to punt.

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The action has resumed in Tuscaloosa, and the crowd is waiting to see what happens rather silently.

The crowd has now resumed its roar as Alabama picks WKU's pass off and has a facemask penalty tacked onto the end of the interception return.

That facemask is the first penalty in the entire game.

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Alabama needs to exterminate the missed tackles plaguing the defense. However, the Tide has forced three fumbles so far to take a gigantic turnover advantage over the Hilltoppers.

If the Hilltoppers can continue to penetrate the Tide's backfield, WKU can still make a game out of this. (Western Kentucky has played a much better game than the scoreboard reflects.)

If WKU can clamp down the ball security issues, the gap on the scoreboard will close considerably.

Nick Saban: "We need to make some adjustments and finish some things in the second half.”

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 8, 2012

Western Kentucky holding strong with under 2:00 to go in the first half, forcing Alabama to punt. The Tide crowd has lulled to a chatter as WKU forces the punt.

Western Kentucky is proving to the Tide that they came to play 60 minutes, regardless of the score. Prior to WKU's third turnover, Kadeem Jones (on his way to a big WKU first down) made Nico Johnson look ridiculous missing a tackle.

Alabama's fans are putting just as much of a hurting on the Hilltoppers as the Tide defense is. The Hilltoppers are coming after McCarron hard, and putting him in pressure situations. WKU fans are screaming right back at the UA fans.

It's a great day to be in Tuscaloosa.

The fans may not have as many seats, but the Hilltopper faithful went absolutely nuts for the two sacks in three plays on McCarron. Alabama forced to punt.

The crowd is absolutely deafening as the Tide are dominating the opening minutes of this contest. It's almost as if the fans have been waiting six months for football...hmmmm...

The teams are on the field warming up, and we are minutes away from kickoff. The crowd is warmed up and loud already, and the Hilltoppers have won the coin toss.

The Crimson Tide has received the opening kickoff, and we are underway in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

In Tuscaloosa, it's a mostly cloudy 80 degrees with a heat index of 84 (via weather.com). The Hilltoppers and the Tide should have very little getting in the way of some great football today.

Keep an eye on the Western Kentucky offense, as they totaled a whopping 596 yards against Austin Peay last week. Alabama's defense cannot have broken plays in the secondary today without paying for them.

Kickoff is under 30 minutes away.