Alabama Wins Second In A Row
Downs MTSU 37-10
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
It was the 70th consecutive game in which Alabama football had been favored. A 16 home-game win streak on the line. And though the first series looked shaky, the Alabama Crimson Tide showed the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders why they're ranked second in the nation. The Tide won the home-opener 37-3 .
Alabama scored on a 4-play, 32-yard dive that ended in a pass from Jake Coker to Robert Foster. It was all set up with a Marlon Humphrey fumble-recovery. Coker then hit Richard Mullaney on a 3rd and 4 for the first down. Then came the 19-yard touchdown pass to Foster to give Bama the lead 7-0.
Late in the first quarter MTSU put together a drive any coach would be proud of. Screen passes, runs, inside looks, sideline and more runs had the Blue Raiders firmly pounding their way to pay dirt and the Bama goal line. But a mishandled snap by the quarterback, bouncing it around, brought the Crimson Tide a fumble recovery via Jarran Reed. Two Bama penalties and no running or passing caused a JK Scott 37-yard punt, giving MTSU the ball on the Alabama 48.
The first quarter ended with Alabama leading 7-0 thanks to two MTSU fumbles, a missed MTSU field goal and a 19-yard Jake Coker to Robert Foster touchdown pass.
The second quarter began with MTSU marching. Passes, runs again got them down the field and inside the Bama 5. Bama's defense stiffened and give up only 3 points on an MTSU 20-yard field goal. The lead shrank but was holding 7-3.
Alabama put together a nice scoring drive, but some of it came with help from MTSU. Coker hit O.J. Howard on a 42-yard strike giving Bama a first down. Derrick Henry got Bama their longest run of the day to that point with a 12-yard run to the MTSU 21 yard line after a Coker incomplete pass. It was then Henry for 6 yards, Henry for 3, and Henry for 1 and another first down bringing the ball to the 11. Coker's throw into coverage is broken up, a screen gains nothing, and then an incomplete pass to Mullaney draws a pass interference call on MTSU giving Bama a first down at the 4-yard line. Then Henry for another 2 yards, then another 2 for pay dirt. It was a 10-play, 75 yard drive that knocked 3:46 off the clock and a 14-3 lead.
On the next MTSU drive, on a 3rd and 6, Bama's Cyrus Jones get his first interception of the year. It was the Crimson Tide's second of the young season. Bama takes over on the Bama 29. Then BOOM...a shovel pass to Drake goes for 68 yards to the Alabama 2-yard line. Then it was another hand-it-to-Henry for a 2-yard score, his second of the game. Score now 21-3 with 5:54 remaining in the first half.
The Blue Raiders are unable to gain any ground and are forced to punt. A penalty call at the end of the return gives Bama the ball at their own 45-yard line. Immediately Coker throws the long ball and is intercepted, giving MTSU the ball right back on the 1-yard line with 4:40 remaining in the first half.
Cooper Bateman began warming up on the sidelines and the Bama defense shut down the ??????. Lining up for the punt Bama put their best guys on the rush...and a freshman, Ronnie Harrison, smacked down the punt and Bama scores 2 more on a safety. Bama's lead widens to 23-3 with 2:39 remaining in the half.
MTSU punted, and Bama's Richard Mullaney returned the ball to the Blue Raider 44-yard line. There was no change in quarterback as Jake Coker again trotted onto the field to begin a march toward another Tide score. Penalties plagued both teams on the drive causing the Tide to bring in kicker Adam Griffith, who again missed. This one a 24-yard chip shot.
The first half comes to an end with Bama leading 23-3. It wouldn't be pleasant in the locker room, despite a 20-point lead.
Alabama led MTSU in the first half 253 total yards to 181. Passing stats went Bama's way, 214 to 129, but MTSU led the rushing yards over Bama 52 to 39. Total first downs were extremely close, with 12 for the Tide and 11 for the Blue Raiders. Bama's play-calling leaned heavily in favor of the pass. 26 were pass plays while only 13 were rushing plays, which tends to explain some of the reason Bama was lagging behind MTSU in rushing yardage. MTSU was 5 of 12 on third downs with Alabama 2 of 6. There were 3 MTSU turnovers in the first half and Alabama had the 1 interception.
"I don't think we're playing very well as an offense team, " Alabama head coach Nick Saban said in a short halftime interview. "We're not executing very well...we're not reading things and hitting people when they're open. We're not pass protecting very well. So, we're just not playing very well. I don't think that's all the quarterback's fault, but I think he (Coker) has got to do things better as well."
When asked if we'd see Cooper Bateman in the second half, Saban firmly nodded and said, Yes we will."
The second half opened with MTSU getting the ball, then immediately giving it up. Foster was injured on the play but was able to walk off the field on his own. He would return a short time later after having his shoulder iced down. Cooper Bateman then trotted onto the field for QB for the Tide, but was unable to move the ball from the MTSU 29-yard line. A few plays later Griffith once again missed a field goal.
Bama's defense again held, getting the ball back for the Tide's offense. Bateman collected his first career touchdown pass on a little shovel job to Kenyan Drake that went for a 14-yard touchdown. It was a four-play, 55-yard scoring drive that took only 1:26. Bama widened the lead to 30-3.
The Tide's next score came on an 11-play, 97-yard drive that ended when Derrick Henry ripped another big run through would-be tacklers, headed to the outside and bounded 28-yards for the score. Bama went up 37-3 where it remained through the end of three.
Both sides continued to stall over the next couple of possessions each. Alabama had many of the second-team in the game by this time, however. Then lightning struck...unfortunately. A Cooper Bateman pass was intercepted at the MTSU 2 and returned 80 yards, setting up another "gimme" score. The Tide secondary was caught out of position and a lone receiver in the endzone caught the pass with no one within 15 yards. MTSU closes it to 37-10. Saban shook his head. Expect more than that in the locker room, then again when going over film.
The game came to a close shortly after, with the final score Alabama 37, MTSU 10. That is now 17 consecutive home wins for the Crimson Tide, the longest streak in the country.
The second and third team showed some flashes for Bama before the game came to an end. Bama got the three quarterbacks into the game as they wanted, with the majority of work going to the first two as was the plan for the game. Comparisons were inevitable for Coker and Bateman so here are the numbers:
Coker was 15 of 26 passing for 214 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Bateman was 11 of 17 for 98 yards also with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. There were both positives and negatives concerning the two Bama QBs.
When asked about the second half immediately following the contest, Saban said, "Well you know, we did some things better but we didn't finish drives. So, disappointing really that this game was all about improving and playing better...and I'm not sure we improved in a lot of areas, but we'll go fix it and do what we have to do. It's good to win. We got to play a lot of players. Those are always good things."
Concerning the two quarterbacks, Saban said they "played okay." He then said they'd evaluate the film and do what was best for the team.
He did say at least the MTSU game would help concerning the upcoming contest with Ole Miss and being better prepared for the hurry-up and spread attack. He also let us know that today's performance wouldn't be good enough for Ole Miss.
So game number two is in the books for the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Bama is now 2-0 on the young season. After taking one day to celebrate Bama is back at work.
18 rush 96 yds 3 TDs as Henry is named Player of the Game
98,568 announced attendance
Drake returns kickoff to 43 yd line on 40 yd return shoved out of bounds
Coker first pass of game dumped after being chased in backfield
can't move ball punt
Marlon Humphrey causes fumble and Bama takes over after getting ball on 32 on 1st play for MTSU
Coker completes 7 yd pass to Richard Mullaney on 3rd &4 for 1st down.
Screen pass to Robert Foster results 19 yd Td.
4 play 32 yd drive lasted 1:44 BAMA 7-0
