Crimson Tide Destroys USC 52-6 In Season Opener
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| Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin Congratulates Jalen Hurts Photo Credit: USA TODAY/Jerome Miron |
On his first play from scrimmage in his first college football game, true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts fumbled the football in an exchange that was meant to fake a hand off. That is where his problems on the night ended.
Hurts accounted for four touchdowns last night as the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide football team destroyed the No. 17/20 USC Trojans 52-6. USC hasn't lost that badly since Notre Dame beat them 51-0 in 1966 Jalen played beyond his years in tossing two touchdown passes and running for two more in the lop-sided victory in front of 81,359 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and millions more via television, radio and internet. Hurts is the first Alabama player with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns since Tyler Watts back in 2001.
It took three offensive possessions with the Crimson Tide trailing 3-0 for the Hurts to enter the game. After the initial fumble for a turnover over, Hurts began putting a Hurt on the Trojans the likes of which they never expected, nor Tide fans if they are honest. Hurts was 6-of-11 in passing for 118 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. In addition, he rushed for 32 yards on nine carries for two touchdowns, averaging 3.6 yards per carry.
Running back Damien Harris rushed for 138 yards on nine carries as the young man made his first collegiate start. He had two huge runs of 73 and 46 yards, and averaged 15.3 yards per carry. Bo Scarbrough picked up 36 yards and one touchdown. Overall seven players got carries for the Tide.
ArDarius Stewart led the receiving corp with 113 yards on four catches with two touchdowns which included a career-best 71 yarder. Gehrig Dieter picked up 45 yards and one touchdown on one reception. O.J. Howard added 39 yards on three receptions.
Overall, the Crimson Tide offense gained 465 yards (242 passing and 223 rushing), garnered 15 first downs, and averaged 7.4 yards per play. The Trojans totaled 194 yards (130 passing and 64 rushing), 11 first downs and averaged 2.9 yards per play.
Though the Bama defense gave up three points on the USC opening drive, they shut 'er down pretty much all night. Reshirt freshman cornerback Anthony Averette was the defensive leader with eight total tackles, seven of which were solo. Cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick contributed six tackles and broke up two passes, defensive end Jonathan Allen recorded two quarterback sacks and the team broke up seven passes, had nine tackles for loss and three sacks, while sophomore cornerback Marlon Humphrey returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half.
Alabama has now extended its school-record scoring streak to 199 games with last night's contest. The Tide is now 10-0 in season-opening games under Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.
So what did Saban have to say about last night's performance? "If you want to know the truth about it, I wasn't pleased with the way we played," he said. "If you look at your internal scoreboard rather than the external scoreboard and you say, 'What do we need to do to get better?' [Or] you just get satisfied with the result that we got."
Concerning the choice of the two quarterbacks the coaching staff decided to go with last night, Saban said, "We think both guys are talented, and we wanted both guys to play in the game. And when the first quarter was over, I was wondering to myself, 'Was this a good plan or a bad plan?"
Concerning Jalen Hurts, cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick said, "When he first got here in the winter, he was on the scout team. I've seen him since he's been here. He's really grown both physically and mentally, and he's matured. I'm really proud of him for the way he played, and I can see a lot of potential for him."
After the opening fumble by Hurts, wide receiver ArDarius Stewart said, "He had to gain his composure. I had a little, short talk with him. He's a freshman. He was just battling with that freshman mindset. I told him, 'Turn the page. Next play. Things like that are going to happen.'"
What about Jalen Hurts earning the starting quarterback job after last night's performance? "I made a decision for this game that whatever we did at quarterback was for now," Saban said. "...That's the only decision we made. So I'm not speculating on what we're going to [do] in the future."
Saban added, "For now. It was for now."
USC head coach Clay Helton had this to say, "Obviously one game does not make a season. We played a very good team," said Helton. "They played to their potential. The cold hard truth is we did not play up to ours."
Next up for the Crimson Tide is the home-opener next week against defending C-USA champion Western Kentucky, a week before their SEC opener at No. 11 Ole Miss.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | USC | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 194 | 465 |
| Pass Yards | 130 | 223 |
| Rushing Yards | 64 | 242 |
| Penalty Yards | 6-46 | 4-29 |
| 1st Downs | 11 | 15 |
| 3rd Downs | 4-18 | 6-15 |
| 4th Downs | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| TOP | 29:17 | 30:43 |
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| Tide Quarterback Jalen Hurts Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
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| Defense getting the job done Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
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| One of many Alabama touchdowns last night Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
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| Jalen Hurts gained confidence as the night progressed Photo Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez |
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Southeastern Conference College Football Scores
(1) ALABAMA 52 (20) USC 6
(2) Clemson 19 Auburn 13
(4) FSU (11) Ole Miss (Sept. 5)
(5) LSU 14 Wisconsin 16
(9) UT 20 App St 13 (Thursday)
(16) UCLA 24 Texas A&M 31
(18) UGA 33 (22) UNC 24
(25) Florida 24 UMass 7
USA 21 Miss St 20
Kentucky 35 Southern Miss 44
South Car 13 Vanderbilt 10 (Thursday)
Missouri 11 West Va 26
Arkansas 21 La Tech 20
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Tide Volleyball Defeats Temple Owls In Four Sets
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Krystal Rivers led the Tide in kills, finishing the match with 24 kills, a .321 hitting percentage and 13 digs for her third double-double of the season. Brittany Thomas and Kat Hutson both also finished in double figures with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Natalie Murison led Bama in passing with 18 digs.
Next for the Tide is a three match affair over a two-day period as they host the Hampton Inn Bash in Foster Auditorium in Tuscaloosa. Bama opens with Northwestern State on Friday, September 9th at 10 a.m. CT, then later that night battles Southern Miss at 7 p.m. The Crimson Tide will close out the weekend against Lehigh on Saturday, September 10th at 11 a.m. CT.
| Game Stats | TEMPLE | UA |
|---|---|---|
| Kills | 49 | 64 |
| Errors | 21 | 26 |
| Hitting % | .199 | .255 |
| Points | 63.0 | 75.0 |
| Aces | 4 | 2 |
| Blocks | 10.0 | 9.0 |
| TA | 141 | 149 |
| Assists | 48 | 58 |
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Alabama Cross Country
Alabama Women Capture Win, Men Second
At Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
Following the meet, Crimson Tide head coach Dan Waters said, "I'm very happy with the results tonight and where we are at the moment. We've made some big improvements from last year. To come out and finish first and second in our opening meet is a great way to start the season."
Alabama senior Hannah Waggoner led the Tide with a second place finish in the women's 5-kilometer race with a time of 17:17.72. It was freshman McKenzie Yanek placing ninth in 17:43.43 in her collegiate debut. Junior Caroline Barlow came in 12th with a time of 17:57.48. Sophomore Calli Coggins placed 15th in 18:01.84 and freshman Elisabeth Danis came in at number 16 in 18:05.16.
Others finishing for the Crimson Tide women included freshman Rebecca Buteau (18:07.23), sophomores Kaitlin York (18:22.29), Nicole Gardner (18:23.72) and Sarah Mohan (18:34.71) and freshmen Haley Wright (18:38.74) and Alexa Cruz (18:40.60).
Bama senior Antibahs Kosgei took the men's four-mile race, completing the course in 19:11.13. Other men scoring for the Tide were junior Josh Short, placing ninth in 20:02.83. Senior Conner Thompson finished 11th in 20:04.56. Junior Garrett Bull came in at 24th in 20:31.71 and freshman James Brinyark was 28th in 20:34.11.
Other men's finishers for Bama were junior Andrew Bull (20:39.44), and senior Evan Prizy (20:50.81), sophomore Clay Austell (21:20.11) and freshman Elliott Miller (21:21.17).
Both the men and women next take a short trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to participate in the
Powerade Invitational on Friday, September 9th.
