No reason to be greedy. Alabama’s offense shared the wealth Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium as it broke Ole Miss, 66-3.
The Crimson Tide scored nine touchdowns, with every skill position getting an opportunity in the end zone. Defense and special teams even contributed their own share of points. Really, every addition to the scoreboard came from a different player.
“We kept the ball on offense, had great time of possession and got to play a lot of players,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “So, a lot of good things. But also a lot of things we can improve.”
Like what?
The Crimson Tide had the ball 36 minutes and 37 seconds of clock time, and it divvied it up well.
Running back Bo Scarbrough cashed one in first, scoring on a 6-yard run. It was something the 6-foot-2, 235-pound bulldozer normally does. That was his fourth plow-through for a score this season.
An interception-turned-touchdown followed, but what came next showed the true potential and variety of Alabama’s playbook.
Tight end Hale Hentges caught a 3-yard pass from quarterback Jalen Hurts in the end zone. The offense tried to do this toward the end of the previous drive but it fell incomplete, prompting Hurts to give it to Scarbrough.
This was Hentges’ second touchdown of both this season and his career. He is the only member of his position group to have scored. The junior’s first was against Fresno State, the only other game Alabama had each unit score.
At halftime, Alabama led, 35-3. The Crimson Tide has outscored its opponents 128-23 through the first two quarters so far this season.
Hurts came back out, but with a little more than 11 minutes left in the third quarter, freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took over at the helm. His first series resulted in a touchdown, as running back Najee Harris ran 4 yards into the end zone.
The wide receivers looked like they were going to be left out of the fun until Henry Ruggs III stepped up. In the third quarter, Tagovailoa sent the fellow true freshman an 8-yard pass to score. Tagovailoa took the initiative himself next time the Crimson Tide was close to scoring and scrambled 2 yards to add six points.
Also for the running backs, sophomore Josh Jacobs reached the end zone. Ronnie Clark scored his first career touchdown, too. He’s a redshirt junior.
This was the first game this season running back Damien Harris did not record a touchdown. Now there isn’t a single member of the Crimson Tide who has visited the end zone in every game.
As a whole, the Crimson Tide had 613 yards over the course of 75 plays. The total yardage broke down into 365 rushing and 248 passing. UA only went three-and-out on its opening drive. JK Scott was called on to punt twice.
Hurts completed 12 of his 19 passes for 197 yards and led Alabama with 101 rushing yards on 10 carries. Tagovailoa went 3 for 5 for 51 yards. Ridley had a team-high four receptions for 60 yards.
So, Alabama had four running backs, two quarterbacks, a tight end and a wide receiver all add a touchdown tally next to their names.
Divide and conquer.
