Alabama is outscoring its opponents by 224 points in the first half alone this season because it’s able to score repeatedly and score quickly.
For the seventh-straight game, the Crimson Tide ended its first offensive possession in the end zone. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy caught an 81-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The drive took only two plays and 23 seconds of game clock.
Eighteen of Alabama’s scoring drives in 2018 have lasted less than a minute. Nine were less than 30 seconds, including two against Missouri.
There was the opening drive touchdown. Then, in the second quarter, Tagovailoa threw an 13-yard pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith to score on a one-play drive. It took eight seconds.
Alabama also had a 52-second scoring drive (four plays) that finished with a field goal.
Finally, a punt
Freshman Skyler DeLong got to punt for the first time since the Texas A&M game, and shanked a 12-yard punt in the third quarter. It marked the 29th drive since his last punt, marking 2:37:53 of game time.
Also on special teams, Joseph Bulovas made field goals of 20 and 30 yards but missed from 52. Josh Jacobs had a nice return of 50 yards on a free kick after a safety.
Milestones
Running back Josh Jacobs again became the 59th player in Alabama history to rush for 1,000 yards in his career when he picked up six yards on his first carry of the game. He briefly passed 1,000 yards last week but was later tackled for a loss and finished the game at 998 yards.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdowns passes to bring his season total to 21. That ties him with Jake Coker in 2015 for fifth-most in a season in school history. Tagovailoa has also thrown 139 passes without an interception dating back to the national championship game. That’s tied for the ninth longest streak in school history.
Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy caught his ninth touchdown pass of the season on Saturday. That’s tied for the fourth most in a season in school history with Dennis Homan’s 1967 season.
Tide bits
Honorary captains were former Alabama quarterbacks Blake Sims and Jake Coker. … Game captains were defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, safety Deionte Thompson and tight end Hale Hentges. Hentges is the only Missouri native on Alabama’s roster. … Missouri won the toss and deferred until the second half. Alabama is 4-3 in coin tosses this season. … Attendance was announced as 101,821. …. Nick Saban remained undefeated in three games against Missouri. That’s one of five SEC programs that Alabama is undefeated against under Saban. The other four are Arkansas (12-0), Tennessee (11-0), Kentucky (4-0) and Vanderbilt (3-0). Saban has also won 78 (after Ark) straight games against unranked teams at Alabama. … NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson was in attendance. Former Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was also at the game.
