There was no slow start this week.
Alabama scored a touchdown on its first play against New Mexico State on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium and continued to put up points throughout the game.
It was a different story last week with the Crimson Tide needing a few series to get the offense warmed up.
The opponent Saturday had a lot to do with that. New Mexico State, an independent school, is not in the same league with the rest of the FBS programs around the country.
Still, the Alabama offense was comfortable, even in sweltering 97-degree temperature, in its home opener.
“We challenged our team to see if they could be a dominant team in every facet of the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “There were times in the game where I thought we did that. I though we started out with big plays. There were times where we got sloppy toward the end of the game. We payed a lot of (backups) and I was not pleased with the way they executed.”
Tua Tagovailoa spread the ball around to five different receivers with Jerry Jeudy, who else, as his primary target. Jeudy caught eight passes for 103 yards with three touchdowns. He’s already got 18 catches through two games for 240 yards and four touchdowns.
“Jerry is a smart player and has a good understanding of the offense and an understanding of what they are trying to do to stop him on defense,” Saban said. “He caught a couple of RPOs (run-pass option), some bubble passes and things like that and he’s difficult to cover down the field. He’s a pretty complete guy when it comes to being a receiver.”
Tagovailoa was efficient, going 16 of 24 for 227 yards and three touchdowns. There were a few times when he made the wrong read. He missed a wide open Major Tennison for a touchdown, opting to throw to a covered Jeudy.
However, in the first quarter he passed on a wide open check-down to running back Brian Robinson on third-and-13 that would have picked up a first down, and instead zipped a pass to a leaping Jeudy for a 23-yard touchdown.
“Everyone did their job pretty well today, I think it was on my part where I didn’t improve,” Tagovailoa said. “There were things that were open and I just didn’t take advantage of it. The quarterback play from that aspect has to get better.:
There were explosive plays from receivers but not that many from the running backs. Najee Harris got 70 yards on 12 carries with a 19-yard run but had no runs longer than that.
Reach Edwin Stanton at edwin.stanton@tuscaloosanews.com, 205-722-0226, or via Twitter, @edwinstantonu2
