By Marq Burnett, Star Staff Writer, mburnett@annistonstar.com | Updated 3 hours ago
TUSCALOOSA -- Third-ranked Alabama easily defeated No. 20 Wisconsin 35-17 in AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
Give the Badgers credit for making it close early, but this one never reached a danger point for the Crimson Tide.
But before the Tide turns the page to its home opener against Middle Tennessee, letās take one last look at Saturdayās contest.
1. Explosive plays
One of the things to watch this season is how Alabamaās offense manufactures explosive plays. Tide coach Nick Saban defines an explosive play as a run of 12 yards or longer and a pass of 16 yards or more. By those numbers, Alabama had 13 explosive plays (eight passing, five rushing), according to the final stat book.
Starter Jake Coker was in for 11 of the plays, while Cooper Bateman had two during his time at quarterback. From a skill position standpoint, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake contributed three apiece, while receivers Robert Foster and Richard Mullaney each had two. O.J. Howard, ArDarius Stewart and Ty Flournoy-Smith each had one explosive play.
Last season, the Tide relied heavily on Amari Cooper to drive the passing game. This season, the Tide may have to distribute the ball more evenly as the new quarterback(s) and receivers continue to build chemistry. Saturday was a good first step toward finding offensive playmakers outside of Drake and Henry.
2. Solid secondary
Alabamaās secondary was solid for a group with a redshirt freshman starting at cornerback and former cornerback starting at safety for the first time. The starting group in the Tideās base defense had Cyrus Jones and Marlon Humphrey on the corners with Geno Matias-Smith and Eddie Jackson at the safety spots. Jones is technically the only returning starter of the group. Matias-Smith played the star position and backed up Nick Perry last year. Jackson started 11 games at cornerback last season, but he moved to safety during spring practice.
True freshman Minkah Fitzpatrick and Maurice Smith came in when the Tide went to one of its subpackages (nickel or dime) against the Badgers.
Overall, Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave finished 26-of-39 for 228 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Stave had a nice connection with wide receiver Alex Erickson, who had six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Alabama also gave up three pass plays of 20 or more yards, according to the final stat book.
Stave racked up 149 of his passing yards in the first half, with nice throws to the flats, but Alabama adjusted at halftime.
Saban gave the Badgers credit for having a āreally, really good planā coming into the game.
āThey have a really good back who is a really good receiver, and they isolated him on the linebacker on about three third downs in the first half,ā Saban said. āSo we just have ways that we can put somebody else on the guy, and thatās what we did. We peeled them from on the line of scrimmage and took them out of the game and made the quarterback throw the ball down the field. We got some batted balls. We got some pressure on the quarterback, got a couple sacks and played a lot better in the second half than we did the first when it came to third down.ā
Along with a late touchdown, Stave had only 79 yards and completed 52 percent of his passes in the final 30 minutes as opposed to 87.5 percent in the first half. Jackson also picked off one of Staveās passes. The Tideās defensive linemen were credited with four pass breakups, including three from Dalvin Tomlinson. (Jonathan Allen had the remaining one.) The Tide had three sacks on the night -- two for Allen, one for Fitzpatrick. For the secondary, Jones had two pass breakups while Fitzpatrick had one.
Overall, a solid day from a pass defense that is still a work-in-progress.
3. Stout run defense
The 40 rushing yards that Wisconsin gained Saturday rank as the teamās lowest total since the Badgers had 19 against Michigan State (37 attempts) in October 2012. Saban said Alabamaās front dominated the line of scrimmage defensively.
Badgersā running back Corey Clement never found any room to get free. He had just 16 yards on eight carries with a long of five yards. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a left groin injury.
Wisconsin had just one run go for more than five yards, which came on a 25-yard carry by wide receiver Alex Erickson with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
In Wisconsinās defense, the Badgers lost Heisman finalist Melvin Gordon, three offensive linemen and a starting tight end from last yearās running game, which averaged 320 yards a game.
Still, of the teams that played ranked opponents, Alabama had the No. 1 rush defense, giving up 1.9 yards a carry. Thatās a huge accomplishment against a Power 5 opponent ranked in the top 25.
4. Newcomers contribute
According to the final participation chart, Alabama had nine true freshmen play Saturday: Calvin Ridley, Ronnie Harrison, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Daron Payne, Shawn Burgess-Becker, Damien Harris, Lester Cotton, Dallas Warmack and Hale Hentges. In addition, redshirt freshmen Marlon Humphrey, Christian Miller, Ross Pierschbacher and Keith Holcombe saw their first game action. Wide receiver Richard Mullaney, an Oregon State graduate transfer, made his first appearance in an Alabama uniform, catching two passes for 38 yards.
Humphrey earned the start at cornerback and was credited with three solo tackles. Harris rushed for 23 yards on nine carries with a long of 10 yards. Pierschbacher earned the start at left guard.
Fitzpatrick had five total tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Burgess-Becker, Payne and Harrison were each credited with one tackle.
Four downs: A closer look at Alabama's win over Wisconsin
TUSCALOOSA -- Third-ranked Alabama easily defeated No. 20 Wisconsin 35-17 in AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
Give the Badgers credit for making it close early, but this one never reached a danger point for the Crimson Tide.
But before the Tide turns the page to its home opener against Middle Tennessee, letās take one last look at Saturdayās contest.
1. Explosive plays
One of the things to watch this season is how Alabamaās offense manufactures explosive plays. Tide coach Nick Saban defines an explosive play as a run of 12 yards or longer and a pass of 16 yards or more. By those numbers, Alabama had 13 explosive plays (eight passing, five rushing), according to the final stat book.
Starter Jake Coker was in for 11 of the plays, while Cooper Bateman had two during his time at quarterback. From a skill position standpoint, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake contributed three apiece, while receivers Robert Foster and Richard Mullaney each had two. O.J. Howard, ArDarius Stewart and Ty Flournoy-Smith each had one explosive play.
Last season, the Tide relied heavily on Amari Cooper to drive the passing game. This season, the Tide may have to distribute the ball more evenly as the new quarterback(s) and receivers continue to build chemistry. Saturday was a good first step toward finding offensive playmakers outside of Drake and Henry.
2. Solid secondary
Alabamaās secondary was solid for a group with a redshirt freshman starting at cornerback and former cornerback starting at safety for the first time. The starting group in the Tideās base defense had Cyrus Jones and Marlon Humphrey on the corners with Geno Matias-Smith and Eddie Jackson at the safety spots. Jones is technically the only returning starter of the group. Matias-Smith played the star position and backed up Nick Perry last year. Jackson started 11 games at cornerback last season, but he moved to safety during spring practice.
True freshman Minkah Fitzpatrick and Maurice Smith came in when the Tide went to one of its subpackages (nickel or dime) against the Badgers.
Overall, Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave finished 26-of-39 for 228 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Stave had a nice connection with wide receiver Alex Erickson, who had six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Alabama also gave up three pass plays of 20 or more yards, according to the final stat book.
Stave racked up 149 of his passing yards in the first half, with nice throws to the flats, but Alabama adjusted at halftime.
Saban gave the Badgers credit for having a āreally, really good planā coming into the game.
āThey have a really good back who is a really good receiver, and they isolated him on the linebacker on about three third downs in the first half,ā Saban said. āSo we just have ways that we can put somebody else on the guy, and thatās what we did. We peeled them from on the line of scrimmage and took them out of the game and made the quarterback throw the ball down the field. We got some batted balls. We got some pressure on the quarterback, got a couple sacks and played a lot better in the second half than we did the first when it came to third down.ā
Along with a late touchdown, Stave had only 79 yards and completed 52 percent of his passes in the final 30 minutes as opposed to 87.5 percent in the first half. Jackson also picked off one of Staveās passes. The Tideās defensive linemen were credited with four pass breakups, including three from Dalvin Tomlinson. (Jonathan Allen had the remaining one.) The Tide had three sacks on the night -- two for Allen, one for Fitzpatrick. For the secondary, Jones had two pass breakups while Fitzpatrick had one.
Overall, a solid day from a pass defense that is still a work-in-progress.
3. Stout run defense
The 40 rushing yards that Wisconsin gained Saturday rank as the teamās lowest total since the Badgers had 19 against Michigan State (37 attempts) in October 2012. Saban said Alabamaās front dominated the line of scrimmage defensively.
Badgersā running back Corey Clement never found any room to get free. He had just 16 yards on eight carries with a long of five yards. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a left groin injury.
Wisconsin had just one run go for more than five yards, which came on a 25-yard carry by wide receiver Alex Erickson with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
In Wisconsinās defense, the Badgers lost Heisman finalist Melvin Gordon, three offensive linemen and a starting tight end from last yearās running game, which averaged 320 yards a game.
Still, of the teams that played ranked opponents, Alabama had the No. 1 rush defense, giving up 1.9 yards a carry. Thatās a huge accomplishment against a Power 5 opponent ranked in the top 25.
4. Newcomers contribute
According to the final participation chart, Alabama had nine true freshmen play Saturday: Calvin Ridley, Ronnie Harrison, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Daron Payne, Shawn Burgess-Becker, Damien Harris, Lester Cotton, Dallas Warmack and Hale Hentges. In addition, redshirt freshmen Marlon Humphrey, Christian Miller, Ross Pierschbacher and Keith Holcombe saw their first game action. Wide receiver Richard Mullaney, an Oregon State graduate transfer, made his first appearance in an Alabama uniform, catching two passes for 38 yards.
Humphrey earned the start at cornerback and was credited with three solo tackles. Harris rushed for 23 yards on nine carries with a long of 10 yards. Pierschbacher earned the start at left guard.
Fitzpatrick had five total tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Burgess-Becker, Payne and Harrison were each credited with one tackle.
Four downs: A closer look at Alabama's win over Wisconsin
