Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
The Alabama Crimson Tide rolled on the powerful current of superior talent on Saturday, but never quite seemed to blow Southern Mississippi out of the water.
The No. 3 Crimson Tide was never really threatened in its 52-12 victory over USM, not even after starting the game with a 3-0 deficit. UA rolled up over 500 yards of total offense and never let the Golden Eagles into the end zone, but did allow USM enough trips into the red zone to kick four field goals.
"I thought we got off to a slow start," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "I didn't think we had good intensity to start and I don't know why. I was proud of the way we responded in second half.
"Defensively, we played pretty well but we allowed them to make some plays," Saban said. "Offensively, (Amari) Cooper is off to a great start but we need to get more people involved."
Cooper, a junior wide receiver, continued his streak of 100-yard receiving games with eight catches for 135 yards and a touchdown. Kenyan Drake added three rushing touchdowns for the Crimson Tide.
USM raced downfield with the opening possession, eventually settling for a 33-yard Corey Acosta field goal, the first of four he would kick on the day. The Crimson Tide answered with a touchdown dive capped by Blake Sims' 22-yard scoring pass to Cooper, then added scoring runs by Sims and Drake. Acosta kicked the second of his four field goals with 1:25 remaining and Alabama took a 21-6 lead at the half.
The second half saw Drake score on runs of one and 29 yards, a Sims-to-Brian Vogler touchdown pass and a 2-yard scoring run by Tyren Jones for his first career touchdown.
Derrick Henry led Alabama in rushing with 73 yards. T.J. Yeldon had 56 but did not play in the second half after tweaking a hamstring. Saban said he did not expect the injury to keep Yeldon out next week. USM added two more field goals but Alabama extended its intact streak of not allowing a touchdown to 10 consecutive quarters.
The Crimson Tide will lose a key defender for the first half of next week's Florida game. Safety Nick Perry was ejected for targeting in the second half and will have to sit a half against the Gators.
Blake Sims was the starting quarterback for the third straight game, completing 12 of 17 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Backup Jake Coker did not enter the game until the third quarter.
"Right now Blake is a little more confident," Saban said. If he remains that way, he's probably going to start against Florida.
"It just didn't feel right to make a change."
"We've got a lot to improve on," Saban said. "It's important that we do so. Every team we play for the next several weeks is really good. If they aren't in the Top 25, they probably think they should be.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1681091
TideSports.com Columnist
The Alabama Crimson Tide rolled on the powerful current of superior talent on Saturday, but never quite seemed to blow Southern Mississippi out of the water.
The No. 3 Crimson Tide was never really threatened in its 52-12 victory over USM, not even after starting the game with a 3-0 deficit. UA rolled up over 500 yards of total offense and never let the Golden Eagles into the end zone, but did allow USM enough trips into the red zone to kick four field goals.
"I thought we got off to a slow start," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "I didn't think we had good intensity to start and I don't know why. I was proud of the way we responded in second half.
"Defensively, we played pretty well but we allowed them to make some plays," Saban said. "Offensively, (Amari) Cooper is off to a great start but we need to get more people involved."
Cooper, a junior wide receiver, continued his streak of 100-yard receiving games with eight catches for 135 yards and a touchdown. Kenyan Drake added three rushing touchdowns for the Crimson Tide.
USM raced downfield with the opening possession, eventually settling for a 33-yard Corey Acosta field goal, the first of four he would kick on the day. The Crimson Tide answered with a touchdown dive capped by Blake Sims' 22-yard scoring pass to Cooper, then added scoring runs by Sims and Drake. Acosta kicked the second of his four field goals with 1:25 remaining and Alabama took a 21-6 lead at the half.
The second half saw Drake score on runs of one and 29 yards, a Sims-to-Brian Vogler touchdown pass and a 2-yard scoring run by Tyren Jones for his first career touchdown.
Derrick Henry led Alabama in rushing with 73 yards. T.J. Yeldon had 56 but did not play in the second half after tweaking a hamstring. Saban said he did not expect the injury to keep Yeldon out next week. USM added two more field goals but Alabama extended its intact streak of not allowing a touchdown to 10 consecutive quarters.
The Crimson Tide will lose a key defender for the first half of next week's Florida game. Safety Nick Perry was ejected for targeting in the second half and will have to sit a half against the Gators.
Blake Sims was the starting quarterback for the third straight game, completing 12 of 17 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Backup Jake Coker did not enter the game until the third quarter.
"Right now Blake is a little more confident," Saban said. If he remains that way, he's probably going to start against Florida.
"It just didn't feel right to make a change."
"We've got a lot to improve on," Saban said. "It's important that we do so. Every team we play for the next several weeks is really good. If they aren't in the Top 25, they probably think they should be.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1681091
