After Florida State's first two offensive possessions of Saturday night's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against top-ranked Alabama, the No. 3 Seminoles had reeled off 19 plays for 127 yards and had a 7-3 lead.
"We busted a lot of things, and I guess you can expect that for a first game," Crimson Tide senior linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said. "Everybody has first-game jitters with new guys and stuff, but once we got settled in, we were pretty OK."
Alabama was beyond OK defensively the rest of the way, limiting the Seminoles to 123 yards on their final 41 plays and preventing any more points as the Crimson Tide pulled away for a 24-7 win. Florida State totaled just 40 yards on 27 rushes in the game, and an impressive first half by Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois was derailed by a pair of second-half interceptions.
Francois, who was sacked 36 times last year, was sacked three times Saturday night and left the game with a left knee injury with 5:44 remaining. The Tallahassee Democrat reported Sunday night that the redshirt sophomore will have surgery this week and is out for the season.
Alabama also suffered setbacks, with AL.com reporting Sunday afternoon that outside linebackers Christian Miller (torn biceps) and Terrell Lewis (torn elbow ligament) could be shelved for the year. Inside linebacker Rashaan Evans (groin injury) and outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings (sprained ankle) also had to leave Saturday's win.
The Seminoles' offense collected 108 yards in the first quarter, 77 in the second, 48 in the third and 17 in the fourth - a downward trend that was pleasing to Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.
"I think the combination of them only making one explosive play in the game and their inability to consistently run the ball was probably something that was a real benefit to us," Saban said. "Early in the game, they were moving the ball against us because they were running it 3, 4 and 5 yards. They were getting in third-and-3 and third-and-2.
"Our plan was to try to pressure the quarterback, but we could never do it in those situations, so we started creating more negative circumstances on first and second down, which put us in a better position on third down. When we got into that rhythm, I think we played a little better on defense, but I was very pleased with the way we stopped the run."
Saban has a news conference schedule for this afternoon in Tuscaloosa, when he is expected to update the status of several of his defenders.
Hamilton, playing in his first game since tearing his ACL in last December's Southeastern Conference championship game, led Alabama's defensive charge with eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Junior safety Ronnie Harrison had the sack that knocked Francois out of the game, and sophomore defensive end Raekwon Davis had a sack six days after suffering a gunshot wound to his right leg.
Levi Wallace and Mack Wilson collected second-half interceptions for the Crimson Tide, when Francois was repeatedly under duress.
"We knew that he was a really good quarterback and that he doesn't let the hits affect him," Hamilton said. "We just tried to get after him play after play. If you're human, you're not going to like some guy teeing off on you. You're going to wear down eventually."
Said Wallace: "We just communicated a little bit better in that second half and played better as a whole defense."
What made Saturday night all the more remarkable is that the Crimson Tide held Florida State to seven points after having seven defenders selected this spring in the NFL draft.
Tide tidbits
Alabama has won 16 straight season openers, with eight of those in domed stadiums. ... Saban is 14-1 lifetime in Atlanta, having gone 11-1 with the Crimson Tide and 3-0 at LSU. ... Hamilton on the $1.6 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium: "It's amazing. It didn't know the jumbotron went a full 360. I was literally just looking around a lot of the time. It was really nice." ... Alabama opened Sunday as a 43.5-point favorite over Fresno State.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.