Richard Mullaney’s new team won a lot more than his old team this season.
After a stellar sophomore year at Oregon State and a junior season cut short by injury, Mullaney decided to play his final year as a graduate transfer at Alabama. The Beavers lost longtime coach Mike Riley to Nebraska last winter and plummeted to a 2-10 record this season, including an 0-9 mark in Pac-12 contests.
Alabama, meanwhile, is 12-1 after winning the Southeastern Conference championship game and will play Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve for a berth in the title game of the four-team playoff.
“It’s everything I had hoped it would be and more,” Mullaney said. “This team deserves everything we’ve gotten. We’ve been fighting all year, and for us to do what we’ve done has been awesome.”
The Crimson Tide practiced Monday for two hours in full pads, and coach Nick Saban said afterward that he has been pleased with the work ethic and focus during the on-campus workouts. Alabama will practice again this morning before taking Wednesday through Friday off.
Mullaney, a 6-foot-3, 208-pounder from Thousand Oaks, Calif., ranks third on the Tide with 34 catches for 308 yards and five touchdowns. His fifth score occurred midway through the fourth quarter of the SEC title game earlier this month, with a 9-yard reception from Jake Coker giving Alabama a 29-7 lead over Florida.
Arriving in June after receiving his transfer release from Oregon State, Mullaney expected to provide depth for Alabama but quickly became needed due to injuries to Robert Foster and Chris Black and his own reliability.
“I think Richard Mullaney has been a really good addition because of his consistency and great hands,” Saban said during the season. “He’s very seasoned. He’s a veteran guy who has played a lot of football, and he’s consistently made plays for us.”
Though nobody will confuse Oregon State for Alabama in football tradition, the Beavers did enjoy success while Mullaney was there. As a redshirt freshman in 2012, he caught 13 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown on a 9-4 team that dropped a heartbreaker to Texas in the Alamo Bowl.
Mullaney’s most productive year was two years ago, when he had 52 receptions for 788 yards and three touchdowns on a 7-6 team that topped Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl. He had 18 catches for 216 yards and a score last season before suffering a season-ending elbow injury against Utah, a double-overtime loss that helped turn a 4-1 start for the Beavers into a 5-7 finish.
It wasn’t that deep into preseason camp when Saban figured Mullaney could help the 2015 Tide, and that became obvious when he had two touchdown catches in the third game against Ole Miss.
“The biggest challenge was picking up a new offense, but it wasn’t too bad,” Mullaney said. “Football is football at the end of the day, and I am so blessed that I’m here. These guys are my family, and I love them.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.