Alabama football coach Nick Saban is trying to get the Crimson Tide defense ready for a rare look at the option offense.OXFORD, Miss. – Top-ranked Alabama faced a rare bit of adversity Saturday night when the game’s first offensive play turned into a 75-yard touchdown pass from Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to D.K. Metcalf.
The angst lasted a grand total of 11 seconds.
Alabama wasn’t going to let one play shake its confidence.
Unleashing a relentless onslaught from that point forward, the Crimson Tide buried the Rebels 62-7 in a Southeastern Conference opener that quickly turned into a blowout.
“We don’t dwell on plays like that,” Alabama defensive back Xavier McKinney said. “When that happened, we weren’t down about it. We just kept going, kept playing and I feel like we did a great job.”
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns, Jerry Jeudy caught two touchdown passes and the Tide’s offense rolled up 49 points before halftime. Alabama (3-0) had 516 total yards and was so effective that Tagovailoa’s evening was over by midway through the second quarter.
The left-handed sophomore completed 11 of 15 passes during his short time on the field. The Tide then turned to former starter Jalen Hurts, who was 7-of-10 passing for 85 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
It was so lopsided that third-string quarterback Mac Jones was in the game before the end of the third quarter. Alabama coach Nick Saban – not known as one who gives out compliments easily – had no complaints about how his team handled its first road game in a hostile environment.
“I’m going to have to give us a good grade in all those areas,” Saban said. “I was pleased.”
Ole Miss (2-1) suffered through a second straight blowout loss to the Crimson Tide. The Rebels fell 66-3 last year in Tuscaloosa.
Ta’amu was just 7-of-22 passing for 133 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“We were able to make some plays, but it’s hard because they mess up your timing,” Ta’amu said. “I had to throw quicker or tucked it to run, and that’s not on our receivers. They also did a good job of batting balls that I thought would have been plays for us.”
The early euphoria for home fans at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was short-lived. Alabama wasn’t fazed.
The Tide scored seven touchdowns by halftime, doing whatever they wanted against the Ole Miss defense. There were plenty of clues the Rebels would struggle to slow down the Tide – including giving up 629 yards to Southern Illinois last week – but the onslaught was still stunning.
“We knew we’d have to capitalize off turnovers and execute to make it a four quarter game,” Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said. “We didn’t do that. We had chances early.”