Alabama wide receiver Derek Kief (81) celebrates with teammates Jamey Mosley, left, and Keaton Anderson after blocking a punt during Saturday’s game against Louisiana in Tuscaloosa, Ala.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was Jaylen & Jalen Day for the top-ranked University of Alabama football team.
Freshman wide receiver Jaylen Waddle returned a punt for a touchdown and caught two passes for scores, and Jalen Hurts made a statement simply by playing in the Crimson Tide’s 56-14 victory against overmatched Louisiana on Saturday.
Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Hurts staked the Southeastern Conference’s Tide (5-0) to a 49-0 halftime lead over the Sun Belt’s Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) to set up the reigning national champions’ latest blowout victory. Alabama has scored at least 45 points in five straight games for the first time.
Hurts, a junior who twice led Alabama to national championship games but lost his starting job, erased any question about possibly taking a redshirt year by playing in his fifth game. He entered on the last possession of the first quarter.
“There’s never been anybody that I know of that’s in the position that he’s in, so that just speaks volumes to his character,” Alabama tailback Josh Jacobs said.
Third-string quarterback Mac Jones even got into the act with his 94-yard touchdown pass to Waddle late in the third quarter. It tied for the second-longest touchdown catch in program history.
Tagovailoa completed all eight of his passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, mostly in the first quarter. Hurts was 4-of-6 for 118 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III.
At the end of a week in which Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant’s demotion to backup after starting the Tigers’ first four games this season was followed by his decision to transfer, putting the NCAA’s new redshirt guidelines in the spotlight, Hurts simply playing was noteworthy.
“Jalen obviously handled this extremely well relative to being a great team player, great team leader, respecting his teammates and sticking with the program here,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
“He played very well today and took advantage of when he does have an opportunity to play – he plays well and tries to create value for himself, which I think would be the message that I would send to all players out there who are trying to take advantage of this new rule.”
Ruggs caught five passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Waddle gained 138 yards on three catches and returned a punt by zigzagging 63 yards for a score.
“The dude is explosive,” Ruggs said. “He’s very shifty and very fast. He’s going to be a problem.”
Alabama took a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes with help from two big plays on special teams – Waddle’s return and Derek Kief’s blocked punt.
Jacobs ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored twice in the fourth but were outgained 608-288 in total yards. Trey Ragas gained 111 yards on 16 carries, including a 1-yard touchdown.
Louisana coach Billy Napier, a Murray County (Georgia) High School graduate, said he was concerned about Waddle and Jacobs, who returns kicks.
“I probably lost more sleep this week thinking about that than I did anything else,” the former Alabama receivers coach said.
Saban improved to 14-0 against former assistants a week after defeating Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher.
There were thousands of empty seats at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and only a fraction of seats in the student sections were filled. Official attendance was a near-capacity 101,471.