Late in the third quarter of Alabama’s season opener last Saturday against Duke in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa connected with Jerry Jeudy for a 21-yard touchdown pass and a 35-3 lead in their eventual 42-3 cakewalk.
Tagovailoa’s throw was from Duke’s 27-yard line, and Jeudy caught the ball at the 24, meaning that he had 24 yards after the catch. Jeudy stiff-armed one Duke defender and got a block from fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle to reach the end zone with ease, and his 24 yards were among Alabama’s eye-popping 268 yards after the catch for the game.
“That’s our mindset,” Jeudy said this week during a news conference. “We never try to let the first guy tackle us. Whenever we have a chance to make a play, we want to take advantage of it.”
Those 268 yards after the catch accounted for 73% of Alabama’s 367 passing yards against the Blue Devils, with Tagovailoa completing 26 of 31 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns, and with backup Mac Jones going 4-of-5 for 31 yards. The Tide owned college football’s most dazzling quartet of receivers last season with Jeudy, Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs III, and all four are back this year.
Yet Alabama’s wide receivers weren’t the only ones getting loose after catches against Duke.
On Miller Forristall’s 27-yard touchdown reception five minutes into the second quarter that finally got Alabama going, 15 of those yards were after the catch for the redshirt junior tight end. The score was the first of Forristall’s career.
“I always tell our players to take what the defense gives,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said this week. “We can make explosive plays, catching a 2-yard pass and turning it into a 70-yard play, just as we can always try to force the ball down the field, especially with the kind of players we have.
“I think it’s imperative to the success of what we’re doing, but we’re also doing the things we do because those guys can do that, and because they can do that, it’s a tremendous weapon.”
Jeudy, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, had a career-high 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta, while Waddle added 90 yards on five receptions. Waddle had the Tide’s longest gain with a 39-yard reception midway through the second quarter, but he caught the ball 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
So Waddle produced 43 yards after the catch.
“We all want big plays, but sometimes the defense won’t let you,” Jeudy said. “We can take advantage of the short routes, too, and make plays off of them.”
That Alabama did not produce a lot of excitement way down the field was certainly in contrast to all the monster gains that were commonplace last season. Even in the 44-16 loss to Clemson in January’s national championship game, Jeudy got behind the Tigers’ secondary for a 62-yard score.
Alabama’s receivers were patient and productive against the Blue Devils, and only time will tell if the patient part continues.
“We should have been more explosive at the beginning, but we had some big plays in the second half,” Jeudy said. “Last year we were an explosive team scoring fast, but we know now that every play doesn’t have to be a big play. We can settle in and focus on the little things to help us execute.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.