Welcome to the Alabama football starting lineup, young Mr. Moses. Tide true freshman shines in first start against Mercer.
Very few 19-year old young men earn being referred to as Mister. Dylan Moses is way outside the teenage norm. On Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa, Moses led his older teammates on the Alabama football starting defense.
Moses took calls from the sideline and relayed them to his teammates. He shouted out late adjustments as the opposing offense shifted, pre-snap. On top of all those duties, he added 11 tackles including four tackles for a loss. He also made an interception. Given his performance, referring to Dylan as Mr. Moses is only slight embellishment.
ICYMI: Dylan Moses Auditions for Starting Role
The Mercer Bears offered meager challenge for the Crimson Tide. The Alabama football job on Senior Day was to play to a standard. In post-game comments, Nick Saban said his Tide team did just that. The 56-0 score could have been a bigger margin.
Jalen Hurts, who only played one and a half quarters, was impressive. Hurts was 7-7 for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Six Tide running backs averaged a cumulative 6.5 yards-per-carry. Ten Tiders caught passes led by Calvin Ridley with three catches for 103 yards.
A large contingent of Alabama football players was given virtual tryouts on Saturday. Regular starters Ross Piersbacher and Minkah Fitzpatrick did not suit up for the game. Replacements J.C. Hassenaur and Deionte Thompson strived to show they could be counted on against Auburn. Many other young, less experienced Tide players tried to perform their way to more playing time.
A Starting Inside Linebacker Against Auburn
One audition took center stage. The role was Starting Inside Linebacker vs Auburn. As it had begun to look during practice last week, the role was available for Dylan Moses to win or lose. No votes have yet been tabulated because there is no need, only one vote counts. Nick Saban may continue the audition into the first day or two of Iron Bowl practices but the suspense is over. Barring a practice injury, Dylan Moses will start at Jordan-Hare.
Is Moses ready? Mercer is a long, long way from being Auburn (despite the early game result between the two teams.) Moses is likely to make more mistakes than the senior he is replacing, Shaun Dion Hamilton. But his athleticism will be of great benefit against Auburn’s speed.
Against Mercer, Dylan Moses played like a young man ready for the challenge of a big game. Moses got a strong endorsement from senior, Hootie Jones.
Hootie Jones on Dylan Moses: "He played phenomenal. I ain't seen no freshman play like that since I've been here."
— Ben Jones (@BW_Jones) November 18, 2017
Next: Alabama Football: Where 5-Star Linebackers wait their turn
The Tise’s senior class now has 51 wins which ties the NCAA record. They are 51-4 with games to play. The 2016 senior class was 51-6 in their Crimson Tide careers.