Alabama Football: What went right and wrong against Ole Miss

What a night for Alabama football in Oxford, MS. Team and conference records were made from good and bad results.

Alabama football fans who love shootouts got one Saturday night in Oxford. In terms of yardage gained by the two offenses, the two defenses were – nearly defenseless. An SEC record 1,370 yards were gained by the two teams.

Ole Miss had 12 possessions and scored six touchdowns and two field goals from them. Alabama football had 11 possessions and scored nine touchdowns. There were a total of three punts in the first half and none in the second. Only once did a team fail to score in the red zone, a Najee Harris fumble was recovered by Ole Miss, stopping the Tide at the Ole Miss one-yard line.

The Alabama football offense ran for 306 net yards and seven rushing touchdowns, five by Najee Harris. The Tide passing game led by Mac Jones’ 28-32 accuracy, gained 417 yards.

In the second half, it became clear the Crimson Tide needed to score on every possession. Ole Miss gained 647 yards.  For most of the game, the Crimson Tide could not pressure or contain Ole Miss quarterback, Matt Corral. Two Ole Miss receivers, Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah caught 18 passes against a Tide secondary that provided little resistance. Catches by the two players provided 224 yards of the Ole Miss offensive output. Two Ole Miss running backs gained a total of 248 yards. Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner both averaged over six yards-per-carry.

Check out the complete game stats here.

More simply stated, the Alabama football offense was wonderful. The Alabama football defense was dreadful. Pete Golding’s defenders made enough mistakes for three football games. Lane Kiffin and his Offensive Coordinator, Jeff Levy had a great plan for the Tide. The play-calling was excellent and with few exceptions, the Ole Miss players executed the plan at a high level.

Kiffin should be acknowledged but his acumen had easy picking against a mistake-hampered Tide defense. Ole Miss, Defensive Coordinator, D.J. Durkin also had an impressive plan, taking away long balls from Mac Jones until late in the game.

Steve Sarkisian was quietly the best coach in the game. His play-calling and offensive scheme took what Ole Miss gave him and he maximized his player’s skills. Without Sark, the Crimson Tide would have been upset in Oxford.

After the game, Nick Saban said,

"The offense did a fantastic job in this game. They had a good plan, did a good job of executing it. Najee Harris was good. Mac played really well. The receiving corps played really well."

Saturday night’s defensive performance cannot be repeated next Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The Georgia Bulldogs defense is not going to allow 63 Crimson Tide points.