Alabama Football: Studs and no Duds in Bulldogs Win

Last season, Alabama football shut out Mike Leach’s air raid, 41-0. After intense scrutiny from the media and fans following last week’s loss to the Texas A&M Aggies, Alabama responded as they always do after a loss—with a resounding victory.

No. 5 Alabama Football (6-1, 3-1 SEC) demolishes Mississippi State (3-3, 1-2) 49-9

During his post-game press conference, Alabama football head coach Nick Saban appeared pleased,

"“We certainly needed to respond, and I think the players responded the right way. We played a 60-minute game, sort of dominated the game the way we’d like to play. I think it’s the way you wanna play on the road, it’s the way you control the crowd and I thought our guys did a really, really good job of that.”"

Here are the studs from last night’s victory. There were no duds.

Will Anderson Jr.

We have all witnessed “do as I say, not as I do” leadership. After the Crimson Tide loss, the sophomore leader challenged the team about playing to the Alabama standard. The outside linebacker dominated the Bulldogs’ right tackle all night. Anderson gave off flashbacks of a young Derrick Thomas. Setting the tone, he finished the game with a Herculean FOUR sacks and six tackles. The Alabama football Twitter feed mentioned his valorous play:

Jordan Battle

The defensive backfield leader established early that the back end was ready for the challenge of Mississippi State’s air raid offense. Battle finished with two interceptions, including a classic 40-yard pick-six. Additionally, he added seven tackles from his strong safety spot.

John Metchie and Jameson Williams

The former preseason All American came to play after a subpar performance in College Station. Metchie finished with seven catches for 117 yards and one score.

His counterpart, Jameson Williams, finished with 77 yards receiving on two catches. However, this speed demon broke the game open with a 75-yard catch and run to open the second half.

Brian Robinson Jr.

If you were to look up consistency in the dictionary, a picture of Robinson would be next to it. With a steady performance of 73 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, the underrated Robinson added another 68 yards and one touchdown receiving.

Bryce Young

A grizzled Young was 20/28 for 348 yards and four touchdowns. He even displayed he could run the ball with a nifty 13-yard run. Still a Heisman favorite, the young quarterback keeps providing the Crimson Tide with dependable performances.

Coordinators Pete Golding and Bill O’ Brien

Both units bounced back from the abysmal loss with solid performances.  The blazing defense delivered a maestro performance registering seven sacks, nine tackles for loss, and three interceptions and limiting the SEC’s leading passer, Will Rogers, to 300 yards with zero touchdowns with a constant barrage of blitzes. Better communication, tackling, and pressure was evident all game.

The offensive line protection for Young, 543 yards of total offense, and a balanced showing proved O’Brien made adjustments after the last game. Saban called a timeout when the offense lined up in an empty formation on third and one from the Bulldogs goal line. When the offense returned, there was a fullback and two tight ends in the lineup. Robinson walked into the end zone untouched.

Lesson learned from a humbling defeat.

Look for Alabama football to keep rolling as they face the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday at 6 pm.