Alabama Football: Offensive report card against Vanderbilt
Alabama football finally got its passing game going against the Commodores, hitting on multiple explosive plays en route to a 55-3 victory.
Alabama Football quarterbacks: A
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young opened conference play with his best performance of the season, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns. To the delight of the fan base, he took shots downfield early and often. While Young could still stand to connect on a higher percentage of these throws, showing the willingness to throw it deep is often enough to keep defenses honest.
Still, Bryce Young connected on more vertical passes than he has all season. He continued to spread the ball around to a variety of receivers, which is becoming a strength of this offense. Young appeared to return to Heisman-caliber form against the Commodores.
Jalen Milroe also made some solid throws, and some masterful runs, in leading a touchdown drive of his own. Milroe completed just four passes for 10 yards, but his pass attempts drew two pass interference penalties.
Alabama Football running backs: B+
The Alabama running backs were about as impactful as they could be in limited repetitions. Alabama spreads the ball around to its backs to the extent that no individual gets an excess of touches.
Jase McClellan led the way this week with 11 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. McClellan also caught two passes for 19 yards to finish with 97 all-purpose yards. Jahmyr Gibbs ran just three times for 21 yards, but caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. Gibbs has proven to be a threat catching the ball out of the backfield all season, recording his third receiving score of the year against Vandy.
Roydell Williams and Trey Sanders saw just four carries apiece, totaling 40 yards. Freshman Jamarion Miller stole the show, entering the game in the fourth quarter and finishing as the Tide’s second-leading rusher. Miller toted the ball nine times for 63 yards and two touchdowns, notching the first score of his Alabama football career.
For the game, Alabama ran for 228 yards on just 34 attempts (6.7 YPC). For the season, each of Alabama’s running backs are averaging at least 6.0 yards per carry, with Jase McClellan leading the way at 8.4.