5 winners and 3 losers as Alabama dominates South Carolina to move to 4-0

Alabama fans wanted a faster start this week after back-to-back weeks of trailing early. Alabama fell behind at halftime against Kentucky and then found itself down 21-6 to Florida State last week. The Crimson Tide rallied and played well in the second half of both games, but the slow starts were concerning heading into a difficult stretch.

Against South Carolina, Alabama worked out the kinks. They still started with a three-and-out, but on the fourth play of the game, Keelon Russell hit Lotzeir Brooks for a 75-yard touchdown. That began a streak of four consecutive drives that resulted in touchdowns. Add in a pick-six, and Alabama built an insurmountable 35-3 lead on the way to a 49-18 win.

The Crimson Tide moved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC as the five-game gauntlet that will decide the season starts next week. Let's look at the winners and losers from yesterday's impressive 31-point win.

Winner: Keelon Russell

It's just getting silly with this kid. The light switched on for Keelon Russell in the second quarter against Florida State, and he's been playing the QB position as well as any player in the country in the seven quarters since.

Russell hit the early bomb to Brooks, then followed that up with three more first-half touchdown passes. He hit two to Ryan Coleman-Williams and then another to Josh Ford. He added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter for good measure.

He finished with 400 yards of total offense and five scores. Through the air, he was 21-of-27 for 365 yards.

With the offensive line providing plenty of time for Russell to stand in the pocket and scan the field, he's picking folks apart. The scary thing is, he's just scratching the surface of the player he can become.

Winner: Ryan Coleman-Williams

Russell said after week one that he and Ryan Coleman-Williams would be the best duo in the country. It's starting to look like it.

The junior captain turned six targets into five receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns. He was able to get behind the South Carolina defense twice, and he made the Gamecocks pay. He has been sure-handed since the drops in the opener against East Carolina, and you had to love the fight he showed to score his second touchdown, dragging two defenders with him into the end zone:

Winners: Alabama's TE room

These guys continue to make a difference every week. While they've been mauling people in the run game all year, they are showing they are a lot more than just blockers.

Kaleb Edwards, Marshall Pritchett, and Josh Ford all made big plays in the passing game. Edwards and Pritchett combined for six catches and 104 yards. Ford made the most spectacular play of the night, hauling in a one-handed touchdown reception from Russell in the second quarter:

Ford also got in the head of South Carolina star edge Dylan Stewart, making him crash out and quit.

Alabama coaches hyped up that trio and Danny Lewis Jr. during the preseason. The first four weeks have shown why.

Winner: Luke Metz

It wasn't a perfect performance from the Alabama defense, but sophomore LB Luke Metz clearly took last week's struggles against Florida State personally. He arrived at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night with bad intentions. He led the Crimson Tide with 13 tackles, picked up a fumble in the fourth quarter, and delivered several big-time hits:

Former Alabama All-American linebacker Reuben Foster identified Metz as a "problem" after watching the Crimson Tide back in the spring. That has proven prophetic.

Winner: Red Morgan

Another defender on demon time against South Carolina was Red Morgan. For the second straight week, Morgan recorded an interception. This week, he took it all the way back for a touchdown. He jumped a LaNorris Sellers pass and ran it back for a pick-six that broke the spirit of the Gamecocks and pushed Alabama's lead to 35-3:

He was all over the field outside of the pick-six, too, finishing with eight tackles and a tackle-for-loss.

Alabama has a lot of options at the Husky position, with Chuck McDonald and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. more than good enough to get on the field. Morgan is just too good to take off.

Loser: Alabama's run defense

Alabama's run defense, which had been dominant the first three weeks, looked leaky against South Carolina. That's a significant concern heading into the physical games that the Crimson Tide will face in the coming weeks.

The Gamecocks ran for 216 yards, setting the tone immediately with a 56-yard run on the first play of the game. Matt Fuller picked up 112 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Alabama had to play without two of its best edge defenders, with Justin Hill and Desmond Umeozulu sidelined, but with or without those two, they have to be better up front in the coming weeks.

Loser: Dijon Lee

It's probably too early to panic about sophomore CB Dijon Lee, but it has been a rough two weeks for the former 5-star recruit.

After getting torched by Florida State's Duce Robinson, he gave up another long touchdown this week to South Carolina's Nyck Harbor. Lee held Harbor down the field, fell down, and gave up a wide-open touchdown.

Lee is a talented kid who is still learning on the job. But Alabama has championship aspirations and can't continue to have coverage busts on the back end. He needs to play better, and soon, or Kane Wommack might be forced to make a difficult decision.

Loser: AK Dear

It was only his first game back from injury, but after hearing throughout fall camp that AK Dear was running the ball better than any Tide back, his usage against South Carolina was odd. He only got one carry, and it came in the fourth quarter.

It makes sense that Alabama was going to work him back slowly after missing so much time, but with Kevin Riley seeing an increased workload alongside Daniel Hill and Trae'shawn Brown, it's tough to see Dear carving out any real role as a sophomore.

There are no cupcakes on the schedule until late November, so changing the RB rotation may not be that feasible with things going well.

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