Alabama posts impressive season opening win

BY KEN ROGERS

krogers@dothaneagle.com

TUSCALOOSA – For just the briefest moment in the second half, it became important to watch the Alabama offense.

That unit staked the Crimson Tide to a comfortable lead in the first quarter. But quarterback Phillip Sims threw interceptions on the Tide’s first two possessions of the second half. The second of those picks all but handed Kent State its only points of the game.

Roused from what senior center William Vlachos called a “lull,” the offense marched 76 yards in eight plays under co-starting quarterback AJ McCarron, capped off by Trent Richardson’s third touchdown run of the day.

One minute later, a bad snap on a Kent State punt allowed Alabama to put the game away and the second-ranked Crimson Tide cruised to a 48-7 season-opening victory.

That sequence set the stage for a bit of comedy on a day that lacked much drama.

Alabama, which looked at offensive line combinations just as closely as it looked at its co-starting quarterbacks, was eager to see Barrett Jones take some snaps at center. Jones started at left tackle and also played left guard during the game.

But when Jones went in at center, either Alabama scored quickly or turned the ball over – each quarterback was intercepted twice.

Alabama coach Nick Saban approached Vlachos on the sideline before Kent State’s botched punt snap. With the Tide again comfortably leading 31-7, Jones was going back at center. So after the botched punt, Jones was the point man on the goal line.

Saban sought out Vlachos and jabbed a little fun at him.

“If he fumbles this snap, it’s your fault, because you’re supposed to run out there and say I’m playing center. The coach isn’t supposed to change centers on the 1-yard line,” Saban said. “So Barrett saved him. Vlachos was actually a little scared.”

The regular center just shook his head.

“Coach Saban was the one that told me Barrett was getting ready to go out there. That was funny,” Vlachos noted. “Luckily, Barrett got the ball up there. He’s a gamer.”

Jones admitted to being nervous on the goal line.

“I was just really worried about the snap,” he said. “I was like, if Trent has to run over the nose guard, so be it. I’m at least going to get the ball to the quarterback and he can give us a chance.”

In fact, Eddie Lacy took the handoff from McCarron and powered over.

Told about the exchange between Vlachos and Saban, Jones couldn’t resist going to the coach.

“I told him thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jones said.

Cyrus Kouandjio played a lot of left tackle as Jones bounced from guard to center on Saturday. The true freshman drew praise from his teammates, although Saban asked to wait to see the film.

“There was nothing glaring that he didn’t do,” Saban said about the true freshman. “He didn’t give up a lot of sacks, made some out calls. They did a lot of pressure from the corner and fire zones and he did a pretty good job of blocking out on them and doing the right things.”

The defense did nearly everything right, dominating Kent State for most of the afternoon. The Golden Flashes managed one first down, minus-5 rushing yards and 23 total yards in the first half. The visitors’ touchdown was set up by Norman Wolfe’s 37-yard interception return up the Kent State sideline to the Alabama 3.

On second down, Justin Thompson caught Spencer Keith’s pass in the end zone, pulling Kent State within 24-7 with 9:13 left in the third quarter.

The guests finished with 90 yards of total offense and just six first downs.

“I feel like we came out and had a good day, but it wasn’t perfect,” Alabama safety Mark Barron said. “We had great communication (in the secondary) today. As far as mental errors, we probably had one of our best games.”

They sacked Keith four times and hurried him five times. Phelon Jones intercepted him in the fourth quarter, but the Tide broke up eight of his passes, including three by cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.

“We had a great day of affecting the quarterback,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “Me and Nico (Johnson) were dogging each other after we got our hands on passes we should have picked.”

Saban credited Marquis Maze with an outstanding game – 118 yards receiving on eight catches, 96 yards on eight punt returns and one kickoff return for 39 yards.

“Marquis Maze did a fantastic job today,” the coach said. “We need more guys to step up and be explosive players on offense.”

Alabama established its dominance in the first quarter. The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns on its first two possessions and three of its first four.

Richardson scored from a yard out with 10:22 left. McCarron, who started the first three series, threw a 24-yard touchdown strike to Maze at the 8:03 mark. Sims led a scoring march on his first series, finished by Richardson’s 9-yard run with 26 seconds left in the first period.

Things quieted down from that point, which allowed Kent State’s offense to remain heavily sedated – not to mention outsized and overpowered – by Alabama’s touted defense. The Golden Flashes finished with 90 total yards in 70 offensive plays.

“The defense did a really good job today,” Vlachos said. “The offense needed to do some things better today than we did, especially running the ball.”