Tide follows the script in 41-0 rout of North Texas

TUSCALOOSA – Start fast. Check.

Get Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks involved early. Check.

Get Phillip Sims and Cyrus Kouandjio some playing time. Check.

Pound North Texas. Check.

Don’t show Arkansas much. Check.

Alabama followed its script well enough to cruise to a 41-0 victory in its first night game of the 2011 season.

It was Alabama’s first shutout since the Crimson Tide blanked Tennessee-Chattanooga 45-0 in 2009. It was a shutout the defense had to earn. A pass interference penalty forced Alabama to stop North Texas seven plays near the goal line late in the fourth quarter.

“It felt good,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said about preserving the shutout. “Our twos came in on a great goal-line stand so everybody was pretty pumped on the sidelines for that. It was fun.

“The crowd got back into it for the rest of the game. After they made the play, the (first-team) defense ran back out there congratulating them. It was pretty good.”

Alabama pulled away from a 20-0 halftime lead with three thunderbolts in the second half. Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy displayed breakaway ability. Richardson scored on a 58-yard run and a 71-yard run in the second half. Richardson finished with 167 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Lacy, who already had a 43-yard touchdown run in the first half, scored on a 67-yard run in the fourth quarter. He finished with 161 yards on nine carries.

“That’s one of the best feelings as a running back,” Lacy said, describing what it’s like to break into the clear. “You don’t have to worry about nobody touching you or hitting you. The offensive line did everything they’re supposed to do, the wide receivers blocked downfield and it’s just you and the touchdown. It’s one of the best feelings ever.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban sounded less than impressed with the offense’s first-half execution, however, particularly when the offensive starters were lifted – or moved positions.

For instance, left tackle Barrett Jones played at four of the five different spots on the offensive line in the first half. He saw action at center, right tackle and left guard as true freshman Kouandjio continued his crash course as a backup left tackle.

Saban didn’t like Alabama’s execution after the Crimson Tide scored on its first four possessions – the fourth a Sims-led drive to a field goal.

“Just very, very disappointed in not being able to finish drives in the red zone,” Saban said after the game. “Getting stopped on third-and-1 in two-minute right before the half. ... It’s a lack of execution. We just didn’t do it right.”

The coach added that too many negative plays have to be eliminated.

“We’re not finishing drives,” he said. “Four times we settle for field goals in the red area – and missed two of those. You’ve got to score touchdowns when you get in the red area.

“You’ve got to get rid of the negative plays. Every time you don’t pay attention to detail, every time you don’t do the little things right, the consequences can be bad.”

Alabama settled for Jeremy Shelley field goals of 26 and 37 yards in the first half. He later missed a 36-yard try in the final minute of the second quarter when the Tide’s two-minute offense – with all the starters in – stalled in the red zone.

 “I’m not very pleased with the way we played on offense the last few times we had the ball,” Saban said at the half.

Between Shelley’s first-half field goals, there was the running game. Richardson scored on a 4-yard run that gave Alabama a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Lacy got a nice block from center William Vlachos and raced off right tackle 43 yards for a score early in the second quarter.

Throughout the night, Alabama’s defense was more mean than the Mean Green. North Texas gained 25 yards total in the first half on 19 plays. The visitors made one first down before halftime. It finished with 169 total yards, 68 of which came on the ground.