As parents arrived on campus Friday afternoon for a fun-filled parents’ weekend, Head Coach Nick Saban was getting his team ready to shutout Florida Atlantic.
Although #1 Alabama didn’t completely shutout the Florida Atlantic Owls, instead winning the game 40-7, it seemed Coach Saban was satisfied saying, “I was much more pleased with the way we competed in the game.”
Then again what coach wouldn’t be happy with an 85-yard touchdown-crossing pass from AJ McCarron to Kenny Bell two minutes into the game? Or performances by stand out freshman like T.J. Yeldon and Dee Hart (pictured)? AJ McCarron was 15-of-25 passing for 212 yards with three touchdowns. In the first half, Alabama junior running back Eddie Lacy carried the ball 15 times for 106 yards.
The impressiveness of Alabama’s stats doesn’t stop there—the Tide was 7 of 14 in third-down conversions, 2 of 2 in fourth conversions and 6 for 6 in red-zone scoring chances. Alabama finished with 47 carries for 256 yards rushing and was 16 of 26 completions for 247 yards. The Tide finished the game with 503 offensive yards, while holding FAU to only 134 total yards.
Coach Saban said, “Just the way we approached the game, the way we competed in the game, and we got to play a lot of players. I think those things are going to benefit us down the road, and even though they drove the ball, we actually probably played a little bit better this week than last week. You know, they didn’t score last week. They could’ve scored, but they didn’t.”
The Crimson Tide is currently 4-0, ranked #1 in the AP poll for the fourth week in a row, and will go onto face Ole Miss next Saturday in the SEC home opener. The game is set to kick off at 8:15 CST and air on ESPN.
Sources:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=322660333
http://www.rolltide.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2012-2013/ua04.html
Photo Credit:
Stewart Gwin, The Tuscaloosa News http://tidesports.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Alabama-vs-Florida-Atla…