Week 1 bore witness to a plethora of sloppy play from teams from the top to the bottom. Many teams appeared to be a bit “rusty”. But then again, it could be that they just aren’t that good to begin with. Very few teams appeared to be in midseason form from whistle to whistle outside of maybe LSU.

ALABAMA 42 DUKE 3

The Crimson Tide took a little while to get going on both sides of the ball but finally got it together to wear down the Blue Devils. Tua Tagovailoa (26-31, 364 yds, 0 INT, 3 TD) and Jerry Jeudy (10 rec, 137 yds, TD) were solid despite the junior QB running for his life in the early going. Center Chris Owens was not good. [FYI: Deonte Brown is due back on Sep 28 vs Ole Miss. Apparently, his appeal is still open. Too bad he’s not a QB.] Six different Tide players found the end zone: Jeudy, Jerome Ford, Brian Robinson, DeVonta Smith, Miller Forristall, and Major Tennison. Tight ends Forristall and Tennison combined to catch four passes with two scores. This stat is important because the nation’s top tight end recruit 5-star Arik Gilbert was watching from the stands.

Bama outgained the Dookies 512 to 204. The Tide earned 30 first downs as compared to only 11 for their opponent. Turnovers favored Alabama 3 to 1.

SEC

Auburn 27 Oregon 21

Remember when AU beat Pac-12 champ Washington in the opener last season before finishing 8-4 (3-5)?...

Bo Nix and the Auburn offense were not good for the first three and a half quarters. The freshman quarterback was all of 13/31 for 177 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT with 7 rush, 42 yds. However, Oregon mistakes and the Auburn defense kept the Tigers in the game long enough to allow for the late game heroics in which they scored the last 21 points after trailing 21-6. Kevin Steele deserves credit for adjusting the defense, yet the Ducks should’ve been up 28-0 in the first half. They had a dropped pass in the end zone, a missed 20-yd FG, and a Justin Herbert fumble at the 9-yd line that was returned to the Oregon 3.

It was yet another one of those games where the oblong pigskin bounced the Tigers’ way. Now is the time for Auburn to give Gustavo another seven-year extension.

Georgia 30 Vanderbilt 6 - Despite losing their top six pass catchers from 2018, Jake Fromm was able to find eight different receivers against the Commodores defense. However, the passing game only amassed 156 yards. The Bulldogs did most of their business on the ground with 323 yards of which 147 belonged to D'Andre Swift. Despite the success, they had some trouble keeping up the pace converting only three field goals in the second half. Because of this, the starters had to go most of the way. The Bulldogs being flagged 10 times for 117 yards.

LSU 55 Georgia Southern 3 - The Tigers may have played the most complete game of any team this weekend. 14 different receivers caught balls while Joe Burrow (23-27, 278 yds) tied a school record with five touchdown passes. LSU had no turnovers or sacks allowed. The Tigers defense was smothering holsin GSU, a decent Sun Belt team, to only 98 total yards, 8 first downs, and 1-12 on 3rd down efficiency.

Texas A&M 41 Texas State 7 - Kellen Mond looked sharp accounting for three touchdown through the air and one on the ground for an easy win. Jashaun Corbin had 103 yards rushing but the yardage came on 22 carries for a 4.7 ypc average. Isaiah Spiller added 106, but 85 came on one run. The defense tallied four interceptions and five passes defensed, but could not get the opposing QBs on the ground. A good effort but they will need to be much better to beat their next opponent.

MEH

Mississippi State 38 LaLaf 28 - Clanga quarterback Tommy Stevens won the game (20-30, 236 yds, 2 TD, 1 rush TD) but it wasn't easy. A ten point win over ULL is less than impressive. The real star of the game was Kylin Hill who rushed for 197 yards and a score. Outside of Hill and Stevens, only Nick Gibson had a rush attempt for the Bullies - a grand total of two. The MSU defense yielded 430 yards and 27 first downs. Billy Napier’s Ragin’ Cajuns had almost even stats with Missy State but four turnovers were their undoing.

Kentucky 38 Toledo 24 - at least they didn’t lose. Speaking of losing...

GTFOH

Arkansas 20 Portland State 13 - Might as well have been a loss. The Razorbacks got two big grad transfers this year and neither one of them were very good. Nick Starkel and Ben Hicks combined for 191 passing yards and no touchdowns. Rakeem Boyd rushed 18 times for 114 yds and a score.

Wyoming 37 Missouri 31 - This senior-heavy Mizzou team was expected to contend for the SEC East. Instead they lost to a middle-of-the-road MWC team who was 6-6 a year ago and deemed unworthy of a bowl invitation. UM Quarterback Kelly Bryant had some good moments but he had a fumble that was scooped-and-scored and also threw an interception into the end zone. Miz RB Larry Rountree had a fumble of his own that was returned to the Tigers’ goal line and converted into a field goal. Barry Odom, you are on the HOT SEAT!

Memphis 15 Ole Miss 10 - Ugly game, ugly score, just plain UGMO! The Rebel Black Shark Bear Ackbars racked up a grand total of 173 total yards against 364 for Memphis. OM was 1 for 10 on third down. Two-sport 5-star freshman Jerrion Ealy had 4 rushed for 2 yards. So much for new OC Rich Rodriguez injecting some life into the offense. With Matt Luke in his third year in Oxford, it is clear that the Rebels are running out of the Hugh Freeze gas. The warranties on the players that Freeze bought have run out. Matt Luke, you are on the HOT SEAT!

North Carolina 24 South Carolina 20 - Another true freshman quarterback ruled the day. UNC’s Sam Howell threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns. The Gamecocks blew a 20-9 fourth quarter lead for their second straight loss in Charlotte against an ACC team. Senior Jake Bentley (16/30 142 yds) threw two late fourth quarter interceptions to seal the win for the Tarheels. Ol’ man river Mack Brown almost blew the game taking a knee on four straight plays with 1:38 remaining including on fourth down with 11 seconds at midfield - enough for two plays, right? Alas, poor Sir Bentley took a sack before getting a pass off. Will Muschamp, you are on the HOT SEAT!

Georgia State 38 Tennessee 30 - I wonder if there was a dumpster on that boat? Wow. this might be one of the most humiliating losses by a power team of the modern era. When Michigan lost to App State at least the Mountaineers were a decent team. Georgia State is absolutely awful. They won TWO games last year and were picked to be last in their conference this year. The Vols defense was awful. The offense was awful. Tennessee was whooped on both lines. Even the fans sucked. There was no energy, no passion. At least get mad or something. There was a great lack of effort from several UT players. The only one who had a good day in Knoxville was the owner of the local Krispy Kreme. For their troubles, 38-point underdog GSU went home with a $950,000 payday.

NATION

Clemson 52 Georgia Tech 14 - Yes, we have to talk about them, but don’t let them hear this conversation. Keep pumping them full of rainbows and lollipops, and don’t talk about the the sloppy play. Don’t mention the two interceptions from the Great White Hope QB. Don't talk about the downgrade at the defensive line against a hapless Yellow Jackets team getting over a breakup with a coach and his archaic philosophy. But if they ask, yeah, still number one, y’all!

Oklahoma 49 Houston 31 - Jalen Hurts was the star of the show putting up HUGE numbers. This is great and many Tide fans are happy for him but the Houston defense is garbage. Okie’s D is not much better.

Ohio State 45 FAU! 21 - The Buckeyes jumped out to a 28 point lead in the first eight minutes and then fell asleep. They did not score again until late in the third quarter - all while playing first teamers. Ohio State had a trio of 3-and-outs in the second quarter. QB Justin Fields’ numbers look great, but he made his fair share of mistakes including a lost fumble, taking a couple of sacks instead of throwing the ball away, and a pair of delay of game penalties.

Michigan 40 Middle Tennessee 21 - Big Blue looked a little sluggish in a game that favored them by five touchdowns. QB Shea Patterson lost a fumble on the first play of the game and another later in the game. He was 17/29 for 203 yds in offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ Michigan debut.

Notre Dame 35 Louisville 17 - These two teams went toe-to-toe... for the first quarter. Both teams scored a pair of TDs in the first quarter and it looked like an upset might be brewing. But the Irish adjusted and the Cards did not have the depth to keep up.

Texas 45 Louisiana Tech 14 - The Longhorns took care of business like they should but should be alarmed by the 413 yards (340 passing) yielded. Jalen Hurts will have that much by halftime if they don’t improve.

Washington 47 Eastern Washington 14 - Former UGA QB Jacob Eason looked sharp throwing for 349 yds and 4 TD in his first game in Seattle.

Utah 30 BYU 12 - The so-called “Holy War” should be renamed the “Holy Slaughter”. The Two Yutes have not lost to the Coogs since 2009.

Wisconsin 49 South Florida 0 - With Cool Breeze Blakey Barnett at the helm, USF suffered their seventh straight loss going back to last season. The former Bama quitter hole participant was 13/30 for 109 yds, 2 picks, 1 lost fumble, and was sacked four times. Charlie Strong, you are on the HOT SEAT!

Syracuse 24 Liberty 0 - The ‘Cuse managed only one score per quarter against a second year FBS program with Hugh Freeze bizarrely coaching from a hospital bed in the booth. And this is supposed to be the team to challenge Clemson in the ACC? QB Tommy DeVito was a paltry 17/35 for 176 yds with 2 picks, no scores. The Orange managed only 368 total yards and 17 first downs against the God Squad.

Boise 36 Florida State 31 - FSU blew a 31-13 lead allowing the Smurfs with a true freshman QB to score the next 23 and to take the win in Tallahassee. The Seminoles managed just 68 yards and 0 points in the second half. Boise racked up 621 total yards. Willie Taggart, you are on the HOT SEAT!

Maryland 79 Howard 0 - What eff is wrong with Maryland head coach Michael Locksley? There is something inherently wrong about him running up the score on the most historic of HBCU teams.

THE WACKY WORLD OF DESMOND HOWARD

Desi had a big day with his picks. He picked wins for Va Tech (lost to BC), FSU (L to Boise), S. Carolina, Oregon and the cover, plus he said Alabama would not cover (they did).

Only Lee Corso picked Boston College to beat VT.

• DESI - 1. Georgia (SEC Champs), 2. Clemson (ACC Champs), 3. Oregon (PAC Champs), 4. Wisconsin (B1G Champs); Iowa State (B12 Champs); Clemson over Georgia in the CFP final.
• CORSO - 1. Alabama (SEC Champs), 2. Clemson (ACC Champs), 3. Utah (PAC Champs), 4. Ohio State (B1G Champs); Oklahoma (B12 Champs); Alabama over Utah.
• HERBIE - 1. Alabama (SEC Champs), 2. Clemson (ACC Champs), 3. Ohio State (B1G Champs), 4. Texas (B12 Champs); Washington (PAC Champs); Alabama over Clemson.

MY PICKS

• 1. Clemson (ACC Champs), 2. Alabama (SEC Champs) 3. Ohio State (B1G Champs), 4. Georgia; Oklahoma (B12 Champs); Washington (PAC Champs); Alabama over Georgia.

BAMA STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Keep an eye on Duke this season. They could cause some chaos in the ACC.

• Duke (0-1) - The Blue Devils put up a good fight and have a decent defense. David Cutcliffe proved that you should never sleep on his offensive mastermind schemes. Too bad he showed most of his cards against the Tide. The Dookies next five (NC A&T, @Middle Tennessee, @Va Tech, Pitt, Ga Tech) are all potential wins.
• New Mexico State (0-1) - If they had ended this game after the first possession, the Lobos woulda won! Instead, they fell to Washington State 58-7.
• Southern Miss (1-0) - The Screamin’ Eagles beat up on poor little Acorn State. We’ll get a real read on USM this week against Missy State (-16½).
• Western Carolina (0-1) - The Fightin’ Cupcakes fell to Mercer - who rebooted their program in 2013 - by 22 points. Yuck.
• BONUS: LSU, Aub, TAMU, Arky and MSU all won. Tenn, OM and SC embarrassed themselves and the league.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• Purdue (0-1) - The Boilmakers blew a 31-14 lead to Nevada who was using a freshman QB plus a freshman kicker who nailed 56-yard field goal at the buzzer and was later rewarded with a scholarship in the locker room. See, this is why you don’t give home games to non-P5s. Lose the exact same game to, say, Arizona State, and it’s not so bad. Lose to Nevada, you look like a chump. But this is totally fine. It works perfectly to lure those B1G big boys who won’t take them seriously.
• Iowa State (1-0) - Northern Iowa had a scoop and score to take a 13-10 lead. The Cyclones were able to kick a game-tying field goal with 59 ticks left. It took triple overtime for ISU to finally declare victory 29-26. I’m starting to think our adoptees are jinxed. Maybe we should adopt Auburn with a lake and Clemson without a lake.

ADOPTION CANDIDATE

• Hawaii (1-0) - The Rainbow Warriors prep for their second PAC-12 victim, Oregon State. Adoption is on the line.

COUSINS

• Troy (1-0) - The Trojans made soup out of Campbell 42-14. Up next will be a tough one against Southern Miss.
• South Alabama (0-1) - Much like last year against Troy, Nebraska struggled against their visitors from the Sun Belt Conference. However, this time the Cornhuskers were able to hold on for the win. The Jags trailed only 14-7 at the half and 28-21 entering the fourth quarter. UN made it 35-21 on a scoop and score. They have no business being ranked. USA’s best chance for a win comes Saturday against the Jackson State Fightin’ LaToyas.

THAT ANNOYING STEP-BROTHER WHO BORROWS YOUR CAR AND NEVER FILLS IT UP

UAB (1-0) - The Blazers won but it wasn’t easy. Little ol’ Alabama State took Birmingham U to the brink of disaster but ultimately fell 24-19. This game makes me feel like last season was running on a whole lotta we’ll-show-you-for-shutting-us-down adrenaline. Whoda thunk UAB could have rat poison of their own? We’ll see how they respond with a trip to crappy Akron.

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

The three service academies are about the only FBS teams that can get away with playing such lame-o cupcakes... And thank you for your service.

• Army (1-0) - The Black Knights had their fill of Rice 14-7. Up next is a historical upset win at Michigan (if enough of us wish on it, we can make it so).
• Air Force (1-0) - The Falcons pasted Colgate 48-7. Next: a rivalry game at Colorado.
• Navy (1-0) The Midshipmen crucified Holy Cross (sorry, not sorry) by the score of 45-7. They have a good chance at reaching 2-0 when they host East Carolina a week from Saturday.

ELIMINATED

PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED:

• All non-Power 5 teams
• Arizona - See, this is why you don’t give home games to non-P5s (Hawaii).
• Mizzou - See, this is why you don’t give home games to non-P5s (Wyo).

NEWLY ELIMINATED:

• Purdue - See, this is why you don’t give home games to non-P5s (Nevada).
• UCLA - See, this is why you don’t give home games to non-P5s (Cincy).
• Northwestern
• Georgia Tech - rebuilding year decade.
• BYU - Would’ve had to run the table just to be considered.
• Oregon State - lost home game to Okie Lite 52-36. Mike Riley shoulda never left Corvallis...
• Virginia Tech - Justin Fuente is looking like a misguided hire. How many Hokies boosters ya think are trying to ring up Frank Beamer right about now?
• Florida State - home loss to the unranked Smurfs.
• Luville
• Pitt - home loss to UVa.
• Arky - barely beat Portland State.
• South Carolina - sad.
• Ole Miss - sadder.
• Tennessee - saddest.
• Vanderbilt - expected.

ENDANGERED

• Miami and everyone else not named Clemson in the ACC.
• Oregon, Stanford, So Cal, AzSt, Cal
• Iowa State, Kansas, WVU
• Minnie, Rutgers, Nebraska, Indy
• Fla, UK, MSU.

A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture:

• ACC - Clemson aaaand still nobody.
• Big Ten - Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and PSU & Sparty just for kicks.
• Big 12 - Okie, Tejas. Iowa State is not getting in. They can only play spoiler.
• PAC-12 - UW and, Utah. Oregon is likely sunk.
• SEC - Alabama, UGA, LSU.
• Indies - Notre Dame.

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

The Southeastern Conference has 6 teams ranked, 4 in the top ten.

#2 Alabama
#3 UGA
#6 LSU
#10 Fla - down two spots, tucked in behind Notre Dame and Texas.
#11 TAMU
#13 Aubie - up three spots.

Here is my half-ass-rat-poison-as-of-now Top 5 rankings:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State/LSU
5. Oklahoma

LET’S GO BOWLING

40 bowl games; 129 eligible teams.

STATS OF THE DAY

• Junior Utah State linebacker David Woodward had 18 solo tackles and 6 assists against Wake Forest. 3.5 of his tackles were for loss and 1 sack. USU loss by 3.
• Wyoming coach Craig Bohl earned a $100,000 bonus for defeating Power-5 Mizzou.
• The MSU-ULL game was held at the New Orlenas Superdome. The official attendance was 22,440. There were that many in the beer line at the Georgia Dome.

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to the whiny ass Vols fans who left NayLand Stadium at halftime. If you think coming out onto the field after halftime and seeing a more-than-half-empty stadium is not disheartening, then you are a fool. Shame on you all. [The “announced” attendance was 85,503.]

HEISMAN HYPE

With the exception of TWO YEARS, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. Often times voters fall in love with someone and refuse to REALLY look at what a player has accomplished.

WHO WILL WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section is not who deserves to win. It is who the slobbering press and other voters will callously crush on (see last year).

• Trevor Lawrence (QB Clemson Soph.) - Nobody saw how he played because nobody has (or wants) the ACC Network. They just look at the score. Sunshine was pretty mediocre (13/23, 168 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT). It is so disgusting how much they love him. He threw a bad interception and all the press can talk about is how with superhuman powers ran the DB down and tackled him before he could score.
• Tua Tagovailoa (QB Alabama Jr.) - Tua announced his presence with a splendid outing, but I get the feeling he doesn’t care about the Heisman anymore. (26/31, 336 yds, 4 TD, 0 turnovers)
• Jalen Hurts (QB Alabama Jr.) - The media loves an easy storyline. Jalen is going to put up huge numbers but he has not really improved since last year and would not be starting over Tua had he stayed in Tuscaloosa. (20/23, 332 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT, fumble, 16 rush, 176 yds, 3 TD)
• Jonathan Taylor (RB Wisconsin Jr.) - Every year, members of the press self-righteously screech “it aint gotta be a qwatterback ever year!” Yet, they’ll vote for one anyway. That said, this is the token non-QB. (16 rush, 135 yds, 2 TD, 2 rec, 48 yds, 2 TD)

WHO SHOULD WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section IS for who deserves to win it after one week.

• Tua played a solid game and made very few mistakes.
• Taylor (no, not the kid from Home Improvement)
• Travis Etienne (RB Clemson Jr.) 12 rush, 205 yds, 3 TD

Runner-Ups

• Jalen’s numbers were eye-popping but he made a crucial fumble. Plus, Houston’s defense is dog****.
• D’Andre Swift (RB UGA Jr.) 16 rush, 147 yds.
• Justin Fields (QB anOSU Soph.) 18/25 234 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT, 12 rush, 61 yds, TD, fumble. He’s not very likable.

If I had a vote:

• It’s still too soon to say.

THE SICK REPORT

• Alabama redshirt freshman OL Emil Ekiyor injured his knee and was helped to the locker room. He did not return to the field. Nick Saban stated the RS freshman guard “may be a week or two with his injury.”
• Junior left tackle Alex Leatherwood left the Duke game in the third quarter and did not return. He was seen standing on the sideline for the rest of the game. Saban made no comment on him but there is some belief that he had issues with a hand. Junior wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was tended to after a rough tackle but he popped up and jogged to the sidelines. Speculation is that he just had the air knocked out of him and should be hunk-dory.
• South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley will be out six weeks with a broken foot. True freshman and former high 4-star Ryan Hilinski will take his place including a game with Alabama on September 14.
• Southern Cal sophomore QB J.T. Daniels tore his ACL and meniscus just before halftime. He is out for the season putting the Trojans season in peril. Also in grave danger is the job security of head coach Clay Helton who has already been on the hot seat for much of the last 2 years. So Cal was able to hold off Fresno for the win.
• Former Bama, current FAU RB B.J. Emmons was helped off the field on Saturday with a possible broken foot suffered in the Owls’ loss to Ohio State.
• Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello (see above) took a scary hit to the head as he slid near the end of the first half of the team’s season opener against Northwestern and did not return. No penalty was called on the play. PAC-12, y’all.
• If that’s not bad enough for the Trees, All-Pac 12 left tackle Walker Little will be sidelined for at least six weeks with a leg injury.
• Georgia loses WR Kearis Jackson (hand) for 3-4 weeks.
• Texas lost another running back as Jordan Whittington is sidelined by a sports hernia. Senior Kirk Johnson (shoulder) and junior Daniel Young (ankle) are still healing from injuries that were suffered during fall camp.

DRAMA

• Tennessee’s football Twitter account went dark for 20 hours. Their last tweet (see above) came after the Vols kicked a field goal to go up 23-21 in the fourth quarter. GSU would go on to score 17 points and eventually get the win.
• Landon Dickerson has quickly found a role on the Alabama OL but he needs to learn a thing or two about class. When Duke team captain Edgar Cerenord was ejected after a tussle with the Tide lineman, Dickerson was seen laughing and waving bye-bye to the departing defensive lineman. He may have been reacquainted with some stadium steps on Monday.
• After losing the starting quarterback job to Tommy Stevens, Mississippi State's Keytaon Thompson did what all quarterbacks who lose their jobs do - enter the transfer portal. On Monday, he made a wise choice and has returned to Starkville.
• Texas A&M guard Jared Hocker has never been mistaken for Joe Namath. So, why is he predicting an upset of Clemson? smh
• Seriously, y’all! Shut these kids up! When asked about Texas QB Sam Ehlinger, LSU OLB K’Lavon Chaisson said “I don’t find him too much of a threat.” Nice.
• Urban Meyer was last seen looting poor people in the Bahamas.

EYEBALLS

Oregon vs. Auburn and Duke vs. Alabama were the top two rated games of Saturday. UO-AU beat out UA-Duke thanks in part to the Portland market. Interestingly, the Bama game did better in both Birmingham and Atlanta.

THIS WEEK

College GameDay is headed back to Austin, TX for the first time since 2009. So... what you are saying is they have not been back to Texas’s campus since Alabama ripped their souls out of their bodies and showed it to them? Interesting...

(Below is an abbreviated list of games of interest. If you REALLY need to know about the Southern Illinois-UMass game, you can find the details here.)

Friday, September 6

Marshall at Boise 8pm/9pm ESPN2 - Have the Smurfs come down off their cloud? Yeah, probably.

Saturday, September 7

SEC:

West Virginia at Missouri 11am/noon ESPN2 - Lose this one and Mizzou might spiral into a big losing streak.
Vanderbilt at Purdue 11am/noon BTN
Charleston Southern at South Carolina 11am/noon SECN - SC will tryout their new QB.
Texas A&M at Clemson 2:30/3:30 ABC - * GAME OF THE WEEK Part 1 *
Southern Miss at Mississippi State 2:30/3:30 ESPNU - Two Bama opponents.
Murray State at Georgia 3pm/4pm ESPN2 - zzzzz
BYU at Tennessee 6pm/7pm ESPN - The Vols could be in trouble.
LSU at Texas 6:30pm/7:30pm ABC - * GAME OF THE WEEK Part 1 *
UT Martin at Florida 6:30pm/7:30pm ESPNU - yawn.
Tulane at Auburn 6:30pm/7:30pm ESPN2 - pass.
Eastern Michigan at Kentucky 6:30pm/7:30pm SECN - Nothing could make me interested inthei sgame..
Arkansas at Ole Miss 6:30pm/7:30pm SECN - UGLIEST SEC GAME OF THE WEEK

NATIONAL:

To be honest, there is not much outside of the SEC footprint that looks of interest except maybe Cincinnati at Ohio State 11am/noon ABC - Luke Fickell comes home.

CAN’T SLEEP?

Stanford at Southern Cal 9:30/10:30 ESPN - A battle of back-up QBs.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

#ALABAMA

FROSH

Five freshmen started the game: middle linebackers Shane Lee and Christian Harris (both with 2 solos, 4 asst), defensive tackle DJ Dale (3 asst with one being for a loss), offensive guard Evan Neal and kicker/punter Will Reichard. Despite Reichard missing two long field goals, his kickoffs all sailed into the end zone and his extra points were straight down the middle. He had punts of 41 and 39 with excellent hang time - which are vast improvements over last season’s punters. Fifteen of Alabama’s 27 signees from its 2019 recruiting class saw game action against Duke:

• DB Jordan Battle - interception
• WR John Metchie – 1 rec, 5 yds
• RB Keilan Robinson - 2 carries, 5 yds
• DL Byron Young – 1 solo
• QB Taulia Tagovailoa – no stats recorded
• OL Darrian Dalcourt – played center.
• OL Pierce Quick – I did not see him but he is included on the participation list.
• DB Scooby Carter – no stats
• DB Marcus Banks– no stats
• DB Demarcco Hellams – no stats

Defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe (foot) was held out.

WATCH YOUR BACK

With wins by Alabama and UNC, Mack Brown holds a one game advantage over Nick Saban in career wins as a FBS/I-A coach. Under Saban, the Crimson Tide is 130-7 (.950) when leading at the half. Alabama is 13-0 in season openers under Saban and have outscored those opponents 528-144. The Tide has won 83 straight against unranked teams.

GAME 2, Saturday, September 7, 2019, 3pm/4pm SECN

New Mexico State vs Alabama

Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL

Eli Gold on Alabama Radio .
Vegas has the Tide opening as a 54 point favorite with an over/under of 65.
Marco Battle and Lee Ozmint, this week’s honorary captains, will be signing Saturday at the Bryant Museum from 10:30 am - 11:30 am.

#RollTide

POLL: