Countdown to Kickoff: Amari Cooper torches Tennessee with an 80 yard touchdown

We are now 80 days away from Alabama’s kickoff against Miami, and it’s a great time to remember beating Tennessee (it’s always a great time to remember beating Tennessee).

Back in 2014, #4 Alabama rolled into Knoxville, marking Lane Kiffin’s return to the sideline in Tennessee, the school he left not-so-amicably in 2009. Emotions were running so high, Kiffin says Alabama recommended he wear a bulletproof vest, just in case.

The Tide got rolling quickly, from their first offensive play.

A classic Amari Cooper play. Catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage, racing by some defenders and making a couple others miss, en route to a touchdown.

Alabama proceeded to jump out to a 27-0 lead by early in the second quarter and coasted the rest of the way, beating the Volunteers 34-20. That opening touchdown was just the beginning for Cooper, though.

The future Biletnikoff winner caught 9 passes that night for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cooper’s 224 yards set a school record at the time (DeVonta Smith has since broken it), breaking Julio Jones’s previous record of 221 yards against Tennessee in 2010. Cooper would go on to tie his record against Auburn later in 2014 for good measure.

Cooper’s casual 24.89 yards per reception was second in school history (with a minimum of 8 catches) at the time, behind only David Palmer’s 27.1 yards per reception against Vanderbilt in 1993.

Cooper accounted for 78% of Sims’s passing yards and 64% of his completions (only two other players had a reception, and they combined for just five total). Cooper was responsible for 48% of the team’s offensive yards overall.

Not a bad performance in a garbage truck workers’ convention.