Ever hear of pregame jitters? It didn’t appear that Alabama had many in the first game of the year against Louisville. With Tua Tagovailoa making his first career there were questions about how this Alabama offense would look but the Tide offense didn’t seem to miss a beat. Alabama scored on the first and third offensive drives in the first quarter and in the beginning of the second quarter and the waning moments of the second quarter. Alabama cruised to a win over Louisville and is showing glimpses of what could come this season.
Jerry Jeudy caught two touchdowns in the Louisville game equalling the number he caught in 2017 while Tagovailoa connected with five different receivers including freshman Jaylen Waddle. However, it was Josh Jacobs who took the game by storm. The Swiss army knife for Alabama scored his first rushing touchdown since last year against Mississippi State but made his mark on special teams. After Louisville scored, Jacobs responded by taking a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown since the 2016 National Championship game against Clemson.
The defense harassed Jawon Pass and didn’t get the Louisville Cardinals on the board until midway through the third quarter. Deionte Thompson picked off Pass in the second quarter after Louisville was threatening to score. Shyheim Carter then picked off Pass a second time and ran it back for a 45-yard touchdown to put Alabama up 51-7. Pass finished with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first start but had trouble connecting with his receivers early on. Pass threw for more than 200 yards but only had a completion percentage slightly above 50 percent.
Alabama played a great first game but there is much to improve on for this season. The penalties need to diminish over the year and the offense needs to work on ball security after losing a fumble in the first quarter and almost losing another one before it. Alabama is showing that they are still a dominant team but they need to continue to play complete games.
