Game one of Alabama’s season is officially in the books as the crimson tide defeated the Duke Blue Devils 42-3. Alabama was led by big-time performances by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy and essentially the entire defense.
In the first quarter, Alabama came off as a bit sloppy on the offensive side of the ball. The first two drives of the game were not what fans were used to seeing from the team. Steve Sarkisian’s offense began with a three and out and then a fumble by freshman running back Jerome Ford who was starting the game for a suspended Najee Harris and Brian Robinson.
But Alabama’s defense was coming up with a big stop in their own territory as freshman linebacker Shane Lee was able to stop Duke quarterback Quentin Harris on a quarterback blast to give the tide the ball back.
After a missed Will Reichard field goal the first quarter ended with a curious 0-0 score. Probably not what Vegas predicted.
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Once the second, quarter began Alabama regained their four suspended players in DeVonta Smith, Robinson, Harris and Terrell Lewis. And that’s when things began to get going for Alabama.
The first score of the game came from redshirt junior Miller Forristall with an impressive 27-yard catch and run for a touchdown. From there on the Alabama offense seemed to really get things going.
Namely wide receiver Jerry Jeudy who finished the game with 10 catches for 137 yards and one touchdown. Jeudy and Tagovailoa were consistently the best players on the field throughout the entire game.
When Tagovailoa said that he wanted to play smarter this season it looks like he meant it. Yes, he made his spectacular throws and scrambles but he also made some very smart decisions with check down passes and slides. The Heisman trophy runner up finished with a performance worthy of the award as he went 26/31 for 336 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Some other notable offensive players were Jaylen Waddle (five catches – 90 yards), DeVonta Smith(five catches – 54 yards and a touchdown ) and Jerome Ford who finished strong after his early fumble (10 carries 64 yards and 1 touchdown).
Heading into the game if someone was to predict who would struggle more during the game between Alabama’s offense or defense it might have been a millisecond before the word “defense” was blurted out. But to the surprise of those disbelievers, the defense showed out today. Especially the two freshmen up the middle.
Shane Lee and Christian Harris both turned in fantastic performances in the absence of Dylan Moses. The pair both finished with six tackles were all over the field throughout the first half running receivers and backs. The playmaking from Anfernee Jennings(six tackles), Raekwon Davis (six tackles) and Xavier McKinney (8 tackles) also helped tremendously.
The entire front seven of Alabama’s defense never let Nelson get into a rhythm on offense which showed on a rushed throw down the sideline in the third quarter which was intercepted by Trevon Diggs which was the early nail in the coffin.
Alabama’s defense held Duke to just 204 yards total yards (107 rushing/97 passing) in the entire game.
All in all, it was a solid showing from the crimson tide to start the season, and a good opportunity for their young players to gain some experience. Follow Touchdown Alabama for updates later on from Nick Saban’s press conference.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
