In a rather lopsided affair, the Alabama Crimson Tide took care of business on Saturday against the Western Carolina Catamounts. On senior day at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the team honored its departing players ahead of the game and sent them out the right way with one last win in Tuscaloosa.
Quarterback Mac Jones who was filling in for the injured Tua Tagovailoa (hip) was sharp on the day. He found his found open receivers regularly and his incompletions were just a hair off. In just 12 pass attempts on the day Jones completed 10 of them for 275 yards and three touchdowns in a little over a half of play.
With Henry Ruggs out for the game wide receiver, Jaylen Waddle stepped things up a bit on offense. He caught three passes for 101 yards and a score and was a major factor on special teams with numerous big returns with one return coming all the way back to the Western Carolina four-yard line.
Alabama’s other key offensive players were:
Najee Harris: 14 attempts 66 yards one touchdown, one catch 12 yards one touchdown.
DeVonta Smith: four catches 94 yards two touchdowns
Jerry Jeudy: two catches 66 yards
Offensive line: Gave Mac Jones another four years to throw in the pocket.
Keilan Robinson: 8 attempts 92 yards one touchdown
The story of the day though was the defensive effort from the Crimson Tide who was turning Western Carolina over the entire game. It began with two first-quarter interceptions from Xavier McKinney, one which he ran back for a score. McKinney also forced a fumble which was recovered by Patrick Surtain but it wasn’t over for Pete Golding’s defense.
In his final game in Tuscaloosa, safety Jared Mayden intercepted two more passes for Alabama. In his first year as a full-time starter for Alabama Mayden leads the team with four interceptions.
Western Carolina quarterbacks Tyrie Adams and Will Jones were also under a ton pressure all afternoon. Notably from senior outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings who finished the game with 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss, along with Justin Eboigbe and Christian Baramore who both had a sack.
Below are Alabama’s top defensive performers:
Shane Lee: seven tackles, three solo tackles
Christian Barmore: six tackles, 0.5 sacks, one tackle for loss
Xavier McKinney: three tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble
Jared Mayden: four tackles, two interceptions
Anfernee Jennings: three tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss
Alabama ended the game with a 66-3 victory over Western Carolina giving the team it’s 12th straight 10 win season.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
