After struggling to beat Texas a week ago, Alabama took care of business this week against Louisiana-Monroe by a score of 63-7.
Much like the first game of the season against Utah State, the Tide asserted its dominance against an inferior opponent, and this game was never in doubt.
Here are some of the key takeaways from this week's game.
Penalties
After a sloppy game against Texas, racking up 15 penalties, the Tide showed a little more discipline limiting their penalties down to just six. The Tide started the game with a penalty on the first play as the crowd groaned seeing flashbacks of the game against Texas. Fortunately, Alabama cleaned up their game and only had five more flags thrown against them the rest of the game.
Bryce Young
With just a modest 236 yards through the air, Bryce Young did not look like the former Heisman Trophy winner. He missed on a handful of wide-open receivers that would have resulted in big plays for the Tide. While he did throw for three touchdown passes, the more concerning stat was the two interceptions that were thrown against an inferior defense. These misses will need to be cleaned up with SEC play starting next week.
Special Teams
Outside of Will Reichard being an automatic kicker, Alabama has not had much to be excited about when it comes to special teams. This week, the Tide decided to bring some excitement coming from the third phase of the game. Alabama blocked a punt for a touchdown and picked up a school record 262 yards in punt returns with a 68-yard return by Brian Branch resulting in a touchdown.
Receivers
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs was once again the leading receiver for the Tide with four catches for 65 yards and one touchdown. While having an electric receiver coming out of the backfield is nice as a security blanket for Bryce Young, it is still concerning that Alabama has not had a wide receiver emerge as a go-to option for Bryce Young.
Will Anderson, Jr.
Finally, the Crimson Tide defense recorded its first turnover of the season, and it was none other than Will Anderson, Jr., who not only got the interception but also returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Anderson also finally got his first sack of hopefully many more to come.
Bonus: Running Backs
The ground game for the Tide shined in their 63-7 route against Louisiana-Monroe. Alabama racked up 273 yards on the ground led by Roydell Williams who had eight carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. The 273 yards on the ground were spread out among eight Alabama runners as the Tide still hasn’t had a dominant running back emerge. Jahmyr Gibbs continues to be a presence in the passing game but has still not been the answer to the Tide’s run game.
With a score of 63-7, Alabama looked almost as good as Penn State did against Auburn. While Alabama did take care of business, there are still many areas that need to be fine-tuned as they enter their SEC schedule next week against Vanderbilt.
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