ALABAMA-GEORGIA STATE REVIEW

The offense scored on its first six drives, with five touchdowns and a field goal. Quarterback AJ McCarron was on fire from the start, completing 15 of 16 passes for 166 yards and four touchdowns. His lone incomplete pass came on an O.J. Howard drop.

Backup quarterback Blake Sims played well after McCarron left the game in the second quarter. Sims finished 14-of-18 for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Fifteen different players caught at least one pass, and six running backs had at least three carries. The offense amassed 477 yards of offense on 64 plays and gained 31 first downs.

DEFENSE

The Crimson Tide held the Panthers to 175 yards of offense. The Panthers netted 15 rushing yards and gained only nine first downs. The only points allowed came on a 53-yard field goal. The Tide forced the Panthers to punt seven times and held them to 4-of-12 on third-down conversions. It was a dominate performance by a defense riding the momentum from last week’s shutout.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Other than kickoffs, the specials didn’t have to play much. On a kickoff return, Dee Hart forced a fumble, and linebacker Dillon Lee recovered the ball. Cody Mandell punted once for 42 yards and pinned Georgia State inside the 20-yard line. Cade Foster nailed a 27-yard field goal just before halftime to make it a 38-0 game. The only blemish is freshman kicker Adam Griffith missed his first career field-goal attempt, from 30 yards out.

COACHING

The coaching staff had the players motivated for a lesser opponent, and the team didn’t come out flat as it did against Colorado State. Alabama was aggressive from the start and went for the jugular early.

The coaching staff went in with the plan of playing a lot of young players, and it paid off.

OVERALL

It was a clinic by Alabama. The Tide were able to do whatever they wanted and never let up. The best part about this game is that young players were able to get a significant amount of rest, which helps moving forward if injuries were to occur.