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No. 2 Alabama Football Team opened the 2011 season with a 48-7 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes
Team Notes
TUSCALOOSA,
Ala. - The No. 2 Alabama football team opened the 2011 season with a
48-7 win over the Kent State Golden Flashes before a sold-out crowd of
101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Crimson Tide piled up
482 yards of total offense while the defense limited Kent State to just
90 total yards, including minus nine yards rushing. UA sophomore
quarterback AJ McCarron finished the day 14-of-23 for 226 yards and two
touchdown passes while senior Marquis Maze led all receivers with 118
yards on eight receptions and a touchdown. Maze also added 135 return
yards on special teams.
Sophomore running back Jalston
Fowler led the Tide with 69 yards rushing on four carries, including a
49-yard touchdown run. Sophomore running back Eddie Lacy added 134
total yards (76 receiving, 58 rushing) and a touchdown while Trent
Richardson finished with 37 yards on 13 carries and a game-high three
touchdowns.
“Obviously, it’s a good win for us,” UA head
coach Nick Saban said. “It’s always good to get a win under your belt.
There were a lot of things that we did well today. We ran a lot of good
plays, and we had a lot of players get experience. That experience also
brings a lot of learning opportunities for our young guys that play
critical positions. We have a lot to learn and a lot of things we can
improve on.”
After forcing a Kent State punt on the game’s
opening possession, Alabama marched 36 yards in eight plays as
Richardson barreled into the end zone from one yard out to make the
score 7-0. Following another Kent State punt, the Crimson Tide needed
just four plays to cover 74 yards, capped off by McCarron’s 24-yard
touchdown strike to Maze to make the score 14-0 less than seven minutes
into the game.
Alabama got on the board again at the close
of the first quarter as Richardson scampered into the end zone from
nine yards out to make it 21-0. The Crimson Tide would score once more
before the close of the half as Jeremy Shelley connected on a 36-yard
field goal to put Alabama up 24-0 at the half.
Kent State
notched its first and only score of the game at the 9:13 mark of the
third quarter following a Crimson Tide turnover to make the score 24-7.
Alabama answered back quickly with an eight play, 76-yard drive
culminating in a one-yard Richardson touchdown run, his third of the
day, to make the score 31-7.
Following a Kent State
turnover on downs, Lacy added to the Crimson Tide’s lead with a
one-yard touchdown run to make the score 38-7 at the 4:04 mark of the
third quarter. Two possessions later Fowler rumbled into the end
zone from 49 yards out at the beginning of the fourth quarter to push
the Crimson Tide lead to 45-7. Shelley would add a 32-yard field goal
to close out the scoring for both teams.
The Alabama
defense surrendered just 90 total yards and allowed Kent State to cross
midfield just once for the entire game. The Crimson Tide did not allow
a first down until the 6:42 mark of the second quarter, while
registering four sacks and seven tackles for a loss. True freshman
linebacker Trey Depriest led Alabama with 10 tackles on the day while
junior linebacker Dont’a Hightower and senior linebacker Courtney
Upshaw each added seven tackles. Senior cornerback Phelon Jones added
an interception for the Tide as well.
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