The Alabama Crimson Tide pitched a shutout on Saturday en route to a 4-0 start to the season as they took down the Kent State Golden Flashes 48-0 in Tuscaloosa.
The result was never much in doubt as Alabama steamrolled over their opponents, holding a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and a 41-0 lead at the conclusion of the first half of play. Kent State could get nothing going on offense as they only amassed 166 yards of total offense and went 1-for-13 on 3rd downs.
Here’s what we learned:
1. Damien Harris could be lost for a significant amount of time: The Tide’s terrific running back was carted off the field with a knee injury during the first quarter. That’s going to sting quite a bit, as Harris was playing extremely well through their first three games of the season. Bo Scarbrough also left the game in the first quarter, forcing Nick Saban to turn to freshman running back Joshua Jacobs who picked up 97 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns. Pretty good numbers of course, but Harris’ talent is worth nothing in this case. Time will tell to see if he is out for an extended amount of time, but things don’t look good right now.
2. The Tide’s defense stood tall as they should have: Alabama’s defense was hardly tested as the Crimson Tide allowed less than 170 total yards and only 84 yards through the air. Alabama’s defense continues to be the standard bearer in the SEC and it doesn’t look like that’s going to end any time soon.
3. The Tide have one more hill before a daunting stretch in October: So, as they’ve gone 4-0 through the month of September, the Crimson Tide now have to take on Kentucky on the first day of the month of October. After that begins a stretch in which they travel to Fayettevile, Knoxville and Baton Rouge with a home matchup against Texas A&M slotted in there on the 22nd. We’ll see what ‘Bama’s made of then, but so far, it looks like they still remain the top team in the land.
UPDATE (3:59 p.m. ET): Damien Harris’ status has been updated. Tide fans can breathe easy:
Nick Saban updates status of injured Alabama running back Damien Harris https://t.co/A3Cs3Pe9xy
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 24, 2016
Alabama's sophomore running back suffered an injury during the first quarter of the Tide's win over Kent State on Saturday. You could see Harris' knee/leg bending unnaturally when he was tackled at the end of a 6-yard run, and he was eventually carted off the field. However, Harris only has a sprained ankle and is "day-to-day," coach Nick Saban said.
(via AL.com)