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The Alabama Crimson Tide started out a little slow, but finished strong as they beat the Florida State Seminoles 24-7.
Coach Nick Saban remarked after the game that they didn’t play a good game but the defense looked great.
He was right.
In the first half, Alabama’s run plan didn’t so well. The offense didn’t look too hot, either. The Seminoles stopped the Crimson Tide from getting extended amounts of yardage and forced sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts to throw.
Alabama did just that. They scored on pass to wide receiver Calvin Ridley to keep the score close at 10-7 and take the lead in second quarter. Hurts went 10-18, threw for 96 yards and the one touchdown to Ridley. He also carried the ball as many times as their starting running back Bo Scarbrough, 15 times to be exact, for 55 yards. Scarbrough rushed for 40 yards, meanwhile, and Damien Harris scored on a rushing touchdown in the third quarter.
FSU attempted to tie the game with a field goal at the half but Alabama’s special teams wasn’t going to let that happen. They blocked the kick to keep the lead and momentum going in their favor.
Alabama’s defense showed no mercy to FSU quarterback Deondre Francois in the second half. The quarterback was sacked and threw two interceptions. Unfortunately, a late-game hit took him out of the game, and forced him to be carried off the field.
The Seminoles only had 46 total yards in the second half. The Tide defense allowed 40 yards rushing in total and 210 yards through the air. Last season, the defense did not allow a team to rush over 100 yards against in the regular season. It looks like they’re in midseason form already.
Coach Saban thought his team did a mediocre job, overall. The offense needs work, but this is Alabama. A team that is poised and can recover from "bad game" (if you call that a bad game). This is the first game of the season, after all. They have gotten the jitters out of the way.
Next week, we WILL see a well-oiled and composed team in the Crimson Tide as we’re use to seeing them.