Alabama's resilience against Rebels pleases Nick Saban

Alabama running back Najee Harris leaps over Ole Miss defensive back Jalen Julius and into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown run during Saturday's game in Oxford, Miss.
Alabama running back Najee Harris leaps over Ole Miss defensive back Jalen Julius and into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown run during Saturday's game in Oxford, Miss.

Not too shabby for a comeback.

Alabama obliterated Ole Miss 62-7 Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after falling behind 7-0 on the first play from scrimmage. The host Rebels struck for a 75-yard touchdown 11 seconds into the ESPN-televised game when quarterback Jordan Ta'amu and receiver D.K. Metcalf stunned the Crimson Tide secondary, but Alabama countered with a three-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with a 43-yard Damien Harris touchdown run and required just 59 seconds.

The Tide were just getting going at that point. The Rebels were finished.

"I was pleased with the way we did a lot of things tonight," Alabama coach Nick Saban said afterward in a news conference, "especially the fact that we gave up a 75-yard bomb on the first play of the game and then showed tremendous resiliency to just take the ball right down the field to score as if nothing happened. Then the defense didn't give up any more points the rest of the game.

"A lot of players got to play, which is a good thing, because it helps team development, but I am sure there are a lot of things that we can do better that we can learn from."

Saban's top-ranked Tide (3-0, 1-0) will face a ranked opponent for the first time this season when No. 22 Texas A&M (2-1) visits Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday for its Southeastern Conference opener.

Alabama divvied its eight touchdowns Saturday among seven players, with sophomore receiver Jerry Jeudy catching scoring strikes from Tua Tagovailoa that covered 79 and 22 yards. The 79-yarder gave the Tide their first lead at 14-7 with barely five minutes having elapsed, and his 22-yarder continued an onslaught that made it 42-7 near the end of the half.

Tide safety Xavier McKinney scored the final touchdown midway through the third quarter on a 30-yard interception return.

"Nobody prepares for a first play like that, but we kept moving forward," McKinney told reporters. "We don't let one play define us. We just keep going and keep getting better. They've got great receivers, but we're confident in how we play.

"We hear from the outside that we're young and inexperienced and are going to have some trouble with certain receivers, but I don't think that's the case. We have a lot of guys who know how to play."

After his opening pass of the night, Ta'amu went just 6-of-21 for 58 yards and was intercepted twice.

"They had 248 yards of total offense, and they had 75 of them on the first play," Saban said of the Rebels (2-1, 0-1). "I thought we did a good job of executing the plan. I thought we did a really good job up front, because the plan was not to pressure a lot in this game. We wanted to get pressure with four guys so we could play split-safety coverages and try to take the big plays away.

"We got three turnovers, which was our goal, and I thought we tackled better."

Alabama is the first SEC team ever to amass 50 or more points in each of its first three games in a season and has outscored its opponents - Louisville, Arkansas State and Ole Miss - a combined 170-28. The Tide have won three straight in their series with the Rebels after losing back-to-back games in 2014 and '15, and this was the second straight season it has been a rout.

Jalen Hurts quarterbacked Alabama to last year's 66-3 bludgeoning, but Tagovailoa continued his stellar start to this season by completing 11 of 15 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Tagovailoa is 36-of-50 (72.0 percent) through three games for 646 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

"We went into the game with the mindset of being aggressive and trying to get after him," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said. "They made plays when we did blitz, so credit to him on making plays when he had to."

Tide tidbits

Alabama has outscored foes 61-7 in the first quarter and 56-0 in the second quarter for an average halftime score of 39-2 this season. Tagovailoa is 13-of-13 passing for 298 yards and six touchdowns on third downs this season.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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