Alabama Offense Shines, But There Is A Casualty
On Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0, 5-0) defeated the Tennessee Volunteers (2-3, 2-3) 48-17 in Knoxville, Tennessee and remain undefeated in the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama, who won the previous 13 meetings dating back to 2006, began the game with the football. What happened next was nothing short of shocking for the Crimson Tide faithful. Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle ran the ball out of the end zone and was tackled awkwardly on his ankle. Waddle immediately went to the side-line and would be out for the remainder of the game.
It was announced by head coach Nick Saban at halftime on CBS that Waddle would be out for the season with an ankle injury. Saban during his post-game press conference spoke about feelings on Waddle and how important of a loss it is offensively.
"It's really a sad time for me and Jaylen Waddle's family," Saban said. "It is a high ankle sprain but also a fracture so he will have to have surgery. He will probably be out for the year, which isn't a good thing."
Stepping in for Waddle was sophomore wide receiver Slade Bolden. Bolden finished with 95 total yards including a beautiful 30-yard strike from quarterback Mac Jones. Coach Saban spoke of how Bolden stepped in through the difficult circumstances.
"I thought Slade played well," Saban said. "I thought he made some big plays in the game. This is one of the things that we talk about is that we need to have these younger players step up and they have done that."
Offensively, Mac Jones continued to add to his big Heisman-like resume, by throwing for 387 yards. While it was odd that Jones didn't throw a touchdown pass in the game, Jones did have a 1-yard rushing touchdown to show the dual-threat ability. Most of the touchdowns offensively came from Alabama's other Heisman hopeful, Najee Harris. Harris finished with three touchdowns and 157 total yards of offense.
The Alabama offense also extended its scoring record for consecutive games with a score to 260 games. The last time that Alabama was held off the scoreboard was back in 2000 against Auburn in a 9-0 loss.
The offense will look continue their SEC dominance as Alabama will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday night at 6 p.m. Coverage for the game will begin here at Tide 100.9 FM at 1 p.m. with the Tide Tailgate Show.
Career Statistical Leaders: The Alabama Football Record Book