Here are some quick thoughts from Alabama’s 37-10 victory against Middle Tennessee State in the Crimson Tide’s home opener Saturday.

What it means: Alabama moves to 2-0 and it might not mean a whole lot more than that. The Crimson Tide won easily, but didn’t look particularly impressive as Middle Tennessee State’s mistakes led to a lot of Alabama points. We’ll find out a lot more about the Tide in the weeks to come.

What I liked: Alabama showed an ability to take the ball away. That’s been a focus for Kirby Smart’s defense since the spring and turnovers were what did in Middle Tennessee State, killing some promising Blue Raiders drives. Cyrus Jones’ second quarter interception was a particularly good play against a nice stop-and-go route by MTSU’s Ed Batties when it looked like the Raiders might make it a 14-10 ball game. Instead the Crimson Tide turned the pick into a touchdown and a 21-3 lead.

What I didn’t like: Place kicking is an obvious choice, but the Crimson Tide also struggled to throw it downfield, especially to wide receivers and particularly when the game was still in doubt. Quarterback Jake Coker had a pass picked off trying to go deep in the second quarter and had another that could have been intercepted. But it wasn’t all on him. The Alabama wideouts had much more success getting open within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Robert Foster had some nice catch-and-runs, including a 19-yard touchdown, but didn’t beat the secondary down the field. Coker racked up 69 passing yards on a reception by Kenyan Drake, but it was a shovel pass in the backfield that for all intents and purposes was an end-around running play. Tight ends O.J. Howard and Ty Flournoy-Smith looked like the Tide’s best deep threats.

Who’s the man: Kenyan Drake, who finished with 131 yards from scrimmage, looks like he’s going to be the Tide’s big-play man all year long. Derrick Henry is going to put up huge stats and might be the steadiest back in the country, but when Alabama needs to gain yards in bunches, Drake is the best bet. His speed is ridiculous and he lines up so many places on the field, opposing defenses have to pay close attention whenever he’s in the game.

Key play: Trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, Middle Tennessee State drove deep into Alabama territory but fumbled a direct snap to running back Shane Tucker. Alabama took over at its own 16-yard line with 2:37 left in the quarter and the Blue Raiders kept moving the ball, but never quite gained the momentum a huge underdog needs to pull off a monumental upset.

What’s next: It gets tougher for the Crimson Tide next weekend when they welcome Ole Miss into Bryant-Denny Stadium for both teams’ SEC opener. The winner gets a leg up in the race for the SEC West title.