Strange but true, after the University of Alabama’s game against Florida Atlantic was called with 7:53 remaining Saturday, Nick Saban opened the door for where his postseason press conference would be held only to find a near-empty room.

The reason why is the room is located a floor above the Crimson Tide’s locker room and reporters in the press box weren’t immediately notified that the suspended game had been called. They subsequently had to make their way through the concourse area while fans were leaving Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“There were a couple firsts for me today,” Saban said when he returned. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had a game called off, and it’s the first time I ever beat the media to the press conference.”

Responded one reporter: “We were in it for the full 60 minutes.”

Play of the game: Junior wide receiver Amari Cooper’s 52-yard touchdown off a quick swing pass was the longest play of the season and set the offensive tone for the game.

Player of the game: Cooper’s 13 receptions tied a program record and his 189 receiving yards were the fourth-most recorded in a single game. He finished with 209 total yards.

Hit of the game: Normally a play in which someone got hurt would not be considered, but senior wide receiver Christion Jones’s block to free up Cooper on his touchdown was both legal and solid. FAU cornerback Reggie Brown sustained a torn ACL on the play (we wish him a speedy recovery).

Statistic of the game: Alabama’s offense ran 24 plays with senior Blake Sims as quarterback, gaining 289 yards for a 12.04 average per snap. Junior Jacob Coker was in for 48 plays, for 311 yards, but a 6.48 average.

Did you notice? Players wearing No. 27 didn’t have the best day. Senior safety Nick Perry was the one run over by running back Jay Warren on his 31-yard gain, and sophomore running back Derrick Henry slipped/tripped on the 70-yard punt return by Cyrus Jones, who might have reached the end zone with one more block.

Here are 10 other notable things from Alabama’s shortened 41-0 victory over Florida Atlantic:

1. Throwing downfield: Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin’s play-calling was designed to take advantage of his quarterbacks’ strengths, thus the vertical attack with Sims and the horizontal approach with Coker. Sims attempted three passes longer than 15 yards downfield, competing just one, running back Kenyan Drake’s 41-yard gain. One was deflected and another was dropped, which account for his only two incompletions. Coker had five attempts that were 30-plus yards and he completed the last two.

2. Explosive plays: Saban, defines an explosive play a run of 13 yards or more or a pass of 17 yards or more. Alabama’s goal is nine per game. Led by Cooper’s five it had 14 against FAU, which was more than any game last season.

3. Third-down/red-zone passing: Sims attempted only one pass on third down, completing it for a 10-yard gain and a first down. Coker was 3-for-5 and 73 yards. For the season, Alabama quarterbacks are 11 of 14 for 162 yards and the 78.6 completion rate is up from 66.14 in 2013. Meanwhile, inside the FAU 20 Sims was 3-for-4 and Coker was 5-for-8 with the 3-yard touchdown pass to senior fullback Jalston Fowler. Alabama has already attempted 14 red-zone passes after having just 31 last season.

4. Mistakes index: Basically, it’s a measure of mistakes, but it could arguably also be an indirect indicator of maturity and discipline. The mistakes index is fumbles lost + interceptions + penalties + sacks. Thanks to six penalties by the Crimson Tide – the most significant of which was senior guard Arie Kouandjio getting called for a chop block, with cornerback Cyrus Jones getting flagged twice – both teams scored a respectable seven. Of note, though, Alabama has yet to make an interception.

5. Yards after the catch: Cooper’s day was so good that he didn’t just have a 100-yard performance, but had more than 100 yards after the catch. While Sims passed for 214 yards, those plays had 179 yards after the catch, more than double what the receivers had off passes thrown by Coker. After averaging 4.83 yards after the catch vs. West Virginia, Alabama’s receivers essentially doubled that against FAU.

6. Most around the ball: Defensive “touches” is found by adding together tackles, assists, sacks, passes broken up (interceptions are included in that statistic), hurries, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries. Saturday’s leader was the player who benefitted the most from Trey DePriest’s return, junior linebacker Reggie Ragland (7.5). Second was sophomore cornerback Eddie Jackson (6) during his first game action since having knee surgery in April.

7. Who was thrown at? Speaking of Jackson, FAU threw at him four times, not including screens his direction, with two completions for 16 yards, but one resulted in a fumble that the cornerback caused. Cyrus Jones also forced a fumble and had five passes thrown his way, with two completions for 24 yards and two penalties. However, it’s important to note that the Owls were without starting quarterback Jaquez Johnson (shoulder).

8. Lineup changes: DePriest (suspension) and Jackson (knee) returned to the starting lineup while sophomore Alphonse Taylor made his first start at right guard and sophomore Chris Black was an injury replacement at wide receiver. Brandon Ivory and Jarran Reed made their first starts of the season on the defensive line. On special teams, ArDarius Stewart, Tim Williams and Maurice Smith were new on kickoff coverage, with Reuben Foster, Geno Smith and Landon Collins added to kick returns.

9. Who played: According to Alabama’s participation chart the coaches used 65 players, and probably would have played more had the game not been suspended/called. Making their Crimson Tide debuts were junior-college transfers Dominick Jackson and Ty Flournoy-Smith, freshmen Josh Frazier and Hootie Jones, and redshirt freshman Tyren Jones. Making their first appearance this season were Grant Hill, Bradley Bozeman, Isaac Luatua, Malcolm Faciane, Dee Liner and Korren Kirven.

10. Records chase: With his first touchdown catch of the season, Cooper has 16 for his career. That ties him with Ozzie Newsome for third on the Alabama all-time, trailing only Dennis Homan with 18 (1965-67) and DJ Hall’s 17 (2004-07).

With 189 receiving yards Cooper went over 2,000 for his career and now has 2,055 and needs 868 to break the Alabama record held by DJ Hall 2,923. At his season pace he’ll do so in the second quarter at Tennessee on Oct. 18.

With his 43 rushing yards T.J. Yeldon has 2,512 career yards. He needs 1,053 to break Shaun Alexander’s career record of 3,565.