Alabama names Players of the Week after win over Mississippi State
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off a massive 56-23 beatdown against the previously No. 16-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs this past weekend in what was their biggest test of the season thus far.
The Tide dominated Kamario Taylor and the rest of the Bulldogs in all 3 phases of the game in a performance reminiscent of when Dak Prescott and another highly ranked MSU squad faced off against Alabama 12 years ago.
Much like that win from over a decade ago, the Tide had plenty of standouts who made a number of big plays on Saturday, and several of them just earned Player of the Week honors for their respective performances in Week 5.
Sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell, junior tight end Josh Ford, and junior offensive lineman JD Martin were all named co-offensive players of the week, while freshman linebacker Xavier Griffin, sophomore defensive back Dijon Lee Jr., junior linebacker Torin Craig, and the entire Crimson Tide defensive line picked up player of the week honors on the defensive side of the ball.
Russell was lights out both throwing and running the ball, racking up 301 total yards and 4 total touchdowns, while Griffin led all Alabama defenders with 12 tackles and Lee picked up his first pick-six of the season. The defensive line gave Kamario Taylor and the Bulldogs’ typically explosive offense trouble all day, racking up 5 sacks and 9 tackles for loss in what was arguably their best performance so far this season.
Finally, sophomore placekicker Lorcan Quinn and junior wideout Cooper Mollison both earned special teams player of the week honors, with Quinn connecting on his lone extra point of the day and Mollison shining on the scout team during practice leading up to the game.
