Following a 31-17 season-opening loss to Florida State, the noise surrounding Alabama was loud this week. Coach Kalen DeBoer had his feet held to the fire and his program was picked apart.
Beating Louisiana-Monroe at home won’t silence concerns about the direction of DeBoer’s program, but obliterating the Warhawks 73-0 will at least quiet the noise.
Alabama scored 21 points in the first quarter, 21 points in the second quarter, and 21 points in the fourth quarter. Three quarterbacks got into the game and all 3 of them tossed multiple touchdowns. The Crimson Tide held UL Monroe to 3 yards per play and averaged 8.4 yards per play itself.
Starting quarterback Ty Simpson completed all 17 of his pass attempts for 226 yards with 3 scores. Backup Austin Mack hit on 8 of his 10 passes for 80 yards. Freshman Keelon Russell hit 4 of his 6 passes for 65 yards.
Freshman running back AK Dear led the rushing attack with 76 yards and a score on 5 carries. Kevin Riley had 69 yards on a team-high 11 carries.
Eleven different receivers caught a pass. Thirteen different defenders recorded at least a half tackle for loss.
Alabama had 11 possessions and scored on all 11 of them. The only time the Crimson Tide failed to score a touchdown, the drive ended with a field goal. ULM had 4 drives end in a 3-and-out and 3 more end with turnovers.
The 73 points are Alabama’s most scored in a single game since putting up 77 in a win over Virginia Tech in 1973. The 73-point win is the largest margin of victory in a game for the Crimson Tide since 1951.
DeBoer and the Crimson Tide were favored by nearly 40 points. Dominating an outclassed opponent was the expected result. Nonetheless, going out and taking care of business in such a thorough way should turn down the heat. At least for a week.
The Crimson Tide host Wisconsin next Saturday before an early bye week. They travel to Athens to face Georgia on the other side of that bye.
Alabama 73, La.-Monroe 0
Here’s the Alabama-ULM box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Ty Simpson vs Aidan Armenta
A statistical breakdown of how Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson performed compared to ULM’s Aidan Armenta:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
