Today, we open the week with a three, two, one series, which we’ll provide three things we learned, ask two questions, and make one prediction following Alabama's 66-3 victory over Ole Miss.
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Game recap | Photos | Saban press conference | Postgame podcast
Three Things We Learned
1. The Offense is a Juggernaut
Over the last two games, Alabama’s offense has racked up 1,290-yards, 118 points, and 64 first downs. While Alabama’s offense looked good in weeks two and three hitting the 41 point mark, what we have seen over the last two weeks has been pure dominance. Against Vanderbilt, Alabama racked up 677-yards which was second all-time and on Saturday against Ole Miss the Crimson Tide went over the 600-yard mark for a second straight game using great balance passing for 248-yards and rushing for 365-yards.
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Overall, Alabama is ranked 14th in the nation with an average of 508-yards of offense per game. Oklahoma has the No. 1 offense in the Country averaging 605.5-yards per game, but over the last two games, Alabama’s offense is averaging 645-yards per game and scoring if you can believe an average of 62.5 points per game. Saturday’s 66 point performance by Alabama was the second most points in a SEC game, which Saban might not care about, but it’s worth noting because the last time Alabama scored 66 points it dates back to 1979.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts is now fifth all-time on Alabama’s touchdown list with 46, tying former Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram (2008-10). On the season, Hurts is 57 of 89 passing for 747-yards with 6-touchdowns and also leads the team in rushing with 461-yards, 4 touchdowns, for a total of 1,208-yards of offense with 10 touchdowns.
2. Defense matches offense
While first-year offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is getting a ton of praise for the offensive production at Alabama, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and his defense have allowed just three points over the last eight quarters of play.
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Against Vanderbilt two weeks ago the defense allowed just 78-yards of offense and while Ole Miss moved the football more effectively racking up 253-yards of offense, the defense came up with a season team high of five sacks and held Ole Miss to 0-13 on third down conversions, in-fact over the last two games teams against Alabama are a combined 1-23 on third down conversions, major hat tip to the man calling the defense.
Through five games, Alabama has the sixth-ranked defense in the Country allowing just 249.0-yards per game, lead the Nation in turnover margin with +10, are No. 2 in rush defense allowing just 73.8-yards per game, and most importantly, lead the Nation in scoring defense allowing just 8.6 points per game.
3. Still not content
Following Saturday’s game against Ole Miss, Alabama linebacker Rahsaan Evans graded his team a 5 out of 10 in terms of performance. “I’ll give them a 5,” he said, much to the surprise of the reporters surrounding him. “We did alright. Like I said, we still got a lot of things we can change and improve on, but like I said we’ll get prepared for next week.”
