TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban didn’t care that his team was a 50-point favorite heading into this weekend’s matchup. It was understood that barring a substantial surprise, No. 2 Alabama would dominate visiting New Mexico State. However, the head coach knew he wasn’t going to pay too much attention to the final scoreboard following Saturday’s game.

“I really challenged the team this week,” Saban said following Alabama’s 59-3 victory over New Mexico State. “I told them it was kind of a judgment day for us. We’ve been a little inconsistent. You know, we don’t look at the scoreboard, it shouldn’t affect how we play.”

An Alabama team searching for consistency needed to look no further than its quarterback on the day. Bryce Young led Alabama’s blowout, completing 21 of 23 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. The sophomore was sharp out of the gates, setting a school record by completing his first 13 passes of the game, including three touchdowns over that span.

Alabama was forced to punt on its first possession and later fell behind New Mexico State as the Aggies drove down the field for a field goal after getting the ball back. From there, Young rallied his troops, leading the Tide to touchdowns on its next seven possessions.

“There’s elements of being a team,” Saban said. “Everyone’s got to put the team first, value the principles of the organization, be prideful and supportive of each other and be responsible and accountable to do your job and support other people. I thought that energy and enthusiasm and sense of urgency was really good out there today, and I think Bryce kind of led the charge on that.”

On top of leading Alabama on the field, Young was also a rallying force on the sidelines, even providing pep talks to the defense as the Tide stopped New Mexico State on its final 10 possessions.

“You hear his voice a lot,” Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore said. “He was hyping us up today. Bryce is a great vocal leader. He tries to lead everybody on the team — defense, special teams, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to tell you to go out there and do your best and to match his energy. I think that really brings everybody up and brings everybody’s energy together. It’s a lot of positive energy and we’re just out there having fun.”

A once bountiful Alabama backfield is down to its emergency options. Alabama lost another one of its backs Saturday as Roydell Williams appeared to injure his right leg during a carry in the second quarter. The sophomore was helped off the field and taken directly into Alabama’s locker room and did not return.

“We lost Roydell probably for a good while,” Saban said after the game, without going into detail of the specifics of the injury.

Without Williams, Alabama is down to just two scholarship backs in starter Brian Robinson as well as Trey Sanders. The Tide previously saw Jase McClellan suffer a season-ending knee injury in Week 5 while five-star freshman Camar Wheaton has yet to play while still dealing with a meniscus injury.

Saturday, Robinson led Alabama with 99 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries while Trey Sanders ran for 66 yards and a score on 12 attempts. The Tide also dipped into its two emergency options as converted wide receiver Christian Leary had 22 yards on three carries while converted linebacker Demouy Kennedy ran for 16 yards on seven attempts.

“Demouy Kennedy is a linebacker who played some running back in high school,” Saban said. “He’s kind of a big, heavy athletic guy who’s made progress there. Leary’s a wide receiver, a smaller quicker guy, but can still play running back, and he’s fast. We’ll need those guys.”

Alabama will also have to lean more on Sanders, who has been the third option behind Robinson and Williams in recent games. Sanders, who suffered season-ending injuries in each of the last two seasons, tied a career-high with his 12 carries Saturday.

“What I’ve seen of Trey, that guy’s tough,” Robinson said. “He’s overcome some big-time situations in his life, and he just stayed positive. He kept his head down, kept working, trusted.

“I stayed with Trey, and I let him know you never really know when your opportunity’s going to come. You’ve just got to prepare for it all throughout the week so when you get a chance to carry the ball a career-high you’re ready for it.”

When Young needs to dial up a big play, he knows where to go. After Alabama fell behind early to New Mexico the quarterback helped the Tide strike right back, hitting receiver Jameson Williams for a 50-yard touchdown. The duo connected a total of six times on the day for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Three of those receptions went for 30 or more yards, including the 50-yard touchdown as well as a 32-yard score in the second quarter.

“Jamo is someone who works super hard and is someone who I can — during the week — someone who gives really good effort,” Young said after the game. “He has really good GPS numbers, all that. So when you see someone that’s working that hard, it’s easy to kind of build that chemistry throughout when he first got here during the offseason and he keeps getting long reps, game reps, practice reps week-in and week-out.

"It makes the timing and the chemistry a lot easier so as we keep getting reps and keep improving and keep growing we’re both kind of pushing each other and challenging each other to be better and our best versions of ourselves.”

Through 10 games, Young has completed 71 percent of his passes for 3,025 yards and 33 touchdowns with two interceptions. His favorite target has been Williams, who has recorded 51 receptions for a team-high 1,028 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“I think first of all Bryce has done a really good job managing the entire offense in terms of whether it’s getting us in the right play, throw the ball to the right place, try to get us in the right protection,” Saban said. “He does a great job preparing in the game and Jameson is exactly what we look for in the offseason. We wanted a fast, vertical threat that could take the top off the defense and a lot of the routes and the big plays that he makes are designed for him because of who he is and what his skill set is.”