Alabama started the 2020 football season with an impressive first half Saturday night. The Crimson Tide dominated early, building a 28-3 halftime lead, before cruising to a 38-19 victory over the Missouri Tigers in Columbia, Missouri.
The offense was led by Quarterback Mac Jones who went 18 of 24 for 249 yards. Jones connected early and often with the electrifying Jaylen Waddle who led the Tide with eight receptions for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Devonta Smith added eight catches for 89 yards.
Najee Harris powered the Bama running game with 17 carries for 98 yards and three touchdowns.
Alabama finished with 414 yards of total offense.
The Crimson Tide defense seems to be much-improved after a disappointing 2019 campaign. It was great to see Dylan Moses back on the field leading from the Mike linebacker position. It’s clear that Moses still needs a few games under his belt before he will be totally back to his old ways. Moses finished with just four tackles, but influenced plays throughout the night, especially in the first half. Two of those tackles were for loses.
Junior Safety Daniel Wright led all 11 total tackles, all solo efforts.
Missouri is already a better team under first-year coach Eli Drinkwitz than they have been the last few years. There are some stars on defense. If quarterback Shawn Robinson can develop some consistency, the offense has the potential to catch fire. If that happens Missouri is going to challenge some of the higher-ranked teams in the SEC East and maybe even pull an upset along the way. Overall, they were a good first game test for an Alabama team looking to run through the 10-game SEC schedule.
Barring injury, there’s virtually no question who will be leading the Tide offense throughout the 2020 season. Mac Jones is the man. Five-Star Freshman Bryce Young made his debut in the third quarter in relief of Jones. He went 5 of 8 for 54 yards with one fumble. The youngster has an impressive arm and is a playmaker with his feet. His future is bright. But right now he looks like what he is – a talented freshman backup.
The Crimson Tide will host Texas A&M next Saturday at 2:30 PM at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS. The Aggies won Saturday, unimpressively beating the Vanderbilt Commodores by a score of 17-12.
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