Alabama secured a 52-7 win over Mercer Saturday, giving fans a clearer look at the team’s future playmakers.
Despite being in a scoring drought for the past two games and not making any scoring plays since Alabama’s game against Tennessee on Oct. 19, wide receiver Ryan Williams showed up against the Bears, earning two touchdowns.
“I’ve been challenging him to be a leader,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Obviously, we’re looking at him as a guy who is going to be one of our playmakers. … He just has a maturity that’s well beyond his years.”
After defensive back Domani Jackson forced a fumble from runningback CJ Miller that gave Alabama its first possession of the game, Williams rushed to the right for a 29-yard touchdown to put Alabama on the board 7-0.
It took Mercer four plays to give possession back to Alabama after the Crimson Tide’s defense made it impossible for the Bears to gain footing. The Bears only made it nine yards, ending its possession with a 51-yard punt, which defensive back Kaleb Hutchinson downed.
Late in the first quarter, quarterback Jalen Milroe found Williams again with a 14-yard pass to the Mercer 16-yard line, who ran in for his second touchdown, bringing the score to 14-0.
Mercer gained possession with 4:08 in the first quarter, and after steadily chipping away at yards, the Bears found themselves at the Alabama 34-yard line. It was the first time the Bears had gotten into Alabama territory.
The Bears couldn’t make anything out of the opportunity, however, and linebacker Qua Russaw intercepted a pass from quarterback Whitt Newbauer to end the first quarter.
On the Crimson Tide’s first drive of the second quarter, tight end Robbie Ouzts earned his first touchdown of the season and second career touchdown off a 44-yard pass from Milroe after he rushed 18 yards to the house to bring the score to 21-0.
“He’s kind of just a Swiss army knife for us out there,” DeBoer said of Ouzts. “Especially the blocking piece and for him to get down the field.”
Freshman defensive back Zabien Brown made himself the first defensive scorer of the season after a pass to Mercer’s Parker Wroble was knocked out of Wroble’s hands by defensive back DaShawn Jones. Brown recovered the ball and returned for a 68-yard touchdown.
Mercer’s only touchdown came in the second quarter after Newbauer made a 31-yard pass to Kendall Harris, allowing him to step into the end zone from the Alabama 1-yard line.
Though the drive following the score looked promising, with Milroe starting out with a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Germie Bernard and then gaining another three yards on a carry by running back Justice Haynes, the next two of Milroe’s passes didn’t connect, forcing the Crimson Tide to take a 45-yard field goal to end the half.
Before Milroe was subbed out for redshirt sophomore quarterback Ty Simpson, Milroe brought in his 17th rushing touchdown of the season on a 3-yard run.
Simpson’s field time lacked luster, completing only 5/10 of his passes for 71 yards. The Crimson Tide was forced to punt on its first drive, and Simpson struggled to connect in the second; however, a 43-yard pass to Josh Cuevas got the ball rolling on the Crimson Tide’s next score. On the next play, Simpson passed the ball off to Richard Young, who rushed up the middle for a touchdown that brought the score to 45-7.
Alabama brought in two more quarterbacks to close out the game. First, the team put in Dylan Lonergan, who completed 5/6 of his passes for 23 yards, and then redshirt freshman Austin Mack.
Mack came into the game at the end of the fourth quarter and made an immediate impact, completing a 31-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Rico Scott, who earned his first two career receptions and first career touchdown in this game.
“It’s really exciting for me because, especially Rico, we hang out all the time,” Williams said, adding that Scott is one of his best friends. “I told him before the game, I was like, ‘you’re gonna score today,’ and he was like, ‘no,’ and now he’s in the endzone.”
The Crimson Tide will hit the road to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners on Nov. 23 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
