It was his fifth consecutive 100-yard game, which ties an Alabama record set by DJ Hall.
“It’s always good to know that you have a guy who’s going to run for you,” senior quarterback Blake Sims said. “It really helps when everyone focuses on him – you have other receivers to throw to. Cooper does it very well, and he is a great team player. He gives extra effort all the time, and it’s good to have him and know that you always have someone open.”
Cooper is third in receiving yards in the FBS with 454. He leads in receptions with 33.
On Alabama’s first drive of the game, he fielded a crossing pass from Sims and turned it into a 22-yard touchdown. His 17 career touchdown receptions put him in a tie for second place in the Alabama record books.
Junior cornerback Cyrus Jones has had his fair share of questions about Cooper. Jones was a receiver his freshman year, and now as a defensive back, he practices against Cooper.
“I think the most kind of difficult part about covering Amari is definitely at the line of scrimmage,” Jones said. “I mean, that’s the key part when you’re at DB is, that’s the first step, to win the line of scrimmage. That’s definitely tough because he’s shifty, he has good releases and it’s tough to get a hand on him, so definitely I think that’s the most dangerous part of his game.”
Cooper was the target of 11 passes Saturday. As well as Cooper’s been playing, he isn’t the only player who can get the ball, Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
“I think we need to get more people involved offensively,” Saban said. “You know, Coop’s had a great start here, but we have other guys who are capable players, [like] Chris Black dropped the ball tonight. He’s a capable playmaker, and we need for those guys to play in confidence. Getting [DeAndrew] White back will help us. Christion Jones had four catches tonight.”
Despite the dropped ball, Black had a reception for five yards. Christion Jones’ four catches accounted for 50 of Alabama’s 214 yards receiving.
