Alabama’s offense sputtered early before finding some consistency in the 34-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
Four games into the season, the offense hasn’t quite found its identity.
“I was pleased with the fact that our guys went out there and competed hard in the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We really tried to take a step in the direction of establishing the kind of identity that we want to have as a football team.”
The defense, Saban said, played with a lot of toughness. ULM netted 92 yards of offense with only nine yards rushing on 31 attempts.
Alabama’s offense put together 303 yards, 166 of which came from Alabama’s pass game.
“I thought offensively, we stopped ourselves way too many times,” Saban said. “We had five dropped balls and several of those were on third downs. On 4th-and-1, we eliminated the first down with an illegal motion, so we’re going to need to clean up some of things. We played it pretty tight to the vest today and I think we probably need to do a little more.”
In the first half, Alabama ran 42 plays for 175 yards. Jake Coker was 10-for-21 with an interception. In the second half, he was 7-of-10 with two touchdowns. Over the course of the game, he threw for 158 yards and three touchdowns.
“I thought Jake [Coker] did a good job, and however you look at the stops, you’ve got to look at the drops,” Saban said. “That wasn’t really his fault as he made some good throws. There was probably a couple times that he wishes he would have done it a little different, in terms of going to somebody else, and those are the things we need to work out and get better at.”
Derrick Henry, who ran twice on the first drive that ended in a three-and-out, finished second on the team with 52 yards rushing on 13 carries.
On Wednesday, Saban said Henry was battling illness that limited his ability to practice.
“I just didn’t want to wear the guy out today,” Saban said Saturday. “I wanted to give other guys the opportunity to play, and I thought they developed and did a good job.”
Kenyan Drake led the way with 65 yards on 10 carries.
Henry ran in the first score of the game from three yards out on 4th-and-1 in the first quarter. He didn’t see the end zone again all day. The next three touchdowns for Alabama were in the air.
Freshman Damien Harris ran for 23 yards on four carries. No one else had double digit yards carrying the ball.
After Alabama established a run, capped by Henry’s touchdown late in the first quarter, it went back to its passing game with three straight incomplete passes including one in the end zone. The drive ended in a 52-yard punt from JK Scott.
The sophomore punter was brought out five times in the first half. His first appearance ended in an 18-yard punt after a three-and-out where the offense gained six yards. He came on the field again following the Crimson Tide’s second possession.
“We want to be a physical team and we have guys that we’re going to be known as a physical team,” tight end Michael Nysewander said. “I think we’re still working on that week by week.”
