The No. 1 Crimson Tide’s shutout of Arkansas Saturday marked the return of two key players on both sides of the ball.
Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who was reinstated Friday after sitting out two games due to an NCAA investigation, grabbed one interception and had five tackles at free safety.
“It was good to get him back and have that experience,” said coach Nick Saban.
The other player was wideout Amari Cooper, who caught his first touchdown of the season on a 30-yard lob from AJ McCarron in the second quarter. Cooper, who had eclipsed his highest single-game total this season by halftime, finished with 65 yards off three catches and the one score.
“I really thought the offensive line did a good job of protecting the quarterback,” Saban said. We made some explosive plays in the passing game. We were able to run the ball, and we had pretty good balance out there. I’m really pleased with the progress that we made.”
Along with Cooper, McCarron also threw scores to freshman tight end O.J. Howard in the third quarter and Jalston Fowler in the first quarter. McCarron finished 15-of-21 passing for 180 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Despite getting the shutout, injuries piled up in the first half for Alabama’s secondary. Safety Vinnie Sunseri sustained a left knee injury and was seen in street clothes the rest of the game. Freshman cornerback Bradley Sylve also suffered a high-ankle sprain.
After the game, Saban said Sunseri will get an MRI on Sunday, though he noted that the injury could be serious. Sylve, he said, is day-to-day. Freshman running back Altee Tenpenny suffered a turf toe injury and his exact status is unknown.
Senior Cornerback Deion Belue was still pleased at the defense’s performance.
“It feels great,” Belue said. “We pride ourselves on being a tough, relentless defense and we got it done tonight. Having a zero at the end of the game is going to feel great. We come in to play great defense.”
Kenyan Drake had his second consecutive 100-yard running game against the Razorbacks, gaining 104 yards off of eight carries to go along with two first-half touchdowns. T.J. Yeldon fell just short of 100 yards, rushing for 88 yards and one touchdown.
“It’s obviously a testament to my offensive line and the players around me because they do a good job blocking on the edge,” Drake said. “Coach came in with a great game plan, so we just came out and executed to the best of my abilities.”
The leading rusher for Alabama, however, was freshman Derrick Henry, who rushed for 111 yards off six carries for 18.5 yards-per-carry. The majority of his yards was accumulated on a late 80-yard touchdown, the last score of the game.
“It was great to play a lot of players,” Saban said. “We certainly for those guys to get a lot of experience because we need that depth.”
With last week’s duo of 100-yard rushers in Kenyan Drake and T.J. Yeldon, Satuday’s game marked only the second time in Alabama history the Crimson Tide had two 100-yards rushers in consecutive games.
C.J. Mosley led the Crimson Tide in tackles with 10 total, including one tackle-for-loss. Denzel Devall had 1.5 tackles-for-loss, while Cyrus Jones contributed an interception in addition to Clinton-Dix’s.
