A complete effort: Football routs New Mexico State Aggies Saturday afternoon

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Wide receivers Jameson Williams and Traeshon Holden celebrate during the Crimson Tide’s win over NM State on Saturday.

Ashlee Woods | @ashleemwoods, Sports Editor

The Aggies did not get the best of the Crimson Tide on Saturday. 

No. 3 Alabama football rolled over the New Mexico State Aggies, 59-3. Alabama maintains a perfect record at home. 

During the week before the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban stressed the importance of staying focused this week despite playing a non-conference opponent. 

“I hope it [playing a non-conference opponent] doesn’t affect the team,” Saban said. “I think that your opponent should be faceless in terms of what you want to try to accomplish and what you want to try to do in terms of individually improving and getting better and individually and collectively as a team getting better.” 

It took a drive for the team to get going, but once they did, it was hard to stop the Crimson Tide. 

The Alabama defense held the Aggies to just 15 yards on their first offensive drive. On the next offensive drive, the Crimson Tide gave up a 50-yard field goal. 

New Mexico State didn’t score the rest of the game. 

Meanwhile, Alabama scored seven consecutive touchdowns after an opening drive punt. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young completed his first 13 passes. Young also threw three touchdowns during that stretch. 

“I think Bryce does a good job of managing the offense,” Saban said. 

Young was so effective today due to the offensive line play. The unit has experienced some woes, with center Darrian Dalcourt and left guard Javion Cohen both injured. 

The line controlled the trenches on Saturday. 

New Mexico State only had one sack in the game. The Crimson Tide also gave up zero quarterback hits. 

The offensive line gave up five sacks against LSU on Nov. 13. 

“I think they did well today,” Saban said. “I think they did well in practice this week.” 

The Aggies defense also had very few answers for Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams. Williams easily matched and set a new season high of receiving touchdowns for him. He finished the game with three touchdowns, the longest being a 50-yard touchdown in the first quarter. 

His previous season high for receiving touchdowns was two against the Texas A&M Aggies on Oct. 9. 

“Jameson is exactly what we looked for in the offseason,” Saban said. 

The Alabama defense also had a strong showing on Saturday. The defense sacked Aggies quarterback Jonah Johnson seven times. Linebacker Will Anderson Jr. led the defense with two sacks. 

The 25th ranked passing offense couldn’t get much going in the air. Alabama also had five pass breakups. Johnson only had 129 total passing yards against the Crimson Tide. 

Alabama finished the game with 55 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 43 solo tackles. 

“[We’re] really just trying to be consistent,” defensive lineman LaBryan Ray said. “That’s what we’ve really been focusing on.” 

The Crimson Tide returns to conference action for their last two regular season games. First up is the Arkansas Razorbacks in the final home game of the season. The game is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium on CBS.