Right after halftime, Hurts found Stewart alone near the Alabama 40 and the receiver sprinted up the right sideline untouched for a 71-yard touchdown and a 24-3 lead.
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You knew these guys were going to be good, but this was ridiculous: The Bama “D” held the Trojans to 64 rushing yards on 30 attempts.
There was a bit of mystery as to whether Solomon would start behind center for Arizona or if head coach Rich Rodriguez would opt to go with redshirt sophomore Brandon Dawkins instead. Most Bama fans could have picked out most of the honorees, but some might be surprised that freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t make the cut. Saban said. “We made a decision today for now”.
The Cougars defense also came to play, sacking Wildcats quarterback Anu Solomon four times and picking him off twice. “How we go about doing that is a plan that I think is very, very important to both guys and to our team”. And No. 16 UCLA lost as well. “We may do it a little different way than we did last week”.
-LSU suspended offensive guard Josh Boutte one game for a flagrant personal in the waning moments of Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin.
“When the first quarter was over, I was wondering to myself, ‘Was this a good plan or a bad plan”, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said.
“Hopefully it’s a statement”.
The season-opening win came at AT&T Stadium – the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – was also where the Crimson Tide started their 2012 and 2015 national championship seasons with victories. It was all but the end of the game for USC in a 52-6 shellacking by top-ranked Alabama in Arlington, Texas. It was the fewest points since a 10-6 loss to Utah in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl.
Allen, who finished with 12 sacks a year ago, pulled down Southern Cal junior quarterback Max Browne for a pair of first-half sacks Saturday, spearheading the Tide’s defensive revival after a hard first quarter. It certainly didn’t help him that receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, had only one catch for 9 yards when targeted five times.
Alabama’s best player from a season ago – Heisman Trophy victor Derrick Henry – is impressed.
Southern Cal defender Jabari Ruffin was ejected from the game late in the first half when at the end of a punt return he stomped his foot into the groin area of Alabama’s Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was on the ground.
ALABAMA: There shouldn’t be any questions about Alabama staying the No. 1 team when the new poll comes out Tuesday.
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On Sunday, USC coach Clay Helton said Ruffin would will miss the first half of the Trojans’ next game against Utah State on Saturday. They go to No. 8 Stanford for their Pac-12 opener on September 17. Next weekend? The Crimson Tide will face a Western Kentucky team whose players tripped all over one another when they ran onto the field in the season opener.
