 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama showed why it is ranked No. 2 in the nation Saturday with a 48-7 victory over Kent State at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson punched in three touchdowns, including two in a 21-point first quarter.
From that point forward, the Golden Flashes held the Tide to just three points on its next five drives and cut the lead to 24-7 early in the third quarter. Senior Norman Wolfe's third quarter interception was returned to the three-yard line, setting up a touchdown pass from Spencer Keith to Justin Thompson
“I thought he did a great job today. I don't know how many drops we had, but I guess it was in the double digits. He missed a couple throws but overall he played very well,” Kent State head coach Darrell Hazell said of Keith.
Kent State’s defense, meanwhile, had its moments. The Flashes picked off four passes and forced a fifth turnover on a punt.
“The defense, they were ball-hawking all day,” senior running back Jacquise Terry said. “We gained momentum each time they made a turnover. But we [the offense] just couldn't execute the way we wanted to”
Alabama took charge again in the third quarter as a Richardson touchdown began a string of 24 unanswered points.
“We had a lot of guys playing hard, and we got some turnovers on defense. But we need to pay close attention to film next week and make some adjustments," Hazell said. “I don't know if it was nerves or we were out of position, but we had too many missed tackles. We had a lot in the first and fourth quarter, so we need to get better in that facet.”
While Alabama’s offense put at least two touchdowns on the board in the first and third quarters, the Tide defense remained stout throughout the game. Since last season, the Flashes were the ninth Alabama opponent to be held to 10 points or less.
“They're a great defense. Their guards are hard to come by and the defense is excellent on every level,” Hazell said. “We thought if we could get short-yard gains, that would be good for us, but they stuffed us for negative gains on many occasions. Their corners are excellent, so we need to do a better job executing our game plan.”
“I felt like we were pretty physical today but we didn't execute at all times,” Terry said. “We had some overthrows, we had some guys drop some balls, some negative runs, but we also made some plays. We'll definitely play faster next week.”
Kent State will play its home opener Saturday, Sept. 10 against Louisiana at Dix Stadium.
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics
NOTES
• Junior wideout Tyshon Goode passed Najah Pruden for fifth place on Kent State's career reception list now with 114. Goode has made a reception in 24-of-25 career games, including each of his last 21.
• Junior quarterback Spencer Keith passed Julian Edelman for fourth place among Kent State's leaders in career completions now with 403.
• Senior Norman Wolfe made his sixth career interception. Three of his interceptions have come against ranked opponents (two at Penn State 2010).
• Senior Josh Pleasant made his fifth career interception.
• Juniors Sideny Saulter and Leon Green had their first career interception.
• Senior Justin Thompson made a career-high four receptions
• Junior Matt Hurdle had a career-high three receptions
• Freshman defensive back Calvin Tiggle led the Flashes with 10 tackles in his college debut
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