Crimson Tide Drowns North Texas

The Alabama Crimson Tide treated North Texas like a glorified scrimmage and dominated in true fashion. Led by a host of offensive explosions Alabama hammered the Mean Green, 53-7.

Greg McElroy, in limited action, went 13-15 for 176 yards including a 29 yard touchdown pass to Mark Ingram, and a 34 yard touchdown pass to Marquis Maze. McElroy also had a 2-yard touchdown run to put ‘Bama on top 7-0 in the first quarter.

On the ground, Alabama was led by Mark Ingram who rushed 8 times for 81 yards including a 29 yard touchdown reception and a 5 yard touchdown run. Freshman Trent Richardson had another solid game for the Tide as he carried the ball 11 times for 87 yards including a 1 yard touchdown plunge. However, the man who carried most of the load in the rushing department was the 2007 leading rusher…Terry Grant. Grant had a great outing against North Texas as he carried the ball 19 times for 79 yards including touchdowns runs of 1 and 9 yards respectively.

Late in the second quarter, back-up quarterback Star Jackson orchestrated a late first half drive which culminated in a Leigh Tiffin field goal. Jackson would play the majority of the second half and would finish 9-13 for 87 yards.

Crimson Tide return man Javier Arenas had a huge second half for Alabama with punt returns of 36 and 33 yards. Arenas also returned a kickoff 61 yards against the Mean Green in the second stanza. All returns would result in three Crimson Tide scores.

As many expected, Alabama played without the services of Julio Jones and Roy Upchurch. Once the first quarter was in the books it was very apparent the decision to sit Jones and Upchurch was more than correct. Fans can now expect Jones and Upchurch to be back in action this week when the Tide takes on Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

In respect to team statistics, Alabama racked up 523 yards of total offense compared to only 187 by North Texas. The Crimson Tide rushed for 260 yards while holding North Texas to only 61. The 53-7 final was the highest-scoring game since a 56-3 thumping of Louisiana Tech in 1993, during the Gene Stallings era.

Thanks to the Washington upset of USC, Alabama has moved up a single spot in the current polls to No. 3 in both the AP and USA Today standings.

NOTE: Coming soon…Arkansas/Alabama preview.