Alabama Game Notes - Game One - San Jose State
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
OPENING-DAY SCORING SPREE: Scoring 48 points against San Jose State, Alabama has scored 350 points in its last nine season openers, an average of 38.9 points per game in wins over Middle Tennessee (39-34), South Florida (40-17), Utah State (48-17), Middle Tennessee (26-7), Hawai'i (25-17), Western Carolina (52-6), Clemson (34-10), Virginia Tech (34-24) and San Jose State (48-3). Alabama's 52-6 win over Western Carolina in 2007 represented the most points scored by the Tide in a season opener since a 66-0 win over California at Legion Field to open the 1973 season. The Tide scored 40 points in back-to-back openers in 2003 and 2004, marking the first time since 1941-42 the Crimson Tide had hung 40 points on the board on opening night. Alabama has scored 40 or more points in its season opener 27 times, but only nine times since the World War II. The record for most points in a season opener was an 89-0 win over Delta State in 1951.
FIRST-TIME STARTERS FOR THE CRIMSON TIDE: A total of 15 Alabama players made their first collegiate starts against San Jose State - 10 positional starters and five specialists. Three first-time starters were on offense: LG Chance Warmack, RT D.J. Fluker, RB Trent Richardson. Seven first-time starters were on defense: DE Damion Square, DE Luther Davis, Sam LB Chavis Williams, Will LB Jerrell Harris, CB Dre Kirkpatrick, CB DeQuan Menzie and FS Robert Lester. Five more made starting debuts on special teams: deep snapper Carson Tinker, punter Jay Williams, kickoff specialist and distance field goal kicker Cade Foster, punter Cody Mandell and placekicker Jeremy Shelley.
McELROY'S NIGHT: Senior quarterback Greg McElroy passed for 218 yards and a touchdown while completing 13 of 15 pass attempts without throwing an interception. McElroy completed his first six pass attempts of the game, including a 48-yard touchdown strike to Darius Hanks that gave Alabama a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. McElroy, who ended the 2009 season with a streak of 98 pass attempts without an interception thrown (dating back to the second quarter of the LSU game) ended the first half 11-of-13 passing for 178 yards and one touchdown. He has thrown 113 pass attempts without an interception.
JONES OFF TO SOLID START: Junior receiver Julio Jones had an excellent start to his 2010 season, grabbing a team-leading six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, averaging 15.5 yards per reception.
RICHARDSON BREAKS LOOSE: Sophomore running back Trent Richardson rushed for two touchdowns in the early stages of the game, scoring on a 4-yard run to give Alabama a 7-0 lead with 11:38 remaining in the opening period, then racing 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Tide a 21-3 lead early in the second period. Richardson ended the first half with 56 yards rushing on seven attempts (8-yard average per carry).
McCARRON GETS FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS: Redshirt freshman A.J. McCarron entered the game in the second quarter and quickly made an impression, completing his first two pass attempts for 40 yards, including a dazzling 29-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones for a 28-3 Alabama lead with 11:48 remaining in the second period. Jones' leaping, one-handed catch was McCarron's first career touchdown pass at Alabama.
LESTER NABS FIRST ALABAMA INTERCEPTION: Sophomore free safety Robert Lester intercepted a San Jose State pass in the first quarter to set up the Crimson Tide at the Spartan 19-yard line with a chance to extend Alabama's early 14-3 lead. The pickoff was the first of Lester's Alabama career.
LACY REDEEMS HIMSELF: Redshirt freshman running back Eddie Lacy bounced back from a disappointing first half with a pair of touchdown runs in the second half, redeeming himself after a fumble into the end zone ended a potential scoring drive in the first half. Lacy scored the first touchdown of his Alabama career on a 37-yard run around the left side with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter to give Alabama a 38-3 lead. He followed that up with a 10-yard scoring run with 14:04 remaining in the game to push the Tide's lead to 48-3. Lacy ended the game with 111 yards rushing on 13 attempts.
RECORD CROWD: Tonight's game with San Jose State is the first in the latest incarnation of Bryant-Denny Stadium and was played before a capacity crowd of 101,821, a new stadium record. This latest expansion is the fourth expansion of the stadium since 1988 and the seventh expansion in the stadium's history. It mirrors the north end zone project that was completed in 2006. It consists of roughly 8,500 additional seats, 1,700 South Zone Club seats, two corner video boards, an upper concourse with concessions and restrooms, 36 skyboxes, the Crimson Tide Foundation offices, Donor Hall of Fame and an outdoor market with Zoe's Kitchen, Yogurt Lab and a new university admissions office welcome center.
SEASON OPENERS: With the victory over San Jose State, Alabama has compiled a 92-21-3 all-time record in season openers, including a nine-game winning streak. Dating back to the 1977 season, Alabama is 30-4 in its last 34 season openers and the Tide has posted a 18-2 opening day record since 1991. The 2010 season marks the 11th consecutive year the Tide has opened the season with a non-conference opponent.
SABAN IN SEASON OPENERS: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is now 12-3 in his collegiate career in season openers, including a 4-0 mark at Alabama. He led Alabama to a 52-6 win over Western Carolina on Sept. 1, 2007, in his inaugural game with the Crimson Tide, a 34-10 win over Clemson in 2008, a 34-24 victory over Virginia Tech in 2009 (with both the 2008 and 2009 games being played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta) and tonight's victory over San Jose State. Saban won his first collegiate game on Sept. 8, 1990, as he led Toledo to a 20-14 win over Miami (Ohio). He was 3-2 in season openers at Michigan State and 4-1 in season openers at LSU.
SEASON OPENERS BY HEAD COACH: Saban is 4-0 in season openers at the Capstone. Coach Frank Thomas (1931-46) is the school's most successful coach on opening day, compiling a 13-0-2 record in his 15 season openers with the Crimson Tide. Legendary coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant (1958-82) is the school's winningest coach, logging 18 opening day wins in his 25-year career. Bryant's record in Alabama season openers was 18-6-1 (.740), including a six-game winning streak to close out his career.
SEASON OPENERS BY OPPONENTS: With the San Jose State game, the Crimson Tide has opened the season with 57 different opening day opponents with the Crimson Tide's most common opening day opponent being Howard (now Samford). Alabama has also played five current SEC teams on opening day, compiling a 14-8-1 (.630) record against Mississippi, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Florida and LSU. The Tide has not opened the season with an SEC opponent since a 28-17 win at Vanderbilt in 1999.
SEASON OPENERS BY SITE: Alabama has played its season opener in 18 different cities in its 116-year history of football. The 2010 season opener with San Jose State is the first in Tuscaloosa since an opening-day route of Western Carolina in 2007. The most common venue for an Alabama season opener is on the UA campus in Tuscaloosa, where the Tide has opened the season 51 times and compiled a 48-2-1 record. The Tide is 18-1-1 in season openers at Bryant-Denny Stadium (built in 1929). The Tide has opened the season 29 times in Birmingham and has posted a 24-4-1 record in those games.
ALABAMA VS. WAC: With the victory over San Jose State, Alabama has compiled a 7-4 (.583) record against the current WAC field. San Jose State is the fourth WAC opponent Alabama has faced. Prior to Saturday's game, the Tide's last meeting with a WAC opponent came in the season opener in 2006, ironically the first game after the north end zone expansion was completed, when Alabama defeated Hawai'i, 25-17, in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has also faced WAC members Louisiana Tech (2-3) and Utah State (2-0). While Alabama had a winning record against Louisiana Tech, the program had to forfeit the game later as part of an NCAA infraction penalty. The Crimson Tide have outscored their WAC opponents 357-151 in the 11 games played.
SABAN VS. WAC: In Saban's collegiate coaching career, he has only faced an opponent from the current WAC three times, twice during his tenure at LSU. The Tigers defeated Utah State on Sept. 8, 2001, (31-14) and Louisiana Tech on Nov. 1, 2003 (49-10). The victory over SJSU gives Saban a 3-0 mark against WAC opponents.
NOTABLE: Tonight's Alabama game captains were quarterback Greg McElroy, offensive lineman James Carpenter and defensive lineman Luther Davis … Alabama won the opening coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff … a total of 47 players saw action for the Crimson Tide in the first quarter tonight … freshman punter Cody Mandell attempted his first punt in an Alabama uniform with 6:09 left in the first quarter, a 52-yard punt that was downed at the SJSU 21-yard line … former All-American defensive back/return specialist Javier Arenas attended tonight's game, joining his former teammates on the sideline while on a brief hiatus from the Kansas City Chiefs.
