Alabama Football vs. Middle Tennessee State Postgame Notes
9/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for Saturday's home opener against Middle Tennessee were seniors Denzel Devall, Kenyan Drake and Cyrus Jones. The Crimson Tide won the opening toss and elected to receive.
FIRST TIME STARTING: The Crimson Tide's Minkah Fitzpatrick and Dakota Ball both made their first career starts in Saturday's home opener against Middle Tennessee.
LIMITING PENALTIES: The Crimson Tide committed five penalties for 40 yards in today's game. Last weekend, Alabama was penalized 120 yards on 11 total penalties.
HOME OPENERS: Alabama now owns a 75-11-2 (.864) all-time record through 88 home openers. With the win against Middle Tennessee, Nick Saban has moved his home opener winning streak to 15 games and is a perfect 9-0 record in home openers at Alabama.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM: Alabama pushed its winning streak to 17 games with Saturday's win. The Crimson Tide has not lost a game at home since falling to Texas A&M in 2012.
COACH SABAN IN HOME OPENERS: Nick Saban is 18-2 all-time in home openers across his four stops as a head coach. He is currently riding a 15-game winning streak in the first game inside his home stadium, with the last loss coming in 1998 when his Michigan State Spartans fell to Colorado State, 23-16. In home openers, Saban's teams have outscored the opposition 734-238. While at Alabama, Saban is a perfect 9-0 overall in home openers. For his career, he owns a 1-0 record at Toledo, 3-2 mark at Michigan State, and perfect records of 5-0 and 9-0 at LSU and Alabama, respectively.
ALABAMA-MIDDLE TENNESSEE SERIES: The Alabama Crimson Tide is now a perfect 3-0 against Middle Tennessee dating back to the first matchup in 2002.
SABAN VERSUS MIDDLE TENNESSEE: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is now 2-0 all-time against Middle Tennessee. The first meeting came while Saban was at LSU, as the Tigers defeated the Blue Raiders in Baton Rouge, 30-14, in 2001.
SABAN VS. CONFERENCE USA: Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban has been the head coach in 11 games against current members of Conference USA across his time at LSU and while at Alabama. He is currently riding a 10-game winning streak after falling in his very first contest against C-USA opponent. During his years in Tuscaloosa, the ninth year head coach of the Tide has led the team to a perfect 9-0 mark against C-USA competition. Saban-coached teams have outscored Conference USA foes 439-80.
TIDE 86-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: The Crimson Tide is 86-6 when leading at halftime under head coach Nick Saban. Last week, Alabama claimed a 35-17 victory over Wisconsin after heading into half with a 14-7 lead in the 2015 season opener. The Tide had converted 36 straight halftime leads into wins before falling at Auburn on Nov. 30, 2013. The Crimson Tide had also converted 28 consecutive halftime leads into victories before seeing that streak snapped in 2010 against LSU. The first two losses in the current run (when leading at the break) came against LSU, followed by a defeat to Auburn in 2010. In 2007, Alabama held a 20-17 halftime lead before losing to LSU, 41-34, in 2007 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. In 2010, the Tide led 10-3 at the half before the Tigers rallied for a 24-20 win in Death Valley. Alabama lost 28-27 to Auburn to close out the 2010 season, after leading 24-7 at the half. The Crimson Tide is 3-7 under Saban when trailing at halftime and 3-3 when tied at halftime. The three wins in the Saban era when trailing at the half: 34-24 over No. 7 Virginia Tech in 2009 (in Atlanta); a 24-15 over No. 9 LSU in 2009; and 24-20 at Arkansas in 2010. And Alabama's three wins under Saban when tied at halftime: at LSU in 2008, (27-21), at Auburn in 2009 (26-21) and against Tennessee in 2011 (37-6).
TIDE FORCING TURNOVERS: Alabama forced four total turnovers against Middle Tennessee, with three coming in the first half (two fumble recoveries and one interception). Prior to Saturday, the last time the Crimson Tide forced four turnovers was on Sept. 8, 2012, when the Tide forced three fumbles and one interception against Western Kentucky.
HARD TO FIND THE END ZONE AGAINST THE TIDE: Since the start of the 2009 season, no defense has allowed fewer touchdowns than the Crimson Tide. Alabama's defense, led by coordinator Kirby Smart and head coach Nick Saban, has surrendered only 121 touchdowns over the last 82 games. That is 32 fewer than the second most in the nation (LSU with 153).
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 300: Alabama held Middle Tennessee to 275 yards of total offense in Saturday's home opener. In head coach Nick Saban's 110-game tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide has limited opponents to under 300 yards of total offense 68 times, or 61.8 percent of the time. UA held six of 14 opponents below 300 yards last season.
10 POINTS OR FEWER: Under head coach Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide has held opponents to 10 points or fewer 52 times since the start of the 2007 season.
RUSHING DEFENSE: Limiting opposing running backs to fewer than 100 yards is nothing new for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has surrendered only 15 individual 100-yard rushing games dating back to the 2005 season, a mark that leads the nation. Since head coach Nick Saban's arrival, the Tide has allowed only 10 players to rush for more than 100 yards in a game.
RAGLAND LEADS THE TIDE D: For the second time in as many games this season, Reggie Ragland led the Alabama defense, this time with nine tackles in the Middle Tennessee game, the sixth time in his career that he has led the Tide in stops. His other four games came a season ago when the linebacker stepped up for the Crimson Tide and finished second on the team with 95 total tackles while accounting for 10.5 tackles for loss (-27 yards), 1.5 sacks (-12 yards), one interception, three pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. His 2014 season highlights included a 13-tackle performance, with four solos and one for loss, at LSU, and 10 stops against No. 1 Mississippi State.
DEVALL SETS A CAREER HIGH FOR TACKLES: Senior Denzel Devall finished the Middle Tennessee game with seven tackles, including three solos and one for a loss. The linebacker's previous career high was four, which he accomplished three times the last time vs. LSU in 2013.
TIDE BACKS MOVING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Both Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake moved up the career rushing list with their performances in the Middle Tennessee game. Henry, who led the Crimson Tide with 96 yards rushing, jumped to 25th on the UA all-time list at 1,615 yards total for his career. With his 40 yards rushing, Drake rose from 42nd on the UA all-time career rushing yards list with 1,204 across his four seasons in Crimson and White.
COKER SETS A CAREER HIGH: With his eight-yard pass to Kenyan Drake just before the end of the first half, senior quarterback Jake Coker moved his first-half total to 214 yards through the air. That yardage total is more than his previous career high for a game of 213, which he accumulated one week earlier against Wisconsin. Coker did not return at quarterback following the halftime break.
BATEMAN THROWS FIRST CAREER TD PASS: Sophomore Cooper Bateman's 14-yard shovel pass to Kenyan Drake was the first touchdown pass of his career. Bateman's first career pass came last week against Wisconsin.
DRAKE SETS CAREER HIGH IN YARDS, RECEPTIONS: Senior running back Kenyan Drake hauled in his fourth pass of the Middle Tennessee game, a 14-yard screen pass for a score from Cooper Bateman on the Tide's first drive of the second half to pass his previous high of three receptions in a game. The reception also moved him to 94 yards receiving on the day to set a new career high for yards, as well. His previous mark was 87 yards against Florida in 2014. The senior back finished the day with five receptions for 91 yards and one receiving touchdown in addition to six carries for 40 yards on the ground.
HOWARD HAULS IN A CAREER HIGH FOR RECEPTIONS: With his eight-yard reception from Cooper Bateman in the third quarter, O.J. Howard set a new career high mark for receptions with four. The junior tight end finished the day with four receptions for 68 yards.
DOMINANT FOUR GAMES FOR HENRY: Junior tailback Derrick Henry has been impressive in his last four contests. Including the Middle Tennessee game, he has amassed 479 yards on 64 carries for a 7.5 yards per carry average, while adding nine rushing touchdowns in his last four outings. He has also collected 66 yards on four receptions.
RUSHING TO SUCCESS: Alabama is 71-3 since the start of the 2008 season when rushing for at least 140 yards. The only losses were at Auburn in 2013, and Ole Miss and Ohio State in 2014.
FIRST HALF POINTS: With Robert Foster's 19-yard reception from Jake Coker on the Crimson Tide's second drive against Middle Tennessee, Alabama has scored in the first half of the last 105 games played, the longest streak in the nation. The last time UA failed to score in the first half was Sept. 29, 2007, when Alabama and Florida State headed into halftime in a scoreless tie. The Seminoles won that game 21-14.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: With Robert Foster's 19-yard touchdown reception from Jake Coker on Alabama's second offensive drive against Middle Tennessee, the Crimson Tide has now scored in 185 consecutive games - the longest streak in program history.
BLOCKED PUNT FOR ALABAMA: Crimson Tide freshman defensive back Ronnie Harrison blocked a Middle Tennessee punt attempt late in the second quarter for a safety, the first blocked punt by Alabama since Sept. 21, 2013, when Kenyan Drake blocked a Colorado State punt attempt at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
