Alabama Football vs. ULM Postgame Notes
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for Saturday's non-conference game against ULM were seniors Denzel Devall and Dalvin Tomlinson, and junior O.J. Howard. ULM won the toss and deferred to the second half, with the Crimson Tide receiving Saturday's opening kickoff.
TIDE SUCCESSFUL IN SEPTEMBER: With the win over ULM, Alabama is 30-1 in September since 2008. Including games in August, that record improves to 33-1. The Crimson Tide's only losses in September since Nick Saban became head coach came in last weekend's contest against Ole Miss, and before that on September 20, 2007, to Florida State in Jacksonville, Fla., by a score of 21-14.
FIRST TIME STARTING: Senior wideout Richard Mullaney and freshman wide receiver Calvin Ridley each made their first career starts for the Crimson Tide against ULM.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM: With the win over ULM, Alabama has won to 18 of its last 19 games at its home stadium. Prior to last Saturday's loss to Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide had not lost a game at home since falling to Texas A&M, 29-24, in 2012.
SABAN VS. LOUISIANA-MONROE: With the win over ULM, head coach Nick Saban has a 2-1 record in his career against Louisiana-Monroe. His first meeting with ULM came while at LSU in 2003, with the Tigers defeating the Warhawks, 49-7, in Baton Rouge. The second matchup for Saban came in 2007 at Alabama, resulting in a 21-14 loss in Tuscaloosa.
SABAN VS. SUN BELT OPPONENTS: With the win over ULM, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban owns a 9-1 record against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. At Alabama, Saban sports a 5-1 mark with his lone loss coming to Louisiana-Monroe in 2007, his first season at the helm of the Crimson Tide. Saban-coached teams have outscored Sun Belt opponents by a margin of 400-107 (40.00-11.70 points per game) and have limited teams to seven points or fewer in six of those contests, including three shutouts.
SABAN BOUNCING BACK: Alabama head coach Nick Saban has suffered only 14 regular-season losses during his nine seasons leading the Crimson Tide. Since 2008, Saban and his teams have bounced back to record a perfect 6-0 mark in regular season games after suffering a regular season loss, including Saturday's win over ULM. In those bounce-back wins, Alabama has outscored its opponents 174-40 and has not allowed more than 13 points in any of those games. Since arriving at UA, including regular season and postseason contests, Alabama is 12-6 under Saban in games immediately following a loss.
TIDE 87-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: With the win over ULM after leading at halftime by a 14-0 scored, the Crimson Tide improved to 87-6 when leading at halftime under head coach Nick Saban. On Sept. 12, Alabama went into the half with a 23-3 lead over Middle Tennessee before coming away with the 37-10 win in the 2015 home opener. On Sept. 5, the Tide claimed a 35-17 victory over Wisconsin after heading into half with a 14-7 lead in the 2015 season opener.
ALABAMA'S TV?RECORD: With the win over ULM on The SEC Network, Alabama has compiled a 228-131-4 (.634) all-time record in 363 televised games (not including pay-per-view, tape-delayed or closed circuit telecasts).
HARD TO FIND THE END ZONE AGAINST THE TIDE: Alabama did not allow a touchdown in the shutout win over ULM. 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 126 touchdowns over the last 84 games.
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 200: Alabama held ULM to 92 total yards in the shutout victory. During head coach Nick Saban's last 98 games at the Capstone (since the start of the 2008 season), the Crimson Tide defense has held the opposing offense to fewer than 200 yards of total offense 33 times. The Tide did so twice in 2014 and four times in 2013.
10 POINTS OR FEWER: Saturday's shutout of ULM marked the 15th shutout victory by Alabama since Nick Saban took over as head coach in 2007. With the shutout, the Crimson Tide has held opponents to 10 points or fewer 53 times since the start of the 2007 season. The 34-0 win marked the second time this year Alabama has done so, limiting Middle Tennessee to 10 points on Sept. 12 in Tuscaloosa.
TOUGH SLEDDING ON THE GROUND: Running the ball is no easy task against the Alabama defense with the Tide yielding just two rushing scores this season. On Saturday afternoon, Alabama held Louisiana-Monroe scoreless on the ground on Sept. 26, limiting the Warhawks to nine rush yards on 31 attempts. On Sept. 12, the Crimson Tide limited Middle Tennessee to 86 rushing yards on 31 attempts a week after stifling a potent Wisconsin rushing attack in the AdvoCare Classic, allowing only 40 total yards to the Badger rushers on 21 carries.
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.
DEFENSE SETS SEASON HIGH FOR SACKS: The Crimson Tide defense notched six sacks in win over ULM to eclipse their previous single-game season-high of four, a total that the Tide reached during the first half on Saturday. The Tide finished the day with six sacks against ULM, led by defensive end A'Shawn Robinson with 1.5. Alabama recorded three sacks in the Wisconsin game.
FITZPATRICK COLLECTS CAREER HIGH IN TACKLES: Freshman defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick had a team-leading seven total tackles against ULM to set a new career high, including six stops in the first half. Before the ULM game, Fitzpatrick had a high of five stops in the season opener against Wisconsin.
HARRISON RECORDS FIRST CAREER PICK: Defensive back Ronnie Harrison recorded the first interception of his career. The first-year player entered the ULM game with two tackles and a quarterback hurry, while also having a blocked punt in the Middle Tennessee game.
HENRY REACHING THE END ZONE CONSISTENTLY: With his three-yard plunge into the end zone on the Crimson Tide's third offensive drive against ULM, junior running back Derrick Henry has now recorded at least one rushing touchdown in each of his last nine games. The last time Henry failed to notch a score was in the LSU game last season on Nov. 8, where he rushed eight times for 24 yards. The junior tailback finished his day with 52 yards on 13 carries including one touchdown score.
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 Louisiana-Monroe game. Drake led the team with 65 yards on 10 attempts, moving to 38th on the UA all-time rushing yards list with 1,302. Henry finished the day with 52 yards on the ground, bringing his career total to 1,794 which ranks 22nd on the UA all-time list.
FIRST HALF POINTS: With Derrick Henry's three-yard plunge into the end zone on UA's third offensive drive of the day against ULM, the Crimson Tide has scored in the first half of the last 107 games played, the longest streak in the nation. The last time UA failed to score in the first half was on Sept. 29, 2007, when Alabama and Florida State headed into halftime in a scoreless tie. The Seminoles won that game, 21-14. Alabama has a 91-16 record during the streak.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: With Derrick Henry's three-yard rush into the end zone in the first quarter against ULM, Alabama has scored in 187 consecutive games - the longest streak in program history.
RIDLEY NOTCHES FIRST CAREER TD: Alabama freshman wideout Calvin Ridley hauled in his first career touchdown pass on a 15-yard strike from Jake Coker in the second quarter against ULM. Ridley entered the ULM game with 13 receptions for 87 yards and finished the game with four catches for 38 yards.
GRIFFITH GOOD ON FIELD GOALS: Junior kicker Adam Griffith was a perfect 2-for-2 in field goals against ULM, making good on kicks from 40 and 30 yards, his first two made kicks of the season.
