Football vs. Kent State Postgame Notes

GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for today's game against Kent State are Ryan Anderson, Brandon Greene and Dakota Ball.

FIRST TIME STARTERS: Junior wide receiver Cam Sims made his first career start today.

STREAKING: Alabama owns the longest winning streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, having won 16 consecutive games dating back to last season (last loss: Sept. 19, 2015 vs. Ole Miss). The 16-game streak is the seventh longest in school history (28 games twice: 1991-93 & 1978-80) and the second longest under the direction of head coach Nick Saban (19 games 2009-10). During that stretch the Crimson Tide have won seven games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, five straight road games, four consecutive neutral-site games while going 9-0 against teams from the Southeastern Conference. During the streak, Alabama has outscored its opponents by 387 points (603-216; 37.6-13.5), an average of 24.1 points per game.

SABAN'S HOME RECORD: With the win over Kent State, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 117-19 across his four career stops in home games. He owns the advantage at every stop he has made during his collegiate coaching career, including a 58-7 mark while at Alabama. Saban has won 29 of his last 31 contests at Bryant-Denny Stadium and has lost back-to-back matchups only one time, with the consecutive losses coming at the end of the 2007 season (LSU and ULM).

SABAN VS. THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE: With the win over Kent State, Nick Saban is 15-1 against current members of the Mid-American Conference. Eight of those victories came in his first head coaching stop at Toledo in 1990. The Rockets finished 7-1 in MAC play and beat current conference member Northern Illinois in a non-conference contest that season.

SABAN AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE OPPOSITION: With the win over Kent State, Nick Saban owns a career mark of 73-18 against non-conference opponents (including bowl games) across his 21 years as a head coach in the collegiate ranks. During his time at Alabama, Saban owns a 42-5 record in against non-conference opposition, including a 28-1 mark at home. The Crimson Tide is currently riding a 26 game winning streak against non-conference opponents at home after losing to ULM in 2007 by a score of 21-14. Saban-coached Alabama teams are outscoring non-conference opponents by an average of 39.1-12.2 (1,838-561) and have shut out the opposition 10 times.

UNRANKED, NO PROBLEM UNDER SABAN: With the win over Kent State, Alabama has now defeated 62 consecutive unranked teams under head coach Nick Saban. The last loss to an unranked team came at Auburn to close out the 2007 season. The current streak began with a win over Colorado on Dec. 30, 2007, in the Independence Bowl. Under Saban, Alabama holds a 66-3 (62-3 after vacated wins) mark against unranked opponents, including a perfect mark in unranked matchups since 2008.

SABAN MOVING UP SEC WINS LIST: With the win over Kent State, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is second in league history in all-time winning percentage at .817 (152-34) and ranks tied for eight all-time for career wins, with Philip Fulmer at 152.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM: Alabama has won 22 of its last 23 games at its home stadium. Prior to the Sept. 19, 2015, loss to Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide had not lost a game at home since falling to Texas A&M in 2012. Alabama boasts the sixth-best home winning percentage in the FBS at .820 (247-53-3) at Bryant-Denny Stadium since the stadium opened in 1929.

FOR THE RECORD: Saturday's game against Kent State was Alabama's 1,236th college football game. That figure takes into account games both forfeited and vacated per NCAA rulings. Without accounting for those stipulations, he KSU game was actually Alabama's 1,258th football game and the Tide's actual on-field record is 897-317-44. The Tide is now 76-10 this decade. Alabama has defeated 62 consecutive unranked opponents dating back to the 2007 season. Saturday's game was the 704th home game in Alabama history (the 413th played in Tuscaloosa). The win improved Alabama to 345-65-3 all-time in Tuscaloosa, including 247-53-3 all-time at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game was televised by The SEC Network and the Tide is 13-0 all-time in games televised by The SEC Network. The win improved the Tide to 58-7 under head coach Nick Saban at Bryan-Denny Stadium. Saturday's game with Kent State was the fourth time that Alabama has played a Mid-American Conference school. All four of those games have been played at Bryant-Denny Stadium and the victory improved the Tide to 3-1 against MAC opponents (two wins over Kent State, one win over Bowling Green and a loss to Northern Illinois).

97-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: With today's 48-0 win over Kent State, Alabama is 97-6 (.942) under head coach Nick Saban when leading at the half. Alabama has now led at the half in three of its four games this season and has held a halftime lead in 14 of its last 19 games dating back to the start of the 2015 season.

CAREER FIRSTS: Freshman running back Joshua Jacobs tallied his first two touchdowns and posted a career-best 97 yards rushing while freshman fullback Mack Wilson also tallied his first score on his first pass reception. Junior placekicker Andy Papanastos kicked the first two point-after kicks of his Alabama career today. Xavian Marks recorded his first career punt return for a touchdown.

Defensive Notes

A SHUTOUT: Today's 48-0 shutout victory for Alabama over Kent State marked the Tide's 95th shutout victory since 1958 and the 17th of the Nick Saban Era (since 2007). Under Saban, Alabama has shutout at least one opponent in nine of 11 seasons (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), including the last six consecutive.

FITZPATRICK SACKS: Sophomore Minkah Fitzpatrick's 1.5 quarterback sacks today set a new career high. He had tallied a sack in a game twice previously, most recently in 2015 at Georgia. Fitzpatrick finished the game with three tackles against the Golden Flashes today.

ANDERSON CONTINUES STRONG PLAY: Senior linebacker Ryan Anderson's 11 tackles, 5 for loss and 4 sacks to start 2016 continues his hot streak that ended the 2015 season. In the final six games of the 2015 campaign, Anderson recorded eight tackles for loss and six sacks. Seven of his career 12.5 sacks and nine of his 24 career tackles for loss have come in his last nine games played. Across his time at Alabama, the redshirt senior has accumulated 24 tackles for a loss of 116 yards and added 13.5 sacks for -97 yards.

Offensive Notes

FIRST HALF POINTS: Jalen Hurts' 20-yard touchdown run in the first quarter extended Alabama's first half scoring streak to 122 games, 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 owned a 105-16 record during the streak entering today's game.

SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: Alabama's school record consecutive games scoring streak was extended to 202 games with Jalen Hurts' 20-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

HIGH SCORING HALF: The 41 points in the first half today is a season high for Alabama in the opening two quarters and the most since tallying 49 against Charleston Southern last year. The Tide tallied 17 points in the first half in each of the first three games of the season. The 21 first-quarter points equals the previous season high for a quarter, set in the third quarter of the season opener with USC.

JACOBS BREAKS OUT: Freshman running back Joshua Jacobs rushed for the first two touchdowns of his career in the first quarter today and finished with a career-high 97 yards on 11 carries.

SIMS' CAREER DAY: Cam Sims' four catches and 54 yards today surpassed his previous career highs of three receptions (twice) and 33 yards (vs. Western Carolina, 2014).

Special Teams Notes

NON-OFFENSIVE TDs IN THE SABAN ERA: Xavian Marks' 75-yard punt return in the second quarter against Kent State was the 52nd non-offensive touchdown of the Nick Saban era and the sixth for Alabama this season. At Ole Miss on Sept. 17, Eddie Jackson returned a punt for a touchdown while Da'Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen returned fumbles for scores. Against Western Kentucky on Sept. 10, Jackson returned an interception for a score and against USC, Marlon Humphrey also returned an interception for a touchdown. Alabama has scored non-offensive touchdowns in its last six games – two interceptions, two fumbles, three punt returns and a kickoff return – dating back to the CFP semifinal vs. Michigan State on Dec. 31, 2015.

GRIFFITH CLIMBING CAREER LISTS: Senior placekicker Adam Griffith continues to move up the Alabama career charts. Griffith scored 10 points against Kent State, making two field goals (six points) and four extra points against the Golden Flashes. The 10 points gives Griffith 268 career points scored to rank ninth in Alabama history, passing Trent Richardson (260). Griffith remains sixth in career kicking points with 268, 36 points behind Jeremy Shelley (304) for fifth. With four point-after conversions in the Kent State game, Griffith has 136 career PATs to rank in a tie for second in Tide history with Leigh Tiffin. The two field goals gives Griffith 42 in his Tide career, sixth all-time and two behind Shelley (44) for fifth place on the list. Leigh Tiffin holds the career field goals made mark with 83.