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Welcome to your hub of coverage during Alabama’s home opener against the Colorado State Rams. Here, I will be posting video, photos, live stats, analysis and more from Bryant-Denny Stadium. You can also follow me on Twitter: @Brett_Hudson. You’ll get more here, but a lot will also be posted on Twitter.

Third Quarter
Rushing Yards: Alabama 52, Colorado State 49
Passing Yards: Alabama 196, Colorado State 178
Total Yards: Alabama 248, Colorado State 227
Third Downs: Colorado State 4-12, Alabama 0-6
Penalties: Alabama 1 for 10 yards, Colorado State 2 for 10 yards
Time of Possession: Colorado State 25:51, Alabama 19:09
AJ McCarron: 16-21, 196 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
CSU QB Garrett Grayson: 20-28, 178 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

– 0:05. Colorado State again puts together a methodical drive that ends with a field goal. Alabama 17, Colorado State 6

– 2:24. The Rams are driving, now on the Alabama 31-yard line, 2nd and 6.

– 5:25.

– 7:47. Jim McElwain constructed an incredible drive there. Playcalling had Alabama’s defense guessing way more than the norm. That drive was one drop on a double playaction pass away from a touchdown. Instead, Colorado State settles for a 45-yard field goal. Alabama 17, Colorado State 3

– 10:55. John Fulton has been on the field more in the second half after barely seeing it, if at all, in the first half. Eddie Jackson’s snaps seem to have gone down a lot as the game has worn on. Geno Smith and Maurice Smith have been on the field consistently, it seems.

– 11:42.

– 11:42. That sure looked like an interception whether the referees call it one or not after review. Just a bad throw from McCarron. Seemed like a halfway effort on the throw.

– 12:17. The coaching staff must have seen something it likes in the passing game. Three plays, three passes. Alabama was held to 50 rushing yards in the first half, so that makes sense.

Coach Saban at halftime

“We obviously made some mistakes. We need to continue to play those (younger) guys. The biggest thing to me is that we haven’t finished. We missed some big plays offensively, not due to anything they are doing.” – Nick Saban

Halftime Stats
Rushing Yards: Alabama 50, Colorado State 24
Passing Yards: Alabama 144, Colorado State 76
Total Yards: Alabama 194, Colorado State 100
Time of Possession: Colorado State 15:05, Alabama 14:55
3rd Downs: Colorado State 2-7, Alabama 0-5
Tackles for a Loss: Alabama 3, Colorado State 2
AJ McCarron: 11-15, 144 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
T.J. Yeldon: 2 carries, 39 yards
Jalston Fowler: 5 carries, 10 yards
O.J. Howard: 3 catches, 38 yards
Christion Jones: 3 catches, 37 yards
Kenny Bell: 2 catches, 21 yards
Brian Vogler: 2 catches, 13 yards
C.J. Mosley and Adrian Hubbard: 4 tackles each
Vinnie Sunseri, Landon Collins, Trey Depriest and Ed Stinson: 3 tackles each
C.J. Mosley, Vinnie Sunseri and Xzavier Dickson: 1 quarterback hurry each
Adrian Hubbard: 1.5 tackles for a loss

CSU QB Garrett Grayson: 11-16, 76 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
CSU RB Chris Nwoke: 6 carries, 17 yards
CSU WR Rashard Higgins: 3 catches, 34 yards

Halftime Notes

– Alabama’s lack of overwhelming offensive output looks like it has less to do with Colorado State defensively and more to do with miscues the Crimson Tide offensively. A lot of different reasons go into the mistakes, but they look like things that can be fixed in the locker room at halftime.

– Defensively, the Rams’ multiple attack has, at times, put Alabama on its heels: the Tide had no idea what was coming and gave up small chunks of yards at a time because of it. That’s the point of Jim McElwain’s offense. That being said, when Alabama has its bearings, the Rams have been completely subdued. When it’s on, it’s on. When it’s not, there are some small struggles.

– O.J. Howard must have had some quite impressive practices over the last few weeks, because AJ McCarron seems to be going to him much more often tonight than he did in the previous two games. His receiving abilities are what he was recruited for, after all, so if Howard is realizing his potential this early, opposing defenses are in trouble.

Second Quarter

– 1:02. Miscommunications plagued Alabama on that drive. One caused AJ McCarron to go down before taking a hit that took the Tide out of field goal range, then another between McCarron and Brian Vogler forced McCarron to throw it away when Alabama could have gotten back into field goal range with a completion.

– 2:48. An incredible block-and-release flat route from O.J. Howard after going in motion. Howard now leads the team in catches with three and moves the chains again for the Tide.

– 5:12. The defensive secondary is featuring heavy doses of three candidates at the corner position: Geno Smith, Bradley Sylve and Maurice Smith. Less of Eddie Jackson. Basically no John Fulton.

– 5:39. Cade Foster barely makes a 46-yard field goal. Alabama 17, Colorado State 0.

– 7:17. Can’t help but notice that O.J. Howard’s role in the offense is growing. He’s been thrown to at least three times in the first half alone. I can only remember one target in the entire game against Virginia Tech (it was a drop).

– 8:10.

– 8:19. After serving his one quarter suspension, T.J. Yeldon enters the game for the first time. McCarron throws, but holding is called on Cyrus Kouandjio. Bring it back.

– 9:53. Flat routes have been there for Colorado State pretty much all game long. I can’t tell if a couple deep balls forced the Alabama defensive staff to give the Rams those. But those three-yard gains can add up quick.

– 11:07.

– 12:41. The trend of non-offensive touchdowns continue. Alabama gets its 5th of the year after Kenyan Drake blocks a punt and Dillon Lee takes it back from 15 yards out for the touchdown. Alabama 14, Colorado State 0.

– 13:24.

First Quarter

– First Quarter Stats.
Rushing Yards: Colorado State 14, Alabama 11
Passing Yards: Alabama 125, Colorado State 41
Total Yards: Alabama 136, Colorado State 45
Time of Possession: Alabama 9:40, Colorado State 5:20
3rd Downs: Colorado State 0-2, Alabama 0-3
AJ McCarron: 8-10, 125 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
O.J. Howard: 2 catches, 28 yards
Kenny Bell: 2 catches, 2 yards
Bradley Sylve and Adrian Hubbard: 2 tackles each
CSU QB Garrett Grayson: 3-5, 31 yards

– 0:39. Alabama showing some formation varieties of its own on the touchdown drive, going with two not-often-used formations on back-to-back plays to end the drive. Kenyan Drake runs it in from three yards away. Alabama 7, Colorado State 0.

– 5:07. Alabama just Jim McElwain’d Jim McElwain. Moved both tight ends to the other side of the ball presnap and snapped it while Colorado State was making the necessary checks. Quick five-yard pass to O.J. Howard.

– 5:13. This thing is dead even. Score: 0-0. Total Offense: Alabama, 9 plays and 52 yards; Colorado State, 9 plays and 45 yards. No penalties and two first downs for both teams. Time of Possession: Alabama, 5:06. Colorado State, 4:41.

– 6:23. What caused Garrett Grayson to give up and scramble on that play was Eddie Jackson coming in strong on a corner blitz. Held his own at the point of contact on a tight end and forced Grayson to scramble for nothing. Another Colorado State punt en route.

– 7:30.

– 7:47. The three-and-out just didn’t look good. Not only did the first down shotgun run have a breakdown in blocking, but in a passing situation, AJ McCarron was forced to go to the dumpoff.

– 10:43.

– 11:39. That was Cade Foster’s first field goal attempt of the year and he misses it. Really could have used a confidence boost in his effort to replace Jeremy Shelley.

– 14:15. Notes on the starters: Kellen Williams got his first career start in place of Anthony Steen at right guard. Brandon Greene was the second tight end alongside Brian Vogler. The coaching staff loves using Greene in jumo sets like that one.

Pregame

Here are some carryovers from WVUA-FM’s pregame show, Crimson Tide Gameday, which aired from noon-4 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with some new content thrown in.

Injury Update

– Later, wide receiver Kevin Norwood also walked out of the tunnel in the same fashion, indiciating he will not play against the Rams.

Probable Starters

– In the defensive secondary, Eddie Jackson, Bradley Sylve and Geno Smith were listed as probably starters at cornerback. No John Fulton.

– Offensive guard Anthony Steen was listed as a probable starter. All indications pointed to him playing today despite undisclosed injury against Texas A&M and those indications were confirmed.

– Jalston Fowler was announced as the starting running back. So, there’s that. Reports that T.J. Yeldon has been suspended for the first quarter have held up.

Key Numbers

10 – Number of times Colorado State has given up a first down by committing a penalty. Only one school has done this more than the Rams (Nebraska, 11 times).

6 – Number of years for the Rams between road games against a school from a BCS automatic qualifying conference (all games vs. Colorado are at neutral sites. The Rams went to No. 10 Cal in 2007 and lost).

2 – Number of sacks Alabama has this season, ranked in a tie for 109th in the nation. Only nine schools have fewer sacks than Alabama.

61.5 – Percent of Alabama’s rushing yards T.J. Yeldon accounts for. Some reports have claimed Yeldon will be suspended for the first quarter of today’s game as a disciplinary measure for his celebration in College Station that was flagged for 15 yards. Yeldon released a statement on Monday.

Players to Watch

Colorado State tight ends Crockett Gillmore and Kivon Cartwright: This pair of tight ends will be utilized and utilized heavily in head coach Jim McElwain’s system, which revolves around strong tight end play. Neither of them leads the Rams in receptions, but both have more catches than any Alabama wide receiver (Gillmore has seven and Cartwright has eight, both ahead of DeAndrew White’s and Amari Cooper’s six catches thus far).

Alabama defensive back Geno Smith: With the absence of both Deion Belue and Nick Perry in the defensive backfield, it looks like Smith will get an opportunity to win the job he lost after his DUI arrest back from Jarrick Williams.

Alabama cornerbacks John Fulton and Bradley Sylve: Along the same lines of Smith, someone has to replace Belue at the cornerback spot. Whoever of this two performs better woll likely be on the inside track to having legitimate playing time later this year.

Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson: With the season-ending injury to Dalvin Tomlinson and the injury to Dakota Ball, Robinson could be the recipient of more snaps, as well as Korren Kirven.

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