imageWelcome to your hub for in-game coverage as the Alabama Crimson Tide plays its third home game in-a-row against the Georgia State Panthers. Here, I (Brett Hudson) will post live stats and analysis of the game, plus some photos and video. Complete your in-game coverage by following me on Twitter: @Brett_Hudson.

Third Quarter

– 4:48

– 6:18. The H wide receiver spot has been a position Alabama has been getting mismatches on all year long, no different today. Christion Jones exits and Chris Black catches his second touchdown of the season, also catching a couple bubble screens on the drive. Alabama 45, Georgia State 3

– 7:55. Some players I’ve noticed getting increased snaps: Harrison Jones, Chris Black, Dee Hart, Malcolm Faciane. Outside of the second-team offensive line posted below.

– 10:13.

– 11:20. Alabama has mostly three plays to blame for giving up the shutout. The first was 17-yard pass for a first down early in the drive where the outside wide receiver basically set a screen for the tight end en route to the outside. Basic scheme, misread by Alabama’s secondary. On the deep ball for 34 yards, it’s tough to pinpoint. Alabama was playing two over-the-top safeties and forced Vinnie Sunseri to pick one or the other. He went inside, leaving one-on-one on the outside. There could have been a little better effort to use the sideline as the 12th defender, but not much. Sunseri also dropped an interception on the sidelines that would have ended the scoring bid. Alabama 38, Georgia State 3

– 13:01. Second team defense, with some first-teamers on the field, is making some minor mistakes that have been resulting in mid-range to big gains for the Panthers. Minor things, but things that Saban will surely harp on heavily post-game.

Halftime

Quote from Nick Saban

“We wanted to come out and be aggressive. I’m pleased with how the team built off momentum of how we did last week. It was a pretty good half for us.”

Stats
Rushing Yards: Alabama 116, Georgia State 1
Passing Yards: Alabama 192, Georgia State 39
Total Yards: Alabama 308, Georgia State 40
Time of Possession: Alabama 16:35, Georgia State 12:25
First Downs: Alabama 19, Georgia 3
Penalties: Alabama 2-10, Georgia State 5-40
AJ McCarron: 15-16, 166 yards, 4 TDs
Blake Sims: 1-1, 26 yards; 1 carry, 6 yards
T.J. Yeldon: 6 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD
Kenyan Drake: 5 carries, 40 yards; 1 catch, 23 yards, 1 TD
DeAndrew White: 4 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD
Kevin Norwood: 3 catches, 42 yards
Christion Jones: 3 catches, 22 yards, 1 TD
C.J. Mosley: 6 tackles, 4 solo, 2 for a loss
Dee Hart, Eddie Jackson, Landon Collins, Trey Depriest, A’Shawn Robinson and Brandon Ivory: 2 tackles each
Eddie Jackson and Ed Stinson: 1 quarterback hurry each

Notes

– AJ McCarron’s 12-straight completions in the first and second quarters ranks for 3rd-best in school history alongside John Parker Wilson against Tennessee and Arkansas State in 2008, and Andrew Zow against Ole Miss in 2000.

– Alabama shut out the opponent in the first half for the 6th time in the last nine games. Alabama is 66-3 under Nick Saban when leading at halftime.

Second Quarter

– 0:36. Alabama commits its first two penalties of the game after subbing in the second team offense. Both penalties in the red zone keep Alabama’s streak of touchdowns from pushing on. Cade Foster drills the 27-yard field goal. Alabama 38, Georgia State 0

– 4:26.

– 4:26.

– 6:11. I get the feeling that might be the lats drive for the starting offense. Maybe one more, maybe. Jalston Fowler catches the drive-ending touchdown pass from McCarron. Alabama 35, Georgia State 0

– 6:21. AJ McCarron’s best games in terms of completion percentage.

2012, Western Carolina. 6-6, 133 yards, 1 TD
Today, Georgia State. 15-16, 166 yards, 4 TDs
2012, Tennessee. 17-22, 306 yards, 4 TDs
2011, Ole Miss. 19-24, 224 yards, 1 TD
2012, Western Kentucky. 14-19, 219 yards, 4 TDs
2011, Arkansas. 15-20, 200 yards, 2 TDs
2011, Georgia Southern. 14-19, 190 yards, 3 TDs
2012, Arkansas. 11-16, 189 yards, 1 TD
2011, Auburn. 18-23, 184 yards, 3 TDs
2012, Missouri. 16-21, 171 yards, 0 TDs

– 7:03.

– 10:09. The biggest mismatch in this game by far is Alabama’s receivers against Georgia State’s defensive backs. At least on the offensive end of things. AJ McCarron on his way to a record day if he gets enough attempts (he won’t).

– 13:48. This is exactly what we thought it would be: Alabama’s talent is just proving to be way too much for Georgia State. That scoring play was a tad of a bust, as McCarron was forced to throw to the dump-off, Kenyan Drake in the flat. Drake spun off one tackler and ran the rest of the way, finishing his first touchdown catch of 2013 with a nice dive. Alabama 28, Georgia State 0

– 15:00. Presented without comment.

First Quarter

Total Yards: Alabama 154, Georgia State 21
Rushing Yards: Alabama 58, Georgia State -4
Passing Yards: Alabama 96, Georgia State 25
Time of Possession: Alabama 8:04, Georgia State 6:56
Penalties: Alabama, 0-0. Georgia State, 3-25
AJ McCarron: 10-10, 96 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
T.J. Yeldon: 6 carries, 51 yards, 1 touchdown
DeAndrew White: 4 catches, 45 yards, 1 touchdown
Christion Jones: 3 catches, 22 yards, 1 touchdown
Amari Cooper: did not play
C.J. Mosley: 4 tackles, 3 solo, 1 for a loss
Brandon Ivory: 2 tackles, 1 solo, 1 for a loss
Dee Hart: 1 forced fumble
Dillon Lee: 1 fumble recovery

– 0:02.

– 2:03. Starting secondary packages, as I see them.

Base: Belue, Jackson, Sunseri and Collins.
Nickel: Belue, Jackson, Sunseri, Collins and J. Williams (Star).
Dime: Belue, Jackson, Sunseri, G. Smith (safety), J. Williams (Star) and Collins (Money).
Quarter: Belue, Jackson, Sunseri, G. Smith (safety), J. Williams (Star), Collins (Money) and Sylve/Washington are interchangeable.

– 2:49.

– 2:55. Some things never change. Nick Saban always goes for the jugular after a turnover and DeAndrew White makes a SportsCenter Top 10 worthy catch. One play, one touchdown. Alabama 21, Georgia State 0

– 3:00. I will never figure out how they do it, but the Alabama coaching staff has these 5-star guys completely buying into their roles on special teams. Dee Hart flies down the field and forces a fumble, Dillon Lee is there to pick it up.

– 3:08. Alabama uses its most basic of plays, almost like a freshman playbook, to score again. T.J. Yeldon carries it in from four yards this time. Alabama 14, Georgia State 0

– 3:27.

– 6:32. Not like this is a surprise, but Alabama is showing absolutely nothing offensively. A lot of very basic two-tight end sets, a lot of similar personnel groupings. Even the passing schemes are very basic: things you would see in the NCAA Football 14 video game.

– 7:12.

Other Stats
Total Yards: Alabama 71, Georgia State 7
AJ McCarron: 5-5, 42 yards, 1 touchdown
Christion Jones: 3 catches, 22 yards, 1 touchdown

– 8:59.

– 11:36. Alabama goes base in its first defensive snap of the game. Landon Collins replaced HaHa Clinton-Dix. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary. On the next snap, Alabama went nickel, sending in Jarrick Williams for Denzel Devall.

– 11:46. That didn’t take long. Alabama ends the drive with a bubble screen to Christion Jones (a bigger and bigger part of the offense, I’ve noticed) that he took eight yards for the touchdown. This will get boring quick. Alabama 7, Georgia State 0

– 12:20. On Alabama’s only third down of the drive thus far, Georgia State gambled and brought a blitz. Understandable, since a draw is a real possibility on third-and-7 and Alabama has already busted one run for over 25 yards. Chad Lindsay saw it coming, put guys in the right spot and AJ McCarron never really felt pressure.

– 14:52.

Pregame

The Million Dollar Band marched in form of an elephant in pregame. And it was pretty awesome.

image

That didn’t take long.

Starting Lineup
QB: AJ McCarron
RB: T.J. Yeldon
WR: DeAndrew White
WR: Christion Jones
WR: Kenny Bell
WR: Kevin Norwood
WR: Amari Cooper
H-Back: Jalston Fowler
TE: Brian Vogler
LT: Cyrus Kouandjio
LG: Arie Kouandjio
C: Chad Lindsay
RG: Anthony Steen
RT: Austin Shepherd

DE: Ed Stinson
NG: Brandon Ivory
DE: Jeoffrey Pagan
LB: C.J. Mosley
LB: Trey Depriest
LB: Adrian Hubbard
LB: Denzel Devall
CB: Deion Belue
CB: Eddie Jackson
DB: Jarrick Williams
DB: Geno Smith
S: Landon Collins
S: Vinnie Sunseri

Players to Watch

Alabama safety Landon Collins: Collins is obviously the No. 1 guy in replacing indefinitely-suspended starter HaHa Clinton-Dix. Collins previously saw playing time mostly in the dime and quarter packages. Who replaces Collins in that role is a bit of a mystery: Nick Perry likely would have been the first candidate, but he is out for the year after having surgery on his shoulder.

Georgia State defensive lineman Nermin Delic: Georgia State’s No. 91 knows a thing or two about playing football in the Southeastern Conference: the redshirt junior originally went to Kentucky out of high school in Georgia before transferring to Georgia State. The Panthers as a whole may have a deer-in-headlights look, but Delic might be able to lead Georgia State through the early jitters to a certain extent.

Alabama offensive lineman Grant Hill: Nick Saban said in his radio show on Thursday that a player that practices as well as Hill has deserves to play in the game whether the Tide is “up 40 or down 40.” Whether he comes in for Austin Shepherd or Cyrus Kouandjio has yet to be determined (Hill has practiced at both spots), but it has been made clear that Hill is too good to redshirt.