No. 1 Alabama isn’t flawless against WKU

Playing in a familiar venue, Alabama receiver Calvin Ridley put up familiar numbers Saturday. The biggest moment came at the end of the game, when an Alabama fumble led to a touchdown from Western Kentucky. The Crimson Tide racked up 12 penalties for 85 yards. On the next play, the final play of the first quarter, Hurts passed to Ridley in the right flat, and Ridley took it in for a 10-3 lead. No other rusher had more than 7 total yards. Last season, the slippery 6-foot-1, 188-pounder caught 83 passes for 1,031 yards and seven touchdowns. “That’s bad ball, that’s bad football and it’s not the kind of football we want to play here, and it’s not the kind of football team we want to have”. “Out shooting them six to one, we give a goal and it’s one to nothing”.

Hurts also failed to see a couple of receivers running open, and was victimized by two dropped passes that would have been sure touchdowns and a scoring pass that was called back for a holding penalty.

Steve Sarkisian is officially a member of Alabama’s coaching staff, and his work kicks off with today’s game against Western Kentucky.

Kiffin, who came to Alabama after being fired as head coach at USC in 2013, doesn’t speak to the media during the season, per the school’s policy.

Nicholls (0-1) led, 14-13, midway through the third after freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade, a surprise starter, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jarrell Rogers.

Hurts is the first true freshman quarterback to start at Alabama since Vince Sutton started four games in 1984. He would later start against Vanderbilt, Georgia, Penn State and Tennessee. The Tide started sophomore Ross Pierschbacher at right guard on Saturday but rotated Taylor into the unit later in the game. The Tide took that 17-3 lead to halftime.

Alabama rushed for 242 yards in Week 1 but was held to 124 yards on 39 carries Saturday. But if there’s any defense in the country that can make the nation’s leading passer look average, it’s one led by Nick Saban. All but one of the Alabama’s penalties came on offense, as the Tide was flagged for five false starts. Asked after the game if Hurts will be his starting quarterback from here on out, Saban responded, “I’m not thinking about that right now, but I know that whoever does start needs to be better”. Mississippi State is the last team to hold Alabama under the 400 mark. Saban didn’t escape his own scathing criticism. Western Kentucky also covered as a 19-point home favorite while the combined score fell 4.5 points shy of the 64.5-point total. “Those are called ass-chewings”. That should make up for the harsh words. “It was supposed to be a reverse pass where he runs it a lot farther and only throws it if it’s wide open”.

Head coach Nick Saban seems to never be happy about anything as he strives for perfection in every facet of the game no matter if the score favors his team or not.