FIRST AND 10: An inside look at Alabama's 52-6 win over Western Carolina

With the start of a new football season, we’re happy to unveil the regular feature that will replace the “Report Card” of the previous three seasons. Welcome to the initial installment of “First-and-10” which will pick apart the previous University of Alabama game, examine things you may not have noticed, or clarify what occurred.

As the catchy title implies, there will be 10 items every week, but the play, player and statistic of the game segments will remain a staple.

Because Saturday’s 52-6 victory against Western Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium was everyone’s first real look at this year’s squad under coach Nick Saban, a few of this week’s categories will deal with who played and who did not.

1. The passing game

Junior starter John Parker Wilson completed 17-of-25 passes for 189 yards before he was pulled in the third quarter. However, one statistic that jumped out was he completed only 1-of-5 passes in the red zone (inside the 20), which was a problem last season. He was 8-for-8 on the two touchdown drives, and 5-for-7 on third downs. There were two main staples to the plays he ran: shotgun formation (we counted 17 overall, with four handoffs), and the play-action bootleg, which was a major reason why junior tight end Nick Walker led the Tide with five receptions. Only once did he look deep, an incompletion to sophomore Mike McCoy in the end zone.

Redshirt freshman Greg McElroy was sharp in relief, completing his first eight passes until he threw his final ball away. After five straight completions, coaches put him back in shotgun formation three times, and he also ran the play-action bootleg. The 32-yard screen to sophomore running back Glen Coffee was the Tide’s longest pass of the game.

2. True freshmen

Yes, that was quarterback Nick Fanuzzi taking snaps on the final possession, which lasted just three plays and resulted in a 25-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Roy Upchurch.

Alabama started two true freshmen, with linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive back Kareem Jackson, who quickly replaced junior linebacker Ezekial Knight due to WCU’s formation.

Wide receiver Darius Hanks entered the game in the fourth quarter and had a 6-yard reception. William Vlachos was the backup left guard.

On the defensive line, Luther Davis, Alfred McCullough and Josh Chapman — whose eligibility was questioned last week due to the academic investigation at Hoover High School — all played. McCullough had a fumble recovery.

3. The heart of the defense

The three players in the middle of the front seven, sophomore defensive tackle Lorenzo Washington, senior linebacker Darren Mustin and McClain, had combined for zero starts before Saturday, but didn’t play like it. Although Saban made a point of saying he wants to see improvement at the point of attack, Mustin and McClain tied for second in team tackles with seven. On one play they combined for a loss and simultaneously knocked the running back’s helmet off.

WCU had two carries of 10 yards or more, both draws up the middle. Otherwise, the Catamounts had their greatest success, if you could call it that, running outside the tackles with 14 carries for 49 yards (3.5 average).

Washington finished with four tackles and a sack, when senior “Jack” linebacker Keith Saunders and senior end Wallace Gilberry forced the quarterback to step up into his grasp. He also jumped off-sides, to put WCU into the red zone.

4. The receivers

The first noticeable thing was the number of downfield blocks, some of which would have been good hits for a linebacker. Senior DJ Hall had at least three and sophomore Mike McCoy two. McCoy also had a personal foul penalty for a late hit. Otherwise, the Tide essentially stuck to a five-man rotation until the fourth quarter, and wasn’t afraid to line up four receivers and send five players out for a pass.

Hall and redshirt freshman Earl Alexander led the unit with four catches each, and both had an impressive grab with Alexander’s diving sideline catch and Hall’s reach up while still in stride. Hall had two drops, although the second was on a ball thrown behind him, and Wilson looked to him a team-high eight times.

By our count, Alabama tallied 134 yards after the catch, roughly half of the 262 total receiving yards.

5. The depth chart

The backup offensive linemen didn’t exactly match the distributed depth chart, but spoke volumes about who could end up redshirting. The second unit, from left to right, was senior Chris Capps, Vlachos, sophomore Evan Cardwell, redshirt freshman David Ross, and junior B.J. Stabler. The third line was sophomore Drew Davis, Vlachos, senior Morgan Garner, redshirt freshman Taylor Pharr and Stabler, who was probably taking extra snaps with junior Cody Davis out (shoulder). At wide receiver, juniors Will Oakley and Darwin Salaam both got on the field late in the game.

Defensively, the first players to serve as replacements were sophomore safety Ali Sharrief, sophomore linebacker Brandon Fanney (who like Saunders played on the line, and was impressive with five tackles) and sophomore Brandon Deaderick. They were followed by McCullough. At the other linebacker spots, sophomore Cory Reamer, senior Demarcus Waldrop and sophomore Zach Schreiber were the replacements. Waldrop had three tackles and a forced fumble, and Reamer had two tackles. Among those getting late playing time in the secondary were sophomore safeties Chris Rogers and Justin Woodall. Sophomore Javier Arenas had two tackles as a defensive back.

6. The play-calling

Yes, there were a lot of different looks and various personnel used, but otherwise the play-calling was pretty vanilla, which makes sense considering the opponent and Alabama travels to an SEC opponent next week, Vanderbilt. Despite the offense executing 44 running plays compared to 34 attempted passes, coaches made a point to get numerous players involved. Twelve different players had at least one reception, and four different running backs took handoffs.

Defensively, Alabama had four down linemen for most of the game, essentially playing a 4-5-2, but Saunders was usually the fourth lineman. Otherwise, it was Knight, who replaced Washington in obvious passing situations. The formation had junior end Bobby Greenwood lining up as a defensive tackle virtually the entire game. He finished with two tackles, 1½ for a loss.

Alabama blitzed roughly a dozen times, with mixed results. WCU’s two biggest plays, 28 and 35 yards on successive plays in the third quarter, came on blitzes. What was interesting was the longer the game went, the more Alabama blitzed.

7. The running backs

Redshirt freshman Terry Grant’s 47-yard touchdown marked the first time Alabama scored on its first offensive play since Brodie Croyle threw an 87-yard touchdown pass to Tyrone Prothro against Florida in 2005. It was also the first of six rushing touchdowns for the Tide, which averaged 7.1 yards per carry.

With the first unit, Alabama’s power carries usually went to the left side, but overall the Tide had success across the board. Alabama had five carries for 69 yards around the left side, 17 carries for 63 yards through the left side, eight carries for 60 yards up the middle, 10 carries for 68 yards through the right side, and three carries for 57 yards around the right end (including the first touchdown).

Incidentally, sophomore tackle Andre Smith had the key block on Grant’s 21-yard touchdown. Grant had seven carries ranging from minus-1 to plus-two yards, at least of three of which appeared to be due to a missed block or assignment.

8. The defensive backs

WCU threw the most in junior cornerback Lionel Mitchell’s direction, but didn’t have too much success. Also, the Catamounts didn’t shy away from senior Simeon Castille, who was the initial defender on the touchdown play called back due to a holding penalty drawn by Mitchell. He was accidentally taken out of the play by a teammate.

By the third quarter, opposing quarterbacks made sure to notice where Castille was lining up, especially after he contributed to tackles for a loss on consecutive plays. He finished with five tackles and broke up a pass.

9. Kickoff and returns

The was a strong mix of veterans and newcomers on kick returns, including, from the front back, Jackson, Waldrop, senior Marcel Stamps, Sharrief, sophomore Tyrone King, Rogers, junior Travis McCall, Johns, sophomore Baron Huber, Hall and Arenas. On the opening kickoff, Hall and Johns both flattened an opposing player.

Most of the players on kickoffs included Arenas, sophomore Marquis Johnson, Sharrief, sophomore Tyrone King, Waldrop, sophomore Eryk Anders, Johns, Rogers, Jackson, junior Rashad Johnson, and kicker Leigh Tiffin.

Incidentally, Tiffin barely missed his 27-yard attempt, and hooked the 40-yard miss later in the game. All of his kickoffs had approximately 4.0 seconds of hang time.

10. Punts and returns

It may have been because of the opponent, which used an unusual punt formation, Alabama’s return unit was significantly smaller than what fans are used to, and included Stamps, senior Foress Rayford, Rogers, Sharrief, Castille, Jackson and Arenas.

Sophomore P.J. Fitzgerald had only one punt, 40 yards, which he was unable to stick within the 20.

Play of the game: There’s really no better way to start a game than to score on the first offensive play, which redshirt freshman Terry Grant did on a 47-yard carry. There were three key blocks on the play, senior guard Justin Britt and sophomore wide receiver Mike McCoy downfield, and sophomore tackle Mike Johnson’s sealing the end which helped provide the initial hole.

Player of the game: Grant’s three touchdowns were the most by an Alabama player since Shaud Williams against Kentucky on Sept. 13, 2003. Grant had 134 rushing yards on 18 carries (7.4 average), but also made two receptions for 13 yards.

Statistic of the game: Alabama’s 575 yards (313 rushing, 262 passing) of total offense was the most by Alabama since 588 yards on Oct. 6, 2001, a 56-3 victory against UTEP, and the 35 first downs was a team record (34, Penn State, 1983). Also, the Tide had no turnovers.

Did you notice? Junior safety Rashad Johnson led the team with eight tackles, and also had a tackle for a loss and a forced fumble. Sophomore Chris Rogers had three of his four tackles on special teams. How about junior running back Jimmy Johns lining up as a wideout on a play?

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.