Bryce Young Throws 4 TDs as No. 1 Alabama Dominates D'Eriq King, No. 14 Miami 44-13
Top-ranked Alabama kicked off its 2021 season with a dominant 44-13 victory over Miami at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia on Saturday.
Despite losing several key players from last year's undefeated title team, including Mac Jones and Heisman winner DeVonta Smith, expectations remain high for the Crimson Tide.
New quarterback Bryce Young, making his first career start, is one reason for those expectations. The sophomore was ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2020 recruiting class.
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Young looked ready for his moment in the spotlight. He finished with 344 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
The Crimson Tide had absolutely no problem on either side of the ball against a good Miami squad. They were up by 24 and had a 291-107 advantage in total yards at halftime.
Notable Game Stats
- Bryce Young (Bama): 27-of-38, 344 yards, 4 TD
- Brian Robinson Jr. (Bama): 12 carries, 60 yards
- John Metchie III (Bama): 6 receptions, 76 yards, TD
- Jameson Williams (Bama): 4 receptions, 126 yards, TD
- D'Eriq King (MIA): 23-of-31, 178 yards, TD, 2 INT
- Cam'Ron Harris (MIA): 12 carries, 38 yards
New-Look Alabama Offense Doesn't Miss a Beat
It seemed hard to believe that head coach Nick Saban's offense in 2021 would be able to equal what last year's group did.
Through one game, at least, there doesn't appear to be any drop-off for the group.
Young didn't even have to show off his running ability to be a major factor in the win. He had over 200 yards passing and three touchdowns in the first half alone.
It certainly helps that Young is able to throw to such a dynamic group of playmakers on the outside.
John Metchie III flew under the radar last season because it's hard to get a lot of attention when you play alongside two wide receivers who are top-10 picks in the NFL draft. Moving into the role as Alabama's No. 1 wideout seems to agree with the junior.
It's not as if Metchie is coming out of nowhere to look like a star. He finished second on the team last year with 916 yards and six touchdowns on 55 receptions.
The early returns from this game suggest that Metchie is going to be Young's favorite target in 2021, and that's very bad news for opposing defenses.
Losing Najee Harris didn't have a significant impact on the success of the running game. Brian Robinson Jr. finished with 60 yards on just 12 carries in his first outing as the lead back.
None of this even accounts for a defense that completely swarmed a Miami offense that averaged 34 points per game last season.
Hurricanes quarterback D'Eriq King was sacked four times, and the offense averaged 4.2 yards per play.
The one long drive Miami put together at the start of the third quarter ended with the 'Bama defensive line stuffing King on a 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Three plays after getting the ball back, Jameson Williams took a pass from Young 94 yards to the end zone to give the Crimson Tide a 34-3 lead.
There's a lot of season still left to play, but it certainly looks like the road to the national title will once again go through Tuscaloosa.
Saban and his coaching staff continue to have a deep roster of talent to play every year, and they are so good at developing seemingly every player up to their full potential.
The Crimson Tide remain great and very dangerous for anyone who gets in their way.
Ugly Loss Shows Hurricanes Still a Work in Progress
While most of the focus in this game is (rightly) going to be about Alabama's dominance, there were plenty of mistakes and miscues by Miami that show head coach Manny Diaz and his staff have a lot of things to work on.
The Hurricanes didn't have a drive last longer than five plays until the end of the second half. Their two extended drives only resulted in three points. Their best drive of the game ended in a turnover on downs because of a horrendous play call.
King, who came into the game with a knee issue and was in the injury tent at one point in the first half, tried to run the hurry-up on 4th-and-goal after a five-yard run by Donald Chaney Jr. got the ball down to Alabama's 1-yard line.
The Hurricanes' senior quarterback lined up in the shotgun and attempted to run through the middle of the line with no success.
That play call was emblematic of how things went the entire game for the Hurricanes. They rarely sustained any momentum on the offensive end. The defense was completely overmatched against a faster and stronger opponent.
The Ringer's Kevin Clark, who is also a Miami alum, had some fun at his team's expense because of how lopsided things were:
David Lake of 247Sports did note coming into the game that Diaz has had success as a head coach against quarterbacks making their first career start:
"The combined average stat line of (Kenny) Pickett, (Joe) Burrow, and (Hendon) Hooker in these games comes out to 13-of-24 for 172 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 51 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries."
"Overall, that is a solid stat line of defense against a quarterback, but there are some numbers that were discouraging as well. UM’s defense failed to make plays against these quarterbacks, with two sacks being the most on any of them and the Hurricanes failing to force any interceptions."
Despite that stat line, Miami did lose each of those games. The most relevant quarterback in comparison to Young was Joe Burrow, but that game against LSU was in 2018 before he would turn into the Heisman winner and future No. 1 overall pick.
Diaz recently told reporters he was confident about his defense this year, despite featuring a smaller group of players, because they have a lot of speed at all three levels.
“What made Miami, Miami ... was smaller, fast defenders? This is Miami. We’re going to be fast on defense. You can see the same change going on in the National Football League," he said. "You’re talking about faster outside linebackers that can play in space and cover…
A lack of size might not matter against most teams in the country, but it absolutely does when the opponent is Alabama. The Crimson Tide routinely have the biggest and fastest players at every position.
It showed in the final result Saturday, as Diaz's defense got picked apart and the offense didn't get anything going until the outcome was well in hand for Alabama.
What's Next?
Alabama will host Mercer in its first game of the 2021 season at Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Miami will take on Appalachian State next Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
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