Kentucky vs. Alabama: Game Grades, Analysis for Tide

The Alabama Crimson Tide celebrated their 2016 Homecoming with another dominant performance on Saturday night. The nation's top-ranked team improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC with a 34-6 victory over Kentucky. The Tide shook off a slow start and used big plays from their defense to ignite a big third quarter from quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Wildcats were shut down all night on offense, only gaining 161 yards on 58 plays.

Pass Offense

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Jalen Hurts looked shaky through the first two quarters, as did most of the offense. Some fans were even calling for former backup Blake Barnett to come in the game. Luckily for those fans, Barnett was unavailable, and Hurts finally hit his stride in the third quarter. The true freshman finished 20-of-33 with 262 passing yards and two touchdowns, both going to his favorite target.

Calvin Ridley had his first big game of the 2016 season, and he set new records for his career. The sophomore had 11 receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday night. The Hurts-Ridley connection looked really good against Kentucky, and the SEC could have to deal with it for 16 more games over the next two seasons.

Grade: B+

Rush Offense

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It may be a little tough on the rushing game after dealing with two injuries to Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris last week. However, outside of Joshua Jacobs, there was not much to it this week. Hurts never got going on the ground, and runners not named Jacobs finished with just 3.5 yards per carry. That being said, the freshman running back had himself another game in the spotlight. Jacobs finished with exactly 100 yards on 16 carries and scored his third touchdown of the season. 

Grade: B

Pass Defense

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Kentucky averaged more than 200 passing yards per game entering Saturday, but Alabama had no plans of giving up that much ground. The Crimson Tide allowed just 13 completions for 89 yards. The hosts put constant pressure on the Kentucky quarterback and came away with four sacks by the end of the night. Ryan Anderson, Rashaan Evans and Tim Williams each had strip-sack, although only two were recovered. Ronnie Harrison's 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown broke the game open for the Crimson Tide just before halftime.

Grade: A+

Rush Defense

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Alabama's defensive front had another strong performance, but there was a little bit of space for Kentucky to run the ball on Saturday night. The Wildcats averaged just two yards per carry, but the visitors had five runs go for 10 yards or more. With the standard the Alabama defensive line has set, that may not be good enough for the team. However, the Crimson Tide still had nine tackles for a loss. Jonathan Allen led the team with eight total tackles and six solo tackles.

Grade: A-

Special Teams

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There were a lot of reasons for Nick Saban to be upset with his special teams units. Adam Griffith missed a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter. Xavian Marks and Eddie Jackson both had mistakes in the return game that could have been disastrous in a more competitive matchup.

J.K. Scott had a beautiful 58-yard punt that should have just been 57 yards, but the ball slipped through Tony Brown's arms and into the end zone for a touchback. Kentucky's kickoff-return unit even put together some decent runs, averaging 26 yards per return. Despite the negatives, Marks and Jackson each had pretty good punt returns to help the Tide's offense out with field position.

Grade: C+

Coaching

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There were plenty of issues this week leading up to the homecoming game, so it's tough to blame the coaching staff for the sluggish start. However, the coaches saw what needed to be fixed and made clear adjustments in the game to make sure things went smoothly.

When Jalen Hurts was struggling in the first half, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin did not panic and continued running the same offense that has worked all season. The use of Joshua Jacobs was a good sign the coaches understand the "feed the guy who's hot" theory. On top of it all, Alabama had just four penalties on Saturday, which is a big improvement from what we have seen this season.

Grade: A

Caleb Turrentine is a contributor at Bleacher Report. He also works as a columnist and contributor at Touchdown Alabama Magazine. Follow him on Twitter, @CalebTurrentine.