The No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide finished strong in a 52-7 win over the Mercer Bears Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama improved to 8-2 overall before its final two games of the regular season. Kalen DeBoer’s team heads to Norman next Saturday to face the Oklahoma Sooners before closing out the year with their Iron Bowl matchup against the Auburn Tigers in Tuscaloosa.
After jumping out to a 31-7 lead at halftime — a start in which the Tide got two big touchdowns from freshman sensation Ryan Williams and an impressive performance from quarterback Jalen Milroe — Alabama kept its foot on the gas to open the second half.
The Crimson Tide started the third quarter strong by driving 67 yards in 4:27 to take a 38-7 lead. Milroe hit Germie Bernard on a play that went for 23 yards to the Mercer 21-yard line, and Justice Haynes ran 12 yards for a first and goal at the Bears’ 3. Milroe eventually finished off a 10-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run.
That would mark the end of Milroe’s day. He finished 11-of-16 for 186 yards and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Milroe ran six times for 43 yards before backup Ty Simpson took over.
Simpson showed off his wheels on his first series with a 13-yard scramble on a 3rd and 11 play from Alabama’s 27-yard line.
Early in the fourth quarter, Simpson pulled off a pass reminiscent of Eli Manning’s Super Bowl escape against the New England Patriots in 2008 when he avoided a sack and hit tight end Josh Cuevas for a 43-yard gain and a first and goal at the 1.
Richard Young finished off the drive with his first career touchdown run for a 45-7 lead with 12:54 to play in the game. Simpson was 5-of-10 for 71 yards, plus the 13-yard scramble.
Alabama used two more backup quarterbacks, giving freshmen Dylan Lonergan and Washington transfer Austin Mack some snaps. Lonergan was 5-of-6 for 23 yards. He hit Ty Lockwood on a well-thrown short pass for a five-yard gain and a first down.
Mack, the fourth quarterback of the day, connected with fellow freshman Rico Scott for a 31-yard touchdown with 3:36 left for Alabama’s final score of the afternoon. Mack’s touchdown to Scott capped a 16-play, 79-yard drive that took 7:43 off the clock.
Alabama finished the day with an 508 yards of total offense (319 passing, 189 rushing) and 29 first downs.
Alabama vs Oklahoma Week 13 kickoff, TV info announced
The Crimson Tide will face the Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday night at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
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