Inspirational Win? No. But Alabama Still Notches 34-0 Businesslike Victory Over Austin Peay

The Crimson Tide closed its non-conference schedule as expected, with a shutout win against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Nov 19, 2022 3:06 PM EST

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Alabama Crimson Tide

Blah.

That pretty much described a lot of Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The weather. The fans. The Alabama Crimson Tide. The football game.

Almost everything but Austin Peay, which played pretty inspired, and with a desperation that the Crimson Tide could have used more of this season. Despite being totally mismatched, the Governors gave all they had during the program's first visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium, and for that they should be credited.

Like a Jase McClellan stiff-arm, though, Alabama was just that much better, resulting in the predictable 34-0 victory.

"It's always great to get a shutout," Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said. "[We would have] liked to have scored more points."

Games like this for the Crimson Tide are mostly about executing and improving the little things that will pay dividends later, while hopefully not suffering any major injuries. In the bigger picture, the idea was to keep churning while hoping some things happened elsewhere that might aid No. 8 Alabama's chances of making the College Football Playoff.

That kind of situation can be tough for a team, and was the challenge for the Crimson Tide coaching staff.

Naturally, the results were mixed across the board, which has sort of been a reoccurring theme this season.

For example, Alabama still had some bad penalties, including Malachi Moore's face mask, but not as many as in previous games. The running game got some good work with McClellan tallying 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The passing game developed some more continuity and chemistry.

However, on the same play that junior quarterback Bryce Young took a brutal blindside hit on a corner screen, left tackle Tyler Steen went down awkwardly and limped straight into the locker room with an ankle injury. The setback was especially concerning as the Crimson Tide doesn't have any proven depth behind him at the position.

Turnovers continued to be a problem, and even though sophomore cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry and junior safety Brian Branch both had nice interceptions, and freshman defensive lineman Damon Payne Jr. jumped on a loose ball, the Crimson Tide maintained its lackluster minus-five turnover margin with three giveaways.

So there was a lot of good, and some not-so-good, just like the half-filled stands and broadcast that wasn't on regular television. Mother Nature couldn't seem to decide if the conditions were going to be somewhat pleasant or downright horrible.

She settled on partly dreary.

It was in this setting that the sacrificial Governors visited and hoped to be anything but, and not knowing if this would be their final game this year. On the eve of the selection show for the Football Championship Subdivision, when Austin Peay (7-4) hopes to squeeze into the 24-team tournament, and having a roster that included 22 players who were getting a chance to play in the premier venue in their home state, it wanted a good showing,

"We didn't come here to keep it close," head coach Austin Walden told anyone who would listen, including the ESPN+ broadcast team. "We came here to win."

Consequently, Alabama's final non-conference game of the regular-season was the opposite of its first, the uber-hyped trip to Texas on Week 2. The Crimson Tide was also without the likes of starting running back Jahmyr Gibbs (ankle), tight end Cam Latu (ankle) and cornerback Eli Ricks (concussion).

Still, it was only a matter of when it would overpower the visitors, and in some ways it took longer than expected as the first-team offense wasn't pulled until the fourth quarter.

Alabama opened the game with a 13-play, 92-yard drive, with Austin Peay celebrating what it thought was a goal-line stand while an official held up his arms after McClellan barely crossed the goal line on a 1-yard plunge.

Both starting cornerbacks got beat on the opening defensive possession, including freshman Terrion Arnold on a double-pass, but the Governors couldn't complete either pass.

Austin Peay subsequently benefitted from some good Lu k when a 35-yard punt took an odd bounce and hit freshman Kendrick Law hit on the helmet for a turnover, and went for it on fourth down at the Crimson Tide 3. Yet the Governors were left begging — with Walden literally on his knees before one of the officials — for a holding call that wasn't coming.

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden pleads for a call in the game with Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. — Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

However, he got the call on review on the subsequent possession, challenging the initial ruling on fumble by freshman wide receiver Isaiah Bond.

It was a small victory for the Governors, who needed a ton to go their way just to get a sniff of the end zone. The other time it did resulted in a badly-shanked 25-yard field-goal attempt.

So what did Alabama (9-2) get out of the win? A business-like victory. Zero points allowed. More continuity on offense. A chance for a lot of reserves to get some needed experience.

A lot that this team needed, even at this point of the 2022-23 season.

Christopher Walsh's column regularly appears on BamaCentral.