On Saturday, Alabama proved why they're ranked as the No. 2 team in the country. In the Tide's 381-9 victory over Missouri, everything just clicked.
It's pretty obvious that it was a good win for the opening game of the season," said Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. "I think anytime you win a game in the SEC you have to be really happy about that."
Mac Jones looked quite impressive, Jaylen Waddle had a stellar performance, and running back Najee Harris scored three touchdowns.
"Mac is pretty instinctive. He doesn't look down at the rush, he keeps his eyes down the field, he keeps two hands on the ball in the pocket which is really important and I think he has a really good grasp of the offense. I think he had maybe only one bad read in the game and the rest of the time he was pretty on point," said Saban.
Defensively, having senior linebacker Dylan Moses back on the field was a game changer. With Moses (the leader of the defense) on the field, the entire defensive unit looked more poised.
Another x-factor for the defensive unit was sophomore linebacker Christian Harris who recorded six tackles, two for loss, and one sack.
"I do feel a lot more confident on the field than I did last year," said Harris. "I think a lot of it has to do with the playbook. I feel a lot more comfortable playing now. Having Dylan Moses playing next to me... It gives everyone a little more confidence."
This week The Tide is going up against a Texas A&M team who has a lot to prove after a subpar season opener against Vanderbilt. But of course, Coach Saban never counts anyone out.
"This is going to be a lot more challenging game for us," said Saban. "It's going to be necessary for us to make a significant amount of improvement and play for 60 minutes because of the type of team we're playing against."
The Tide's home opener will be a Top 15 matchup as they take on the 13th ranked Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
