Florida Atlantic Owls vs Alabama Crimson Tide Match Player Stats On Sep 06, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 6, 2014

No. 2 Alabama 41, Florida Atlantic 0: Quarterback Blake Sims accounted for three touchdowns in the first quarter to spark a fast start in the host Crimson Tide's drubbing of the overmatched Owls in a game shortened by lightning.

Amari Cooper hauled in a school record-tying 13 catches for 189 yards and a 52-yard TD pass and running back Kenyan Drake scored twice for Alabama (2-0), which piled up 620 yards of offense before the game was called due to lightning with 7:53 to play. Sims finished 11-of-13 for 214 yards and a pair of scoring passes and Jake Coker threw for 202 yards and a TD.

Florida Atlantic (0-2), which was shredded for 784 yards in a 55-7 season-opening loss at Nebraska, was led by running back Jay Warren with 56 yards on nine carries. Greg Hankerson, starting in place of an injured Jaquez Johnson, completed 12-of-19 for 88 yards and Lucky Whitehead had six catches for 42 yards.

The Crimson Tide scored on their first five possessions, including four touchdown drives of at least 74 yards before they were finally stopped on the final play of the half when Andrae Kirk sacked Coke on third-and-2 at the 4-yard line. Sims capped a 74-yard opening drive with a 7-yard run before connecting on a short pass with Cooper, who raced 52 yards down the right sideline for a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the contest.

Coker came on for Sims and guided Alabama to the 5-yard line but settled for Adam Griffith's 22-yard field goal before recording his first touchdown pass for the Tide on a 3-yard connection to Jalston Fowler to make it 31-0 with 6:23 left in the first half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cooper tied DJ Hall's single-game mark of 13 catches set in 2007 versus Tennessee and registered his fourth straight 100-yard game, leaving him one shy of tying Hall's school mark. ... Johnson, last season's Conference USA Newcomer of the Year, injured his non-throwing shoulder in last week's loss at Nebraska. ... Drake rushed for 45 yards and T.J. Yeldon added 43 on seven carries as Alabama gained 204 yards on the ground.