SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 5, 2013
No. 1 Alabama 45, Georgia State 3: A.J. McCarron threw four touchdowns passes in less than a half as the Crimson Tide beat the visiting Panthers.
The senior quarterback completed 15-of-16 passes for 166 yards to improve to 30-2 as the starter for Alabama (5-0). He threw passes to eight different receivers, and touchdowns to four different players, the longest of which covered 23 yards to Kenyan Drake.
Will Lutz hit a 53-yard field goal in the third quarter for the lone score for Georgia State (0-5), who were held to 40 total yards in the first half and 175 for the game. Quarterback Ronnie Bell threw for 146 yards and Albert Wilson, who entered the game as the FBS active leader in yards per catch, had 4 grabs for 60 yards.
Christion Jones, DeAndrew White and Jalston Fowler also scored through the air and T.J. Yeldon had a 4-yard touchdown run in the first half. McCarron hit Jones from eight yards out less than four minutes into the game and White caught a spectacular one-handed 10-yard touchdown to help the Crimson Tide build a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
After the score by Drake, McCarron threw his final pass of the game for a 1-yard touchdown to Fowler. Blake Sims replaced McCarron and threw a 10-yard touchdown to Chris Black.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Junior S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, the Crimson Tide's second leading tackler, did not play after being suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. ... Sims finished 14-of-18 for 130 yards. ... McCarron broke the school record for the highest completion percentage in a game with a minimum of 15 completions, finishing at 93.75 - surpassing Ken Stabler's record set in 1966.