NCAAF Game Recap - Alabama at South Carolina
Sat Sep 14, 2019 3:30 PM EDT

Clem
41
Syr
6
F
Bama
47
SCar
23
F
ArkSt
0
UGA
55
F
NWSt
14
LSU
65
F
Okla
48
UCLA
14
F
OSU
51
Ind
10
F
NM
14
ND
66
F
Kent
16
Aub
55
F
Fla
29
KY
21
F
IdSt
0
Utah
31
F
Tex
48
Rice
13
F
Pitt
10
PSU
17
F
Mont
3
Oreg
35
F
Lamar
3
TxAM
62
F
Stan
27
UCF
45
F
AzSt
10
MSU
7
F
Iowa
18
IASt
17
F
WaSt
31
Hou
24
F
MD
17
Temp
20
F
PorSt
10
Boise
45
F
Hawaii
20
Wash
52
F
USC
27
BYU
30
F OT
FlaSt
24
UVA
31
F
UNC
18
Wake
24
F
Kans
48
BC
24
F
K St
31
MissSt
24
F
E Mi
34
Ill
31
F
NCSt
27
WVU
44
F
Furm
17
VaTec
24
F
Chat
0
Tenn
45
F
MiaOH
13
Cin
35
F
Cit
27
GATec
24
F OT
AF
30
Colo
23
F OT
Norf
7
CoCar
46
F
FlAtl
41
Ball
31
F
Akr
24
C Mi
45
F
ECU
10
Navy
42
F
Army
31
UTSA
13
F
OkSt
40
Tuls
21
F
Mem
42
SoAl
6
F
UNLV
14
NW
30
F
GaSo
32
MIN
35
F
Mor
12
JMU
63
F
SouLA
29
Miss
40
F
Lou
38
W Ky
21
F
EWa
45
JacSt
49
F
ColSt
34
Ark
55
F
B-C
0
MiaFL
63
F
CAPly
7
OreSt
45
F
NorTx
17
Cal
23
F
SamHu
23
UND
27
F
Idaho
16
Wyo
21
F
LT
35
BGSU
7
F
SMiss
47
Troy
42
F
SCSt
16
SoFL
55
F
Buff
17
Lib
35
F
UMass
17
UNCC
52
F
Ohio
31
Marsh
33
F
GASt
10
WestMI
57
F
Murr
0
Toled
45
F
Web
13
NEV
19
F
TxSt
17
SMU
47
F
Duke
41
MidTN
18
F
UNH
17
FLInt
30
F
SEMO
0
MIZ
50
F
TxSo
6
ULLaf
77
F
TCU
34
Purd
13
F
MoStU
6
Tul
58
F
SDSU
31
NMS
10
F
NIU
8
Neb
44
F
TxTch
14
Ariz
28
F

Sep 14, 2019, 3:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

(2) Alabama (3-0)

14

10

10

13

47

South Carolina (1-2)

10

0

3

10

23

Tagovailoa has career day in No. 2 Alabama's 47-23 victory
Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:13 PM

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa focused on what his team needs to work on instead of his career performance.

Sounds familiar, huh?

Tagovailoa threw for a career-best 444 yards - the third most in history for No. 2 Alabama - and tied his high with five touchdown passes in a 47-23 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

But there was no gushing or celebrations for Tagovailoa, who seemed to channel his coach Nick Saban in a single-minded focus on what the Crimson Tide (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) must do to improve.

"When we start drives, we've got to finish them," he said. "We were able to move the ball really well, but we got stuck."

It seemed like Tagovailoa, the All-American and Heisman Trophy contender, unstuck the Tide much of the game against South Carolina (1-2, 0-1).

He had TD throws of 24 yards to Najee Harris and 81 yards to Henry Ruggs III in the opening quarter. When the Gamecocks closed to 17-10, Tagovailoa hit Harris who finished a nifty run where he broke through one tackler, leaped over another and dragged a third over the goal line with him.

"I always tell him not to do that. I think it could be dangerous," Saban said about Harris' jump. "But he's got a good feel for it."

Tagovailoa finished 28 of 36. He surpassed his previous best of 387 yards set against Texas A&M last year. Tagovailoa matched his career high of five TDs on an 11-yard toss to DeVonta Smith in the final quarter.

"As a quarterback, you have to expect to throw the ball a lot whether you want to or not," Tagovailoa said.

Saban improved to 12-1 at Alabama in SEC openers and wiped away some bad memories of his last visit to Williams-Brice Stadium nine years ago.

The passing numbers are gaudy and great, but Saban said his team must show more balance offensively. "It's great that we're a great passing team," he said. "I also think from a team standpoint, we need to be able to run the ball well."

The Crimson Tide finished with 76 yards rushing against 495 passing.

Saban reminded his players, about all who were in middle or elementary school in 2010, of the Tides' previous game here when the top-ranked Tide were soundly beaten 35-21.

And the Gamecocks tried anything they could to pull off another miracle, but little worked - especially with Tagovailoa in complete control.

Parker White's fake field goal run to the end zone was called back because of holding. Alabama snuffed out a fake punt to stop the Gamecocks well short of a first down. And when South Carolina drove to Alabama's 1 on the final play of the half, freshman Ryan Hilinski's pass to the back of the end zone was off target.

Tagovailoa's passing yards were the third most in school history. He bettered his previous mark of 387 yards against Texas A&M and tied his personal best for touchdowns set against Auburn, both of those coming in 2018.

Smith and Ruggs both surpassed 100 yards receiving. Smith had 136 yards on eight catches, including two TDs. Ruggs had six catches for 122 yards.

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said his team's errors near the goal line - Hilinski threw high on one fourth-and-goal and threw an interception into the end zone - cost them the chance to keep things closer.

"I thought we made some nice drives today, but we didn't get what we wanted and that's to win the game," he said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Alabama: The Crimson Tide played a game sure to please Saban: Good enough to win by double-digits but with enough mistakes on defense for him to drill into players before next week. Alabama allowed a 300-yard passer and a 100-yard rusher, both benchmarks Saban will likely hone in going forward.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks showed some pluck in the face of the defending national champions. Freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns in his second career game with expected starter in injured Jake Bentley lost for the season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Alabama's performance wasn't perfect, but it should certainly keep the Tide at No. 2 without major upheaval in the rankings.

RAPINOE TRIBUTE

Alabama tailback Najee Harris gave a personal salute to U.S. women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe when at the end of his 42-yard TD reception, he extended his arms in celebration as Rapinoe did after scoring goals in helping the Americans win the World Cup this past summer. "Shout out to her," Harris said.

DECISVE STRETCH

South Carolina faces a pair of season-making games the next two weeks, first at Missouri and then back home against Kentucky. Losing either of those makes a winning season near impossible given the Gamecocks must faces ranked opponents in Georgia, Texas A&M and Clemson down the stretch. "We're going to be desperate, we're going to be hungry," offensive lineman Donnell Stanley said. "We need wins."

UP NEXT

Alabama returns home to another daytime kickoff when it plays Southern Miss on Saturday.

South Carolina plays its first SEC road game when it faces Missouri on Saturday.

---

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

Bama Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
T. Tagovailoa 36 28 77.8 5 444 81 0 157.6
M. Jones 3 3 100.0 0 51 30 0 118.8
SCar Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
R. Hilinski 57 36 63.2 2 324 31 1 82.8

Rushing

Bama Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
N. Harris 7 36 5.1 12 0
B. Robinson Jr. 8 33 4.1 11 0
SCar Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
R. Dowdle 12 102 8.5 33 0
T. Feaster 10 33 3.3 7 0

Receiving

Bama Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
D. Smith 8 136 17.0 42 2
H. Ruggs III 6 122 20.3 81 1
SCar Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
S. Smith 6 90 15.0 31 1
B. Edwards 9 79 8.8 27 0

Fumbles

SCar F FL
R. Hilinski 2 1

Returning

Bama KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
J. Waddle 0 0 0 1 18.0 0 18
SCar KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
S. Smith 4 15.5 0 18 0 0 0

Punting

Bama Punt Yds Avg LgPu
S. DeLong 1 14 14.0 14
SCar Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Charlton 2 91 45.5 55

Takeaways

Bama Int Yds InTD
X. McKinney 1 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

Bama SCar
Points For 47 23
Total Yards 571 459
Rushing Yards 76 135
Passing Yards 495 324
Passing Completions / Attempts 31/39 36/57
Turnovers 0 2
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 2/1
First Downs 25 31
Penalties - Yards 11/92 5/32
Time Of Possession 37:37 23:23
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 6/12 8/18
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 2/2 2/4
Punts - Average Yards 1/14 2/46

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Bama SCar
Bama 01:39 TD Najee Harris 24 yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Will Reichard kick) 7 0
SCar 06:29 FG Parker White 44 yd FG 7 3
Bama 11:45 TD Henry Ruggs III 81 yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Will Reichard kick) 14 3
SCar 13:11 TD Shi Smith 31 yd pass from Ryan Hilinski (Parker White kick) 14 10
2nd Quarter Bama SCar
Bama 01:50 FG Will Reichard 23 yd FG 17 10
Bama 07:20 TD Najee Harris 42 yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Will Reichard kick) 24 10
3rd Quarter Bama SCar
SCar 03:34 FG Parker White 28 yd FG 24 13
Bama 05:08 TD Devonta Smith 42 yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Will Reichard kick) 31 13
Bama 14:08 FG Will Reichard 21 yd FG 34 13
4th Quarter Bama SCar
SCar 00:11 FG Parker White 48 yd FG 34 16
Bama 01:19 TD Devonta Smith 11 yd pass from Tua Tagovailoa (missed kick) 40 16
Bama 12:56 TD Mac Jones 1 yd run (Will Reichard kick) 47 16
SCar 14:49 TD Kyle Markway 11 yd pass from Ryan Hilinski (Parker White kick) 47 23

Game Information

Stadium: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
Attendance: 81,954
Game Time:
Weather: