Alabama Football: 3 takeaways from dominant opener vs. Duke

SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 05: Head Coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide speaks to the media during the College Football Playoff National Championship Media Day at SAP Center on January 5, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 31: DeVonta Smith #6 of the Alabama Crimson Tide pulls in this reception against Michael Carter II #26 of the Duke Blue Devils in the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

2. Duke’s defense started strong

Duke’s defense started the game off strong and even forced a fumble to get the Blue Devils in good position early in the first quarter. However, Alabama ended up stopping the Blue Devils on fourth down and no points resulted from that turnover.

Despite no points coming off the turnovers, Duke still held Alabama to zero points in the first quarter and 14 points in the first half. Their defense kept them in the game and should give Blue Devil fans some hope that they could play some good defense in ACC play.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, once the second half hit the ball game was all Alabama. The Tide scored 21 points in the third quarter and 28 points in the second half as they cruised to an easy win.

Even though the Duke defense was able to slow Bama’s offense at the start of the game, it roared back as expected.

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