Alabama Football: Mac Jones impresses in Western Carolina blowout

In their first game without Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama football had nothing to worry about as they rolled over FCS Western Carolina on Saturday.

The 66-3 blowout of an FCS opponent is going to do little to garner brownie points with the College Football Playoff selection committee this week. Beating Western Carolina is nevertheless a great confidence booster for Alabama as they prepare to square off against Auburn in the Iron Bowl on the Saturday after Thanksgiving without star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Without their offensive catalyst, the Crimson Tide had no trouble racking up points on an overmatched Catamounts defense. New starting quarterback Mac Jones already had three touchdown passes before halftime as he finished the first two quarters 9-of-11 for 253 yards. Jones took the bench after the first drive of the third quarter, finishing the day with 275 yards as he completed 10 of his 12 attempts and finished with a 358.3 pass efficiency rating.

Taulia Tagovailoa, brother of the fallen Heisman hopeful, came in and took the second-half snaps at quarterback. He threw for one touchdown and finished 2-of-3 for 35 yards.

Jaylen Waddle was one of the brightest stars of the contest, finishing with 188 all-purpose yards. He led the team in receiving with 101 yards and a touchdown on three catches, but it wasn’t just Waddle’s work in the passing game that distinguished his performance on Saturday. The receiver also racked up 87 total return yards, and he nearly took a punt to the house late in the second quarter on a 48-yard return where he was tripped up inside the Catamounts 5-yard line.

Najee Harris also stood out as he ran for 44 yards and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the first half. On his second touch of the third quarter coming out of the break, Harris punched in a short touchdown run. As Alabama ground down the clock after the intermission, Harris piled up 14 carries to finish with 66 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

As was expected, the Crimson Tide defense did its part capably as they completely shut down Western Carolina’s offense. Catamounts quarterback Tyrie Adams threw two interceptions in the first half to Xavier McKinney, with the defensive back returning one of those picks 81 yards to the house in the first quarter. In the second half, it was Jared Mayden who picked off Adams twice as the Catamounts passer finished with four total picks as well as a fumble.

Western Carolina finished with only 179 total yards of offense as they struggled to get into Alabama territory after halftime. The Catamounts did break the shutout with a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but it ultimately made little difference.

Of course, excitement must be tempered somewhat given the quality of the opponent. The College Football Playoff selection committee isn’t likely to elevate the Crimson Tide into the top four of their next Top 25 based on the results of this win at home over a cupcake opponent. But the nature of the victory nevertheless offers hope that this level of play can be carried through to next weekend

We also saw Jones and the offense post similarly efficient numbers against Arkansas when Tagovailoa was recovering from ankle surgery, though. It isn’t as though Alabama cannot pull off similar results against a Power Five opponent with their backup helming the team. Now we are left to see whether they can replicate the feat against Auburn in a matchup of top-15 rivals on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.