Rebel hell: Alabama’s DeVonta Smith, Tua Tagovailoa lead record-setting 59-31 win

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama trailed for the first time this season.

Maybe that’s victory of sorts for Ole Miss, which otherwise had little to celebrate at Bryant-Denny Stadium. For just over four minutes early on the scoreboard was slanted in its favor by three points.

And then junior wide receiver DeVonta Smith decided to almost single-handedly swat away the Rebels like a pest-like distraction.

With his 27-yard clutch touchdown in the third quarter, Smith set both the Crimson Tide single-game records for receiving yards in a game (248) and touchdown receptions (five). He finished with 274 yards on 11 catches.

"He made a great catch on the fade ball in the end zone," Nick Saban said about Smith's final touchdown. "Smitty is a very, very good player. He is a hard worker, and he got his today."

Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa set the Alabama record for touchdown passes in a game with six, after tying it the previous two weeks. He also topped AJ McCarron’s career mark for touchdowns responsible.

Overall, he was 26-for-36, for 418 yards with six touchdowns, five passing and one rushing, and no turnovers.

The strange thing about the game was Alabama (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) didn’t feel like it played particularly well, yet still sent a clear message to the rest of college football world heading into its first of two byes: Good luck stopping us.

"We look a little sluggish out there,” Saban said at halftime.

Everyone but Smith, that is.

After Ole Miss won the coin toss and deferred, Alabama quickly went to work needing just four plays to open the scoring. Tagovailoa’s second slant throw of the game was caught by Smith over the middle, and off a missed tackle turned it into a 74-yard touchdown.

Ole Miss (2-3, 1-1 SEC) appeared to get a huge break when Jaylen Waddle’s fumbled punt return bounced right to A.J. Finley, who took it 42 yards into the end zone. However, following the review it was determined that he couldn’t advance the ball.

Ole Miss still turned it into seven points with a seven-play scoring drive and scored on its subsequent possession with a 33-yard field goal with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter. but then Alabama started to flex its muscle.

On offense, Alabama answered with a nine-play, 66-yard touchdown drive with Tagovailoa running in a 7-yard score to retake the lead. It was the first of five straight possessions the Crimson Tide scored points before halftime.

The plays were different, but the results became tremendously familiar following a 36-yard field goal by Joseph Bulovas:

• Smith 25-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa.

• Smith 23-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa.

• Smith 33-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa.

The halftime score could have been Smith 28, Ole Miss 10, with the receiver having the edge in total yards of 221-152. Instead, it was 380-10, and 382-152, respectively.

Smith also scored on Alabama’s first possession of the second half, a 27-yard catch. It moved him ahead of the 224 receiving yards Amari Cooper had against Tennessee in 2014.

Meanwhile, the defense starting to clamp down, stacking the box and daring freshman John Rhys Plumlee to throw instead of running quarterback draws. 

The more the game progressed, though, the less the defense couldn't get off the field. The Rebels ended up scoring three touchdowns in the second half, including one with five seconds remaining. 

Ole Miss ended up with 279 yards of rushing offense and executed 88 plays. 

"Our focus was off,” defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said. 

“We allowed too much,” safety Xaveir McKinney said. “Too many points. Too many yards. We just didn’t play well.”