Connect with us

Alabama

No. 7 Alabama needs 4th-quarter rally, defensive stand to hold off South Carolina and avoid disaster

Published

on

No. 7 Alabama needs 4th-quarter rally, defensive stand to hold off South Carolina and avoid disaster


Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe mostly struggled, but did just enough in Alabama’s win over South Carolina Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There are SEC teams who pride themselves on their calm, relentless march to victory, and there are teams who live in chaos, every game an adventure where wins aren’t assured but madness is. Alabama used to be one of the former teams. Now, in the Kalen DeBoer-Jalen Milroe era, it’s very much the latter.

You’d never get a soul within a hundred miles of Tuscaloosa to admit it, but last week’s loss to Vanderbilt rattled the Tide to their core. You could see it in the secondary ticket market, which collapsed in the hours following last week. You could see it in the empty seats all over the upper reaches of Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. And you could see it in the final 97 seconds of the first half, where the Tide defense completely fell apart and allowed 12 points — on three separate possessions — to the visiting South Carolina Gamecocks.

Yes, Alabama won, in a deeply unconvincing 27-25 victory after intercepting South Carolina on a potential winning drive in the final seconds.

Advertisement

The Gamecocks were stopped on a potential game-tying two-point try in the final minute, and they got one more shot when they recovered the ensuing onside kick. But Domani Jackson picked off SC quarterback LaNorris Sellers in the closing seconds to save the day for the Tide.

But wow, are there problems in T-Town.

It makes sense, the Tide’s shaken self-image. When you establish your identity on a generational expectation of excellence, you’re not exactly built to handle the sledgehammer-to-the-heart of a loss to Vanderbilt. If the sun rose blue in the west, that’d be pretty upsetting too.

Given a chance to redeem itself for that Vanderbilt faceplant with a home game against South Carolina, Alabama once again inexplicably, maddeningly fell far short of expectations. Instead, the Tide did a whole lot to confirm the idea that the crew that hung 28 straight on Georgia was the aberration, and the team that flailed against the Commodores is a whole lot closer to the true 2024 Tide.

Alabama took the opening kickoff and proceeded to march 75 yards into the end zone in four minutes even, and for a moment, the Crimson Tide’s fortunes seemed to have turned back in the expected direction. When the Tide took a 14-0 lead with 4:38 left in the first half, well, it wasn’t pretty, but hey, at least it was a two-possession lead, something the Tide never managed against Vanderbilt.

Advertisement

But then came the final 1:37 of the half, 97 seconds which defined this year’s Tide program and probably detonated the Heisman hopes of Alabama QB Jalen Milroe. First, the Alabama defense suffered yet another stunning defensive lapse, allowing Gamecock receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. to get wide open in the end zone on a fourth-and-9. That cut the lead to 14-7.

On the ensuing possession, Milroe, under pressure, intentionally grounded the ball, resulting in a safety. Alabama forced South Carolina to punt, but Milroe then threw the first of his two interceptions. The clock appeared to run out, but officials put a second back on the timer … and that’s never good news for Alabama. South Carolina kicked a field goal to run out the half and draw within 14-12.

The Gamecocks kept the beat going in the third, grinding out a monstrous 16-play, 85-yard, 8 ½-minute drive that ended in a go-ahead touchdown. The stunned aura of what the hell is happening hung thick over Bryant-Denny Stadium, and when Milroe threw an interception in the end zone on the Tide’s next possession, disbelief veered toward fatalism.

But this is the Alabama of 2024, where nothing goes as expected. The very next play, South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers fumbled away the ball, and Alabama flipped it into a touchdown to retake the lead in just 1:23.

From there, Milroe and crew righted the ship and held on for the win. Milroe provided some redemption by running for a 7-yard TD and throwing the clinching 34-yard score to Germie Bernard on third-and-10 with under two minutes in the game.

Advertisement

Alabama fans, for the moment, could exhale.



Source link

Alabama

Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

on

Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.

Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.

Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.

The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.

Advertisement

——

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

Published

on

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Advertisement

More on Richardson

Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

Published

on

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

Advertisement

Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

Advertisement

“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

Advertisement

Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending