College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Alabama 49, Southern Mississippi 7
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 21, 2019
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Temperature: 82°
Head Official: Matt Loeffler
Attendance: 101821

Junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa matched a career-high in touchdown passes for a second consecutive week as No. 2 Alabama jumped on Southern Mississippi early and rolled to a 49-7 victory Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Tagovailoa threw five touchdown passes before turning the game over to backup Mac Jones late in the third quarter with the Crimson Tide (4-0) leading 42-7. Tagovailoa was an efficient 17-of-21 passing for 293 yards, just missing what would have been a ninth career 300-yard passing game.

His younger brother, freshman Taulia Tagovailoa, later guided the Tide to their final touchdown.

Quarterback Jack Abraham started slowly but was 3-of-3 passing for 55 yards to spark a 74-yard second-quarter scoring drive for the Golden Eagles (2-2). He finished the day 17-of-26 for 174 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an interception.

The Tide took command early with Tagovailoa finishing off their first four possessions with touchdown passes of 45 and 74 yards to receiver Henry Ruggs III, 5 yards to running back Najee Harris, and 17 to receiver Jerry Jeudy for a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Tagovailoa was 12-of-13 passing for 237 yards and the four scores at that point but had only two more attempts over the final 11 minutes of the second quarter, and a third-down sack forced Bama to punt for the first time with just over 4 minutes left in the period.

That's when USM's offense woke up. Abraham found running back De'Michael Harris for a 37-yard gain that set up his 4-yard touchdown toss to Harris.

Tagovailoa got back on track to start the second half, driving the Tide 77 yards in less than two minutes and tossing a 20-yard scoring strike to Jeudy. He had one more series, a 68-yard march capped by running back Brian Robinson's 6-yard scoring burst up the middle.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Southern Mississippi   Alabama
De'Michael Harris Player Najee Harris
8 Attempts 14
34 Yards 110
4.2 Avg Yards 7.9
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Southern Mississippi   Alabama
De'Michael Harris Player Henry Ruggs III
3 Receptions 4
50 Yards 148
16.7 Avg Yards 37.0
1 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Southern Mississippi 226 52 174 1 0 1 1.0 0
Alabama 514 176 338 7 0 1 2.0 1