Five Takeaways From No. 15 Alabama Football's Annihilation Over No. 21 Missouri

After losing two of its last three games, the Crimson Tide appeared to be back on track against the Tigers as it was a stellar showing on both sides of the ball.

Alabama Crimson Tide Defense Celebrates vs. Missouri Tigers / Obtained from Alabama Football's X/Twitter

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide dominated No. 21 Missouri on Saturday with a 34-0 shutout victory at home.

After losing two of its last three games, with the win coming in surviving fashion at home against unranked South Carolina, the Crimson Tide appeared to be back on track against the Tigers as it was a stellar showing on both sides of the ball.

There's so much to dissect from this matchup at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Here are five takeaways:

Jalen Milroe Has a Nice Rebound

Milroe went 25-for-45 passing for 239 yards, to go with one touchdown and two interceptions in last week's loss to Tennessee, as it was widely considered his worst performance in his Crimson Tide career. There was speculation that he was a bit banged up during the Volunteers loss due to his lack of scrambling, but head coach Kalen DeBoer quickly shut that down. Milroe needed a big rebound against Mizzou to eliminate the nonstop negative critiques...and he had one against the Tigers.

Both offenses had sluggish beginnings, as Alabama punted on three of its first five drives and Mizzou did so in each of their first five possessions. However, Crimson Tide kicker Graham Nicholson's two early field goals kicked off some momentum for Alabama and Milroe.

In the Tide's remaining seven drives of the game, Alabama scored four touchdowns, most of which stemmed from big plays through the air and ground by Milore. The dual-threat quarterback finished the day completing 16-of-26 passes for 215 yards while carrying the ball 11 times for 50 yards and a touchdown.

Milroe seemed much more confident in the home environment, as the Tennessee struggle had been put behind him. He stayed composed in the pocket to find open receivers over the middle like Germie Bernard, who finished with a team-high five receptions for 82 yards, but also recognized gaps inside and especially outside to run through. It's absolutely worth mentioning that Alabama's offensive line was a big reason for his time in the pocket, as two early sacks by Mizzou linebacker Johnny Walker. were the Tigers' only time putting Milroe on the ground with the ball in his hand.

Alabama Defense Keeps it Short and Sweet

Milroe might've been the most negatively critiqued individual player last week, but since the second half against Georgia, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and his unit have undisputedly been the most attacked part of the program by the college football world. This is certainly understandable as the Tide defense couldn't get off the field.

The appalling third-down numbers are the most indicative of this fact as Vanderbilt converted 12-of-18 attempts, South Carolina converted 7-of-15 and Tennessee converted 6-of-14. The numbers against the Gamecocks and Vols might seem a lot better than against the Commodores, but the majority of their third-down conversions came in the second half.

This was due to a strategy initially mastered by Vanderbilt, and the next two opponents seemed to take this page out of the Commodores' playbook. Alabama opponents typically aim for a go-big-or-go-home approach as they typically don't have much to lose and anticipate that's the only way to take down the Tide. However, Vanderbilt realized methodical 4-5-6-yard gains were a weakness in Alabama's scheme and it led to a massive time-of-possession difference and the Gamecocks and Vols followed suit in their respective second halves.

Mizzou quarterback Brady Cook came into the game with an injury he suffered last week against Auburn, so Alabama knew he'd be limited, meaning the ball would often be in the running backs' (which starter Nate Noel was declared out earlier in the week) hands and out of his. Cook suffered another injury late in the first half that sidelined him for the rest of the game and backup Drew Pyne didn't throw the ball often either, as the run game was the Tigers' only hope of moving the ball downfield. Of course, Alabama's pass-rush wasn't only fantastic due to Mizzou's injuries, as allowing zero points to a ranked SEC opponent is an outstanding achievement.

Missouri's 3.8 yards per play is impressive for the Alabama defense, but this number is a bit inflated as the Tigers' offense started to roar a tiny bit in the fourth quarter, mainly due to the Tide's starters not being on the field. Linebacker Jihaad Campbell's early sack was Alabama's only one of the game, but the defensive line efforts of Tim Keenan III, LT Overton, Jah-Marien Latham and Carver High School (Montgomery) teammates Qua Russaw and James Smith among others, eliminated the Tigers from moving the ball a couple of yards, as they converted 3-of-13 third-down attempts—a massive improvement after a nightmare month in this stat category.

"Just getting off the field on third down, those are momentum builders," DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. "Those are the positives that you can take from today, apply it, and everyone kind of looks at each other and believes that you can go make that play and get that stop. And so that is definitely something we can build off of. Now they just know that they're capable of it. Now you're gonna line up and do it again."

Return of the Run Game

Speaking of a difficult month in certain stat categories, Alabama's run game was relatively nonexistent over the past couple of games. The Tide's 1-2 punch of running backs Jam Miller and Justice Haynes would be utilized a relatively healthy amount in the first half of these previous games, but they'd rarely get carries in the second half, as DeBoer and company didn't really give another chance after a small amount of yards with a small number of carries, which would lead to punts by Alabama and more time-of-possession for opposing offenses.

But despite the aforementioned sluggish beginning, Alabama returned to its run game roots from start to finish as Miller and Haynes had themselves quite the day. Miller had 11 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns, while Haynes rushed eight times for 79 yards, including a 35-yard score in the fourth quarter.

"The want-to is there, and to see it pay off in that type of way [was great]," DeBoer said. "And then have guys making plays. There's some momentum things that we can build off of in there too. But that [touchdown by Haynes] was not just on him, but it's one for everyone to see that physical type of run. I thought Jam did a nice job on some runs there too at different times. That 1-2 punch there took a good step in the right direction."

In addition, wide receiver Kendrick Law took a sweep 21 yards to set up Nicholson's first field goal in the first quarter, and when all of the starters were out late in the game, running back Richard Young broke off a 62-yard run from Alabama's own goal line. Milroe's efforts on the ground added to the Tide's 271 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Two Negatives From Alabama's Offensive Performance

Alabama truly shined on both sides of the ball, but this wasn't a perfect outing, despite what the final score might display.

The Tide offense scored 34 points, but some flags were thrown that brought drives back and were a factor in James Burnip's five punts and the settling of Nicholson's field goals. Alabama's offense/special teams had six accepted penalties: two holdings, a false start, a kick-catch interference, a chop block and a personal foul on Law, who also logged on the final drive against Tennessee.

Another negative of Alabama's performance on Saturday came in the third-down conversion stat category, as it went 2-for-9 against the chains. Three of these misses were on possessions that only lasted three plays. That said, the Crimson Tide's explosive offense didn't see the third-down marker very often, as it scored within a couple of plays a few times.

Alabama's Youthful Defensive Backs Shut Down Missouri's Elite Wide Receivers

One reason for Alabama's quick scores was due to the interceptions by Russaw and safeties Malachi Moore and Bray Hubbard, who's filling in for the injured Keon Sabb, to put the Tide in favorable field position. Scoring off turnovers seemed impossible for Alabama last week against Tennessee, but two touchdowns were the result of the defense's three takeaways against Missouri—all of which were turned over by Pyne.

While the takeaway numbers were extremely impressive, the defensive backs' performance as a whole might take the cake. A big reason for Mizzou's very solid start to the season is due to the wide receiver duo of Luther Burden III and Theo Wease Jr. Burden, a 2023 First Team All-SEC member, has been a bit quieter this season compared to the last, as opponents clearly game plan for a player who is widely expected to be selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he's still produced some solid games and yards. Wease has taken advantage of the lower recognition as he narrowly leads Burden for the team lead and 11th in the SEC coming into Saturday.

However, Alabama's defensive backs room, which is led by Moore, who is the only returning starter from last season, held Mizzou's dynamic duo to a combined five receptions for 22 yards. On an overall pass-catchers scale, Missouri's 72 passing yards were the fewest by an Alabama SEC opponent since Tennesssee had 44 in 2017. Cornerbacks Domani Jackson and freshmen Jaylen Mbakwe and Zabien Brown, among others, played a pivotal role in shutting down one of the best receiving rooms in college football.

"Excited for Bray [Hubbard] to have this opportunity," DeBoer said. "The guys really believe in him and he works extremely hard. And then just across the board, every snap that our young guys take, from ZB to Bak to all of them. There's a lot of new faces in there working together, Malachi and Domani are really kind of being the staples and pretty consistent. You know, today we had some guys that rotated it, they did things like that too. So, just loved the way that they continue to get better."

Following this outstanding performance on both sides of the ball, Alabama moves to 6-2 (3-2 SEC) and will begin its second bye week. The Crimson Tide will then face currently No. 8-ranked LSU on Nov. 9, but a road loss on Saturday to currently No. 14-ranked Texas A&M will change their spot in the AP Poll.