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No. 2 Alabama rolls past North Texas

Sep 18, 2011 - 4:19 AM Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) - Trent Richardson rushed for 167 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries, and Eddie Lacy added 161 yards and two scores on nine carries as No. 2 Alabama rolled over North Texas, 41-0.

"The offensive line did pretty good and they established themselves in the second half," said Richardson. "They really got their head into it, and that really made a big difference in the game. It always feels good to run behind the offensive line like that."

A.J. McCarron completed 15-of-21 passes for 190 yards for the Crimson Tide (3-0).

Derek Thompson went 11-of-22 through the air for 80 yards for North Texas (0-3). Lance Dunbar caught four passes for 45 yards while James Hamilton ran for 33 yards on seven carries for the Mean Green.

McCarron went 4-for-5 on the opening drive of the game to lead Alabama down to the North Texas nine-yard line, but the drive stalled there, resulting in a 26-yard field goal by Jeremy Shelley.

After forcing a North Texas punt, Alabama took over at their own 42. Darius Hanks gave the Crimson Tide a first down with a 14-yard catch on a second and 13, and Christion Jones hauled in a 30-yard pass before Richardson rumbled in for a four-yard TD.

Lacy broke off a 43-yard run down the right sideline on the second play of the second quarter to put Alabama ahead 17-0.

On Alabama's next possession, McCarron was replaced by Phillip Sims at quarterback. Sims led an eight-play drive that included a 19-yard pass to Brandon Gibson and resulted in a 37-yard field goal by Shelley.

Sims completed 6-of-8 passes for 49 yards in his time at quarterback.

McCarron came back in the game with 2:36 left in the second and led Alabama down the field, but Shelley missed a 36-yard field goal wide right to keep it a 20-0 game at the half.

North Texas came out firing in the second half, as Thompson started the opening drive with a 20-yard completion to Dunbar and followed that with a 17- yard pass to Michael Outlaw. The drive stalled at the Alabama 25, however, and Zach Olen's 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked to keep the Mean Green off the board.

On the Crimson Tides' next possession, McCarron fumbled as he was hit while scrambling and North Texas took over at its own 45. But Alabama forced a three-and-out and the Mean Green had to punt.

Richardson took a handoff on the next play down the left sideline for a 58- yard touchdown, making it 27-0.

Richardson added a 71-yard TD run early in the fourth and Lacy added a 67-yard scoring run the next time Alabama had the ball.

North Texas drove into Alabama's red zone for the first time in the game late in the fourth quarter and was even given a fresh set of downs on the Crimson Tide two-yard line thanks to a third down pass interference call in the end zone. But Alabama kept the Mean Green out of the end zone to preserve the shutout.

"We don't have an identity right now. It be fun to go out there and play a bad Division I team right now but we didn't have that chance tonight," North Texas head coach Dan McCarney said. "We had to play the No. 2 team in the country and as good as a defense you'll see in college football. That hinders our development on offense."

Game Notes

North Texas was held to 169 total yards of offense...Alabama racked up 586 yards of total offense...Kenny Bell caught four passes for 55 yards for Alabama.