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Tide start slow, then pummel Kentucky

Oct 13, 2013 - 6:46 AM Lexington, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Saban doesn't just want wins, he wants quality wins.

Alabama didn't have that consistency in a mistake-filled first quarter, but Saban's Crimson Tide rolled the rest of the way en route to a 48-7 pummeling of Kentucky.

T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake each ran for a pair of touchdowns for top-ranked Alabama (6-0, 3-0 SEC). Yeldon carried the ball 16 times for 124 yards, while Drake added 106 yards on 14 totes for the Crimson Tide, who have outscored their opponents 149-16 in four games since narrowly defeating Texas A&M on Sept. 14.

A.J. McCarron completed 21-of-35 passes for 359 yards and a touchdown and Kevin Norwood caught four passes for 81 yards and a score in the triumph.

"We got some work to do still but at the same time our offense and defense did great," McCarron said.

Alabama, which improved to 36-2-1 all-time against Kentucky, outgained the overmatched Wildcats, 668-170.

Raymond Sanders had 72 yards rushing and Maxwell Smith was 7-of-16 for 76 yards and a touchdown for Kentucky (1-5, 0-3), which has dropped four straight games.

"Not our best effort tonight. That's one heck of a football team," Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said.

Alabama dropped a pair of sure touchdown passes and Drake fumbled at the Kentucky 23 during a scoreless opening frame.

"We need to improve and try to dominate the competition," Saban said. "I think we did that tonight, but I also thought we made a lot of mistakes. We turned the ball over a couple times, dropped some passes. If you want to be the best, you can't be satisfied with that"

The Crimson Tide, though, turned it on soon thereafter.

Cade Foster's 25-yard field goal early in the second opened the scoring and after Christion Jones returned a punt 30 yards to the Kentucky 43, McCarron connected with Norwood for 42 yards. Drake plunged in a play later for the score.

Following a Kentucky three-and-out, Yeldon capped a 12-play, 88-yard march with a 24-yard TD run. After the Wildcats were again forced to punt in three plays, Drake ran it in from a yard out with 24 seconds left in the half to finish off a 6-play, 70-yard sequence to give the Crimson Tide a comfortable 24-0 advantage heading into the locker room.

Yeldon's 34-yard run and Amari Cooper's 42-yard reception led to a Yeldon 1- yard TD run to conclude Alabama's initial possession of the third.

The Crimson Tide hadn't allowed a touchdown since their win against Texas A&M until Smith fired a 30-yard TD pass to Javess Blue with 7:05 left in the third to get the Wildcats within 31-7.

Foster split the uprights from 20 yards out late in the third, McCarron flipped a 20-yard score to Norwood early in the fourth and Altee Tenpenny scampered in from seven yards out with 1:41 left to cap the scoring.

Game Notes

Alabama was 10-of-14 on third down, while Kentucky finished 2-of-12 in those situations ... Alabama totaled 299 yards rushing on 44 carries ... Kentucky has lost 14 straight contests against ranked opponents.