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No. 1 Alabama rolls past Georgia State

Oct 5, 2013 - 8:42 PM Tuscaloosa, AL (SportsNetwork.com) - AJ McCarron tied a personal best with four touchdown passes in limited action, and the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide pounded an overmatched Georgia State squad, 45-3.

McCarron played only five series and finished with 166 yards on 15-of-16 passing.

T.J. Yeldon had 51 yards and a touchdown on six carries for Alabama (5-0), which has won nine games in a row. Blake Sims completed 14-of-18 passes for 130 yards and a score in relief of McCarron.

The Crimson Tide produced points on each of their first seven drives. The run ended when Adam Griffith missed a 30-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

"We did a better job of executing, and I was really pleased with the way we came out, especially offensively, to score touchdowns on the first five possessions and a field goal on the sixth," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "We executed better, and I think our players made some improvements."

Georgia State quarterback Ronnie Bell accumulated 146 yards while connecting on 11-of-20 passes. The Panthers (0-5), playing their inaugural FBS season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, totaled only nine first downs and 15 yards rushing.

Ahead 7-0, the Crimson Tide expanded their first-quarter lead with two touchdowns separated by 13 seconds.

Yeldon capped Alabama's second possession with a 4-yard run, and after Georgia State's Kelton Hill fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff, DeAndrew White made a nifty one-hand grab around a defender in the left corner of the end zone.

McCarron, who didn't miss on his first 12 pass attempts, hooked up with Kenyan Drake and Jalston Fowler for touchdowns in the second quarter, the latter coming with 6:11 remaining.

Cade Foster kicked a 27-yard field goal prior to halftime to put Alabama up 38-0.

The Panthers were able to get on the board when Wil Lutz drilled a 53-yarder on the opening drive of the second half.

Sims countered with a 10-yard scoring strike to Chris Black on the next Alabama possession.

"I thought our young men competed hard," said Georgia State head coach Trent Miles. "When you're playing the number one team in the nation at their place and you're a major underdog, you can't help them and we went out there and helped them early in the game. We went out and fumbled a kickoff return, we missed tackles, and we had some young guys not line up right. I'm not sure if they were nervous or what, but it just made their job a little easier."

Game Notes

Alabama posted a 63-7 win in the only other meeting between the two teams on Nov. 18, 2010 ... Georgia State played a team from a BCS conference for the fourth time in program history.