Alabama and Notre Dame weren’t messing around
Alabama has the look of a championship contender this season after dismantling a very good Wisconsin team at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide dominated both sides of the ball, racking up 494 total yards while allowing just 268 to win handily 35-17. Running back Derrick Henry shredded Wisconsin’s defense with 147 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 carries to lead the offense.
The defense was downright oppressive against the run (40 yards allowed), completely shutting down hyped Wisconsin back Corey Clement to the tune of just 16 yards on eight carries before he had to leave with a groin injury.
Wisconsin didn’t have a chance after tying the game up 7-7 in the second quarter. From that point on, ‘Bama rolled on without looking back.
Similarly, Notre Dame abused Texas, which was hopelessly doomed from the start.
Junior quarterback Malik Zaire was phenomenal, passing for 313 yards on 19 of 22 passing with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also added 16 yards on the ground, and the Golden Domers finished with 527 total yards compared to just 163 from Texas.
It was so bad, even Texas head coach Charlie Strong was stunned.
Strong: "We're so ineffective on offense. Then on defense we give up too many big plays…You sit there, and you just say, 'Wow.'"
— Ted Emrich (@tedemrich) September 6, 2015
As bad as Texas was, Notre Dame deserves a fair share of credit for putting the Longhorns away in grand style.