Grading Tide after Western Kentucky victory

Kalen DeBoer made his Alabama football coaching debut Saturday vs. Western Kentucky, and he made it in quite dominant fashion.

The Crimson Tide rolled to a 63-0, season-opening victory over Western Kentucky at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was a game that saw quarterback Jalen Milroe run for two touchdowns and throw for three more, along with freshman Ryan Williams and Daniel Hill recording their first career touchdowns in an Alabama uniform. It marks the 23rd straight season-opening win for Alabama.

Here’s how we graded No. 5 Alabama (1-0) in the win over Western Kentucky (0-1).

Offense: A+

Alabama’s offense, led by Milroe, came to play. So much so that Saturday marked the first time since Sept. 7, 1991, that the Alabama offense had two scoring plays of 80-plus yards in the same game. It did that in the first half alone, too, off of an 85-yard Jam Miller touchdown run and an 84-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Williams.

Defense: A+

Simply put: Alabama’s new swarm defense dominated. Safety Keon Sabb had two interceptions by the 6:48 mark of the first quarter and the Crimson Tide held WKU, which is known its spread offense, scoreless through the entirety of the game. TJ Finley threw for 3,439 yards last season but was held to just 92 vs. Alabama, with Caden Vetkamp coming in to replace him in the second quarter.

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Special teams: A-

Minus a block-in-the-back penalty by Zavier Mincey in the first quarter, Alabama’s special teams played well. Graham Nicholson and Conor Talty made all of their point-after attempts, James Burnip had good punts and Cole Adams had some nice punt returns.

Coaching: A+

There were no notable coaching errors as DeBoer and his staff had Alabama ready to play. There were a few early penalties, but Alabama seemed to play more disciplined as the game went on. There was some disruption with the headsets at kickoff, but it did not seem to affect the game whatsoever.

Overall: A

What a start for DeBoer in Tuscaloosa. It was an expected win for Alabama, but an electric one nonetheless. Alabama showed that it has not missed a beat through its coaching transition, although the bigger tests will come later in the season.