Alabama Coaching Staff Recognizes Nine Players of the Week for Football

The Alabama coaching staff recognized nine players following the 48-0 shutout win over Kent State last Saturday. O.J. Howard, Joshua Jacobs and Jonah Williams on offense, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ronnie Harrison and Keith Holcombe on defense, and Adam Griffith, Xavian Marks and JK Scott on special teams were each recognized on Monday.

Howard finished his day with three catches for a team-high 60 yards and his first touchdown of the season. He also helped block for Jacobs’ career afternoon that saw the freshman tailback rush for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 carries. Jacobs also caught a pair of passes for 23 yards to round out his day. His rushes converted a first down or touchdown six different times and seven of his 13 total touches gained nine yards or more, including a long rush of 24 yards and a long reception of 15. Williams anchored the Tide line, posting a team-high grade of 86 percent with a team-leading four knockdown blocks. He did not allow a sack, commit a penalty or surrender a quarterback pressure in his effort to open holes for the Tide backs to accumulate 285 yards rushing and three scores on the ground.

From his corner position, Fitzpatrick led Alabama with 1.5 sacks for -13 yards as part of his three total tackles on the day. Harrison also had three tackles from the secondary and recovered a fumble on Kent State’s first offensive drive of the second quarter. Holcombe finished with a career-high six tackles to rank second on the team and helped limit the Golden Flashes to only 82 yards rushing.

Griffith was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra-point attempts and added field goals of 28 and 48 yards to the Tide total. He also kicked off six times for 382 yards for an average of 63.7 yards per kick and totaled three touchbacks in the process. Scott was forced to punt only two times, but took advantage of his opportunities, totaling 98 yards on the two boots with a long of 53 to average 49.0 yards per punt. Marks, in his first action of the season at punt returner, went in for six from 75 yards out to record his first career punt return for a touchdown. He finished the day with four punt returns for 90 yards with a long of 75.