Alabama Coaching Staff Recognizes Eight Players of the Week following Mercer

The Alabama coaching staff recognized eight players of the week following the Crimson Tide’s 56-0 shutout victory over Mercer last Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. J.C. Hassenauer, Jalen Hurts, Josh Jacobs and Cam Sims on offense, Dylan Moses and Deionte Thompson on defense, and Trevon Diggs and JK Scott on special teams were all selected for their efforts against the Bears.

Hurts completed all of his passes on the afternoon, finishing a perfect 7-for-7 for 180 yards and three touchdowns to earn a quarterback rating of 457.4 in just 22 snaps of play. The sophomore quarterback added 30 yards on the ground on two carries to account for 210 yards of total offense, averaging 23.3 yards per touch. Jacobs, a sophomore, rushed for 41 yards on six carries and added a pair of catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. In his first career start, Hassenauer graded out at 91 percent in 45 snaps from the left guard position without allowing a sack or pressure in the game on Senior Day. Also putting together a big performance in his final career game at Bryant-Denny, Sims recorded his first touchdown of the season on a 13-yard snag in the corner of the end zone, as part of his two catches for 21 yards in the contest.

Moses and Thompson accounted for two of the Tide’s three forced turnovers, keying a defensive performance that held Mercer scoreless and limited the Bears to 161 yards of total offense. Moses led all Crimson Tide defenders in production points, accounting for 11 tackles, including 10 solo stops, in just 45 snaps, making a tackle on one out of every four plays he was in the game. The true freshman linebacker finished with four tackles for loss (-7 yards), which is the most in a game by any Alabama player this season, while intercepting his first pass of the season in the starting effort. Also notching the first interception of his career was Thompson, who returned it 21 yards to set up a Crimson Tide touchdown in the third quarter. The sophomore also added five tackles to tie for second-most on the defensive unit, including one tackle for loss (-2 yards).

In his last game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Scott kicked off nine times for 560 yards to average 62.2 yards per kick with four of his kicks going for a touchback. The senior finished a perfect 8-for-8 on extra point attempts, while adding a pair of punts for 105 yards, with a long of 54 yards. Diggs assisted in the kickoff game, tallying one stop on return coverage to limit the Mercer return game.