Alabama Football Coaching Staff Recognizes 10 as Players of the Week

The Alabama coaching staff recognized 10 as players of the week following Saturday’s 31-6 victory at No. 20 Mississippi State. Derrick Henry, Cam Robinson and ArDarius Stewart were the honorees on offense, while Jonathan Allen, Ryan Anderson and Reuben Foster represented the defense. Kenyan Drake, Adam Griffith, Cyrus Jones and Bradley Sylve made the special teams list.

Henry had his second in a row and third overall 200-plus yard game this season, finishing with 204 yards on 22 rushing attempts for an average of 9.3 yards per carry. He found the end zone twice with touchdown runs of 74 and 65 yards. He leads the SEC with 19 rushing touchdowns and has moved into a tie with Mark Ingram for second on the Alabama single-season rushing touchdowns list. Robinson did not allow a sack or a hurry and helped pave the way for the Crimson Tide’s 379-yards of total offense. He graded out at 90 percent with only had one missed assignment in 50 snaps. Stewart hauled in a team-high eight catches for 32 yards, with three of those leading up to a field goal for Alabama including a 19-yard catch for a first down.

Foster led the team in total tackles with 10, while recording two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries. He also helped limit the Bulldogs rushing attack to just 2.1 yards per rush and led an Alabama defense that did not allow a touchdown. Allen had a career day, totaling seven tackles, including three sacks (-17), a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. The three quarterback sacks were a career-best total and marked the first time since Courtney Upshaw in 2010 that a member of the Tide recorded three sacks in a game. The junior leads the Crimson Tide with nine sacks on the season and ranks eighth nationally and second in the conference at .90 sacks per game. Anderson totaled five tackles, adding to the Crimson Tide’s nine total sacks with two of his own. The junior kept Mississippi State’s quarterback Dak Prescott on his toes forcing a fumble while also recording a quarterback hurry.

Jones notched his first career punt return for a touchdown, taking it in from 69 yards out to give the Crimson Tide its first score of the day. The punt return for a touchdown was the first for Alabama since the 2013. The senior has now returned 26 punts for 288 yards this season, where he currently ranks sixth in the SEC with 11.1-yards for punt return average. He also logged four tackles with two pass breakups on the defense. Griffith connected on five of his kicks, including a 42-yard field goal, while continuing to be perfect on the season for point after kicks, making four. He also averaged 62.8 yards on six kickoffs and two touchbacks.  Before suffering from an injury, Drake helped limit Mississippi State to just three yards on punt returns and recorded two catches for 13 yards. Sylve added a hit on special teams as part of a unit that limited the Bulldogs to a lowly 57-yards on kickoffs. He also had a tackle on a Mississippi State third down that forced a fourth down attempt and an incomplete pass by Prescott.