By Andrew Garner

Editor

Alabama running back Derrick Henry tore his way through Wisconsin’s defensive front and scampered to one of his three touchdowns during the Crimson Tide’s 35-17 victory over the Badgers on Saturday night.

Henry finished the game with 147 yards on 13 carries in a season-opening performance that gained the runner some much-needed attention.

“Well, Derrick Henry has had an outstanding camp. I think he’s a fabulous player,” Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban said. “He usually plays better as the game goes on in terms of workhorse type guy. And it was good to see him make some good runs out there. We think the guy can be a fantastic player for us, and we want to Kenyan Drake got some opportunities. We want to see Kenyan Drake do a little bit more too. And Damien Harris got to play mostly with the second offensive line, which didn’t do a very good job in the game.”

The Crimson Tide defense held the Badgers to only 206 yards on offense as it dominated the entirety of the 60 minutes.

Starting quarterback Jake Coker had a good night, going 15-of-21 for 213 yards and a score. He was sacked twice.

Robert Foster led Alabama with 50 yards on four receptions and a touchdown in the receiving category. Ardarius Stewart wasn’t far behind Foster with 44 yards on four receptions.

Reggie Ragland led all defenders with 8.5 tackles in the win.

Alabama faces a three-game home stretch that includes Middle Tennessee State this week, Ole Miss on Sept. 19 and Louisiana Monroe on Sept. 26.

This week’s game will be broadcast on the SEC Network with kick off slated for 3 p.m. CST.

Auburn 31, Louisville 24

Even though Jeremy Johnson had an OK start for Auburn, the Tigers managed to squeak out a win over Bobby Petrino and Louisville.

The Auburn quarterback went 11-of-21 for 137 yards and a touchdown, and added three interceptions on the night. Johnson also added a running TD of his own.

Peyton Barber led the Tigers running corps, going 115 yards on 24 carries.

Tigers head football coach Gus Malzahn said Johnson did some good things in his start against Louisville.

“I think he was trying to force a few things, just trying to make some plays early on. He’s going to be fine. He made some very good plays to help us win, especially down the stretch,” Malzahn said on AuburnTigers.com.

Ricardo Louis lead all receivers with 54 yards on four receptions for the Tigers.

Defensively for Auburn, Johnathan Ford lead the field with 12 tackles.

Auburn will welcome Jacksonville State at Jordan-Hare Stadium this week for a 11 a.m. CST kick off. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Next week, the Tigers travel to face LSU in Baton Rouge, La. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. CST and it will be broadcast on CBS.

NCSU 49, Troy 21

In Neal Brown’s head coaching debut for Troy, the Trojans fell to North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday night.

NCSU scored five touchdowns on the ground in the win.

Troy’s Brandon Burks finished the night with 124 rushing yards on 14 carries for his sixth career 100-yard rushing game, which ties him for eighth all-time in Troy history.

Troy quarterback Brandon Silvers went 12-of-16 for 149 yards and a touchdown in his debut as a Trojan.

Silvers found Bryan Holmes four times for 84 yards in the loss.

Troy hosts Charleston Southern this week, and then travels to place Wisconsin on Sept. 19.