Only the forces of nature could give Florida Atlantic (0-2) any relief against No. 2 Alabama (2-0) on Saturday. A lightning delay in the middle fo the fourth quarter gave the visiting Owls a chance to lick their wounds against an overpowering Alabama team in Tuscaloosa. At the time of the suspension in play, Alabama was up 41-0. The two schools mutually agreed to call the game at that point. There was 7:53 to play in the game at the time of suspension.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban wanted to give both of his quarterbacks some playing time this week, and he did just that. Blake Sims put together a solid performance to follow up his confident play last week against West Virginia. Sims completed 11 of 13 pass attempts for 214 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Coker got involve don offense as well, completing 15 of 24 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown. Regardless of the quarterback, receiver Amari Cooper was a top target. Cooper hauled in 13 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. Nine different Crimson Tide players caught a pass in the game, and eight different players carried the football at least once.
Alabama will stay home next weekend when Southern Mississippi pays a visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium. That should be another easy game for the Crimson Tide, as well as another opportunity to give multiple players some playing time before opening up SEC play the following week. Alabama will host Florida on September 20 as conference play gets underway.
FAU will get a chance to finally play at home after season-opening road trips to Nebraska and Alabama. Next week FAU will host Tulsa. Tulsa was steamrolled at home by Oklahoma as FAU was playing Alabama.