TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Ticker) -- Santonio Beard proved to be
the "Homecoming King" for Alabama.
Beard matched a school record with five rushing touchdowns and
ran for 138 yards on just 13 carries as Alabama crushed
22nd-ranked Mississippi, 42-7, in a Southeastern Conference
matchup.
Beard shares the record with former All-American and current
Seattle Seahawk Shaun Alexander, who had five in a win over
Brigham Young on September 4, 1998 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
He also is one of just three Alabama players to account for five
touchdowns in one game, joining quarterback Gary Hollingsworth,
who threw five TD passes in a win over Ole Miss on Oct. 7, 1989
in Jackson.
"Wow, I'm not even believing it," Beard said of his five TDs. "I
think once I get home and watch this game, or see it on ESPN,
I'll probably believe it then. The offensive line, Greg
McLain, my fullback, the tight end, they did a great job, too.
I'm still in shock."
Beard's stunning performance helped Alabama avoid dropping three
straight homecoming games for the first time in school history.
The Crimson Tide lost to Central Florida in 2000 and Louisiana
State last year, marking the first time they had back-to-back
homecoming defeats since 1954-55.
The junior tailback had first-quarter touchdown runs of 25 and
35 yards as the Crimson Tide (5-2, 2-1 SEC West) improved their
all-time record against the Rebels (5-2, 2-1) to 40-8-2 in a
series that dates to 1894.
Entering Saturday with just 297 yards and two TDs in his
previous six games, Beard recorded three more scores in the
second half and reached the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
Alabama's 35-point victory marked the second-most lopsided win
during the reign of coach Dennis Franchione. The previous high
was a 49-point rout of Texas-El Paso last year.
"Our coaching staff challenged our football team on our open
week," Franchione said. "It makes you feel good as a coach when
your players respond well in your time off."
Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning had 219 yards on 18-of-32
passing. But the Rebels failed to build on their first 2-0
start in SEC play since 1970.
"They are a good team. Their front four is real good. They
played great defense and had a good defensive plan," Manning
said. "It wasn't really adjustments, they were just playing
better than us. We didn't get the ball out of my hands quick
enough."
The Crimson Tide capitalize on their first two possessions of
the contest with drives of 85 and 59 yards.
Quarterback Tyler Watts ran for 15 yards on 3rd-and-4 to keep
Alabama's opening drive alive. Six plays later, Beard found a
hole up the middle and cruised into the end zone.
On Alabama's next possession, Watts converted on 3rd-and-9 with
an 11-yard pass to Dre Fulgham. Beard then ran over left tackle
and gave the Crimson Tide their 14-0 advantage.
Fulgham was the only other Alabama player to reach the end zone.
The other Crimson Tide quarterback, Brodie Croyle ,threw a
51-yard bomb to Fulgham with 2 1/2 minutes to play in the first
half that gave Alabama a 21-7 lead.
"On a day that we needed to be at our best, we were at our
worst," Rebels coach David Cutcliffe said. "Obviously, I needed
to have this team better prepared than they were. We didn't do
a good job of protecting him (Manning) and giving him the
opportunity to do the things he needed to do."
Manning completed his first seven passes against the Alabama
defense for 63 yards, all during the first quarter. But in the
second, Manning completed only 1-of-6 for one yard, threw an
interception and was sacked once.
Without question, the bravest performance of the game was logged
by Alabama punter Lane Bearden. Still struggling with a torn
ACL, the senior averaged 40.0 yards on his five punts. His
longest effort was a 47-yarder and two were downed inside the
Rebels' 20.
"If Lane Bearden isn't the (SEC) Special Teams Player of the
Week, then I don't know why the award exists," Franchione said.
"After what he did today - great performance, 40-yard average.
In 30 years, I've never seen a young man go out and play without
an anterior cruciate."
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