How did Alabama QB Austin Mack do in Rose Bowl vs Indiana?
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After starting quarterback Ty Simpson was benched as Alabama football hemorrhaged in the Rose Bowl against Indiana, Austin Mack was called into action.
The redshirt sophomore succeeded under the pressure when he took the field for the Crimson Tide’s second drive of the third quarter.
Mack moved the ball forward on a 1-yard pitch to running back Jam Miller and woke up Alabama‘s struggling run-game himself by scrambling to the right for a 13-yard gain. His third play of the day brought Alabama’s first explosive catch.
On second-and-eight, Mack found wide receiver Germie Bernard on a 34-yard deep shot to the right, and he went deep again on the next play with a 16-yard throw to tight end Josh Cuevas, putting Alabama on Indiana’s 10-yard line.
Mack moved Alabama to IU’s 5-yard line with a short scramble but couldn’t capitalize on the next two downs, throwing a pass for negative yardage before his first incompletion. Still, Alabama was in position for a field goal, and Conor Talty cleared the uprights with a 28-yard kick for the Crimson Tide’s first points of the day.
Austin Mack started strong for Alabama football, but CFP pressure prevailed
The struggles continued into the fourth quarter after Indiana rushed 25 yards to build a 31-3 lead.
Mack took the field for Alabama’s first drive of the quarter and started things off with a deep ball that fell incomplete. He was sacked for a loss of 10 yards by Indiana’s Mikail Kamara on the ensuing play, which prefaced another deep shot with no target and no catch.
On the second drive of the final 15 minutes, Mack wavered. He had back-to-back completions to Isaiah Horton, but his third pass attempt to Kevin Riley was broken up. His next two passes were completions, but Alabama’s momentum was slowed after Mack was sacked again for a loss of eight yards. However, Mack recovered with his niftiest play of the game: a reverse flea flicker for a 26-yard gain by Ryan Williams.
Mack found Williams again on the next down to get Alabama into Indiana territory with a seven-yard throw. The magic stopped there, though, as his next two passes resulted in an incompletion and a lost yard, the latter bringing up fourth down.
Alabama decided to go for it on fourth-and-four, but Mack was sacked again for a loss of seven yards.
Mack finished the day completing 11 of 16 pass attempts for 103 yards and no touchdowns. The sacks he took resulted in a rushing yards total of -8.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How did Alabama football QB Austin Mack do in Rose Bowl vs Indiana?
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