The College Football BeltThe CFB Belt
Belt / 2016 season / Reign #297 · Game 1,511 of 1,640
November 19, 2016 Week 12 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 31–3, at home over Chattanooga.

Home · Defending Holder
AlabamaAP No. 1 31
AT
Away · Challenger
Chattanooga 3

AP poll, week 12: Chattanooga unranked at Alabama No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Florida. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 28 days into reign #297, which began with a win over Texas A&M, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Alabama went on to defend it 3 more times before Clemson took it on January 9, 2017, 79 days after the reign began.

For Chattanooga this was its 8th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 8 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

This is the only time Alabama and Chattanooga have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's defense dominated Chattanooga from start to finish, holding the Mocs to just a 47-yard field goal while the Crimson Tide's offense methodically built a commanding lead. Jalen Hurts led several scoring drives, connecting with Calvin Ridley for a 47-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and finding Gehrig Dieter twice in the end zone on short scoring passes. Damien Harris added a 25-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, and Alabama's defense forced multiple turnovers including a crucial fumble recovery by Rashaan Evans in the fourth quarter that set up the final touchdown. Despite Alabama's offensive struggles with only 332 total yards, the defense's dominance and Chattanooga's inability to move the ball effectively—managing just 184 yards—made this a one-sided affair.

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score
 AlabamaChattanooga
Total yards332184
Rushing yards19670
Passing yards136114
First downs1410
3rd down conv.4/132/13
Turnovers12
Penalties–yards1–102–10
Time of possession25:5434:06

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play
WhenTeamYardsPlay
Q1 14:45Alabama+23 ydJalen Hurts pass complete to Calvin Ridley for 23 yds to the Alab 46 for a 1ST down
Q1 14:35Alabama+20 ydJalen Hurts run for 20 yds to the Chatt 34 for a 1ST down
Q1 11:35Chattanooga+31 ydAlejandro Bennifield pass complete to C.J. Board for 31 yds to the Alab 39 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:08Chattanooga+47 ydHenrique Ribeiro 47 yd FG GOOD
Q2 14:21Alabama+47 ydJalen Hurts pass complete to Calvin Ridley for 47 yds for a TD, (Adam Griffith KICK)
Q1 1:15Alabama+6 ydJalen Hurts run for 6 yds to the Alab 31 Jalen Hurts fumbled, forced by Dale Warren, recovered by Alab O.J. Howard
Q2 8:44Alabama+1 ydJalen Hurts pass complete to Gehrig Dieter for 1 yd for a TD, (Adam Griffith KICK)
Q3 15:00Alabama+21 ydJK Scott kickoff for 64 yds , Xavier Borishade return for 21 yds to the Chatt 22
Q3 5:39Chattanooga-12 ydTEAM run for a loss of 12 yards to the Chatt 15 TEAM fumbled, recovered by Chatt Alejandro Bennifield
Q3 4:07Alabama+25 ydDamien Harris run for 25 yds for a TD, (Andy Pappanastos KICK)
Q3 0:45Alabama+34 ydJalen Hurts run for 34 yds to the Chatt 20 for a 1ST down
Q4 14:48Alabama+33 ydAndy Pappanastos 33 yd FG GOOD
Q4 9:49Alabama+2 ydJoshua Jacobs run for 2 yds to the Chatt 31 Joshua Jacobs fumbled, forced by Keionta Davis, recovered by Chatt Dale Warren
Q4 4:48Chattanooga-1 ydTyler Roberson run for a loss of 1 yard to the Chatt 20 Tyler Roberson fumbled, forced by Anfernee Jennings, recovered by Alab Rashaan Evans
Q4 3:45Alabama+1 ydJalen Hurts pass complete to Gehrig Dieter for 1 yd for a TD, (Andy Pappanastos KICK)
Q4 3:45Alabama+24 ydJK Scott kickoff for 57 yds , C.J. Board return for 24 yds to the Chatt 32

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Alabama

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Jalen Hurts15/211366.53055.9

Chattanooga

PlayerC/ATTYDSAVGTDINTQBR
Alejandro Bennifield16/211065.0000.0
Tyler Roberson1/382.7000.0

Rushing

Alabama

PlayerTDCARYDSAVGLONG
Damien Harris113917.025
Jalen Hurts016684.334
Derrick Gore03206.79
Josh Jacobs05173.47

Chattanooga

PlayerTDCARYDSAVGLONG
Derrick Craine013362.88
Richardre Bagley05357.013
Tyler Roberson0691.55
Alejandro Bennifield0252.55
Kyle Nalls0242.03
Alex Trotter01-7-7.00
Team01-12-12.00

Receiving

Alabama

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
Calvin Ridley79413.4147
Cam Sims4348.5013
O.J. Howard177.007
Gehrig Dieter310.321

Chattanooga

PlayerRECYDSAVGTDLONG
C.J. Board35317.7031
Malcolm Colvin22211.0011
Richardre Bagley5142.808
DeJuan McQuarters188.008
Xavier Borishade284.009
Derrick Craine362.003
James Stovall133.003
Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

PlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HURTD
Ronnie Harrison11800000
Dalvin Tomlinson8200.5010
Tony Brown6501000
Jonathan Allen6402000
Reuben Foster5502000
Shaun Dion Hamilton5200000
Anthony Averett3300000
Minkah Fitzpatrick3301000
Marlon Humphrey3200000
Terrell Lewis2100000
Ryan Anderson2000000
Da'Ron Payne2000.5000
Gehrig Dieter1100000
Tim Williams1101000
Hootie Jones1100000
Damien Harris1100000
Jared Mayden1100000
Rashaan Evans1000010
Dakota Ball0000010
Mack Wilson0000010

Chattanooga

PlayerTOTSOLOSACKSTFLPDQB HURTD
Tae Davis9700000
Dale Warren7513000
Montrell Pardue6400000
Trevor Wright5500200
Lucas Webb5200100
Nakevion Leslie4300010
Derek Mahaffey4300000
Keionta Davis420.50.5000
Taylor Reynolds4200000
Cedric Nettles3200100
Vantrel McMillan311.51.5000
Isaiah Mack2202000
K.J. Roper2100000
Justin King2000000
Telvin Jones2000000
C.J. Fritz1000000
Michael Bean1000000
Kerrington Wilson1000000

Fumbles

Alabama

PlayerFUMLOSTREC
Rashaan Evans001
Keaton Anderson001
Josh Jacobs110
Jalen Hurts100

Chattanooga

PlayerFUMLOSTREC
Dale Warren001
C.J. Board110
Tyler Roberson110
Team100
Bailey Lenoir100

Kick Returns

Alabama

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Gehrig Dieter11111.0110
Hale Hentges177.070

Chattanooga

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Xavier Borishade35217.3210
C.J. Board12424.0240
Bailey Lenoir133.000

Kicking

Alabama

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Andy Pappanastos1/1100.0332/25
Adam Griffith0/00.002/22

Chattanooga

PlayerFGPCTLONGXPPTS
Henrique Ribeiro1/1100.0470/03

Punt Returns

Alabama

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
Trevon Diggs3206.7140

Chattanooga

PlayerNOYDSAVGLONGTD
C.J. Board4287.0100

Punting

Alabama

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
JK Scott629348.80056

Chattanooga

PlayerNOYDSAVGTBIn 20LONG
Colin Brewer827133.90043
Henrique Ribeiro27537.50042

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400869056) · This game in the downloadable dataset