September 4, 2021 Week 1 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 44–13, at a neutral site over Miami.

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MiamiAP No. 14 13

Away · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 44

AP poll, week 1: Alabama No. 1 at Miami No. 14 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 280 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 5 defenses already behind it; this was its 6th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 4 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Miami this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 1–0; all-time Alabama leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's high-powered offense dominated Miami from start to finish, establishing control early with a 37-yard touchdown pass to John Metchie III in the first quarter and methodically building their lead throughout the first half. The Crimson Tide's defense forced three Miami turnovers while the offense sustained long drives, with quarterback Bryce Young orchestrating an efficient performance that included two touchdown passes to Cameron Latu in the second quarter alone. A devastating 94-yard touchdown pass from Young to Jameson Williams in the third quarter essentially put the game out of reach, and though Miami managed a late touchdown reception by Xavier Restrepo, Alabama's defensive pressure and ball control kept the Hurricanes perpetually on their heels. The belt remained with Bama as they controlled time of possession 37:02 to 22:58 and dominated total yards 501 to 266.

Metchie 37-yard TD reception in Q1 -- Alabama's early strike set the tone for the game
Two Latu touchdown receptions in Q2 -- Extended Alabama's lead to commanding levels before halftime
Jameson Williams 94-yard TD reception in Q3 -- The backbreaker that put Miami away
Three Miami turnovers forced by Alabama defense -- Prevented any Miami momentum and led to short-field scoring opportunities

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

MiamiAlabama

Total yards266501

Rushing yards87147

Passing yards179354

First downs1828

3rd down conv.6/1410/16

Turnovers31

Penalties–yards7–758–81

Time of possession22:5837:02

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

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:07	Alabama	+37 yd	John Metchie III 37 Yd pass from Bryce Young (Will Reichard Kick)
Q1 4:39	Alabama	+38 yd	Will Reichard 38 yd FG GOOD
Q1 0:02	Alabama	+21 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 6 yds to the MIAMI 49 for a 1ST down MIAMI FL Penalty, Personal Foul (Bubba Bolden) to the MiaFl 34 for a 1ST down (Bubba Bolden Ejected for Targeting)
Q2 14:12	Alabama	+9 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Cameron Latu for 9 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 11:33	Alabama	+51 yd	Will Reichard 51 yd FG GOOD
Q2 6:55	Alabama	+25 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Cameron Latu for 25 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 6:55	Alabama	+60 yd	Will Reichard kickoff for 65 yds for a touchback ALABAMA Penalty, Defensive Offside (-5 Yards)
Q2 3:40	Alabama	+8 yd	Roydell Williams run for 8 yds to the Alab 35 Roydell Williams fumbled, forced by Kamren Kinchens, recovered by Alab Roydell Williams
Q2 0:00	Miami	+37 yd	Andres Borregales 37 yd FG GOOD
Q2 0:12	Miami	+20 yd	D'Eriq King pass complete to Key'Shawn Smith for 20 yds to the Alab 35 for a 1ST down
Q3 9:29	Alabama	+94 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jameson Williams for 94 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 9:17	Miami	+9 yd	D'Eriq King pass intercepted Malachi Moore return for a loss of 1 yard to the MiaFl 35 ALABAMA Penalty, Illegal Block (10 Yards) to the MiaFl 45
Q3 7:01	Alabama	+20 yd	Trey Sanders run for 20 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 5:18	Miami	+29 yd	D'Eriq King pass complete to Xavier Restrepo for 29 yds for a TD, (Andres Borregales KICK)
Q3 0:30	Miami	+28 yd	Andres Borregales 28 yd FG GOOD
Q4 7:52	Alabama	+40 yd	Will Reichard 40 yd FG GOOD
Q4 7:37	Miami	+28 yd	D'Eriq King pass intercepted Jaylen Moody return for 13 yds to the MiaFl 33 ALABAMA Penalty, Illegal Block (15 Yards) to the MiaFl 48
Q4 2:31	Alabama	+25 yd	Paul Tyson pass complete to Jacoby Boykins for 10 yds to the Alab 33 for a 1ST down MIAMI FL Penalty, Personal Foul (Jahfari Harvey) to the Alab 48 for a 1ST down

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

Miami

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
D'Eriq King	23/30	179	6.0	1	2	54.6
Tyler Van Dyke	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	6.2

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Bryce Young	27/38	344	9.1	4	0	94.5
Paul Tyson	1/1	10	10.0	0	0	100.0

Rushing

Miami

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Cam'Ron Harris	12	37	3.1	15
Donald Chaney Jr.	7	23	3.3	6
Tyler Van Dyke	3	17	5.7	18
D'Eriq King	9	10	1.1	11

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian Robinson Jr.	12	60	5.0	0	19
Trey Sanders	8	41	5.1	1	20
Jase McClellan	9	36	4.0	0	15
Roydell Williams	6	18	3.0	0	8
Bryce Young	2	-1	-0.5	0	8
Jalen Milroe	1	-7	-7.0	0	0

Receiving

Miami

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Xavier Restrepo	3	55	18.3	1	29
Keyshawn Smith	4	40	10.0	0	20
Charleston Rambo	7	34	4.9	0	10
Mike Harley	3	23	7.7	0	17
Will Mallory	2	12	6.0	0	7
Cam'Ron Harris	2	8	4.0	0	6
Donald Chaney Jr.	1	4	4.0	0	4
Michael Redding III	1	3	3.0	0	3

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jameson Williams	4	126	31.5	1	94
John Metchie	6	76	12.7	1	37
Cameron Latu	3	43	14.3	2	25
Slade Bolden	3	26	8.7	0	11
JoJo Earle	2	25	12.5	0	16
Javon Baker	3	21	7.0	0	10
Jase McClellan	3	15	5.0	0	6
Traeshon Holden	1	12	12.0	0	12
Agiye Hall	1	10	10.0	0	10
Brian Robinson Jr.	2	0	0.0	0	4

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Miami

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Tyrique Stevenson	9	5	0	0	0
Gurvan Hall Jr.	8	4	0	0	0
Te'Cory Couch	7	4	0	0.5	0
Kamren Kinchens	7	3	0	0	0
DJ Ivey	7	2	0	0	0
Bradley Jennings Jr.	6	1	0	0	0
Gilbert Frierson	5	2	0	0	0
Bubba Bolden	5	1	0	0.5	1
Keontra Smith	5	1	0	1.5	0
Nesta Silvera	4	1	0	0.5	0
Amari Carter	4	0	0	0.5	0
Jared Harrison-Hunte	4	0	0	1.5	0
Jordan Miller	3	2	0	1	0
Corey Flagg Jr.	3	2	0	0.5	0
Chantz Williams	3	1	1	1	0
Zach McCloud	3	0	0	0.5	0
Cam'Ron Harris	2	2	0	0	0
Al Blades Jr.	2	1	0	0.5	0
James Williams	2	0	0	0.5	0
Michael Parrott	1	1	0	0	0
Justice Oluwaseun	1	1	0	0	0
Jakai Clark	1	1	0	1	0
Deandre Johnson	1	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Ford	1	0	0	0	0
Clay James	1	0	0	0	0

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Will Anderson Jr.	9	2	1	1	0
Henry To'o To'o	7	1	0	0	0
Drew Sanders	6	2	0	0	0
Josh Jobe	5	3	0	0	1
Brian Branch	5	3	0	1	1
Christian Harris	5	2	1	2	0
Phidarian Mathis	5	1	1	1	0
Jordan Battle	5	0	0	0	0
Daniel Wright	4	1	0	0	1
Christopher Allen	3	2	1	1	0
Justin Eboigbe	3	2	0	0	0
Byron Young	3	0	0	0	0
Jalyn Armour-Davis	2	2	0	0	1
Malachi Moore	2	1	0	0	0
Tim Smith	2	1	0	1	0
Stephon Wynn Jr.	2	0	0	0	0
Chris Braswell	2	0	0	0	0
Kendrick Blackshire	1	1	0	0	0
Darrian Dalcourt	1	1	0	0	0
Jaylen Moody	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Miami

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Jordan Miller	0	0	1
D'Eriq King	1	1	0

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Phidarian Mathis	0	0	1
Bryce Young	1	1	0
Roydell Williams	1	0	0

Interceptions

Miami

No recorded stats in this category.

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jaylen Moody	1	13	0
Malachi Moore	1	-1	0

Kick Returns

Miami

No recorded stats in this category.

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jahleel Billingsley	1	17	17.0	17	0

Kicking

Miami

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Andres Borregales	2/2	100.0	37	1/1	7

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	3/3	100.0	51	5/5	14

Punt Returns

Miami

No recorded stats in this category.

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Slade Bolden	3	20	6.7	10	0

Punting

Miami

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Lou Hedley	5	236	47.2	0	0	54

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
James Burnip	2	62	31.0	0	0	36

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 401281942) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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