September 11, 2021 Week 2 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 48–14, at home over Mercer.

Home · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 48

Away · Challenger

Mercer 14

AP poll, week 2: Mercer unranked at Alabama No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 287 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 6 defenses already behind it; this was its 7th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 3 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Mercer this was its 3rd shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 3 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

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

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama dominated Mercer from start to finish, establishing control early with a blocked punt return touchdown by Chris Braswell setting the tone in the first quarter. The Crimson Tide's offense was relentless, with Bryce Young orchestrating a balanced attack that produced touchdowns through the air to Slade Bolden, Jameson Williams, John Metchie III, and Jase McClellan, while the ground game added scores from Brian Robinson Jr. and McClellan as well. Mercer managed two passing touchdowns from Fred Payton, including a 60-yard strike to Devron Harper in the third quarter, but Alabama's defense forced two interceptions and limited the Bears to just 216 total yards and kept them off the board for extended stretches. Will Reichard's perfect kicking performance and Alabama's turnover-free night sealed a convincing 48-14 victory that never felt competitive after the opening moments.

Chris Braswell's blocked punt return touchdown in Q1 - set immediate tone for Alabama's dominance
Bryce Young's four touchdown passes - demonstrated superior offensive firepower throughout the game
Mercer's two interceptions (Kool-Aid McKinstry in Q1, Marcus Banks in Q3) - prevented sustained drives
Devron Harper's 60-yard touchdown reception in Q3 - Mercer's only meaningful offensive success

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

AlabamaMercer

Total yards424216

Rushing yards15848

Passing yards266168

First downs2413

3rd down conv.5/133/12

Turnovers02

Penalties–yards9–957–54

Time of possession39:4130:09

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 6:39	Mercer	+33 yd	TEAM punt blocked by Chris Braswell, Jase McClellan return for 33 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 4:48	Mercer	+0 yd	Carter Peevy pass intercepted Kool-Aid McKinstry return for no gain to the Alab 46
Q1 3:22	Alabama	+4 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 4 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 14:51	Alabama	+18 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Slade Bolden for 18 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 12:53	Mercer	+25 yd	Trey Turk punt for 54 yds , Slade Bolden returns for 25 yds to the Alab 37
Q2 6:30	Alabama	+5 yd	Jase McClellan run for 5 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 4:12	Mercer	+29 yd	Trey Turk punt for 46 yds , JoJo Earle returns for 29 yds to the Mercr 46
Q2 0:33	Alabama	+30 yd	Will Reichard 30 yd FG GOOD
Q3 10:52	Alabama	+8 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jameson Williams for 8 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 11:44	Alabama	+41 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to John Metchie III for 41 yds to the Mercr 16 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:21	Mercer	+60 yd	Fred Payton pass complete to Devron Harper for 60 yds for a TD, (Devin Folser KICK)
Q3 5:50	Alabama	+21 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jase McClellan for 21 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 3:51	Mercer	+0 yd	Fred Payton pass intercepted Marcus Banks return for no gain to the Mercr 47
Q3 3:00	Alabama	-7 yd	Trey Sanders run for a loss of 7 yards to the Mercr 15 Trey Sanders fumbled, recovered by Alab Trey Sanders
Q3 3:40	Alabama	+39 yd	Paul Tyson pass complete to JoJo Earle for 39 yds to the Mercr 8 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:24	Mercer	+22 yd	Fred Payton pass complete to Ty James for 22 yds for a TD, (Devin Folser KICK)
Q4 6:41	Alabama	+40 yd	Will Reichard 40 yd FG GOOD
Q4 12:24	Mercer	+24 yd	Devin Folser kickoff for 49 yds , Slade Bolden return for 24 yds to the Alab 40
Q4 2:50	Mercer	-24 yd	TEAM run for a loss of 24 yards to the Mercr 48 TEAM fumbled, recovered by Mercr
Q4 5:45	Mercer	+28 yd	Fred Payton pass complete to Ethan Dirrim for 28 yds to the Alab 38 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:45	Mercer	-2 yd	Fred Payton run for a loss of 2 yards to the Alab 28 Fred Payton fumbled, recovered by Mercr Fred Payton

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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	QBR
Bryce Young	19/27	227	8.4	3	34.1
Paul Tyson	1/3	39	13.0	0	22.0
Jalen Milroe	0/1	0	0.0	0	91.2

Mercer

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Fred Payton	9/15	159	10.6	2	1	--
Carter Peevy	1/3	9	3.0	0	1	--

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian Robinson Jr.	10	70	7.0	1	14
Jalen Milroe	7	33	4.7	0	14
Trey Sanders	7	30	4.3	0	16
Jase McClellan	4	13	3.3	1	5
Roydell Williams	4	11	2.8	0	4
Bryce Young	2	1	0.5	0	8

Mercer

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Fred Davis	12	47	3.9	9
Ethan Dirrim	7	24	3.4	9
Fred Payton	5	10	2.0	4
Parker Wroble	1	3	3.0	3
Carter Peevy	4	-7	-1.8	9
Brandon Marshall	6	-9	-1.5	7
Team	1	-20	-20.0	0

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
JoJo Earle	7	85	12.1	0	39
John Metchie	5	70	14.0	0	41
Jameson Williams	3	31	10.3	1	18
Traeshon Holden	2	31	15.5	0	17
Jase McClellan	1	21	21.0	1	21
Slade Bolden	1	18	18.0	1	18
Brian Robinson Jr.	1	10	10.0	0	10

Mercer

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Devron Harper	2	69	34.5	1	60
Ethan Dirrim	2	45	22.5	0	28
Ty James	2	33	16.5	1	22
Parker Wroble	2	11	5.5	0	6
Andrew May	1	7	7.0	0	7
Fred Davis	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Christian Harris	8	4	0	1	0	0	0
Henry To'o To'o	6	2	0	0.5	0	0	0
Kool-Aid McKinstry	6	1	0	0	1	0	0
Jaylen Moody	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
Byron Young	4	2	1	2	0	0	0
Marcus Banks	4	2	0	0.5	0	0	0
DeMarcco Hellams	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
Phidarian Mathis	3	2	1	1	0	0	0
Daniel Wright	3	1	0	0	1	0	0
Chris Braswell	3	1	0	0	0	1	0
Dallas Turner	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jordan Battle	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Will Anderson Jr.	3	1	0	1	0	0	0
Jase McClellan	2	1	0	0	0	0	2
Drew Sanders	2	1	0	0	2	0	0
Stephon Wynn Jr.	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Smith	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
DJ Dale	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
Jameson Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
King Mwikuta	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Khyree Jackson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brian Branch	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Mercer

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	QB HUR
Ken Standley	8	3	0	0	0
Yahsyn McKee	7	6	0	0	0
Luke Ward	7	4	0	0	0
Danijah Gammage	6	3	0	2	0
Ricky Lester	5	4	0	0	0
Lance Wise	5	3	0	0	0
Alvin Ward Jr.	5	3	0	0	0
Solomon Zubairu	3	1	1	1	1
Isaac Dowling	3	1	0	0	1
Chris Hill	2	2	0	0	0
TJ Moore	2	2	0	0	0
Marques Thomas	2	2	0	0	0
Harrison Poole	2	0	0	0	0
Obinna Nwanko	1	1	1	1	0
Tre Lanham	1	1	0	1	0
Michael Campbell	1	1	0	0	0
Alex Ferry	1	1	0	0	0
Richie Coffey	1	1	0	0	1
Zach Hopkins	1	1	0	0	0
Trey Turk	1	1	0	0	0
Carson Griffin	1	1	0	0	0
Barron King	1	0	0	0	0
Jordan Swain	1	0	0	0	0
Kainalu Pu'u Robinson	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Trey Sanders	1	0	0

Mercer

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Team	1	0	0
Fred Payton	1	0	0

Interceptions

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Kool-Aid McKinstry	1	0	0
Marcus Banks	1	0	0

Mercer

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Slade Bolden	1	24	24.0	24	0
Cameron Latu	2	7	3.5	7	0

Mercer

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Yahsyn McKee	3	39	13.0	19	0
Devron Harper	2	26	13.0	14	0

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	2/3	66.7	40	6/6	12

Mercer

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Devin Folser	0/0	0.0	0	2/2	2

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
JoJo Earle	2	45	22.5	29	0
Jase McClellan	1	33	33.0	33	1
Slade Bolden	3	29	9.7	25	0
Chris Braswell	1	11	11.0	11	0

Mercer

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Yahsyn McKee	1	2	2.0	2	0

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
James Burnip	3	130	43.3	0	1	44

Mercer

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Trey Turk	7	289	41.3	0	1	54
Team	1	0	0.0	0	0	0

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 401282056) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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