October 2, 2021 Week 5 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 42–21, at home over Ole Miss.

Home · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 42

Away · Challenger

Ole MissAP No. 12 21

AP poll, week 5: Ole Miss No. 12 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 308 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 9 defenses already behind it; this was its 10th defense. It was the last defense: Texas A&M took the belt in the very next belt game, on October 9, 2021.

For Ole Miss this was its 14th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 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 defense and ground game dominated Ole Miss from start to finish, with the Crimson Tide controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the afternoon. Bryce Young got things rolling early with a touchdown pass to John Metchie III in the first quarter, and Alabama's offense found a rhythm with Brian Robinson Jr. punching in four rushing touchdowns on the day. Ole Miss managed two touchdowns from Matt Corral and added another score late from Chase Rogers, but the Rebels never threatened Alabama's control—the Tide's 37:59 time of possession advantage told the story of a lopsided contest. Despite an interception from Young in the third quarter and Ole Miss's late-game heroics, Alabama's balanced attack (451 total yards, 6-13 on third downs) was more than sufficient to hold the belt with a commanding 21-point victory.

Brian Robinson Jr.'s four rushing touchdowns, including the crucial ones in the second half, as Alabama controlled the line and kept Ole Miss's offense off the field
Bryce Young's early touchdown passes to Metchie and Latu that built Alabama's lead to 21-0 by halftime, putting Ole Miss in an insurmountable hole
Alabama's time of possession advantage (37:59 to 22:01) that reflected the Tide's dominance and kept Ole Miss's offense on the sideline

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

AlabamaOle Miss

Total yards451291

Rushing yards21078

Passing yards241213

First downs2718

3rd down conv.6/135/14

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards5–527–55

Time of possession37:5922:01

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 2:20	Alabama	+16 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to John Metchie III for 16 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 12:14	Alabama	+1 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 1 yd for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 2:55	Alabama	+3 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Cameron Latu for 3 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 2:55	Alabama	+22 yd	Will Reichard kickoff for 64 yds , Jerrion Ealy return for 22 yds to the Miss 23
Q2 0:57	Alabama	+1 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 1 yd for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 12:32	Alabama	+1 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 1 yd for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 15:00	Ole Miss	+22 yd	Caden Costa kickoff for 64 yds , Jameson Williams return for 22 yds to the Alab 23
Q3 14:47	Alabama	+29 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Slade Bolden for 29 yds to the Miss 48 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:25	Ole Miss	+10 yd	Matt Corral run for 10 yds for a TD, (Caden Costa KICK)
Q3 1:48	Alabama	+1 yd	Bryce Young pass intercepted Keidron Smith return for 1 yd to the Miss 1
Q3 7:30	Alabama	+21 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Traeshon Holden for 21 yds to the Alab 49 for a 1ST down
Q4 11:18	Alabama	+26 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jameson Williams for 26 yds to the Miss 2 for a 1ST down
Q4 13:58	Alabama	+21 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 21 yds to the Miss 30 for a 1ST down
Q4 10:47	Alabama	+2 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 2 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q4 8:43	Ole Miss	+1 yd	Snoop Conner run for 1 yd for a TD, (Caden Costa KICK)
Q4 10:32	Ole Miss	+42 yd	Matt Corral pass complete to Chase Rogers for 42 yds to the Alab 28 for a 1ST down
Q4 6:58	Alabama	+20 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jameson Williams for 20 yds to the Alab 41 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:23	Ole Miss	+2 yd	Matt Corral pass complete to Chase Rogers for 2 yds for a TD, (Caden Costa KICK)

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	INT	QBR
Bryce Young	20/26	241	9.3	2	1	94.3

Ole Miss

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Corral	21/29	213	7.3	1	0	70.0

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian Robinson Jr.	36	171	4.8	4	21
Jase McClellan	6	28	4.7	0	10
Roydell Williams	3	15	5.0	0	6
Bryce Young	5	-4	-0.8	0	4

Ole Miss

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Henry Parrish Jr.	11	47	4.3	0	10
Jerrion Ealy	9	16	1.8	0	5
Snoop Conner	4	12	3.0	1	6
Matt Corral	10	3	0.3	1	10

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jameson Williams	5	65	13.0	0	26
Slade Bolden	4	58	14.5	0	29
Jahleel Billingsley	4	47	11.8	0	19
John Metchie	3	35	11.7	1	16
Traeshon Holden	1	21	21.0	0	21
Jase McClellan	1	11	11.0	0	11
Cameron Latu	1	3	3.0	1	3
JoJo Earle	1	1	1.0	0	1

Ole Miss

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Chase Rogers	3	53	17.7	1	42
Dontario Drummond	4	43	10.8	0	13
Braylon Sanders	2	32	16.0	0	18
Jadon Jackson	4	30	7.5	0	17
Henry Parrish Jr.	3	23	7.7	0	10
Snoop Conner	2	17	8.5	0	14
Dannis Jackson	1	14	14.0	0	14
Jerrion Ealy	2	1	0.5	0	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
DeMarcco Hellams	11	6	0	0	0	0
Henry To'o To'o	10	3	0	1	0	1
Jordan Battle	9	7	0	0	0	0
Will Anderson Jr.	9	4	1	2.5	0	2
Drew Sanders	5	3	0	0	0	2
Byron Young	4	2	0	1.5	0	1
Tim Smith	4	2	0	0	0	0
Phidarian Mathis	3	2	1	1	0	0
Jalyn Armour-Davis	3	1	0	0	1	0
Christian Harris	3	1	0	1	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	2	1	0	0	0	0
DJ Dale	1	1	0	0	0	0
Roydell Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0
LaBryan Ray	1	0	0	0	0	0
Josh Jobe	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylen Moody	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jameson Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0
Demouy Kennedy	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kendrick Blackshire	1	0	0	0	0	0
Malachi Moore	1	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel Wright	0	0	0	0	0	1

Ole Miss

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	QB HUR
Otis Reese	11	4	0	0	0
Chance Campbell	10	4	1	1.5	1
Mark Robinson	8	5	0	0.5	0
Keidron Smith	8	3	0	0	0
Tysheem Johnson	7	2	0	1	0
Sam Williams	6	2	1	1	1
Tavius Robinson	6	1	0	0	0
Deane Leonard	5	3	0	0	0
Lakia Henry	5	2	0	0	0
Austin Keys	4	2	0	0	1
Isaiah Iton	4	2	0	0	0
Jaylon Jones	3	2	0	0	0
Mohamed Sanogo	3	1	0	0	0
A.J. Finley	3	1	0	1	0
Deantre Prince	2	2	0	0	0
Cedric Johnson	2	1	1	1	1
Ashanti Cistrunk	2	1	0	0	0
Tylan Knight	2	0	0	0	0
Tariqious Tisdale	1	0	0	0	0
KD Hill	1	0	0	0	0
Quentin Bivens	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Justin Eboigbe	0	0	1

Ole Miss

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Matt Corral	1	1	0

Interceptions

Alabama

No recorded stats in this category.

Ole Miss

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Keidron Smith	1	1	0

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jameson Williams	1	22	22.0	22	0
Slade Bolden	2	18	9.0	18	0

Ole Miss

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jerrion Ealy	2	37	18.5	22	0

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	0/0	0.0	0	6/6	6

Ole Miss

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Caden Costa	0/0	0.0	0	3/3	3

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
JoJo Earle	1	2	2.0	2	0

Ole Miss

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
James Burnip	1	37	37.0	0	0	37

Ole Miss

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Mac Brown	2	103	51.5	0	1	56

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 401282089) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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