Aggies lose ninth straight road contest

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Brodie Croyle threw two touchdowns in the first five minutes of the game to give Alabama a 14-0 lead over the very outmanned Aggies. Gameball goes to... Wide receiver DJ Hall, who had 11 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown. He became the first Alabama receiver to have back-to-back games with at least 10 catches. Stat of the game... $500,000: Utah State's payday to make the nearly 1,900 mile trip from Logan to Tuscaloosa. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	17	19
Total Yards	309	493
Passing	159	288
Rushing	150	205
Penalties	4-24	2-17
3rd Down Conversions	4-15	8-16
4th Down Conversions	0-1	0-0
Turnovers	1	1
Possession	31:39	28:21

Individual Leaders

Utah State Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Jackson ... 11/28 147 0 1 Walker 2/2 12 0 0	Alabama Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Croyle 22/31 279 3 0 Wilson 1/4 9 1 0
Utah State Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Bohm 17 94 0 29 Jackson III 10 25 0 8 Walker 9 19 0 9	Alabama Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Darby 15 147 1 38 Johns 6 40 0 25 Coffee 8 21 0 8
Utah State Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Pennyman 6 73 0 27 Robinson 2 44 0 24 Bohm 2 17 0 17 Richards 2 8 0 5	Alabama Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Hall 11 157 1 56 Knight 3 59 1 27 Coffee 2 18 1 9 McClain 2 2 1 1

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				USU	ALA
	TD	13:23	EZEKIAL KNIGHT 9 YD PASS FROM BRODIE CROYLE (JAMIE CHRISTENSEN KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 65 yards.	0	7
	TD	9:56	LE'RON MCCLAIN 1 YD PASS FROM BRODIE CROYLE (JAMIE CHRISTENSEN KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 54 yards.	0	14
SECOND QUARTER				USU	ALA
	TD	4:41	D.J. HALL 13 YD PASS FROM BRODIE CROYLE (JAMIE CHRISTENSEN KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 74 yards.	0	21
THIRD QUARTER				USU	ALA
	FG	11:50	JUSTIN HAMBLIN 24 YD FG Drive info: 9 plays, 65 yards.	3	21
	TD	0:48	KENNETH DARBY 38 YD RUN (JAMIE CHRISTENSEN KICK) Drive info: 8 plays, 76 yards.	3	28
FOURTH QUARTER				USU	ALA
	TD	9:49	GLEN COFFEE 9 YD PASS FROM JOHN PARKER WILSON (JAMIE CHRISTENSEN KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 23 yards.	3	35

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Utah State is out of the way and Alabama is thinking championship -- at least in the Southeastern Conference, maybe beyond.

Brodie Croyle threw three touchdown passes and DJ Hall set an Alabama receiving record to keep the fifth-ranked Crimson Tide undefeated with a 35-3 win over Utah State on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1994 and finished its nonconference season with an easy win that allowed the starters to rest in the fourth quarter after two straight dramatic, last-minute league wins.

Fifth in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings, the Tide start their stretch run in the SEC next week against Mississippi State, hoping it will lead to a berth in the league title game -- and maybe a spot in the Rose Bowl after that.

"This is it. This is where we have to bear down and start playing our best football," said Croyle, who suffered a cut that required a single stitch on his throwing elbow.

Linebacker DeMeco Ryans said Alabama started fast and has to finish the season strong without worrying about what happens nationally.

"We just keep our focus on what we can control," said Ryans, who had five tackles against the Aggies. "We can control next week going down to Mississippi State. We can't control the national picture."

Hall finished with 11 catches for 157 yards, becoming the first Alabama receiver to have back-to-back games with at least 10 receptions. Hall caught 10 balls for 139 yards last week.

Alabama grabbed control barely five minutes into the game as Croyle threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ezekial Knight on the first possession and followed with a 1-yard scoring pass to Le'Ron McClain the next time the Tide had the ball.

The teams then swapped possessions, with six punts between them, until Hall caught a 13-yard TD pass from Croyle shortly before halftime.

On the bench after three quarters, Croyle completed 22-of-31 passes for 279 yards without an interception. Substitute John Parker Wilson threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Glen Coffee.

Kenneth Darby, who scored on a 38-yard run, led Alabama's ground game with 149 yards on 15 rushes. Utah State (2-5) had 150 yards rushing, led by Ryan Bohm with 95.

Utah State coach Brent Guy said his team "got the shock and awe slammed on us early."

"There's a reason that Alabama is No. 5," he said. "They have a very good defense. It takes me back to my Big Eight days. I haven't seen a defense that explosive in a while."

Utah State's lone score came on a 24-yard field goal by Justin Hamblin on the Aggies' opening drive after halftime, the first points Alabama has given up in the third quarter all season.

Both teams also missed field-goal attempts: Hamblin from 41 and 43 yards and Alabama's Jamie Christensen -- who beat Mississippi and Tennessee with clutch kicks the two previous weeks -- from 37 yards.

Utah State dropped to 1-9 against SEC teams, with the sole victory coming against Kentucky in 1970. The Aggies, who play in the Western Athletic Conference, scored a $500,000 payday for making the nearly 1,900-mile trip to Alabama.

One of the biggest cheers went up before kickoff, when injured 'Bama receiver Tyrone Prothro emerged from the locker room in a wheelchair four weeks after suffering a gruesome leg fracture in the Florida win.

Prothro, who underwent surgery after breaking both bones in his lower left leg, developed an infection in the hospital and was released only last week.