Alabama's 48-0 demolition of Kent State went according to plan. The Tide dominated the line of scrimmage, piled up some points, stymied the Golden Flashes and then rested its starters. This was a ho-hum affair that adhered to the script so strictly it could have been played out in a computer simulator.
Even Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban couldn't find much wrong with what happened.
"Overall," Saban said, "I am pretty pleased with the way we played."
Yet there were a few surprises. Here are four that stood out:
1. The severity of Damien Harris' injury
It looked gruesome, sort of like Willis McGahee's catastrophic knee injury from yesteryear, except in this instance the impact came from a different angle.