No. 1 Alabama’s defense smothers No. 3 Florida State

No. 1 Alabama 24, No. 3 FSU 7

ATLANTA — The Alabama defense turned in a dominating performance, the Florida State special teams endured a terrible night, and one of the most anticipated opening games in college football history went to the top-ranked Crimson Tide.

Damien Harris ran for a touchdown and blocked a punt, and Jalen Hurts chipped in with a scoring pass on a night that basically required the sophomore quarterback to make no major mistakes, leading Alabama to a 24-7 beatdown of No. 3 Florida State on Saturday at Atlanta’s new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

This one was all about that dynamic Bama D.

And those not-to-special teams for the Seminoles.

Alabama picked off a pair of passes by Deondre Francois in the second half, snuffing out any hopes of a Florida State comeback.

Throw in a blocked punt, a blocked field goal and a fumble recovery on a kickoff return, and there was really no path to victory for the Seminoles in the first matchup ever between two teams in the top three of The Associated Press preseason rankings.

The Tide led 10-7 at halftime, catching a huge break in the closing seconds when the officials didn’t call a pass interference penalty on Tony Brown while defending Francois’ pass into the end zone for Nyqwan Murray.

Mike Stewart / The Associated Press Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley (left) scores on a 2-point conversion against Florida State during the first half.