Alabama wide receiver Derek Meadows helped off early vs. Missouri after brutal hit, targeting call

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Alabama wide receiver Derek Meadows left Saturday’s matchup with No. 14 Missouri late in the first quarter after taking a vicious hit while trying to make a grab at Memorial Stadium.

Meadows jumped up to try and haul in a deep toss from Ty Simpson, but was drilled hard by Missouri safety Marvin Burks Jr. as he was coming down. Meadows fell straight to the turf, where he remained motionless as Alabama’s training staff came rushing out to help.

Eventually, Meadows walked off the field on his own and left for the locker room. He gave a thumbs up to fans on his way into the tunnel, too. Burks was called for targeting and ejected, which was upheld after a review.

Further specifics on his injury are not yet known. Meadows has played in four games this season, but the true freshman has not yet made a catch. He was a four-star Rivals.com recruit out of Las Vegas and the No. 15 wide receiver in his class.

That penalty moved Alabama into Missouri territory, and quarterback Ty Simpson eventually hit Isaiah Horton for a 16-yard touchdown that put the Crimson Tide up 14-7 at the time. It marked the second straight drive where a critical defensive penalty hurt the Tigers. Defensive end Zion Young was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting on Alabama’s first drive of the game, which helped spark a 6-yard touchdown pass from Simpson to Kevin Riley.

Young made up for his blunder in the second half. He opened the third quarter with a massive sack to force a fumble on Alabama’s first play of the period, which set up a Missouri touchdown just three plays later to tie the contest up.

Alabama, after losing its season opener to Florida State, entered Saturday’s contest on a four-game win streak. Missouri, though it’s yet to play a ranked opponent, is a perfect 5-0.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.