Alabama football was riding high after knocking off Georgia in Week 5. Kalen DeBoer and company rose to the No. 1 spot in the AP polls, and it looked like the Crimson Tide hadn’t missed a beat during the transition way from Nick Saban.
Unfortunately for Alabama, things are never that easy. Since the big win against its rivals, things have gone downhill quickly. Alabama was stunned by Vanderbilt in one of the upsets of the season in Week 6, and then barely escaped another upset bid from South Carolina on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
If it weren’t for a poor throw on a two-point conversion by South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers and a late-game interception after a successful onside kick, we could be having a much more panicked discussion about the Crimson Tide. Instead, Alabama still sits in a good spot at 5-1 on the season, but there are plenty of reasons to be concerned.
Let’s be clear here. Alabama’s offensive line is just fine, but it’s not the same group of road graters that we’ve come to expect in Tuscaloosa. When you’re splitting hairs between the contenders in the SEC and deciding who can win a National Championship, it’s a big deal.
Alabama currently ranks 26th pass blocking and 70th in run blocking, per PFF, which are numbers that are exploitable for the top teams in the country. The running game has been problematic, as the Crimson Tide rank 51st in the country in rushing yards per game (179.2) entering Week 8. This was a major problem on Saturday against South Carolina when DeBoer’s offense ran for just 104 yards on 38 attempts, a dismal 2.7 yards per clip.
When the running game can’t get going, Alabama’s passing game struggles to completely pick up the slack unless it’s hitting on 50-50 balls on the outside. Ryan Williams has become an excellent weapon on downfield shots outside the numbers, but that’s not a sustainable way to build your passing game. While Jalen Milroe has taken strides as a passer, he’s not quite at the level where he can just drop back and carve up defenses if the running game isn’t helping.
The Alabama secondary is the weakness of the team, and teams have exploited it down the field over the last few weeks. The Crimson Tide lost its three best defensive backs from last year’s team, as star safety Caleb Downs transferred to Ohio State and starting cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry both left for the NFL Draft.
In their place, Alabama has gotten very young and their defensive backs haven’t played together all that much. Cornerback Zabien Brown is a true freshman. The other corner, Junior Domani Jackson, is in his first season in Tuscaloosa after transferring over from USC. Safety Keon Sabb is another transfer and is just a redshirt sophomore, so this group is still meshing together. Malachi Moore is the veteran of the group, but he has had trouble keeping it together in recent weeks and has made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
The secondary was exposed in the second half of Alabama’s win over Georgia, when the Bulldogs climbed all the way out of a 28-0 hole before Milroe and Williams had the last laugh. During Georgia’s comeback, Beck connected on seven passes of 20+ yards to help the Bulldogs get back in the game. This issue of making plays down the field also showed up against South Carolina when wide receiver Nyck Harbor secured a 31-yard touchdown pass to give the Gamecocks a chance to tie things up with a two-point conversion in the final minute.
This group is talented — see Brown and Jackson’s game-winning interceptions against Georgia and South Carolina, respectively — but this is a group that will continue to get targeted by the best teams on the schedule.
Alabama is hurting itself far too often with penalties, something that often popped up late in Nick Saban’s tenure as well. Through seven weeks, the Crimson Tide has been penalized nearly eight times per game, which ranks 119th out of 134 FBS teams.
This was one area that nearly cost them the Georgia game, when Alabama was called for 10 penalties resulting in 90 lost yards. In all six of Alabama’s games this season, it has been called for at least as many penalties and suffered from more penalty yards against than its opponent. That trend needs to change if it wants to reach its goals this season.
Their penalties come in all forms. The secondary is grabby, they are plagued by procedure penalties, and they lack discipline at times with post-snap personal fouls. It’s unclear what the root cause of this is, but it has been a major problem so far this season.
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