Kane Wommack isn’t measuring Alabama’s pressure package by the usual headline numbers.
Yes, the Crimson Tide would love more tackles-for-loss and more sacks. Alabama’s totals are near the bottom of the SEC in both categories, with no player topping Fatutoa Henry’s 5.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks. But when Wommack talks about what pressure really does, he keeps coming back to something broader than the stat sheet.
For him, the real goal is to make the quarterback uneasy.
“We’ve done, obviously, we’ve put pressure on people with RPOs just with the amount of takeaways that we have been able to get in changing those windows,” Wommack said Monday, Nov. 2.
“And that’s the cat and mouse game that you play in the RPO-style game. You can line up and try and play man all day long or you can play zone all day long, but, eventually they’re going to find you in some of those windows.
But you have to create enough doubt in their mind and maybe capitalize. And so far, we have found ways to, kind of, capitalize and create takeaways off of the RPOs, and pressure is a piece to that as well to force a quarterback to make a tough decision.”
That’s the lens he’s using heading into LSU.
On the surface, LSU has handled pressure better than most SEC teams. Through eight games, the Tigers have allowed 46 tackles-for-loss, which ranks 10th in the conference, and 13 sacks, tied for fourth-best in the SEC with Florida.
But the quarterback at the center of it all is Sam Leavitt, and Wommack made it clear he sees the challenge in what Leavitt does well. Leavitt is one of three SEC quarterbacks to complete more than 70% of his passes.
He also brings a real run threat, averaging 4.5 yards per carry with eight rushing touchdowns. He leads an LSU offense averaging more than 40 points per game, one of eight teams to hit that mark through eight games along with Miami, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Louisville, Notre Dame and Oregon State.
“I’m impressed with his decision making in the quick game, RPO world,” Wommack said. “I knew he was a talented quarterback. We watched some things in the offseason, but watching him right now, the ball delivery, his arm strength right now and the accuracy is at a really, really high level.”
Still, Wommack isn’t fixated on the throws Leavitt gets right. He’s looking at the ones Leavitt “would want back,” especially the eight interceptions through his first six games.
That’s where Alabama’s defense has made its money. The Crimson Tide are tied with Kentucky for the SEC lead with 12 interceptions, and Wommack sees that as the true payoff of pressure - not just sacks and tackles-for-loss, but hurried decisions, stressed windows and turnovers.
That’s the battle he believes Alabama can win against LSU.
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