Saturday’s Alabama-Tennessee matchup already had one obvious pressure point, and now it may have become the biggest one on the field.
For Alabama, the concern starts right in the middle of the line, where Tennessee defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam looms as a major problem. The Penn State transfer has been a force all season, piling up five sacks and giving opposing offenses a player who can wreck a game by himself. When Alabama has the ball, the Crimson Tide’s interior protection against Gilliam is going to shape a lot of what happens next.
That task gets trickier if center Racin Delgatty can’t play. Delgatty, a Cal Poly transfer who started Alabama’s first six games, was listed as questionable in Wednesday night’s first availability report of the week. He was hurt on the Crimson Tide’s final offensive snap against Georgia, and that injury now casts a shadow over one of Alabama’s most important assignments.
If Delgatty sits, sophomore guard Mal Waldrep would be the next man up at center.
Waldrep has already been a regular part of Alabama’s interior rotation this season. He’s been the first backup off the bench inside, logged meaningful snaps, started in Week 2 at Kentucky when Michael Carroll was out with an injury, and has often filled in for Will Sanders at left guard. Still, moving to center is a different challenge altogether, and the timing could hardly be tougher.
This would be Waldrep’s first start at center, and he’d be doing it in Neyland Stadium, one of the loudest and toughest places to play in college football. Alabama also has a quarterback making just his seventh career start, which puts even more weight on the exchange between center and QB.
Communication has to be clean. One bad snap or one missed cue can change everything.
On top of that, Waldrep would be dealing with Gilliam’s constant presence, since the Tennessee defender often lines up over the center. Alabama will likely try to give him help when it can, but the assignment would still be a heavy lift.
If Delgatty can’t go, Waldrep becomes the player to watch for Alabama. What happens in that spot could swing the game one way or the other.
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Burton also drew attention for wearing a backwards baseball cap during the overtime coin toss after helmet equipment issues, a quirky scene that stood out in a tense finish. Afterward, he talked about coach Alex Mortensen and mentioned watching a documentary tied to Mortensens former coach, Nick Saban, a reminder that Sabans coaching tree still shows up in odd, easy-to-miss places around the state. [Read more 🡒]