Kane Wommack didn’t sugarcoat Alabama’s showing against Florida State. He called the pass defense the “worst” he has seen since joining the program three seasons ago, and the numbers back up why that stung so much: 471 total yards allowed, nine plays of 20 or more yards, 8-of-15 on third down for the Seminoles and five touchdowns on five red-zone trips.
Alabama escaped with the win, but the defensive coordinator made it clear the performance was nowhere near acceptable. He said the offense kept the Crimson Tide alive by “continuing to gain the momentum” even after the defense kept handing it back. Wommack also pointed to the delay early in the game, saying Alabama “did not handle the delay well coming out of the game and gave them early momentum.”
The worst moment, in his view, came on third-and-14 when Alabama gave up a screen and let Florida State stay in the game. He called it “probably the worst play that that I can remember, also being a part of here.” In his telling, getting off the field there could have changed the second half completely.
Red Morgan echoed the frustration after the game, saying the problems came down to simple execution. “We had a couple busted plays that came from people not doing their job,” Morgan said.
“[We needed] people just going out there and doing their job. Definitely, people not doing their jobs.
We had several busted coverages to where peoples' eyes weren't in the right place. They didn't do a lot of unexpected things.
It came down to just everybody doing their job. Most everything they did, we seen.”
Wommack said the defense also has to do a better job finishing against the run. He cited two explosive early plays by Ousmane Kromah, who ripped off a 27-yard run to get Florida State into the red zone on its first drive and later scored on a 12-yard run late in the first quarter.
After that, Wommack said the run defense settled in. “Two things that we had worked specifically that each of our two starting linebackers gave one up a piece, and then for the rest of the game, it was an absolutely dominating performance in the run game,” he said. He added that Alabama’s defensive line continued to play at a high level and that the linebackers and secondary were efficient and physical outside those first two explosive runs.
He also said Alabama affected the quarterback three times with sacks and did a good job limiting scrambles and downfield extensions. The one touchdown he pinned on himself came in the red zone, where he said he should have put a spy on the quarterback.
Wommack said the defense allowed nine explosive plays overall and blamed them on “fundamental execution errors” and players not doing what the scheme asked. Still, he insisted the fix is there.
“I have great confidence in our players. I have great confidence in our coaches.
We are in this together to get those things cleaned up, and I would imagine we will get those things fixed quickly. I talked to our guys.”
He also drew a line to Alabama’s 2015 defense, which he described as “probably the last two truly dominating defenses that we have had here,” and said that group responded after a rough early stretch to win a national championship. The message, he said, is urgency - and it starts with him.
“They're pissed. They should be pissed.
So they did not do their job at a high enough level, and they are very capable of doing that. And they're disappointed in themselves.The blame cannot be put on any one person.
We had nine explosives, and really outside of there was you know one one guy that was probably a part of two guys that were part of two of those explosives. Outside of that, they were one-offs.
And so when you do that, though, all it takes is one guy here and one guy there, and then you have a truly highly disappointing day. So they will have a sense of urgency to get it fixed, and they will.”
That urgency will be tested quickly. Alabama now turns to South Carolina, and Wommack described the Gamecocks as a dangerous challenge. He called their offense “highly efficient and explosive,” said Lenorris Sellers is running the ball “as good as I have seen him in three years,” and noted that Sellers is also creating big plays through the air with “a very athletic receiving core.”
Alabama’s next chance to clean things up comes Saturday, Sept. 26, in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In Other News...
Alabama Just Got A Troubling Roster Update Fans Didnt Expect
Alabamas roster picture shifted again this week, and not in a way that brings much comfort to a team still trying to settle into the rhythm of the season. Head coach Kalen DeBoer said offensive lineman Chris Booker is no longer with the Crimson Tide, though he did not spell out why, leaving another blank spot on a unit that is always under the microscope in Tuscaloosa.
There was at least some better news on the injury front, even if it came with a costly setback elsewhere. Linebacker Cayden Jones is out for the season because of an undisclosed injury, while running back AK Dear and wide receiver Noah Rogers are expected to be available after working back from their own injuries. For Alabama, the challenge now is absorbing the loss of depth without losing much more ground as the roster keeps changing around it. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama's First Night Game Brings Another Dangerous South Carolina Test
After a five-year gap between meetings, Alabama and South Carolina are now lining up for their third straight season of football against each other, and the recent history has made the matchup feel tighter than the long drought before it. Alabama has won the last two, but both came down to the final minutes, which is enough to keep this one from feeling routine even with the Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The setting adds a little more edge, too, because this will be Alabamas first scheduled night game of the season, with a 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPN in Tuscaloosa. For a team that has already had to work to separate from South Carolina late, the combination of a prime-time stage and another tricky SEC test gives the game a different kind of weight than a typical early-season home date. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Already Have A Freshman Fans Can't Ignore
Alabamas ground game drew plenty of attention in the season-opening win over Florida State, and freshman running back EJ Crowell was a big reason why. Kalen DeBoer singled out the running game afterward, pointing to a performance that gave the Crimson Tide a sturdier offensive foundation and offered an early glimpse of what Crowell can bring to the backfield.
Crowell finished with 51 rushing yards on seven carries and scored a touchdown, but the numbers were only part of the impression he made. His two hurdles in the game turned heads as well, and both teammates and quarterback Keelon Russell have already shown confidence in what he can do moving forward, a sign Alabama may have found an early contributor it will keep leaning on. [Read more 🡒]