Alabama’s secondary picture changed quickly Saturday at Tennessee, and not just because of the scoreboard.
Dijon Lee started the week under scrutiny after a late-game penalty against Georgia, and Kane Wommack made it clear last Monday that accountability would follow. That showed up in the rotation, with Lee benched at cornerback in favor of Carmelo O’Neal, the Mercer transfer who made his first start of the season opposite Zabien Brown.
The move didn’t hold for long. Lee worked his way back into the game early, rotating with both Brown and O’Neal as Alabama searched for answers on the back end.
Then Brown went down with a lower-leg injury before halftime and did not return, leaving Lee and O’Neal to finish the game at corner. Lee also came out for one snap after taking an apparent blow to the midsection, with Chuck McDonald stepping in for that play.
Brown spent the second half in street clothes on the sideline and later walked gingerly to the locker room with medical staff before the game ended, a precaution with the field storming looming.
Alabama had more movement in the defensive backfield during pregame, too. Freshman Zyan Gibson stayed among the second-team corners in warmups opposite Lee, though he did not see action on defense. Fellow freshman Jorden Edmonds was in uniform again after missing five games because of an August foot injury, but he also did not play against Tennessee.
After the game, Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre laid out what he expected from Alabama’s corners and what he saw.
"'Bama, we knew they were going to play really soft on the outside. By soft, I mean, like, deep - not really letting any shots over the top," MacIntyre explained.
"I felt like their game plan was just to keep having [us] snap it again, snap it again and make us sustain drives. And I feel like, especially in the second half, that's what we did.
We kind of stopped kicking ourselves in the foot with penalties and small execution things from myself and other people, and we were able to pull through in the second half."
MacIntyre also pointed to Tennessee’s pace as a factor, saying it could wear down a defense, especially one already dealing with injury issues up front. Alabama played without starting defensive tackle Terrance Green and rotational edge defender Desmond Umeozulu, while outside linebacker Justin Hill returned after missing three games.
Said MacIntyre on Tennessee's offensive pace: "I think it can tire out the D-line, especially with the Bama D-line being banged up. I felt like we caught them on tempo when we weren't really even in tempo, and they got tired."
Here are Alabama's full defensive snap counts from its Week 7 loss at Tennessee as provided to CBS Sports:
BANDIT DEFENSIVE END: Devan Thompkins (55), Fatutoa Henry (17) (did not play: Nolan Wilson) (not in uniform: Desmond Umeozulu, Caleb Smith)
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