Alabama had little issue getting off to a 1-0 start to open the 2026 season, rolling to a 48-10 win over East Carolina. The process wasn't perfect, but the Crimson Tide scored on all five of its first-half drives, including touchdowns on the final four.
Keelon Russell flashed the playmaking ability that won him the job in fall camp over Austin Mack, the Crimson Tide ran the ball effectively, and consistently sustained drives.
Defensively, outside of one coverage bust by either Bray Hubbard or Zabien Brown, Alabama dominated. The Pirates put up just 162 total yards. 68 of them came on the busted coverage.
The Crimson Tide will have plenty to clean up in the coming weeks, but there's a lot to build on in the opener.
As always after Week 1, it's not the be-all, end-all of your season. Nobody is as good as they looked, and nobody is as bad as they looked either. Well, except for maybe Michigan (and Auburn).
There's always a lot of improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. Let's take a look at a couple of truths that were revealed for the Tide against ECU, and one lie that will look even more foolish as time goes by.
Truth: Alabama's RB room is a major upgrade over last season
Watching NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers flip his commitment to Texas during the Transfer Portal window was a brutal pill to swallow and left Alabama fans with limited optimism that the RB room would be better this season.
But Week 1 against ECU brought resounding evidence that Alabama has upgraded at RB without making a splash in the Transfer Portal.
Daniel Hill got the start, and it looks like the weight loss this offseason has allowed him to get a little more wiggle and more explosiveness to his game. But the real eye-openers were the freshman tandem of Trae'shawn Brown and EJ Crowell, who look like real difference-makers already.
Brown's numbers don't look like they should because of a six-yard loss on his first carry because of poor blocking and a 70+ yard touchdown run that was called back on a ticky-tack hold on Racin Delgatty. But he's clearly a home run hitter.
So is Crowell, who is capable of making something out of nothing. Alabama didn't really have that last season. You saw it on his touchdown run. The play was blown up, but he bounced to the outside and outran the defenders to the end zone.
Alabama's backs produced 141 rushing yards when you remove Russell's totals. It was a solid debut, negated significantly by the penalty on Brown's explosive play, but there's obvious reason for optimism going forward.
Truth: Alabama has built tremendous depth on the defensive side of the ball
At all levels of the defense, it's clear that Kane Wommack has supreme confidence in the depth of Alabama's defense. In the win over ECU, the Crimson Tide had 27 different defensive players credited with at least an assisted tackle.
On the defensive line, the Transfer Portal additions of Devan Thompkins, Terrance Green, and Kedrick Bingley-Jones all started and all looked like difference-makers. London Simmons, Edric Hill, and Isaia Faga look like the top options off the bench, and Alabama didn't miss a beat when they had to sub up front. ECU mustered just two total rushing yards on Saturday.
At linebacker, Caleb Woodson and Luke Metz started off-ball, but QB Reese, Xavier Griffin, and Abduall Sanders saw snaps and looked good in relief. Yhonzae Pierre and Justin Hill look like versatile weapons off the edge, and Jah-Marien Latham is clearly going to have a role as the steadying veteran presence.
Despite some injuries in the secondary, Alabama has some quality depth. There's little concern at safety or husky, but with 5-star freshman Jorden Edmonds out, Mercer transfer Carmelo O'Neal is going to have to continue showing improvement. He gave up a big pass play in one of his early snaps. Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee are a dynamic starting combo, though.
It's early, but there's reason to believe Alabama will have one of the nation's top overall defenses.
Lie: Alabama's offensive line didn't show any improvement
Frankly, I saw too many of those comments. The offensive line wasn't perfect, but it never is in Week 1. This is a brand new group playing together. There's going to be issues that have to get ironed out. But if you didn't see reason for legitimate optimism up front, then you're just looking for reasons to be negative.
The right side of the line, in particular, looked outstanding. The move of Michael Carroll to guard is already paying dividends, and he and Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James looked great working in conjunction. They opened some big holes on that side.
Cal Poly transfer Racin Delgatty had an up-and-down performance. Jackson Lloyd was mostly good at left tackle. A question remains at left guard. Will Sanders started, but he was replaced by Mal Waldrep after 30 snaps. The line seemed to play better with Waldrep, so that competition will be interesting to keep an eye on moving forward.
They are far from dominant up front after one game, but it looked like a step in the right direction.
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