Alabama vs. Florida Atlantic: Keys To Victory
The second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide defeated West Virginia last week in Atlanta. Now the Tide heads back home for the first time in the 2014 season against Conference USA’s Florida Atlantic Owls.
Yes, FAU is outmatched and Alabama should win in a blow out, but this and next week’s game are more about Alabama continuing to improve as a team and settling on a quarterback before the matchup with Florida in week four. The Owls meanwhile, were destroyed in their season opener against No. 22 Nebraska 55-7.
This week’s keys to victory are more like “Keys to Continued Improvement.”
Good QB Play
Last week Blake Sims played every meaningful snap against West Virginia and played extremely well for the majority of the game. Sims was poised and managed the offense excellently, other than a couple of bad throws. It was definitely a good first career start at Alabama.
Sims will need to continue to improve this week and play well if he wants to hold onto the starting job. Sims needs to get better on his deep ball, and Alabama needs to take more shots down field in general. Sims needs to hit the throws on the run with more accuracy as well.
When Jacob Coker gets his shots in the game, he has to make them count. He needs to prove that he has a grasp on the offense and he can make all the throws, especially ones that Sims has had more trouble with. More importantly they do not need to turn the ball over.
Feed the Beasts
Last week Derrick Henry and T.J. Yeldon combined for 239 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Fans can expect to see more of these two thumping backs. Also, Kenyan Drake will more than likely be more involved in the game plan as a great change of pace to Yeldon and Henry’s more physical running styles.
Expect to see Altee Tenpenny and Tyren Jones coming off of the bench later in the game, and maybe Fowler will get a few more touches for the bruising fullback. Nebraska ran for 498 yards and five scores against the Owls last week, and had a 200-yard rusher and a 100-yard rusher. Expect Alabama to look to add to FAU’s rushing defense woes.
No. 33 and No. 4 Return
Alabama desperately missed middle linebacker Trey DePriest and cornerback Eddie Jackson last week, and both are expected to return to the lineup against FAU.
Reggie Ragland and especially Reuben Foster, who replaced DePriest, struggled mightily in the passing game in the first half against West Virginia. Part of it is that Foster is just not very good in coverage, but it was also the first meaningful snaps for both players so they simply aren’t as comfortable in the defense as DePriest is.
Cornerback Bradley Sylve struggled last week and was burned several times on deep throws, allowing the only touchdown the defense gave up all night. Sylve was almost always in position when he was beaten, he just simply never got his head around or attempted to track the ball in the air.
Eddie Jackson has been recovering from knee surgery he underwent in the spring and was held out last week, likely because of how fast paced West Virginia is. Saban has said he will ease Jackson back in the lineup and that will begin this week adding much-needed depth at corner. Expect to see youngsters Tony Brown and Marlon Humphrey more this week as well.
Jarrick Williams will miss about a month with a broken bone in his foot, so watching the Star position in nickel defense is something we should keep an eye on in the coming weeks. Expect Nick Perry to take Geno Smith’s spot in the secondary while Smith, and sometimes Maurice Smith, take that spot at Star.