The 2016 Alabama football team moved to 2-0 with a 38-10 win over Western Kentucky, but what did we learn from Saturday?
ICYMI: SEC College Football—Week 2 ‘Get Off My Lawn’ Awards
With each passing week, we’ll learn more about the 2016 Crimson Tide squad. We’ll spot trends as they emerge and puzzle at both the positive and negative outliers throughout the Alabama Football season.
In this weekly feature. I’ll highlight a handful of the lessons this team is teaching me.
Predictably Lethargic
Sometimes you just don’t like to be right. Take for example my podcast prediction that Western Kentucky would serve as an opportunity for the Tide to look bad while winning 31-10. Turns out Alabama won 38-10 but what’s a touchdown when the point is falling victim to indifference and sloppy play against the Hilltoppers.
This is the reason coach Saban is maniacal about removing distractions and playing to a standard rather than a scoreboard. In a sense, he (and others of us), have been around long enough that we can spot trends and at times sort of predict the future. But that’s the struggle with college kids, too often they need to learn through their own experience rather than redeem that of others.
Cut in half the penalties and mental mistakes and while the result is still far from Saban’s vision of perfection, the Tide breaks 50 and much-needed depth is given an increased opportunity to emerge.
The Kids Will Be ‘Aight
The young players on this team continue to emerge and contribute. Obviously, Jalen Hurts is continuing his development and has apparently separated himself as the starter. But he is not alone. Both Mack Wilson and Trevon Diggs saw snaps in all three phases of the game (offense, defense, and special teams) – go back and watch Wilson’s blistering block from the fullback position on Bo’s touchdown run.
Jonah Williams too continues his development and Shy Carter filled in for Minkah when Fitz had to miss a play to reset his shoe, rather than resetting the defense or calling a timeout.
Other fresh faces dotted the rotation as well, evidence that Alabama continues to recruit and develop quality talent.
Depth On Defense
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Speaking of developing quality talent. While it is happening, it’s a little slow for my taste on defense.
This issue is mostly disguised because the defense is rotating players, but that’s primarily a function of matching the opponent’s personnel groupings. It’s more a measure of range than one of depth.
Admittedly this is a football first-world problem given the results the defense is producing, but my concern piqued when Da’Ron Payne went down awkward on a play and walked gingerly off the field. The Tide hasn’t yet demonstrated depth on the interior defensive front so even a temporary loss of a player here could have a ripple effect across the unit.
Note – Payne did return to action but didn’t look full speed in the on handful of plays I watched closely.
Running Game
The Tide game plan so far this season has not seemed to focus much on the running game. With a sample size of two, I don’t yet know if this speaks to an intent to force feed passing experience to the young quarterbacks or if this is indeed a hole in offense. Stay tuned, as the storyline continues to unfold.
Saban Likes This Team
The rule of thumb is that when a coach coaches a player hard, it’s because there’s unlocked potential within the payer. By extension, when a coach coaches a team hard, I think it too is because there is great potential to be unlocked from the team.
In the post-game press conference, Saban was in a form that he often reserves for his midweek offerings. That’s telling in that it was raw and it was real. This connects back to my earlier point on the team being lethargic. Saban has a sense for how good (and potentially great), this team can be and he wants to instill the characteristics that are necessary to capitalize on that potential.
Next: Crimson Tide Football—Photos From Bama’s Win Over WKU
Check back as I continue to track these and new items as they emerge from the field. Also, be sure to check out our podcasts as I explore and debate these topics and many more in a more animated format.