The second and last Alabama football scrimmage of fall camp resulted in more questions than answers. Nick Saban came away none too happy.
Across the college football landscape, the buzz about Saturday’s Alabama football scrimmage will be the post-game use of a crude expletive by Nick Saban. For Alabama football fans that might be good. Saban’s sometimes fiery outbursts signal his players to renew their attention to detail. Good results seem to always follow.
The bigger story from Saturday was Saban’s dissatisfaction in the performance of his defense. What made the situation worse was another serious injury to a linebacker. Sophomore Chris Allen will need surgery on a knee and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Alabama football still has 12 healthy linebackers and will add another when Jamey Mosley fully recovers from his shoulder problem within a few days.
If 13 sounds like plenty, it is not. Six of them have never played in a college game. Two more have played sparingly. The guys with meaningful game experience are Moses and Wilson inside, along with Miller and Jennings outside. Jamey Mosley follows with the next most game experience. Behind those five are Ben Davis, Josh McMillon and six freshmen.
Options limited at linebacker
No wonder Nick Saban got a mite testy when asked who can be moved around to compensate for Chris Allen’s injury. The inside linebacker group does not have enough players to move one to outside linebacker. At inside and outside combined, there is exactly one guy, redshirt senior Jamey Mosley who could be considered a proven backup.
Alabama football fans don’t have to be told how serious is this problem. The Crimson Tide is one injury away (to either Anfernee Jennings, Christian Miller, Dylan Moses or Mack Wilson) from a linebacker group going from an offseason strength to a possible weakness.
Among the young players, two or three guys must improve quickly. Maybe Ben Davis or Josh McMillon will blossom in expanded roles. More likely it will be Markail Benton and Eyabi Anoma. Help from Cameron Latu and Jarez Parks would be great. Maybe Ale Kaho can contribute before October.
Secondary struggled on Saturday
Making matters worse for the defense was a porous secondary on Saturday. The QBs threw a reported five touchdown passes. In a scrimmage when one side of the ball does well, the other side is viewed poorly. In Saban’s post-scrimmage review he was not pleased with the performance in the secondary. He said they need more “eye control” and discipline.”
The flip side is five touchdown passes is the kind of explosive offense Saban has been seeking for the last few seasons. Here is what Nick said,
"We made a lot more explosive plays today, were a lot more consistent on offense, took care of the ball pretty well. Both quarterbacks played well. … We had a couple two-minute situations at the end of the game that we were successful atJalen has made a lot of improvement. Tua has made a lot of improvement. I think he has a better understanding of the offense, he’s got a lot more reps. I think he’s always been a very instinctive player."
Perhaps the best news from the scrimmage was the play of Jaylen Waddle. He is going to be sensational. Alabama football fans can look for Waddle to rotate in regularly with the super sophomore wideouts. He will likely earn the punt returner role as well.
What happens next?
Nick Saban knows the answer is going back to work. Improvement may come slowly for the inexperienced secondary and the young linebackers. Until their performance matches their talent, the Alabama Crimson Tide is fortunate it can rely on an explosive offense.
Alabama football has six more fall camp sessions next week. The Tide will practice again on Monday.