Alabama Football: Three areas for improvement in October

As Alabama football enters three straight SEC games in October with two being on the road, here are three areas of concern to watch for improvement.

A lot has been said about Alabama football during the month of September. Tua Tagovailoa has put Nick Saban’s offense in full speed, with his ability to spread the football around with precision to the vast offensive talent. The defense has suffocated opposing offenses even with the amount of talent lost to last years NFL Draft.

However, even with these highlights, there are some concerns heading into a SEC loaded October schedule. The three areas needing the most improvement are special teams, offense on third and long and penalties.

Special Teams

The kicking game has been inconsistent at best. Kicker Joseph Bulovas is perfect on extra points this season converting on 27 straight. However, his field goal percentage is 57.1, only converting four out of seven attempts. Kicker Austin Jones has missed three extra points on ten attempts and has made one of two field goal attempts.

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With the inconsistency on field goals, it will create two side effects. First, it will put the offense into a position where it will either have to attempt four down conversations or punt, instead of relying on potential field goal attempts that if missed, would set the opposing offensives in valuable field position. The second side effect is the inability to put guaranteed points on the board results in allowing the other team to remain in the game for longer. Alabama missed the game-winning field goal to beat Georgia in the National Championship.

Only due to Tua Tagovailoa’s miracle pass did the field goal not become a haunted memory for Alabama football fans. At some point this season field goals will be the difference in the game. If the kicking game cannot become more consistent than it will put more pressure on Tua Tagovailoa to score.

Third Down and Long

Through Alabama’s first five games with Tua Tagovailoa under center, Alabama has converted 21 of 29 third down attempts, which is 72 percent. However, this stat is a little shrewd due to the level of defense Alabama has played thus far. Texas A&M is the highest ranked team in overall efficiency by ESPN at No. 38 in the country, Alabama has played thus far. Against Texas A&M, Tagovailoa only converted four of eight third-down conversions. Of those, Tua Tagovailoa was unable to convert all were over five yards to gain.

In fact, of all of Bama’s missed conversion attempts this season, only two have been less than five yards. One was third and one that was a called rush to Josh Jacobs. The other was a passing attempt by Tua Tagovailoa on a third and four. Alabama football must be able to limit the third and long in the future against more talented defenses or trouble could linger in Alabama’s future.

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Penalties

Through five games Alabama has averaged 6.34 penalties per game, with a grand total of 34. According to NCAA statistics, this ranks Alabama No.72 in the country. Alabama football only had a total of 70 penalties all of last year through 14 games and was ranked No. 31 in the country. Penalties enable two things to occur: stall drives on offense or allow drives to continue against the defense. Alabama football must follow Coach Nick Saban’s call to disciplined football. Eliminating unnecessary penalties will promote both offensive and defensive efficiency down the stretch.

In review, Alabama football has been completely dominant on both sides of the ball this year. However, with tougher tasks on the horizon, Alabama football must continue to fix the inconsistency seen thus far in the year.

Please comment below on whether you agree or disagree. Also, comment on what you would like to see Alabama improve on over the next month.