Alabama Football: The good and the bad from The Citadel game

An undefeated and now 11-0, Alabama football team showed a mixture of good and bad while defeating FCS foe, The Citadel by a score of 50-17.

Alabama football fans saw more bad than good for over a half of football Saturday afternoon. By the end of the 50-17 Crimson Tide victory, the bad may have still outweighed the good. It is hard to call a 33 point win, winning ugly. And staying undefeated while reaching 11 wins would bring unconditional joy to most college football programs.

But the Alabama Crimson Tide is different from most programs. In the context of an active Dynasty, arguably unparalleled in college football history, surrendering 17 points to a 4-5, FCS team is unacceptable.

Nick Saban took responsibility for his team not being “psychologically” prepared. Players must share the responsibility. Playing flat and penalties from undisciplined behavior are not habits of championship teams.

So, let’s discuss the bad and the good from the victory over The Citadel. While doing so, we will consider how much of the bad might carry over to future games. First, the bad, before closing with the good.

The Bad from The Citadel Game

Special Teams – Joseph Bulovas missed an extra point and had one blocked. That brings the Tide to eight failures on PATs this season. Graduate transfer, Austin Jones, who contributed to three of those failed PAT attempts, made the Tide’s last PAT on Saturday.

Mike Bernier had one punt Saturday for 34 yards. Despite the potential for Jaylen Waddle or Josh Jacobs to return any kick for a score, the Crimson Tide will have a special teams disadvantage for the remainder of the season.

New Injuries – Deionte Thompson, Alex Leatherwood and Damien Harris were all injured against The Citadel. Deionte is believed to have a bruised knee and Saban said he could have returned to the game. Leatherwood twisted an ankle Saban described as minor. Damien Harris has a concussion. Saban called Damien’s concussion mild. There are really no mild concussions in football anymore and the medical protocol will determine if Damien must miss the Auburn game.

Defense weakness – No future Tide opponent in 2018 runs an offense similar to The Citadel. But RPO designed offenses have pitch plays that resemble the play the Tide defense was befuddled by on Saturday.

The Good from The Citadel game

Tide healthier at QB – Tua appeared near to full health on Saturday. Running without the knee brace, he discarded sliding to safety at the end of runs. As Nick said earlier in the week, Tua looked to have recovered from his knee injury.

Jalen Hurts was still gimpy but moved rather well after entering the game. His ankle did not deter him from leaping in the air to celebrate his touchdown pass to Devonta Smith. His recovering ankle may still keep him from being much of a running threat. Make no mistake, it was important to show Auburn Jalen can step up if Tua goes down.

Tua breaks Crimson Tide record – Tua Tagovailoa set a new single-season touchdown pass record for the Crimson Tide. His 31st TD toss of the season broke the old record set by A.J. McCarron. With 35 total TDs this season, passing and running, Tua is one behind the single-season record set by Jalen Hurts.

Wake-up call – If this Alabama football team needed a wake-up call, surely it got one Saturday.

Game tape review will not be pleasant for many Alabama football players. In a much different context from its original use, “don’t waste a failure” might be in order for Iron Bowl week.