Alabama Football: Five problems that must be avoided against Auburn

No. 1 – Must Avoid – Don’t make stupid penalties

The Alabama Crimson Tide is No. 103 in the FBS in ‘Fewest Penalties Average’ and too many of those penalties have been caused by poor judgment. Auburn is even worse statistically at No. 112. SEC officiating is inconsistent. Calls are missed as Alabama football fans know from the LSU game. Usually, the road team suffers more. Maybe that means some officials become influenced by home crowds. Whatever, the Tide cannot afford stupid penalties.

AND, if Auburn kicks to Jaylen Waddle – please, no blocks in the back.

No. 2 – Must Avoid – Poor Punting

Crimson Tide fans were briefly optimistic punting woes were over. Walk-on freshman, Ty Perine took over for Skyler DeLong and looked great in his first several punts. Then he muffed a snap in the LSU game. Last Saturday, he only had to punt once and it went for just 33 yards.

Perine only has 10 punts in his college career. Though his average is still good at 44.6 yards, performing on the road, in a game with such import, is a tough ask for a freshman, walk-on. Auburn’s offense, though inconsistent, can benefit from good field position should Perine struggle.

No. 3 – Must Avoid – Poor Placekicking

It is not known if Will Reichard will be available. Reichard has a hip flexor problem going back to September. After missing a couple of games, he re-aggravated it in the Tennessee game. He has had five more weeks to recover and though rusty (and also a true freshman), he is more accurate from longer range than Joseph Bulovas.

Joseph Bulovas is statistically better than the Auburn kicker, Anders Carlson. The difference is Bulovas has only tried nine field goals and most of them were not very long. He remains unproven at 40 yards and out. Carlson’s made percentage is only 65 percent, but that includes some long misses. If the game were to come down to field goal and extra point accuracy, a healthy enough Reichard could make a difference.