Alabama Football: Crimson Tide’s report card vs. Vols
By Dakota Cox
Alabama football’s report card vs. Tennessee Vols
Offensive Line: B+
Mac Jones had a clean pocket on most snaps, and Najee Harris had his running lanes. That’s the main goal for Alabama, and they passed that test as always. The main concern with this unit is miscommunication and pre-snap penalties.
Alabama’s offensive line had a couple of penalties, but nothing ended a drive. It was more frustrating than anything else. They faced a tough challenge with Jeremy Pruitt’s defense, and Saban should be proud of how his line responded. The flags will need to improve over time, though.
Alabama was also without Deonte Brown for most of this game with an apparent injury. They had to shift center Landon Dickerson to the guard. This type of shift wasn’t seamless, but they handled it well enough.
Defensive Line: B
The defensive line did not get a ton of interior pressure that led to sacks, but they disrupted the line of scrimmage and kept Guarantano guessing. He made bad decisions, and that was partly because of the defensive line. Phidarian Mathis and Christian Barmore both had good games for this defensive line, and they continued to impact passing lanes with their long wingspans and large hands. We got more tackles for loss, but we still need more sack production from this unit.