Alabama Football: Report Card vs Utah State

Alabama Football Defensive Line: A

The Alabama defensive line was stout against the Aggies, as yardage was tough to come by on the ground all night for the visiting team. DJ Dale, Tim Smith, Justin Eboigbe, and Byron Young were too powerful for the Aggie offensive line and dominated the line of scrimmage for most of the night. Big Jaheim Oatis didn’t see as much time as fans may have expected, but he looked as quick and difficult to block as advertised. Even though he wasn’t necessarily making plays, he spent a lot of time in the Utah State backfield, sometimes getting there almost untouched.

Alabama Football Linebackers: A

Will Anderson Jr. and Dallas Turner were forces of nature for the Alabama defense. Utah State did everything it could schematically to limit their impact as pass rushers, but the two outside linebackers are not one-trick ponies. They played the run very well and even made some plays downfield on receivers. Jaylen Moody was very active at inside linebacker always seemed to be around the ball. Deontae Lawson and Kendrick Blackshire saw a lot of snaps and made some plays in their own right.

Alabama Football Secondary: B+

Alabama’s defensive backs did a pretty good job against a solid quarterback in Logan Bonner. In fact, Bonner completed just three passes all night. As a team, Utah State completed eight of its 22 pass attempts for only 57 yards.

Bonner went right at redshirt freshman Terrion Arnold for a 23-yard gain on the first play of the game, but found very little success after that. He made a point of going at Eli Ricks throughout the first half, but Ricks maintained good coverage. Kool-Aid McKinstry and Khyree Jackson also played well. Alabama’s safeties and nickels were effective against both the run and the pass.

Alabama Football Special Teams: B-

Special teams were largely inconsequential for Alabama football in week one. Will Reichard made both of his field goal attempts, and the Tide neither recorded nor allowed any big plays in the return game. James Burnip had a punt blocked late in the game, which prevented the special teams units from earning an “A” on their report card.

Alabama football got off to a good start in week one, and will now shift its focus to a future SEC foe, the Texas Longhorns.