Alabama Football: Tide sneaks by Texas Longhorns

Alabama football survived its trip to Austin by a score of 20-19, on an afternoon where everything seemed to go wrong. Alabama showed a lot of resilience in the game, which was eerily reminiscent of several games from the Tide’s 2021 season.

Alabama Football: Serious concerns on offense

The offense sputtered for the majority of the game. The red flags were apparent from the first drive, as Alabama moved the ball but penalties and negative plays kept them in regular third down situations. The Tide settled for a field goal, then Jase McClellan broke off an 81-yard touchdown run on the following drive.

After that, the Alabama offense went mute. The Tide punted on six straight possessions while Texas methodically played keep-away in between Alabama possessions.

Bryce Young finally got the Bama offense moving in the fourth quarter, spreading the ball around to Traeshon Holden, Ja’Corey Brooks, Kobe Prentice, and Cameron Latu. Young hit Jahmyr Gibbs for a go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown. He then led a game-winning drive with less than two minutes in the game that culminated in a clutch Will Reichard field goal.

Alabama Football: Defense does not meet expectation

The Alabama defense had struggles as well, but made enough plays to repeatedly force Texas to settle for field goals. Ultimately, the defense kept the Tide in the game when the offense couldn’t get anything going.

However, it is important to remember that freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers was picking the Alabama defense apart before going down with an injury. Hudson Card, a backup who was clearly playing in pain in his own right, also made several plays against the Tide.

Alabama Football: Flag Fest

Alabama Football looked flustered in all phases of the game at times, committing an absurd 15 penalties before the third quarter had even expired. There is never a convenient time for that many errors, but most of Alabama’s mistakes came at inopportune moments. The majority of the penalties either killed an Alabama drive or kept a Texas possession alive.

The bottom line is, this team needs a lot of work. It is far from the elite, invulnerable team that many believed it to be. Perhaps most concerning is the fact that it still has many of the issues that plagued it last season.

It does not have receivers that can consistently get open and make plays. The offensive play calling is frustratingly vanilla. Alabama routinely runs the play clock down to one second before snapping the ball, allowing defenses to time their blitzes perfectly. The offensive line may not be the Achilles’ heel it was last year, but it is not a strength. For the past two years, the Alabama offensive line has looked very pedestrian, displaying no distinct advantage over most defensive fronts it has faced.

On top of this myriad of offensive struggles, it appears that the fan base’s concerns about the cornerback room also have some validity.

Alabama Football is 2-0, but it doesn’t feel like it.