Alabama football faces the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks for its third game of the season. The Alabama offense, which looked nearly flawless in its season-opening win, sputtered nearly to a halt against Texas in week two. Can the Warhawk defense have any success slowing down the Tide offense?
Alabama Football against the Warhawk defense
In 2021, the UL-Monroe defense ranked 113th nationally surrendering over 33 points per game. It gave up 453 yards per game, ranking 115th in the country. The defensive unit was particularly vulnerable against the pass, where opponents threw for 290 yards per game. The UL-Monroe pass defense ranked 127th nationally ahead of only New Mexico State, Duke, and Michigan State. The Warhawks were slightly better against the run, allowing 162.8 yards per game to rank 82nd.
So far this season, the defense looks to have made some slight improvements. It gave Texas more trouble than the 52-10 final score indicates, allowing 383 yards for the game and picking off Quinn Ewers once. In its week two win over Nicholls State, UL-Monroe allowed 306 yards, including just 75 on the ground on 3.3 yards per carry.
Junior college transfer linebacker Tristan Driggers leads the team with 11 tackles and has both of the unit’s interceptions this season. Key returnees on the defense include defensive back Jabari Johnson and linebacker Quae Drake. Johnson ranked third on the team last season and led all returners with 57 tackles. He also recorded an interception and a forced fumble. Drake racked up 54 tackles from his edge rusher position, including four tackles for loss. He led all returning Warhawk defenders with 2.5 sacks, tacking on an interception and a fumble recovery.
Alabama Football should move the ball at will this week. The Louisiana-Monroe defense simply doesn’t have the talent to stop the Crimson Tide offense. However, Alabama must focus on itself and take the steps to improve in this game.
The offense looked anemic at times against Texas, struggling to establish traction on the ground and failing to get separation in the passing game. While this matchup with UL-Monroe won’t exactly be a Litmus test for offensive improvement, it is an opportunity to get more reps with Bryce Young for the Tide’s young wide receivers. It also provides the offensive line another chance to gel and gain continuity.
If Alabama Football doesn’t come out focused and determined after last week’s showing, it will be a bad sign as the team gears up for conference play next week.