Alabama Football: Three promising signs from win over Kentucky

In a 49-21 win over Kentucky at Kroger Field, Alabama Football showed that its season-long evolution has not been a smoke screen. After the shakiest September in the Coach Nick Saban era, this team has developed into a legitimate national championship contender.

In the convincing road win, Bama cast out some of the demons that plagued it not only earlier this season, but over the past two-plus years.

Alabama Football gets out to a quick start

Bama has been one of the slowest-starting teams in college football this season, particularly on offense. It often doesn’t find its rhythm until the second half, and is almost always forced to punt on its first possession of the game.

That didn’t happen in this game. Alabama marched down the field and scored a touchdown on its first possession against Kentucky…and its second, and its third. The Tide dialed up a 21-0 lead before Big Blue Nation could catch its breath, less than 10 minutes into the game.

Bama hadn’t previously scored 21 points in a first quarter all season, not even in its dominant season-opening win over Middle Tennessee State (a game that is typically omitted from statistics that critique Alabama’s offensive performance).

Will this first quarter effort by the Alabama offense prove to be an anomaly, or has the unit figured out how to mentally prepare to start a football game? That remains to be seen, but Bama’s fast start in Lexington was certainly a good sign.

Alabama Football unphased by injuries

Bama entered this game missing several key pieces due to injury or illness. Wide receivers Jermaine Burton and Ja’Corey Brooks, linebacker Deontae Lawson, and safety Jaylen Key were all inactive, but the Crimson Tide didn’t miss a beat.

In the passing game, Bama has tended to spread the wealth around this season, so it hardly missed Burton. Kobe Prentice stepped up with four catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, while true freshman Jalen Hale made two grabs for 51 yards.

At inside linebacker, Lawson was certainly missed, but the Bama defense still put on a dominant display. Trezmen Marshall has been solid this season in a situational role, but didn’t have his best game against Kentucky. He seemed a step slow and missed a couple tackles that led to big plays. Marshall is a veteran who has been reliable most of this season, but this defense is faster and more aggressive with Deontae Lawson on the field.

On the back end, Kristian Story filled in for Jaylen Key, finishing with four tackles and a tackle for loss. Key is generally more natural in pass coverage, but Kentucky presented a great matchup for a physical player like Story, who had a pretty good game.

Alabama Football sends Wildcat fans home early

Over the last two years, Alabama hasn’t always been the dominant force that it used to be. It certainly hasn’t been the Bama of old on the road.

For much of the 2023 season, Alabama simply hasn’t had the offense to blow teams out. Up until November, the Alabama offense was living in the 24 to 28 point range almost reliably. Even when the defense was playing lights out, opposing teams were staying within two scores because the Tide offense wasn’t built to pull away.

That may not be the case anymore. Alabama has averaged 45.5 points per game over its last two SEC contests, and has looked like a different team offensively coming out of the bye week. Many Bama fans were hesitant to give credence to the offensive performance against LSU, which is understandable given that LSU surrenders yards and points to everybody it plays.

However, to put up 49 points against Kentucky is a different animal. The Wildcats don’t have an elite defense, but it is a respectable unit that is statistically average amongst the rest of the conference.

It appears Alabama Football may have an offense capable of competing at a championship level; it can pull away from lesser opponents and win shootouts against other top offenses if necessary.

The Tide shows new growth every week, and is looking more and more like a complete team.