The wait is nearly over. Let's get on with it. Over the next four or five weeks, the Alabama Crimson Tide can shed a heavy load of doubt. Many Alabama fans appear ready to cast aside troubling doubts built up during Kalen DeBoer's two seasons in Tuscaloosa. More than a few other Bama fans need more convincing.
The four most tiresome storylines include those about Alabama's offensive line, the Crimson Tide run game, and the need for more physicality. And one more, which in my mind should be trivial but is not. It is Kalen DeBoer repeatedly using the word intentional, and worse, 'intentionality'.
Let's break down intentionality first. Merriam-Webster defines intentional as "being conscious of intending." Every time I hear it, a red flag flaps in my mind: if Alabama has players who are not conscious of their purpose, why are they on the team? I must be missing something.
Physicality has been often discussed for good reason; Indiana kicked Alabama's butt last January. The game was drudgery for Alabama fans. Being more physical than East Carolina will not prove much, but Alabama needs to show a meaner self during the run-up to Georgia.
Offensive linemen Will Sanders, Racin Delgatty, and Jayvin James must prove themselves in early games. Again, the ECU cannot provide solid proof that O-line worries are over. The Kentucky and FSU games will provide sterner tests, and South Carolina will provide even more.
Alabama Crimson Tide Rushing Attack
Other starting quarterback speculation; no other theme has been discussed as frequently as the Crimson Tide's run game. Last season, the run game was at best inconsistent. At worst, it matched Merriam-Webster's secondary definition of 'anemic': "lacking force, vitality, substance and quantity." DeBoer, Ryan Grubb, and Adrian Klemm have all acknowledged that the Crimson Tide offense must have a dependable rushing component.
Many Alabama fans would love to see Alabama use power-running domination to take down ECU. Beating UK, FSU, South Carolina, and Mississippi State with 'ground and pound' could provide an advantageous setup for the Georgia game.
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