Perhaps never before has an Alabama team needed a bye week more than this one. The Crimson Tide is beaten and battered after a grueling eight-game stretch that featured seven straight weeks of games against Power Four opponents.
The last few have been especially taxing. Alabama had a 60-minute war with Georgia in Tuscaloosa before limping into Knoxville and getting exposed by Tennessee. The Crimson Tide survived at home against Texas A&M to limp into the bye week at 6-2 with their College Football Playoff hopes hanging on by a thread.
This week will bring some much-needed rest, but it also has to produce answers to a few difficult questions facing Alabama with four regular-season games remaining.
1. Can Alabama get healthy before the LSU game?
Perhaps no question matters more for this team than whether or not they can just get healthy.
Coming out of the Texas A&M game, Alabama had key players like Ryan Coleman-Williams, EJ Crowell, Racin Delgatty, Will Sanders, Zabien Brown, Terrance Green, and Desmond Umeozulu injured and unavailable to play. That's not counting other guys who are dinged up and playing through various issues.
That's WR1, RB3, C1, LG1, CB1, DT1, and DE2 all out. That's difficult to overcome for anyone.
The good news is that, outside of Sanders, Alabama has a real chance to get all of the others back for the LSU game. Going to Baton Rouge at relatively full strength would be a massive win before kickoff.
2. Can the run game rediscover its form after a rough two weeks?
Delgatty's absence has coincided with a massive downtick in the performance of the ground game. Alabama was averaging over 180 rushing yards per game after six weeks, and even in the loss to Georgia the Crimson Tide produced over 160 yards on the ground.
The last two weeks have been ugly:
at Tennessee: 26 carries, 54 yards, 2.1 yards per carry
vs. Texas A&M: 28 carries, 68 yards, 2.4 yards per carry
Those numbers look a lot like the weekly numbers we saw last season when Alabama had one of the worst rushing offenses in the country. That's not going to get it done down the stretch.
Getting Delgatty back and adding Crowell back to the mix at RB should help. But how Alabama runs the ball in the final four weeks will have a major impact on whether this team ends up in the College Football Playoff or not.
3. Can Ryan Grubb build on his 4th quarter play-calling vs. Texas A&M?
Alabama fans have been severely frustrated with Ryan Grubb this year. Losses to Georgia and Tennessee exposed some issues with his play-calling that he appeared to have solved from last season.
But the offense has remained too QB-dependent. It's the hero ball offense that Alabama had last season with Ty Simpson, and part of the issue has been Alabama's lack of a run game. But in the fourth quarter against Texas A&M, Grubb found a groove and helped lead the offense to back-to-back touchdown drives to deliver a 31-20 win.
He put Russell in better spots, throwing some short and easy passes. His redzone play-calling to get the two touchdowns was perfect.
But there were plenty of issues in the game, too. And it was those two touchdown drives that make him so frustrating as a play-caller. Because he has that in the bag, and so often chooses to call nonsense instead.
Alabama will need the best of Grubb to have a chance of winning in Baton Rouge.
4. Can Alabama's secondary finally live up to preseason potential?
In the preseason, Alabama's secondary was billed as one of the best in college football. But once the games started, there were early warning signs that were ignored. But it's tough to ignore the reality now. This isn't the best secondary in college football. It hasn't even been a "good" secondary. Alabama ranks 72nd in the country in passing yards per game allowed.
They've been exploited, with Kane Wommack's coverage schemes coming under fire yet again.
There's plenty of talent in the backend. Getting Zabien Brown back from injury will be critical, and Dijon Lee is starting to play a little better. The Crimson Tide made a subtle change in the second half against Texas A&M that could stick: sophomore Ivan Taylor replaced fifth-year senior Keon Sabb at safety.
That's a change that should stick, and perhaps it will provide the lift Alabama needs for its defensive back group to live up to the preseason hype over the season's final four weeks.
5. Can Alabama's pass rush come back to life?
Against Kentucky in Week 2, Alabama's pass rush looked downright dominant. The Wildcats couldn't hold up, and Alabama sacked Kenny Minchey four times. It's been a struggle since then, with injuries to Justin Hill and Desmond Umeozulu on the edge hurting and forcing Devan Thompkins to play more edge snaps instead of the versatile role he was in before.
Getting more pressure on the opposing quarterbacks will go a long way in helping the secondary, too. Alabama may have found something with senior Fatutoa Henry, who racked up two key fourth-quarter sacks against Texas A&M.
Alabama needs more out of Yhonzae Pierre, who has been playing through injury himself and should look much healthier and more explosive out of the bye week.
If Alabama's pass rush can get back to playing as it did at the beginning of the season, it will have a major impact on the effectiveness of the entire defense.
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