5 important observations from Alabama's gritty win over South Carolina

Alabama rallied to beat South Carolina on Saturday afternoon. The Tide had to dig deep, overcoming a 22-14 4th quarter deficit to come from behind and knock off the Gamecocks 29-22 to earn a seventh consecutive victory.

Alabama is now 7-1 heading into its second and final bye week of the regular season. The bye is much-needed after a grueling stretch of games. After four straight wins over ranked opponents, the Crimson Tide faced a difficult test on the road against South Carolina. For most of the second half, it looked like Alabama was going to succumb to the dreaded trap game; another loss to an unranked opponent under Kalen DeBoer appeared on the horizon.

But Alabama flipped the narrative and escaped Columbia with a critical win that could serve to be the difference between making the College Football Playoff and playing in another meaningless bowl game.

Here's what we observed during Alabama's win.

The most important observations from Alabama's win over South Carolina

Alabama continues to execute during the critical moments

Alabama played nowhere close to its best game yesterday. But winning on the road in the SEC is hard, and when the chips were down and they had to execute, the Crimson Tide came through when it mattered. Again.

That's become a consistent theme for Kalen DeBoer's team in 2025. When the game is on the line and when faced with critical situations, Alabama executes at a high level. Alabama went 8-of-16 on third down and 2-of-3 on 4th down against the Gamecocks.

With the offense sluggish the entire first half, Ty Simpson engineered a brilliant drive down the field. On a 4th-and-goal, DeBoer rolled the dice and Simpson delivered with a touchdown pass to Josh Cuevas to push Alabama's lead to 14-6 at the break.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Alabama trailed 22-14 before Simpson engineered a 14-play, 79-yard touchdown drive capped off by a touchdown pass to Germie Bernard and a two-point conversion to Cuevas to tie the game. After a forced turnover, Bernard punched in another touchdown to give Alabama a 29-22 win.

Alabama continues to make plays late in games to pull out wins. We saw it in wins over Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and again on Saturday against South Carolina. It has been the difference in Alabama being a prime contender for the College Football Playoff and DeBoer house hunting.

Alabama has to get more out of the offensive line

Alabama's offensive line struggled - again - against a strong SEC defensive line. Ryan Grubb exacerbated it with some questionable calls, but he was drawing dead for most of the afternoon in Columbia because he couldn't rely on his offensive line to hold up in pass protection or open up any lanes for the ground game.

It has been a consistent problem this year for the Crimson Tide. Alabama's struggles to run the football have been the team's fatal flaw. After eight games, Alabama ranks 127th out of 136 FBS teams in rushing success rate, per Game on Paper.

That's probably going to be what holds Alabama back from being able to win the National Championship. It's probalby not fixable this late in the season.

Daniel Hill continues to find ways to make an impact

Redshirt freshman Daniel Hill is back to where some thought he would be all season: as Alabama's RB2. He has gotten healthy and taken over the No. 2 running back job from classmate Kevin Riley.

While Hill didn't make a huge impact as a runner - turning three carries into 10 yards - he made a massive impact as a receiver, showing his skill and versatility. Hill was actually Alabama's leading receiver against South Carolina, putting up 71 yards on four receptions.

He came up with an explosive play on third down late in the first half with Alabama's offense stuck in the mud. Simpson went off-script and scrambled, finding an open Hill for a conversion and a 41-yard gain that ultimately set up an Alabama touchdown to take a 14-6 lead into the locker room.

Hill will continue to see an expanded role in the coming weeks. He is making the most of the opportunities he's getting.

Deontae Lawson turned in his best performance post-injury

The recovery for Deontae Lawson has been long and arduous. The redshirt senior LB tore his ACL last year in November, and he has struggled to return to form. He's getting better every single week, though, and that culminated in his best performance of the season in Columbia.

Lawson finished with seven tackles, a pass break-up, four QB pressures, and the key forced fumble in the 4th quarter.

Alabama's linebacker play was the biggest issue for the defense early in the season. But now, it's becoming a strength. With Lawson returning to form, Justin Jefferson continuing his high level of play, and Colorado transfer Nikhai Hill-Green coming into his own and getting more comfortable, Alabama's linebackers have been key to the defensive resurgence.

Blake Doud's best game made a huge difference

It had been a rough few weeks for Colorado School of the Mines transfer punter Blake Doud. He averaged under 42 yards per punt in the last four games, including under 40 in three of the four games. But in a game he was called upon often as Alabama's offense struggled, Doud stepped up in a major way.

The senior punted five times on an average of 55.4 yards per punt, including a long of 60. His booming kicks neutralized dangerous South Carolina return man Vicari Swain, who has returned three punts for touchdowns in 2025.

Doud was a difference-maker for Alabama on Saturday, and perhaps the biggest unsung hero of the Tide's win.