"If you ain't first, you're last." While that may not be entirely true, some teams in college football just want to go fast. PFF outlined the five fastest-operating offenses in the nation on Monday. Fate would have it, Alabama is slated to face three of them within the context of SEC play. Yes, these opponents all use offshoots of the Air Raid attack, but it should not stop Alabama from being well-conditioned.
According to PFF, these are the five fastest offenses in the country. What does it mean for Alabama?
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Auburn Tigers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Ole Miss Rebels
While it would take something miraculous for Alabama to face the West Virginia Mountaineers this season, the Auburn Tigers, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and the Tennessee Volunteers are all on the Crimson Tide's slate. It is so interesting that these are the three annual opponents Alabama will play every single year now in a new nine-game SEC schedule. It may also face Ole Miss in the postseason.
Clearly, the likes of Alex Golesh, Jeff Lebby, and Josh Heupel like to use speed to their advantage when calling plays. After all, Golesh is the greatest Heupel disciple to ever grace this earth. He served under him at UCF and then followed Heupel to Tennessee before taking over at South Florida. Lebby is an Air Raid guy as well. If Alabama faces Ole Miss, expect more of the same from John David Baker.
All this means is Kane Wommack's defense cannot be caught asleep on its heels facing these teams.
Alabama cannot overlook these 3 underrated opponents on its schedule
Follow along with this. While so much has been made about the tough middle third of Alabama's schedule, it cannot afford to slip up in a game before the home date vs. Georgia in early October, nor after the LSU road game in early November. A loss to a team like Mississippi State early in the year or to Auburn in the Iron Bowl to close out the regular season may prove too costly to reach the playoffs.
While the Tennessee game falls between the Georgia and LSU games, that is not going to be one Kalen DeBoer will allow his team to overlook. The Crimson Tide have had their struggles of late playing the Vols in Neyland. To be frank, a win over Tennessee could be seen as an early pelt on the wall in Alabama's case to make the playoffs. A loss could put them up against it in need of some help.
In short, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee are all dangerous opponents for the Crimson Tide because they have a chance to score in a hurry. Truth be told, it could devolve into a slopfest if the Tigers, Bulldogs, or Volunteers get behind the eight ball vs. Alabama. This is why Wommack, Maurice Linguist, and the rest of the defensive staff need their guys to be playing on the toes at all times here.
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Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, they have a bevy of playmakers on defense, especially in the back end. Whether it be Zabien Brown, Bray Hubbard, Dijon Lee Jr., or Keon Sabb, we should reasonably expect for the Crimson Tide to take advantage of these hurry-up-based offenses by forcing timely turnovers. All four of the defensive backs have a knack for finding the ball. This will serve Alabama.
Right now, Alabama must prove to everyone it can be both fast and physical in all areas on defense.
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