Alabama's defense has responded well the last two weeks after a disappointing opening act in Tallahassee. In the two games since losing to Florida State, the Tide's defense has surrendered just seven points. It shut out UL Monroe and then kept Wisconsin's offense off the scoreboard until garbage time.
Alabama fans wanted to see - regardless of the opponent - the team fly around, play fast and physical, and compete at the standard no matter the situation. The team has done all of those things over the last two weeks, but the big challenges to determine whether or not this team has officially turned the corner are yet to come.
Because what hasn't happened since Week 1 is adversity. The offense has lit up the scoreboard against the Warhawks and Badgers, never really putting the defense in bad spots. It happened once against Wisconsin in the first quarter. The offense failed on a 4th down attempt near midfield in the first quarter with the game tied at 0, and the Tide's defense responded with an interception on the next play.
But more adversity is coming. Kane Wommack knows that. And how Alabama's defense responds the next time it gets punched in the mouth will determine its mental fortitude.
“How we take a punch and how we move forward is critical," Wommack said via a video from AL.com. "And I think our coaches and players have done a great job of, kind of, taking ownership of that. And I think we know what we need to do moving forward. But ultimately, we got to go do it. And so that to me is the challenge of any great team, is how they respond well to adversity, and particularly on the road."
Alabama will face plenty of adversity against Georgia next week
Wommack won't have to wait much longer to see how his defense responds in adverse situations. Following the bye, Alabama will travel to Athens to take on a Georgia team that has already proven it has a championship mentality. Georgia's response to adversity in last week's come-from-behind road win over Tennessee is exactly the kind of stuff great teams are made of.
Under Kalen DeBoer, Alabama has yet to prove it can do that, especially on the road. In true road games, DeBoer has gone 2-4 as the Tide's head coach. The two wins were blowouts of Wisconsin and LSU a year ago.
The losses have seen plenty of stuff go wrong, and Alabama has not responded well enough to overcome it and eek out victories. Nick Saban used to stress the importance of "playing the next play" regardless of what just happened. For Alabama lately, they've been unable to do that. When things have gone wrong, they've consistently continued to spiral.
Alabama has a challenging schedule the rest of the way. All of its SEC opponents - aside from South Carolina, which was highly ranked entering the season - were ranked in this week's AP Poll. Along with the trip to Athens, Alabama will travel to both Columbia's (Mizzou and SCar) and Auburn.
How the Crimson Tide performs in those road environments will tell the tale of the season. It starts next week between the hedges.
"Responding to adversity is a piece of a good football team," Wommack said. "And that’s something that we’ve got to be able to show that we can do a better job of, particularly on the road. And I can’t think of a better place than Athens, Georgia, to be able to go show that."