Kane Wommack received a lot of (deserved) criticism for Alabama's defensive performance against Florida State in the opener. Despite the hype of fielding one of the best units in college football, the Tide's struggles against the Seminoles were more of the same that fans saw in losses a year ago to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. A running QB in a motion offense continues to give Wommack fits as a playcaller. On top of that, the defense played timidly and without aggression.
Whether the defense turned a corner against UL Monroe remains to be seen. But in the very least, there was no timidness detected. They played aggressive, fast, and physical, completely overwhelming the inferior opponent on the other side of the field.
It was a dominant defensive effort. The Warhawks mustered only 148 yards of total offense and didn't cross midfield until the fourth quarter. Alabama's 73-0 shellacking didn't bring any relaxation to Wommack, though, as he still expects more out of the defense. He believes they can still execute at a higher level.
"I still think our execution is not good enough," Wommack said. "We’ve put some things on tape that we're going to have to answer for as the season goes on and continues. We need to stay uncomfortable as a defense. That is my job to make sure that we do that. I think our coaches have coached with a great edge. I think our players are playing with a great edge, from the standpoint of the way that they prepared this past week, and it showed up on Saturday. But good teams improve, and you do that by moving and operating with purpose. I think we need to continue to do that."
Wommack isn't going to let his defense get complacent after Saturday's performance. That will be key as Alabama faces a gauntlet of games the rest of the season, starting this weekend against Wisconsin, before SEC play begins where the season will be made or broken.
A point of emphasis for Wommack will be an improved pass rush
Through two games, Alabama has only produced one sack, and that was generated by safety Keon Sabb against Florida State. The Tide's defensive front has simply not been good enough in getting after the opposing quarterback, and when they have had chances, they've been unable to get the QB on the ground.
Alabama lived in the backfield against UL Monroe, generating double-digit tackles-for-loss. On 18 pass plays, the Tide produced 11 QB pressures. None of those pressures resulted in a sack, though one pressure by Wolf LB Yhonzae Pierre resulted in an interception after Pierre hit the QB's arm as he threw the ball.
Finishing plays in the backfield and generating sacks will be a major point of emphasis for Wommack moving forward.
"Honestly, you've got to be able to have guys that can finish, and right now we're not doing that," Wommack said. "We're not doing that well enough. I think angles is a huge piece of that. I think closing space on a quarterback is a huge indicator, right, of having success. But right now we're letting quarterbacks — we can flush them out of the pocket, but we're not doing nearly a good enough job of getting the quarterback on the ground.
"We got to do a better job. I've got to find a better way to get the quarterback on the ground, at least in terms of what we're doing schematically. I need to help our guys out in that regard."
I'm not overly worried about the sack numbers against UL Monroe. The defense completely dominated that game and imposed its will on the Warhawks. Pressures are key, and Alabama got plenty of pressure on the ULM QB. The Warhawks only managed 55 passing yards for the game on 18 attempts.
Alabama only managed 25 sacks a year ago, and that was a major focal point this offseason. They wanted to get more heat on QBs; they wanted to finish plays better and produce more negative plays.
If they can continue to play with the aggression they showed last week, then those negative plays will keep coming. And it's only a matter of time before they start getting QBs on the ground.