A bleak Saturday afternoon has turned into a Sunday morning absent of any 'silver linings' perspective. Saturday was bad for Alabama Football. Sunday may actually feel gloomier. No words from Alabama Crimson Tide coaches and players have reframed the impact of Alabama's weak performance in Tallahassee.
Before Saturday, there was plenty of optimism about the Alabama Crimson Tide. Neutral college football experts had praised Alabama's deeply talented roster for months. Some said Alabama had the most talent in college football. One or two sources predicted Alabama's offensive line would be the nation's best. Those predictions could not have been more wrong.
Alabama Football not to 'Work in Progress' level
Rehashing Alabama's many failures against Florida State is a waste of effort. A bigger question must be asked. Can Kalen DeBoer and his staff build a winning team? The question's keyword is build. Alabama is far from being in a position to talk championship contention. In some areas, Alabama is not a 'work in progress.' Kane Wommack needs to 'build' a physical defense, led by sure tackling and pressuring quarterbacks. More troublesome is that Wommack needs to learn how to, at least, slow option offenses, led by good rushing quarterbacks. His 'Swarm' is too soft to have ever been labeled an attacking defense.
Ty Simpson did not play well against FSU. Except for Germie Barnard's performance, Alabama's offense was anemic. Alabama rushed for 55 yards on the opening drive. For the rest of the game, Alabama produced 32 more rushing yards. It matters not how inventive the DeBoer-Grubb offense is; if Alabama can't run, it can't win. Maybe with Jam Miller and Jaeden Roberts, results would have been better, but the offensive line got pushed around too often after the Tide's first drive against FSU.
Some experts who normally know football missed the mark on Alabama during the preseason. I agreed, saying Alabama would be closer to an 11-1 team than a 9-3 one. The Alabama that played in Tallahassee looked like a 7-6 team, at best. Let's hope the game was more mirage than reality.
Note: Game stats provided by ESPN.