Vanderbilt provided the script on how to beat Alabama football on Saturday, a script that other teams will try to replicate, especially those at a sigifnicant talent disadvantage like the 'Dores faced.
Vanderbilt beat Alabama with a death by a thousand papercuts approach. They kept the Tide's explosive offense on the sideline for long stretches, possessing the ball for a little over 42-minutes in a 60-minute game.
Alabama's offense producing 35 points with less than 18-minutes of time-of-possession is impressive. They did what they could with the amount of time they had the ball. James Burnip was only called on to punt twice, the same amount as Vanderbilt's punter.
There was, of course, the fluky pick-six on the first possession, and the sack-fumble on Jalen Milroe in the fourth quarter that was ultimately too much to overcome on a day the defense just couldn't consistently get off the field.
Alabama's defense was far too passive, far too afraid of Diego Pavia's legs to ever really bring a blitz. They fell into bad habits in the second half against Georgia that led to the Bulldogs storming back into a game they had no business being in. What worked in the first half against them was abandoned in the second, and for some reason left out of the gameplan entirely this week.
Maybe it was hubris or pride in Kane Wommack thinking his base system would be enough to beat teams with inferior talent like Vanderbilt. His swarm defense, lauded for its aggressiveness and tenacity in the preseason, has played far too passive and was reduced to a crawl in Nashville.
Alabama's defense didn't produce a turnover or even a single three-and-out on Saturday. The 'Dores produced the following scoring drives:
10 plays, 75 yards, TD - 6:14
17 plays, 75 yards, TD - 9:50
8 plays, 26 yards, FG - 4:02
4 plays, 45 yards, TD - 2:13
9 plays, 60 yards, FG - 5:26
7 plays, 53 yards, FG - 4:29
Then Vandy ended the game with a seven play, 54-yard drive to run out the clock.
Alabama's scoring drives went like this:
7 plays, 75 yards, TD - 3:41
9 plays, 83 yards, TD - 2:41
5 plays, 53 yards, TD - 2:51
4 plays, 75 yards, TD - 1:52
8 plays, 75 yards, TD - 2:21
Even when Alabama had drives that went eight or nine plays, they were punching it into the endzone in under three minutes of game time. Only one of Vanderbilt's scoring drives concluded in under four minutes.
Where does Alabama turn from here defensively?
The only solution, outside of wide spread schematic changes defensively that just aren't conducive in the middle of a season, is to crank up the aggression. That probably opens the Tide up to more big plays, but so be it. I'd rather give up a long touchdown or two and get the ball back to Milroe and company quicker than still give up a touchdown on a drive that lasts half the quarter or longer.
It should also produce more havoc plays; more sacks, more potential turnover opportunities that have the ability to swing games, much like it did in the opposite direction on Saturday.
The offense has no margin for error in a game they don't even have the ball for 18-minutes. Alabama punted twice and turned it over twice, and that was enough to erase that margin and open them up to an upset because of how poorly the defense played.
The concerns of long drives have been there since Western Kentucky went on a 20+ play drive in the season opener. Alabama kept them off the board, but that was the earliest warning sign.
Simplifying philosphy makes sense when you are playing as much youth as Alabama has been forced to on defense, particularly in the secondary. Alabama fans complained the last couple of seasons that Saban's philosphy was too complex; now the complaints are that Wommack's is too simple.
This Alabama defense can't be a bend-not-break unit. It showed in how poorly it played on third down this week and the inability to stop Georgia on a single fourth down in the second half last week.
I'm not an X's and O's wizard. Kane Wommack and Kalen DeBoer know more football than I ever could hope to. My firm belief, and maybe it's wishful thinking, is that being more aggressive will be the main talking point this week and moving forward.
If it isn't, and we see Alabama continue to play passive and let the opposing offenses dicate everything, there's going to be more games like the one we just witnessed.