Three things learned about the Alabama Crimson Tide in the win over Wisconsin

Sometimes for college football teams, a threshold is crossed after three games. A team's strengths and weaknesses become more clear. For the Alabama Crimson Tide, Week 3 brought a good, road win and insight into what Alabama Football is and what it can become.

The early loss of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke took from the Badgers any small chance to win. Considering his lack of game experience, Braedyn Locke did well replacing Van Dyke. The Alabama Crimson Tide defense was just too much.

Wisconsin did not let up after Van Dyke went out. The Badgers fought hard and never backed down. Alabama physically dominated despite Wisconsin's fight. After the game, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell was direct, calling it "a good, old-fashioned ass-whupping, at home."

Alabama will face some bigger and tougher teams when the ass-whipping will not be easy. But we learned on Saturday that Alabama can be a physically dominating football team. Much of the credit goes to the defense, but it can be shared by the offensive line. With Kadyn Proctor and Elijah Pritchett at the tackles, the unit performed well, making holes and allowing only one sack. There were no holding calls and just two false start penalties.

The defense was not flawless against Wisconsin. There was some sloppy tackling, along with some mistakes in pass coverage. But the Badgers ran 72 plays and only produced 290 yards. The defense forced four fumbles that turned into two turnovers. There were only two sacks, and only one credited Quarterback Hurry, but seven passes were broken up. The Crimson Tide defense wore down the Badgers. Wisconsin's last five possessions in the game totaled 47 yards and no points.

What was learned on Saturday was the advance billing for the Crimson Tide defense was correct. Alabama is big, fast, tough and most of all, very deep. The secondary will continue as a work in progress for a few more games. If not before it will be ready for Baton Rouge, Norman, and later away destinations.

The last thing learned from the Wisconsin game is about the wide receiver group. In terms of stats, the story is mostly about Ryan Williams. In the phenom's three-game college football career, he has 10 catches for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Thanks to @forevercrimson_ for providing the following comparison. Add together the stats for the first three games from great Alabama receivers, Julio Jones, Jerry Jeudy, Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper, and DeVonta Smith - and combined, the five caught passes for a total of 398 yards while scoring four touchdowns. That staggering comparison proves the most important lesson from Saturday. Ryan Williams is the real deal now. He will only get better and while doing so will attract so much attention, other Alabama receivers will benefit.

Cast aside any claims to the contrary; the Alabama Crimson Tide has no weakness at wide receiver. It has a weapon instead.

Note: Game stats provided by rolltide.com