Overreaction to a Week 6 loss is the last thing the Alabama Football program needs. The flip side is teams don't often compete for championships after losses to weak teams from their own conference. The win over Georgia to the loss to Vanderbilt is not like a scary roller coaster ride. It is more like the coaster's cars flew off the track and crashed into a mountain.
A sense of urgency is required. The urgency must include a reckoning of exactly where the program stands. At 4-1, the Alabama Crimson Tide record still qualifies it as a serious Playoff contender. The loss to Vandy poses a new Playoffrelated question. How many Playoff contenders is the Crimson Tide good enough to beat in its remaining regular season games?
Alabama football fans now question if the Crimson Tide defense is good enough to beat any potential Playoff team. Those labeling such an opinion an overreaction may be discounting the realities of Alabama's last six-plus quarters of defensive play. Beginning with Georgia's second-quarter drive that cut the Alabama lead to 28-7, the Crimson Tide defense has given up 910 yards of offense and 74 points. Mostly because the Alabama defense could not get off the field on third downs against Vandy, Alabama's time of possession on Saturday was 17:52, compared to Vandy's 42:08.
Those stats do not indicate a defense that needs a few adjustments. They show what may be a couple of serious flaws. One is the lack of a consistent pass rush. The other one is too frequent breakdowns in rush defense. Against Vandy, Alabama recorded no quarterback pressures and no sacks. The Commodores did not have huge success on the ground; only a 3.1-yard average, but Diego Pavia and other Vandy rushers produced too many key yards in 54 rushing plays.
What disturbs Alabama fans the most is Kane Wommack made few in-game adjustments. Basically throughout, he rushed four while Vandy had five blockers. With no consistent pressure, Pavia passed for 254 yards. While beating the Commodores 36-32, Georgia State's defense was more effective against the Vandy offense than Alabama's.
Alabama Football fans have lost faith in Kane Wommack
Among Alabama fans, there is widespread doubt about Kane Wommack. His Swarm Defense may frequently 'fly around' as he wants it to do, but in the last six-plus quarters the Swarm has been alarmingly leaky. Does Wommack know what to do? Is he a good coach but a poor game-caller? Kalen DeBoer must know the answers.
Several seasons ago. Nick Saban quietly made an in-season adjustment, taking the defensive play-caller job away from Tosh Lupoi. Should Kalen DeBoer take the same bold action? DeBoer has another defensive mind on staff in Chuck Morrell. Morrell followed DeBoer from Washington. Morrell was Co-DC for the Huskies and is currently a Special Assistant to DeBoer.
If a coaching adjustment is warranted, a quick, bold move by DeBoer might be the best course of action.
Note: Game stats provided by rolltide.com