Alabama football is no longer the standard of college football. The Crimson Tide talked a big game about getting back to a standard after two consecutive subpar performances in a loss to Vanderbilt and a close win over South Carolina, but fell flat in a road loss to Tennessee that unfortunately didn't feel like a surprise.
Alabama held a 7-0 lead at halftime, but squandered numerous opportunities in the first half to extend the lead. Instead of holding a two score lead, the Tide led by just seven. The defense, which had been impregnable in the first half, got gashed on the ground in the second half by Vols RB Dylan Sampson.
Nico Iamaleava hit a couple of big throws, but the Vols running game took over and Tennessee punched in three touchdowns and a field goal in the second half.
Alabama managed just one touchdown in the second half and a Graham Nicholson field goal, and the Crimson Tide lost 24-17 to Tennessee, the second loss of the season and the second loss in three seasons against Tennessee after winning 15 consecutive games in the series.
Ugh.
Three Takeaways from the Alabama loss:
3. This is a poorly coached, undisciplined football team
The jury is still out on whether Kalen DeBoer is the right guy in Tuscaloosa or not. Seven games is not a big enough sample size for that. But the reality has officially set in that the transition from Nick Saban is not an easy one, and maybe we were foolish for thinking it would be.
Undiscplined play and stupid penalties are not a DeBoer specific thing; it was an obvious chink in the armor of the last few Saban coached teams, too. But any hope that those issues would be fixed with a new coaching staff were sadly incorrect.
For the second straight trip to Knoxville, Alabama was penalized 15+ times, finishing the game with 15 penalties and over 100 yards of penalty yards.
The penalties happend in the most inopportune moments, perhaps none moreso than Kendrick Law's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for retaliating on a chirping Vols DB that turned a 4th-and-7 into a 4th-and-22. It should have been offsetting penalties, but Law cannot put himself in that position and make a selfish decision that hurts the team.
We've seen too many selfish and business decisions made by what is supposed to be a "team." This looks like anything but in DeBoer's first season.
2. Alabama has no offensive identity
Seven games into the season and Alabama has no offensive identity. They can't run the football effectively, something that looked to be a strength in the preseason with an experienced offensive line, perhaps the best running QB in the country, and a pair of running backs who Tide fans were excited to see have an opportunity.
But Alabama can't consistently open up holes, and when they do, neither back has proven they can make many guys miss. Alabama used to hang its hat on dominant running games, but the ground game is now an obvious weakness.
Alabama managed 75 yards on a paltry 2.2 yards-per-carry average. The inability to run the football, and the coaching staff's refusal to stick with it for sustained portions of the game, forced Jalen Milroe to throw the ball 45 times, which is not a recipe for success.
People will want to blame the defense, but the defense made back-to-back stops in the fourth quarter to give the offense a chance and they could do nothing with it.
For most of the season he looked like a much improved passer, but he still has obvious limitations and doesn't have the ability to throw the ball like the guys before him such as Bryce Young and Tua Tagovailoa.
So what is the identity of this offense? I have no idea and it's probably too late to figure it out.
1. That was Jalen Milroe's worst game
Too much has been asked of Milroe the last few weeks because Alabama has established no identity offensively outside of "please Jalen save us." Everything has been on his shoulders, and it's clear that has weighed on him the last few weeks.
Milroe labored through the end of the fourth quarter against South Carolina, and looked timid running the football against Tennessee. He looked apprehensive to take hits, and didn't hit the running lanes with much conviction. I have no idea if he's hurt, but he sure looks like it.
On top of that, I think that was his worst effort as a passer. He had open receivers and consistently sailed throws, perhaps none worse than the overthrow of an open Ryan Williams on 2nd-and-10 with five minutes to play after the Vols had just taken the lead.
Then there was the interception at the end of the game on a ball that was well behind Germie Bernard and easily intercepted by Will Brooks.
It was that kind of afternoon for Milroe. He couldn't hit any of the easy throws we've seen him make earlier in the season, and he didn't make up for it with any homerun throws down the field or big plays with his legs.
This team needs Milroe to be Superman every game to have a chance. The version they got today wasn't good enough by a long shot.