Alabama managed to score a home victory yesterday against Texas A&M, in a game that never felt comfortable. The Tide looked like a worn out football team coming off of two bar room brawls with a thinned out depth chart. There isn't much more to say about the injuries, as virtually every position group on the roster was missing someone. The lines of scrimmage were particularly thin in the game, and in this modern era the drop-off from your first to second team is typically greater than in years past.
The good news is that Kalen DeBoer said he expects to get a lot of guys back in two weeks at LSU, and they will be needed. William Sanders probably isn't going to be on that list, but if Racin Delgatty is back at center then Mal Waldrep can slide over to left guard and they shouldn't be any worse for wear. Sanders and Waldrep were neck and neck for the entirety of fall camp.
And, Terrance Green is sorely needed in the middle of the defensive line.
A few impressions:
Keelon Russell opened the day with a completion to TE Josh Ford, but the rest of the first half was mostly a struggle for him. At one point it was fair to wonder if the dude needed a break to get his head together, particularly after the interception where he was clearly trying to do too much. Before going down with injury against Georgia, Ryan Coleman-Williams had acted as something of a security blanket for Russell and nobody had really stepped up in his absence.
Enter Rico Scott.
Scott generated plenty of buzz back in fall camp and has had a decent season in a complementary role, but he seized the spotlight yesterday. Rico finished with six catches for 156 yards, more than half of Keelon's passing output on the day. Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks are smaller speed guys and Alabama has a few bigger bodies on the outside, but Rico may be the most versatile receiver on the roster. He has decent size at 6'0" and 203 lbs. to go with plus athleticism and hands.
Russell also leaned on his tight ends again, hitting three of them for seven total completions including touchdowns to Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett. It was great to see Russell put up a 300-yard passing game without Coleman-Williams. Hopefully Ryan's injury will have a little silver lining in that it forced Keelon to build some chemistry with others. The potential for this passing game continues to jump off the screen, and it was needed yesterday because…
Jesse Palmer wouldn't shut up about the fact that Alabama wasn't calling run plays, and there have been times this season when that case could be made. I'm not convinced that yesterday was one of those times, however, as the run game couldn't get anything going. It was especially rough after Sanders went down and Alabama had to play third string LG Kayden Strayhorn at the position. Strayhorn has ability, but it's tough to execute against an quality, stunting front with a group that hasn't played in a game together.
Daniel Hill was finally able to have a bit of success very late in the game, but 60 yards on 17 carries for the running backs is simply dreadful. They will need to do much better than that to have a chance in Baton Rouge. Hopefully Delgatty's return will stabilize things across the line, and EJ Crowell can contribute as well. In the meantime, Ryan Grubb found some success spreading things out in a five-wide look and letting Keelon play some 7-on-7 ball. Perhaps we will see a bit more of that.
The defense played a relatively clean game outside of those two first half touchdown drives, on which Reed passed for almost 100 of his 163 yards on the day. Those who have criticized Kane Wommack for failing to make adjustments should probably take note that the defense managed to mostly take away the RPO slant in the second half, but Reed was able to exploit it big time on those two drives. Luke Metz and Caleb Woodson both seem to bite hard on the run action which leaves a ton of open space in the middle of the field. Perhaps the return of Terrance Green will allow them to be a bit more conservative.
Alabama's kicking game felt too good to be true coming in, and on cue Conor Talty missed his first two kicks of the season. Talty is still 11/13 but, given the history of kicker headspaces, this is something to monitor going forward. Lorcan Quinn is ready and available for field goal kicking if he is needed, but hopefully this turns out to be just a blip for Talty.
They make their share of mistakes and don't win every one-on-one battle up front, but nobody can claim that these guys don't fight. Fatutoa Henry was forced into extended duty thanks to injuries and came up with two huge sacks late in the game to finish off the Aggies. In fact, the defense didn't allow a single first down in the fourth quarter. After completing only 38% of his passes for 69 yards in the first quarter, Russell posted a 72% completion and 242 yards, 11 per attempt, over the last three.
This team is far from perfect, but they play hard and seem to genuinely care for one another. It's a shame that this group has been as ravaged by injury as it has, but in between some of the ugliness it's easy to spot the potential. They now have two weeks to get rested up and hopefully bring their A game into one of college football's nastiest road environments. Someone is going to emerge from that game with a playoff ticket all but punched, and the other will have their backs firmly against the wall and needing help for any playoff chance.
Hope for the best.
Roll Tide.
