Kane Wommack knows what Alabama football fans are thinking.
The Crimson Tide defensive coordinator saw what happened in the second half against Georgia . He saw what happened through four quarters against Vanderbilt , leading to Alabama's first loss of a new era .
"In times like this, it's natural for everyone to hit the panic button," Wommack said.
And for the most part, Wommack agreed, taking responsibility for the 40 points Alabama allowed Saturday and calling it unacceptable, describing it as the deciding factor between an expected win and a field storming.
But Wommack is not panicking.
"I wish I had the magic genie button … to say, 'Hey, we're going to give these guys the experience they need to be able to maneuver moving forward,'" Wommack said. "But sometimes you got to go through some of these hardships and some of these challenges and adversities, and then expect your coaching and those players (to) have an urgency to get things fixed moving forward."
While the challenges and adversities may have looked different from Georgia's pro-style scheme compared to Vanderbilt 's option offense, fundamental issues persisted, starting with an inability to get off the field on third and fourth down.
In the past five quarters against Georgia and Vanderbilt, opposing offenses have converted on 14 of 23 third-down attempts, and three fourth-down attempts on three chances.
To Wommack, the problem begins with Alabama 's inability to create pressure up front and the inconsistencies Alabama has had at containing athletic quarterbacks, which the Crimson Tide did not do against Vanderbilt.
"It's really critical that you keep quarterbacks in the pocket," Wommack said. "It limits their ability to see windows, it limits their timing and really kind of constricts some of the throwing lanes that quarterbacks can see. We didn't do a good enough job of that and that's probably one of the biggest indicators of us not executing on third downs. We gave him space. We gave him time to be able to make some decisions."
To Wommack, the problem continues with Alabama's lack of success in man coverage, calling for windows that are "as tight as possible," and calling out all levels of the defense, from the cornerbacks and safeties to the linebackers giving support.
Wommack gave credit where he felt credit was due.
Vanderbilt's offense continued to introduce wrinkles Wommack said the Crimson Tide had not seen on tape, "which kept us in a constant pursuit of adjusting to what they were doing." And with those third-down conversions, Wommack said, came more plays called, came more wrinkles, came more time off the clock with the Commodores dominating time of possession by over 24 minutes.
"We didn't make the plays that we needed to make when the ball came our way as a defense," Wommack said. "And they certainly made their plays. And that was ultimately the difference."
Through five games, Alabama has the third-worst run defense and the sixth-worst pass defense in the SEC. Wommack leads a unit that is one of six in the conference to allow more than 20 points per game.
With South Carolina up next and an SEC schedule that includes road meetings with Tennessee , LSU and Oklahoma , all Wommack wants to see is consistency being built on top of a 4-2-5 foundation that is already set.
"I think for us, it's making sure that we're keeping the main thing the main thing," Wommack said. "There's a lot of good things that we're doing."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Is Kane Wommack hitting the Alabama football defense 'panic button'?
