Given the heroic feats of Saturday's dismantling of the Dogs, what's next?
Will Alabama fans start murmuring and wringing their hands if they only beat Kentucky 24-21? Is it not enough just to win anymore? Will the fans expect the Tide to take EVERY team out for a first half woodshed thrashing?
Will the players begin to doubt themselves if they go into the locker room at halftime tied? How will they react if another team jumps out to a fast lead?
These are among the many questions that Nick Saban and staff must prepare for.
Too many times teams get caught up in their own headlines and rankings. Bama has seen this firsthand this season when Clemson and Georgia both got brought back down to earth.
The Tide players should know all too well just how easy and quickly it can be done. But it's a harder lesson to learn when you're on the dispensing side of the beating.
Right now all the players and coaches are saying the right things, and it's not like Alabama still doesn't have serious problems to deal with. These problems may help keep the Tide grounded as they coast through a few "easier" games.
Alabama doesn't have another mountain to climb until the LSU game several weeks from now, and then there's that darn streak that's been hanging over their heads for too long. This gives the team time to iron out the kinks.
Among them are:
1. Kick and Punt coverage
This problem area is a glaring thorn in their side and one that could have let Clemson or Georgia regain momentum. Right now coverage is just plain bad, and if it's not fixed, it could cost the Tide in a close game.
2. Consistency at QB
Will the REAL John Parker Wilson please stand up, and STAY standing, please? Good game, bad game, good game, bad game, and then good game last week against Georgia, where he was all but perfect.
If he turns in another sub-stellar effort this week, then it could be only a matter of time until the stars align and Wilson is playing a top team on a bad day.
3. Second half lapses
Saban is pulling his hair out trying to figure out why the team can't maintain the same level of play for 60 minutes. The coaches are making the players watch the entire third quarter of the Georgia game so they can see what went wrong, as well as the staff. If they can fix this, they may be unstoppable.
4. Pass rushing
Though the Tide has been successful at stopping offenses more or less, they still haven't found a way to use Cody to create gaps that the linebackers can exploit on a consistent basis. Kevin Steele wants to find a way to pressure the QBs even more. So far, it just hasn't been there.
One thing is for certain: Nick Saban won't be happy unless they win the National Championship game in a 63-0 shutout. Perfection is a hard thing to achieve, so don't expect to see Nick Saban smiling for a while.
10 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nic Gulas 9 months ago
I think the pass rush has been fine, but I don't recall many times we have actually tried to blitz this season. Against Georgia we did and sent Stafford running towards the sidelines. Saban and Co. have picked their spots on when it will be worth blitzing and whether or not its worth the risk. I agree with the others points, though. Good Article and keeping it one game at a time.
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Larry Burton 9 months ago
Pass rush may seem fine, but it needs some work. We still don't have an "killer" to fill that spot. The end result of the games just makes it seem the pass rush was OK.
Larry
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Grady Wheeler 9 months ago
Cody's job isn't to create gaps. The Alabama defense I'm seeing is consistent with Nick Saban's long-standing defensive philosophy. I'll have to agree with the guy (Nic) who commented above.
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Larry Burton 9 months ago
No, that's not Cody's job, but when it takes two (or three) to stop him, it does create a gap that another player can exploit... That is the strategy that Steele and Saban were hoping would happen.
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Grady Wheeler 9 months ago
Coach Saban isn't "hoping" something will happen. The Saban defensive scheme is designed to stop the run on first and second downs. In obvious passing situations the nose guard's responsibility is to collapse the pocket, and you'll most likely see a zone blitz which has the linebackers roaming the middle rather than shooting a gap and leaving the middle wide open for a long gainer. The heat usually comes from a cornerback. Coach Saban has the Tide defenders playing excellent assignment football and I don't think he would agree with your assessment.
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Larry Burton 9 months ago
Kevin Steele was here a few weeks ago, to speak to our Red Elephant Club. I'm only relaying what the actual man himself said. Cody's ability to tie up defenders and collapse the pocket is a key to their defensive strategy. It allows linebackers and others to make moves they normally couldn't make, be it against a run or pass. They know that Cody's actual sack or tackle numbers will never do him justice because they try and stay away from his area and he often runs the play into someone else who gets the tackle. Since I've heard it from Steele and Saban, I'd say that is THEIR assessment. Not trying to pic a nit, just relaying info...
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Grady Wheeler 9 months ago
You have gotten completely away from your original point. No one said anything about Cody's stats, so I don't understand why you'd stray off into discussion about how the coaches feel about his tackle and sack stats.
It should also be noted that you have taken my explanation of Coach Saban's defensive scheme and turned it in to your own.
As for Coach Steele visiting your club, as you said, it was a few weeks ago which I believe means prior to the beginning of the season. It's not like you met with him in Athens, Georgia after the big win, right?
I can tell you with certainty that Coach Saban does not share your concerns on this matter.
Best of luck to the Crimson Tide the rest of the way.
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Larry Burton 9 months ago
Alabama's Defensive Line Coach will be here Monday to update us. So yes, we get fresh news. I can speak from a degree of certainty because hearing it directly from coaches the convinces me more than your views, but hey, it's all good. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. In a short article it's hard to go into too much detail as I was just hitting the highlights. My point was that the coaches still haven't found a way to utilize Cody's abilities to create more sacks and that is something they are working on. Perhaps I should have said, a blitzing linebacker or defensive back is what they were trying to slip through while Cody had everyone occupied...
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Grady Wheeler 9 months ago
In the Nick Saban defensive scheme, blitzes typically come from the edge because by collapsing the pocket you force the QB to move out of his comfort zone and right into the path of a blitzing DB. Sounds to me like someone might be telling you something to gauge your knowledge of Coach Saban's defensive scheme. I'm just trying to help. I played DB for Coach Saban at Toledo in 1990 and we ran the same scheme. Coach has ran the same defense practically everywhere he's been in charge.
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Larry Burton 9 months ago
He's changed in to fit the players he has right now, and he doesn't have the type linebackers to run HIS defense, but I'm not complaining so far and neither are most of the fans. This has many similarities to the defense you talk about doing 18 years ago, but things have changed. Saban has told us that he doesn't have the traditional "Jack" linebacker to do what he wants to, and until he does, he's content to run this defense. Was he as "intense" at Toledo as he is now? His picture should be in the dictionary under type A personality. Being a DB, you got PLENTY of Saban time I'm assuming, he still loves to hang and work with ours... I guess once an old DB always a DB... He claims that at 56 he can still outrun some of the boys... I can only imagine what he was like back then... Got any stories? You should really write some of them... I'd love to hear them.
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