Wisconsin vs. Alabama: Game Grades, Analysis for Crimson Tide

Nick Saban and No. 3 Alabama made a statement in Arlington, Texas, as they kicked off the season with a convincing 35-17 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin Saturday night. 

The Crimson Tide had a lot of questions to answer with the departures of quarterback Blake Sims, wideout Amari Cooper and standout safety Landon Collins, but they looked as good as ever in the dominant performance over the Badgers.

Positional Unit	1st-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	A-	A-
Run Offense	A	A
Pass Defense	B	B
Run Defense	A+	A+
Special Teams	C-	D
Coaching	A	A

Alabama Crimson Tide Grade Analysis

Pass Offense: One of the biggest question marks heading into the season was whom Saban and Lane Kiffin would turn the offense over to and how the passing attack would handle the loss of Sims and Cooper.

When the first-team offense took the field, it was Jake Coker lining up behind center, and that proved to be the right decision. He started the game hot, connecting on 10 of 13 passes in the first half for 134 yards and a touchdown. He finished with 213 yards and a 71.4 percent completion percentage while spreading the wealth to eight different receivers.

Run Offense: Derrick Henry didn’t get as much work as expected in the first half, running the ball just nine times, but he made the most of his limited opportunities. His 37-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-1 in the first quarter was the highlight, and he went into the break with 75 total yards. He only got four more carries in the second half, but he added a nice 56-yard touchdown before finishing with 147 yards and three touchdowns.

Henry’s performance highlighted a dominant outing from the Tide. With Kenyan Drake and Damien Harris playing mop-up duty, Alabama ran for a total of 238 yards on 37 carries, averaging 6.4 yards per attempt.

Pass Defense: Alabama's biggest weakness a season ago was its pass defense, which gave up big plays far too frequently for Saban's liking. That's what prompted the hiring of Mel Tucker as the Tide's new secondary coach, and his impact was immediately apparent against the Badgers.

While the Badgers' Joel Stave completed 26 of 39 passes, none of his completions went for more than 25 yards. That's a big development for a secondary that was routinely beaten deep a season ago, and it's even more impressive because the Tide were loading the box against Wisconsin's run game most of the night. 

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Run Defense: Alabama’s front completely shut down Wisconsin’s powerful rushing attack in the first half, limiting Corey Clement to just 15 yards on six rushes in the first half. That was a trend that continued after the break as the Badgers finished the night with just 40 rushing yards on 21 carries.

Clement was limited with a groin injury, but that doesn’t take away from Alabama’s complete domination at the line of scrimmage. Wisconsin was unable to find lanes in the middle, and it didn’t have the speed to get anything going on the perimeter, either.

Special Teams: JK Scott was arguably the best punter in all of college football as a true freshman last year, averaging nearly 50 yards a punt during the 2014 season. But in the first half against Wisconsin, he was downright bad, averaging 36 yards on three punts—which included a 20-yard shank that almost cost the Tide three points at the end of the second quarter.

Adam Griffith compounded the bad special teams outing by missing on a pair of field goals from 39 and 44 yards in the second half. 

Coaching: Saban, Kiffin and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart came in with a great game plan, and they executed it perfectly against a solid Badgers team. 

The offense struck a perfect balance between pass and run, although Henry could have handled more than the 13 carries he received. But the real genius came on the defensive side as the Tide completely shut down Wisconsin's usually stout running game. The secondary gave up more than it would like, but that's not a surprise when the linebackers were selling out against the run.