Alabama Football: 7 Things That Still Aren't Going Well Enough for Alabama

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Things may be rolling for the Tide who still have yet to face a serious challenge this season. That could change when the Tide faces LSU, who has exhibited the ability to have a two headed offense, unlike some teams, and a stern defense to back it up.

But even with the Tide's blow out of good teams like Arkansas and the Gators, are there still things that aren't working as planned for the Tide?

Of course.

And in this slide presentation, we'll go over what they are and what they can do to improve them.

The Deep Ball

I have it on good authority that McElwain was going to let AJ McCarron throw four deep routes in the Arkansas game. Only two made the flight.

One was just of the fingertips of Marquis Maze, and the other was long.

The other two, he read too tight coverage and went to a second or third target.

Against Florida, the deep ball just wasn't a deadly thing either.

Saban and McElwain wanted to complete some deep balls to keep the defense honest and not be able to have defensive backs supporting the run stop defense as much.

Until last night against Vanderbilt, McCarron hadn't done that.

Was this a one game anomaly or the beginning of a new part of the offense?

Time will tell.

Punt Consistently

Cody Mandell just hasn't shown the results of the promise he showed in high school. The problem isn't that he can't boom them; it's that he can't do it consistently.

Shanks, short punts or other problems abound with Mandell.

Maybe he should spend a little more time with the sports shrinks that Saban has at Alabama.

In a tight game, many a contest has come down to basic punting and field position. That's something Alabama needs to work on.

Kick It Trough the Uprights

In four games this year, Alabama has a 70 percent success ratio in making field goals. They are 7-of-10, and all attempts have been well within make-able distance.

Cade Foster is zero for one on the year, and Jeremy Shelley is 7-for-9. Shelley is the short range kicker and Foster the long ball kicker.

Last year, Alabama finished 67th in the country out of the 120 schools in Division I, and they've got the same personnel this year.

There is no reason for a school with the resources of Alabama to finish in the bottom half of any statistic, and Saban may have agreed by offering and accepting a commitment from a new kicker for the 2012 class.

Last night's missed point after only makes the problem more glaring.

Consistent Run and Pass Blocking by the Offensive Line

There are times when Alabama's offensive line shows why are they so highly though of, but there are others that show they can't seem to string a whole game of good plays together.

For Alabama to have it 1st-and-goal and not be able to punch it in as has happened speaks volumes as to this inconsistency.

There have been times when both quarterbacks have been under pressure before they even finish a three step drop.

And though the last game against Vanderbilt looked good, every running back was below their season average per carry.

Alabama has takes as many sacks than it has given to other teams. With our defense, that stat should be flipped.

Barrett Jones does a good job at left tackle, and that's all he's capable of at that position. He's fantastic at guard.

Cyrus Kouandjio has the ability to be great at left tackle. Saban should put him there and let it grow on him so he will be ready for the stretch run at the end of the season.

Until all the players are positioned where they can do the best job possible, there will be continue to be problems.

Sacks, Bama Needs a Few More

Four games into the season, and not a player on Alabama's team had two sacks. They had five in four games while giving up eight to the opponents. Against Florida, they got three sacks while giving up none, but most of those came while Florida was desperately trying to come back while being trampled.

In postgame press conferences, Saban has said he is more interested in hurries and "effect" on opposing quarterbacks, but many suspect he's just painting a bright as picture as he can because he wasn't getting the sacks.

It was funny that he didn't talk like that after Saturday's game with Florida, a day that he did get three sacks.

What coach wouldn't like a sack? Unlike a hurry, you get the loss of yardage plus the moral victory of whipping the offensive line.

As strange as it sounds, the better the team they play, the more sacks you'll see they get.

The reason is simple. Against teams Saban knows he'll beat, he plays vanilla defense and doesn't pressure as much.

Against teams that could be a problem, he'll allow the defense to use stunts and put in more blitz packages that is just what he did Saturday against Florida and it worked.

So the advice to Saban is simple: keep up the pressure and don't always play so conservatively. Each time they gave Brantley from Florida the time to throw the ball without harassment, he killed them. When they dialed up the pressure, they got a game clinching interception for a touchdown and then knocked him from the game.

Vanderbilt also did a much better than expected job against Alabama passing when they weren't harassed.

Defensive Backfeild Consistency Needs to Be Maintained.

Dre Kirkpatrick may be Alabama's "Shut Down" cornerback, but he's proven he can be beat as Florida demonstrated on two big plays, one that went for a touchdown, and that was bobbled by the receiver and ruled a no catch in the end zone against Florida and one last night that where he was beaten but the pass went incomplete.

Kirkpatrick can be beat and teams aren't afraid to test him.

And this is not meant to pick on Kirkpatrick singularly, as each back has had his own moments of just being whipped or in simply blowing a coverage.

If there is a weak link in the Alabama defensive armor, it is this group, and they have the potential to step up and step up big.

Kickoffs and Kickoff Coverage: Can It Be Improved?

Alabama has given opponents great starting field position after kickoffs all season and only last night did a little better job. But on the down side, Vanderbilt isn't a good return team at all.

Foster has had games where opponents start at the 40-yard line or better consistently, and that simply must stop.

If he makes a decent kick, then there's poor tackling or missed lane assignments.

The kickoff coverage team is just a mess, and it needs to be fixed.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)