Hello and Roll Tide!

Last Saturday the Alabama Crimson Tide fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores 40-35. This was Vanderbilt’s first win against an AP #1 team as they also broke a 23-game losing streak to the Tide. Kalen DeBoer received his first SEC loss as the Alabama head coach in a shocking result in Nashville. Below are depth/injury updates, a Week 6 recap, South Carolina preview, and Week 7 storylines. Let’s go!

Depth/Injury Notes:

· Jaheim Oatis decided to Redshirt this season and transfer

· Kobe Prentice is practicing yet remains Questionable

· Kendrick Law is practicing yet remains Questionable

· Yhonzae Pierre will be OUT Saturday

· Gino VanDeMark replaced Jaeden Roberts on Saturday: Jaeden is playing through an injury and OL coach Chris Kapilovic said he was replaced to give him a series off to recover

Week 6 Review

Offense: Alabama’s offense scored 35 points while only being on the field for 17 minutes and 52 seconds. Jalen Milroe was asked to throw the ball 24 times and carry it 7 as Alabama played from behind all game long. The offense started the game with a disaster as a tipped ball launched into the air allowing Vanderbilt’s Randon Fontenette to intercept the pass and return it for a score. This left Alabama in a 13-0 hole having run only 3 offensive plays. Alabama responded with a 7 play 75 yard touchdown drive. The Offense converted 5 out of 9 of their offensive possessions into touchdowns, a percentage that usually leads to a win, but the defense simply could not get off the field. Alabama limited their mistakes on Offense; however they came at the worst possible times. The Offensive line only allowed 2 sacks, yet the second was a strip sack in the 4th quarter while Alabama was marching down the field to take the lead. This, the pick-6, and Ryan Williams’ overturned catch were three unlucky events that changed the game entirely. Outside of these major events, Alabama was able to move the ball down the field with ease. Jalen completed 75% of his passes for 310 yards. Jam Miller averaged 9 yards per carry and Ryan Williams had a 58-yard touchdown reception. Alabama certainly showed that they can still run an efficient offense while trailing. Nick Sheridan was not happy with the performance saying that “Nobody did well enough.” While there is always room for improvement, the offensive played well enough on Saturday that they should have won.

Defense: The Crimson Tide defense was outplayed all afternoon. Diego Pavia led the Commodores by executing a perfect option offense. Vanderbilt set up the Pistol-Option and Wish-bone-Option for most of the game. Vanderbilt received the opening kickoff and converted a 10-play, 75-yard drive into a touchdown. Most people likely thought that the defense would make adjustments and start making stops, yet that never happened. Going into the game, Alabama was 2nd in the country at preventing 3rd down conversions: Vanderbilt converted 12 of 18 3rd down conversions. On top of that, they converted a massive 4th and 1 play on a 36-yard touchdown play-action pass. Alabama only forced Vanderbilt to punt the ball twice in this game. All other drives led to points. The Defensive shortfall most heavily falls upon Kane Wommack and his staff. The 4-2-5 was certainly not working, yet Wommack continued to trot out 5 defensive backs. In previous games, Wommack used a 3-4 (3 D-Line, 4 LB including the Wolf) against multiple tight end looks. This worked effectively stopping the run against Georgia and Wisconsin. It is strange that Alabama did not use this look more on Saturday. When Kane finally did put bigger packages out there, linebackers got beat in man coverage. Defensive linemen over pursued the quarterback on options, leading to big plays by the running backs and tight ends. The defense seemed far too predictable and Vandy was able to exploit it all game long. The players are also at fault in the loss as their level of effort was not up to the Alabama standard. According to Pro Football Focus, Alabama defenders missed 9 tackles on Saturday. As well, poor-timed flags led to Vanderbilt points. Alabama had Vanderbilt stopped twice but gave the Commodores a first down on an Illegal Substitution and Face Mask. In his frustration, Captain Malachi Moore had a meltdown at the end of the game. Moore ripped off and threw his mouthpiece, kicked the football off the line of scrimmage, and refused to be subbed out. Malachi has issued an apology and both Kalen and Kane touted his character as a leader on the team in their Monday press-conference. Moore’s frustration shows that the players are just as upset as all of us fans who had to watch this embarrassing defeat.

Special Teams: Alabama’s Special teams were not involved much during the contest outside of receiving kickoffs from Vanderbilt. Emmanuel Henderson had success returning the ball as he averaged 25-yards per return and had one big play for 46-yards. Graham Nicholson did not attempt a field goal yet he converted 5 PATs. James Burnip only punted the ball 2 times averaging 43.5 yards. The punt return team made a costly error as both Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown were on the field wearing #2. This gave Vanderbilt a first down and they soon after converted for a touchdown.

Week 7 Preview: South Carolina Gamecocks

Shane Beamer is currently 3-2 in his 4th season as the head coach of South Carolina. Beamer adopted a 2-8 team back in 2021 and immediately turned them into a Bowl Game winner. Beamer won 7 and 8 games in his first two seasons with the Gamecocks. Last season was a let down as the defensive output declined resulting in a 5-7 record, missing a bowl game. This season the Gamecocks got off to a great start 34.3 points per game. That is until the Ole Miss defense limited them to a field goal last week.

The strength of the Gamecocks’ Offense is the run game. South Carolina has run the ball 228 times compared to only 118 pass attempts. The run game is championed by their dual-threat quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Sellers is second on the team in rushing with 200 yards on 55 attempts. Often, South Carolina will run an RPO read option. Here Sellers will either hand the ball off, run himself, or throw a quick pass to a wide receiver. This could be considered a triple-option however they typically run these in traditional shotgun sets as opposed to Vanderbilt’s Wishbone package. LaNorris’ decision-making helps running back Raheim Sanders as well. Sellers is similar to the USF quarterback we saw in week 2, but is a more skilled passer. Raheim Sanders got off to a hot start in the first 3 games before getting injured against Akron. He played against Ole Miss Saturday but still appeared to be limited. If Sanders is up to a full workload, this will benefit the Gamecocks significantly as they try to establish the run against Alabama. South Carolina’s passing game leaves room for improvement. LaNorris Sellers is only averaging 6.5 yards per attempt and is completing 57.6% of these passes. As well, the offensive line has allowed 22 sacks through 5 games. The Gamecocks will need to establish the run early so that they are less reliant on their sub-par passing game.

Last season, South Carolina was let down primarily because of the defensive side of the ball. They ranked 66th in points allowed (26.3/game), 90th in yards allowed (395.7/game), and 72nd in turnovers (1.2/game). So far this season, the Gamecocks have seen improvement in all 3 categories: The defense is allowing 19 points per game, 296.8 yards/game, and forcing 2 turnovers per game. This immediate upgrade can be attributed to their Defensive Line. Edge rushers Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart have combined for 9 sacks this season. DT’s TJ Sanders, Rondarius Porter, and Tonka Hemmingway all have a sack as well. The ability to contain the edge while also pushing the pocket has limited opponents to 185 passing yards per game. South Carolina’s defensive line is elite, and behind them the secondary is playing well too. Both Jalon Kilgore and Nick Emmanwori have 2 interceptions. Outside of the Ole Miss game, South Carolina’s defense has been able to keep them in every football game.

Week 7 Storylines:

Will the Defense show out for the home crowd?: Most fans will attribute the loss last week to the Defense. Allowing 40 points with limited adjustments is not acceptable, and it appeared that they did not have the intensity required to win a football game. Wommack and the team will want to bounce back after an embarrassing display. I hope the defense can get energetic at 11am behind 100,000 Tide fans.

Grab the lead early and hold onto it: Saturday, Alabama was trailing the entire game. Vanderbilt received the opening kickoff and never looked back. This forced the Alabama offense to move the ball quickly and attempt more shot plays. If Alabama gets the ball with a tie or the lead, let’s see if they can put together long, sustained drives and keep the South Carolina defense on the field.

Strength vs Weakness: South Carolina’s main strength on offense is running the football. LaNorris Sellers and Raheim Sanders will attempt to use that strength against Alabama’s defensive line who was unable to stop the run all game long at Vanderbilt. It appears that Alabama’s 4-2-5 is susceptible to the run. Will this continue to be a weakness for the Tide? Or will they make adjustments to limit the ground game?

As always, reach out with any questions or comments. If you know anyone interested in joining, send their email my way.

Roll Tide!

-Jake