Hello and Roll Tide!

Last Saturday night the Crimson Tide of Alabama were stunned in Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium as the Oklahoma Sooners dismantled the Tide, winning 24-3. Alabama’s offense was nonexistent as Nick Sheridan called a very questionable game. Oklahoma ran the Pistol-Option, Vanderbilt’s offense, and had a lot of success against the Tide defense. Jalen Milroe may have been better on the sideline as he completed only 42% of his pass attempts and threw three interceptions. Kalen DeBoer once again struggled on the road in a competitive SEC. Alabama is no longer eligible for the SEC Championship and most likely will not be a part of the 2024 College Football Playoff. Below are depth/injury notes, a week 13 review, Iron Bowl preview, and Iron Bowl week storylines. Let’s go!

Depth/Injury Notes:

· Deontae Lawson exited the game with a season-ending injury

· Keon Sabb, Cole Adams, and Que Robinson remain OUT

· Ryan Williams is the lead Punt Returner

· Graham Nicholson is handling Kickoffs, replacing Conor Talty

Week 13 Review: Oklahoma Sooners

Offense: Alabama’s offense was very poor all night, mainly behind the legs of Jalen Milroe. Nick Sheridan ran Jalen in 15 designed runs where he totaled 7 yards. Jalen did a poor job getting up field, often falling down in the backfield for a loss. The running backs were much more efficient (Jam averaged 3.8 yards/carry on 12 attempts; Justice averaged 6 yards/carry on 3 attempts) yet Sheridan continued to run Jalen. Jalen completed 11 of 26 passes for 164 yards with 3 interceptions. All 3 interceptions came in the 2nd half, removing all possibilities of a comeback. Wide receivers and tight ends alike had difficulty catching passes. The lighting setup at Gaylord Stadium is unconventional. Each corner has incredibly bright lights shining into the stadium, rather than from above. There may have been issues with visibility as there were many drops early in the game. The offensive line played fine, outside of right tackle Elijah Pritchett who was unable to impact the run or pass game. Nick Sheridan asked too much out of the line. Every play consisted of motion and guards pulling left or right. He should have had a more conservative approach after very limited results in the first half. This is the second game (Tennessee) where the offense should assume the majority of the blame for a loss. Alabama will look to rebound at home in the Iron Bowl this weekend.

Defense: Alabama’s defense was initially surprised by Oklahoma’s Pistol-Option offense. Going into this game, Oklahoma had run very little option packages, and if they did it contained QB Hawkins not Jackson Arnold. Arnold perfected the option game in the 1st half, looking like Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt. Freshman running back Xavier Robinson benefitted from the option game as he ran for 107 yards on 18 attempts. Alabama’s defense fought all night, as a turnover and missed field goal led to only 10 points by Oklahoma in the 1st half. Bama’s defense was much better in the 2nd half but was not helped at all by the offense. Milroe threw a pick-6 and another interception on the Alabama 14-yard line leaving the Tide defense in bad shape. Stars from the game include Jihaad Campbell, Bray Hubbard, and Malachi Moore who all had over 10 tackles. Malachi Moore made two touchdown saving tackles and recorded Alabama’s only sack all day. The defense played well enough to win but had no support from Jalen and the Alabama offense.

Special Teams: Graham Nicholson made his only attempt of the game from 22-yards out, recording Alabama’s only points of the day. James Burnip was busy punting 4 times averaging 42.8 yards per punt. His long was 62 yards as he pinned Oklahoma within their own 20-yardline. Ryan Williams had little success returning punts.

Iron Bowl Preview: The Auburn Tigers

Auburn will enter Tuscaloosa with a 5-6 record (2-5 in conference) hoping to become bowl-eligible as they attempt to ruin Senior day in Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Hugh Freeze is in his second year as the Auburn head coach where he’s been very successful recruiting. Freese has a lot of experience in the SEC as he was the Head Coach at Ole Miss for 4 years before being fired for a “pattern of personal misconduct”. One such incident included Freeze using a university-issued cell phone to contact a female escort service. Auburn however had no issue hiring Freeze as he beat Alabama twice at Ole Miss.

Auburn’s offense took a while to get going as Peyton Thorne struggled with turnovers in the first 4 games. Freeze benched Thorne, but quickly realized that he was their best option. After the quick benching, Thorne has figured it out. Thorn is up to 2,412 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Their lead rusher is Jaquez Hunter who is averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Hunter has 1,145 yards on the ground and has converted 8 touchdowns. While Auburn has been a pass-heavy offense, I expect Auburn to run the Pistol-option against Alabama. Vanderbilt and Oklahoma both had success with this offense so we should expect Auburn to pull it out, hoping for an advantage.

Auburn is led by inside linebacker Dorian Mausi Jr., who leads the team with 71 tackles. Their pass-rush is a strength of the defense. Nose tackle Jalen McLeod and defensive lineman Keldric Faulk both have 7 sacks this season. Jerrin Thompson leads the secondary with 2 interceptions and 60 tackles.

Iron Bowl Storylines:

Will the offense show up?: Oklahoma stifled the Alabama offense as they were unable to establish the quarterback run all game long. Auburn will likely mirror the Arkansas defense, so what will Nick Sheridan do to mix things up? Alabama should establish the run via running back to help open the passing game for Jalen.

Kalen’s first Iron Bowl: Coaches have been hired and fired because of this game. Gene Chizik was fired from Auburn two years after a National Title, partially due to his results against Alabama. Then Gus Malzahn stayed at Auburn longer than expected since he beat Alabama 3 times. This rivalry means a lot to the state of Alabama and it is important that Kalen starts out his career with a win at Home.

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Roll Tide!

-Jake