Hello and Roll Tide!

Alabama started the 2026 season with a 48-10 win over the Eastern Carolina Pirates at Bryant-Denny Stadium. This was anencouraging start to the season as all three phases of the team shined. Keelon Russell was great in his first careerstart, filling the shoes of 1st round draft pick Ty Simpson. With the new 9-game SEC schedule, already in week 2 Alabamawill face their first conference opponent. Alabama travels to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats. Bama is a bigfavorite on the road, a position that Kalen Deoboer has struggled with so far during his tenure. Below are injury updates,depth notes, a week 1 recap, a week 2 preview, and week 2 storylines. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

  • Cayden Jones is listed as OUT for Kentucky. His status was unknown before ECU and clears up why he did not play
  • Zyan Gibson was added to the injury report and will be OUT
  • Michael Carroll is listed as DOUBTFUL against Kentucky. This is a huge blow to the offensive line who played well against ECU
  • AK Dear and Jireh Edwards are QUESTIONABLE to play

Depth Notes:

  • William Sanders started at Left Guard, but was out-snapped 44 to 32 by Mal Waldrep
  • Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett dominated snaps at TE for passing downs, while Jay Lindsey and Josh Ford came in to block for running plays
  • Yhonzae Pierre moved to BANDIT during blitz packages, often pairing with Justin Hill at the WOLF
  • Four middle linebackers rotated (snaps): Caleb Woodson (24), Luke Metz (20), QB Reese (16), Xavier Griffin (14)

Week 1 Recap: ECU Pirates

Offense: Keelon Russell had a productive first start completing 18 passes for 256 yards, while rushing 13 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. His spark was on display right away on the first drive when he broke a sack and rushed for a 23-yard gain on 3rd down. His rushing ability was impressive whether it was a designed run, scramble, or RPO. Keelon’s quick decision making was evident on RPOs, converting 3rd downs with quick passes and his feet. In scramble drills, Keelon had huge rushes (23-yards, 17-yards, and 16-yards) and also kept his eyes up for some big passes (58-yard gain by Ryan Coleman-Williams, 26-yards). Outside of Keelon’s 86 rushing yards, Alabama gained another 141 yards on the ground. Carries were split evenly between Daniel Hill (9 for 47 yards), EJ Crowell (7 for 37 yards), Trae’shawn Brown (7 for 15 yards) and Kevin Riley (6 for 17 yards). Daniel Hill is the bruiser of the group, finding the endzone on two goal line rushes. He also provided great pass-protection, picking up a blitzing linebacker late in the 3rd quarter. EJ Crowell showed great burst as a true freshman 5.3 yards per carry. His touchdown run looked like a busted play, but he quickly shot to the left and beat every defender to the pylon. Ryan Coleman-Williams (RCW) was the teams leading receiver with 130-yards. He could have had an even bigger afternoon, dropping two huge plays: RCW dropped a 20+ yard completion late in the 1st quarter; Keelon delivered a perfect strike to the endzone early in the 2nd, dropped by RCW. While some people will just look at the drops, we must focus on how insanely productive RCW is when he has the ball. 130 yards over 5 catches is an average of 26 yards per catch. RCW also had a 23-yard punt return, further proving the value he provides has with the ball in his hands. The drops are a mental block that needs to be fixed, but this offense will continue to prioritize Ryan Coleman-Williams having the football. Alabama’s offensive line played well against a veteran front. At times, the line was pushed back during run plays, but 227 yards on the ground would argue otherwise. They allowed only 1 sack and few pressures on Keelon Russell. There was nothing here that created any red flags.

Defense: Alabama’s defense was as advertised against ECU. The new and improved defensive line looks massive. Their efforts held ECU to a total of 2 yards rushing (including a botched snap that resulted in a 27-yard loss). Terrance Green plugged holes and recorded a sack. London Simmons was moving guards backwards, pressuring the quarterback. As expected, Yhonzae Pierre did it all. Pierre spent most of his snaps rushing at WOLF, where he had an impressive sack. With 14:26 left in the 3rd, Yhonzae faked with speed to get the right tackle off balance, then used power to throw him back into the quarterback, where Yhonzae finished off the sack. Wommack got tricky, dropping Yhonzae into coverage where he went unnoticed and intercepted a pass for a 26-yard touchdown. The middle linebackers played well, rotating most of the game. Caleb Woodson and Luke Metz were the starters, combining for just 3 tackles. Behind them were QB Reese and Xavier Griffin who also had 3 tackles. Not often did running backs make it past the defensive line, but when they did, the MLBs were in good positions to limit the gain. Outside of two busted coverages, Alabama’s secondary played well. ECU completed only 11 passes for a total of 160 yards, including the two busted coverages of 68 and 30-yards. Excluding those, ECU completed just 9 passes for 62 yards (6.8 yards per catch). Bray Hubbard was responsible for the 68-yard play, letting a receiver slip behind him without help; Lorenzo O’Neal was simply beaten on a go route for the 30-yard gain. While these plays did not impact the outcome of the game, they need to be cleaned up as Alabama enters SEC play.

Special Team: Alabama’s special teams looked significantly improved since last season. Conor Talty was 2 for 2 on field goal attempts and made all 6 PATs. Sophomore Alex Asparuhov punted twice averaging 52.0 yards per punt. RCW had a 23-yard punt return, then two for small gains. Rico Scott did muff a kickoff, cutting off Dijon Lee. The miscues on the return game will be addressed.

Week 2 Preview: Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky is led by first time head-coach Will Stein. Formerly a quarterback for the University of Louisville, Stein started coaching right after his senior season as a Graduate Assistant. He was quickly promoted to quarterbacks coach and then held the same title at Texas from 2015-2017. Stein left college football and was the OC at Lake Travis High School from 2018-2019 before re-entering the college ranks with UTSA. His breakout came with Dan Lanning at Oregon from 2023-2025. Over those years, Oregon was 2nd (44.2 ppg), 17th (34.9), and 11th (36.9 ppg) Nationally in points per game. Stein looks to revamp the Kentucky offense following Mark Stoops 13-year tenure at Kentucky. Kentucky was last in the SEC in high school recruiting, so Stein quickly added 32 transfers during the offseason. Helping Stein juice up the offense in quarterback transfer Kenny Minchey. Minchey committed to Notre Dame as a 4-star in the 2023 class. He spent 3 seasons with ND, most recently losing the starting job to CJ Carr in a QB battle last fall. Minchey saw an opportunity to start in the portal, and found Kentucky as his home. Minchey looked great in his debut, completing 18 passes for 301 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Wildcats defeated Youngstown State 45-13. He spread the ball out evenly to Kenny Darby, Mikkel Skinner, and Willie Rodriguez who had 3, 4, and 4 catches respectively. Darby is an exciting freshman who had multiple 30-yard receptions. Stein immediately identified what type of players he wanted on this offense, and they performed well in week 1. Kentucky is looking to improve on defense after finishing 75th in points allowed (26.4) and 67th in yards allowed (374.2) during 2025. In week 1, Kentucky did limit Youngstown State to 13 points, but also allowed 305 total yards of offense. The Wildcats could not get off the field, allowing 8 of 15 3rd down conversions. The rushing defense was stout, allowing just 59 yards on the ground, but their secondary allowed 246 passing yards. The defense is full of 4th and 5th year seniors with experience. Many transfers come in with 10+ starts in power conferences including Jordan Castell, Tavion Gason, and Same Green. Seniors Jordan Castell and Grant Godfrey look to be leaders in the secondary and linebacker rooms. Each led the team with 7 tackles against Youngstown State. Juniors Ahmad Breaux and Devin Smith both recorded sacks. This team is filled with experienced players who should provide strong competition for Alabama’s new offensive line.

Week 2 Storylines:

Can Alabama’s run game be successful against an SEC front?: Alabama’s running backs looked much improved in week 1, however ECU is not exactly an SEC caliber defense. Kentucky brought in several players from the portal with Power 5 experience and will provide a much bigger challenge to Alabama’s offensive line. EJ Crowell and Trae’shawn Brown have transformed the running back room, so talent there is not a concern. The concern is how will the new starting 5 at offensive line respond? If Michael Carroll is out in week 2, Alabama may have issues. Will Sanders and Mal Waldrep have been competing at left guard, so likely both would start at a guard position without Carroll. Carroll and James’ right side of the line was great on Saturday and would take a significant hit without Carroll.

Can Keelon maintain his poise on the road?: This will be Keelon Russell’s first true road game in the SEC. Even Ty struggled in his first road game last season, as the Tide lost to Florida State. Kalen DeBoer led Alabama teams tend to struggle as heavy favorites on the road, lest you forget Vanderbilt. Keelon was cool, calm, and collected at home against ECU. Will that be the same in a hostile Lexington? Alabama’s success will heavily lean on Keelon’s leadership on Saturday.

Make the other man quit: Kane Wommack’s defenses have been great the last two seasons and if week 1 is another indicator, this unit could be special. The collective talent on Alabama’s defense is astounding with the high school retention and transfers brought in. There’s depth at every position and when players get opportunities, they make the most of it. The high effort and energy that has become a standard with Wommack, deteriorates opposing offenses. If Alabama’s offense has a slow start, the defense has the right group of guys to back them up. Look for Alabama’s defense to step up and set the tone in Lexington.

As always, reach out with any questions or comments that you have. If you know of anyone who would like to join, send me their info.

ROLL TIDE! -Jake