Hello and Roll Tide!

Alabama defeated South Carolina 49-17 behind a thunderous crowd in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. The Tide followed up a 50 point game with a 7-touchdown performance as this offense is coming into form. Keelon Russell is an emerging super-star; all of his skills were on display. It is a tough loss for SC’s head coach Shane Beamer whose seat continues to get hotter. Meanwhile, Kalen DeBoer improves his home record at Alabama to 17-1. Below are injury updates, depth notes, a South Carolina Recap, and Week 4 storylines revisited. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

  • Left Guard Will Sanders exited the game with an injury. Kalen said he expects him to be available on Saturday
  • Right Tackle Jayvin James was injured during the game, needing help off of the field. Kalen said it is a lower-extremity injury and Jayvin is QUESTIONABLE right now
  • Justin Hill and Dez Zulu missed the South Carolina game and will likely be OUT again vs Mississippi State
  • Bray Hubbard exited the game on Saturday, but after a brief visit to the locker room, he finished out the contest

Depth Notes:

  • Daniel Hill played almost half of the offensive snaps (28) compared to Trae’shawn Brown (11), EJ Crowell (9), and Kevin Riley (8)
  • Ryan Coleman-Williams and Rico Scott continue to dominate wide receiver snaps, each playing 50 (84.7%) on Saturday
  • Mal Waldrep replaced an injured Will Sanders at left guard
  • Tyrell Miller replaced an injured Jayvin James at right tackle
  • Devan Thompkins moved to the EDGE for most of his snaps since Dez Zulu was not available
  • London Simmons was heavily involved on the defensive line, playing 52% of snaps
  • Freshman Xavier Griffin played 25 snaps (33%) at WOLF, adding depth for injured Justin Hill

Week 4 Recap: South Carolina

Offense: Alabama’s offense has been ramping up the past few weeks scoring 45 against Kentucky, 50 against Florida State, and now 49 against South Carolina. The two keys to their success have been Keelon Russell’s emergence and a complimentary run game. Keelon was fantastic on Saturday night. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards with 4 touchdowns. His deep ball accuracy was perfect, completing 5 passes that went over 30-yards. Alabama’s second drive of the game was a 1-play, 75 yard drive where Keelon found Lotzeir Brooks deep downfield for the huge play. Ryan Coleman-Williams had another productive night, catching 5 passes for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns. Good things happen when RCW gets the ball, as he continues to rack up yards after the catch. The tight ends got involved in the passing game: #9 Marshall Pritchett caught 2 passes for 60 yards; #81 Kaleb Edwards caught 4 passes for 44 yards; #40 Josh Ford hauled in a acrobatic 3-yard touchdown catch late in the 2nd quarter. The offensive line blocked very well in this game. Many of Keelon’s big plays came inside a clean pocket. He also showed good instincts, sliding after big gains. Even losing Jayvin James and Will Sanders, Alabama’s line continued to operate well against an SC front with NFL talent. Keelon added 8 rushes for 35 yards and a touchdown. His pocket awareness was impressive. He escaped at seemingly the right time in most pressure situations. Alabama’s running backs supported the passing attack by adding 22 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. #13 EJ Crowell was efficient, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. Grubb continues to get EJ the ball in open space either via the jet-sweep or toss. His acceleration allows him to beat defenders to the EDGE and find open grass. EJ showed off that speed in the 2nd quarter when he broke 3 tackles and gained 39-yards. Michael Carroll pulled from right guard and Josh Ford went in motion to create an opening for EJ. Alabama’s offense has been on fire, and it’s a joy to watch.

Defense: Bama’s defense was relentless on Saturday, making life difficult for South Carolina’s quarterback LaNorris Sellers. While they only recorded 1 sack, the defensive line constantly pressured Sellers, forcing him to operate in an uncomfortable pocket. #1 Devan Thompkins wrecks the offensive line regardless of if he lines up inside or outside. Since Thompkins took more snaps on the outside, #90 London Simmons got more snaps inside, and was very effective. In the 3rd quarter, Thomkins and Simmons collectively shoved the left side of the line backwards, tackling the RB behind the line of scrimmage. On the same drive, Simmons drove the left guard backwards into LaNorris Sellers, and Yhonzae Pierre was there to record the sack. #99 Terrence Green is another huge presence on the line. This unit has been very effective for Alabama. Behind them, the linebackers were very busy on Saturday. Luke Metz and Caleb Woodson led the team with 13 and 12 tackles respectably. The linebackers’ job was difficult as they had to account for LaNorris’ legs. A result of the defensive line disrupting the pocket was LaNorris taking off and running. Metz and Woodson did a good job containing Sellers. While Alabama effectively disrupted the passer, they did allow a lot of success on the ground to Gamecock running backs. SC’s leading rusher was Matt Fuller who rushed 19 times for 112 yards (5.9 avg). Granted, 56 of those yards came on the first play of the game. Alabama’s defense needs to clean up the big plays. They play sound defense most of the time, but continue to see multiple 20+ yard plays allowed each game. In the secondary, #5 Dijon Lee struggled again. Late in the 2nd quarter, Lee fouled Nyck Harbour and fell down, leaving him wide-open for a 41-yard touchdown. That is two weeks in a row that Lee’s found himself on the ground leaving a receiver open for a touchdown. Opposite him, #2 Zabien Brown continues to be a lockdown corner. In the 1st, Sellers delivered a great ball down the middle to a receiver for what would have been a 20+ yard gain, but Zabien punished the receiver with a huge hit, breaking up the pass. When opposing teams target Brown, they often come up with nothing. Keeping with the secondary, #6 Red Morgan played a fantastic game. On top of his 8 tackles, Red Morgan jumped an out-route, intercepting Sellers for a 26-yard pick-6. Morgan has recorded an interception in two consecutive contests. Red is playing so well in his 3rd year that we might hear his name called on draft night in April.

Special Teams: Conor Talty did not attempt any field goals, but made all 7 PATs. Alex Asparuhov punted 5 times averaging 43.4 yards per punt. Dijon Lee averaged 27.5 yards per return on two kickoff returns. Ryan Coleman-Williams had an impressive punt return early in the 3rd quarter, making several defenders miss while picking up 17 yards.

Week 4 Storylines Revisited:

Be ready from the jump – Once again, the Tide’s first offensive possession resulted in a 3-and-out. But that was it, as Alabama ripped off 4 consecutive touchdown drives. Alabama started so hot, that they got out to a 35-3 lead over South Carolina. This offense is lethal and only needed one mulligan before catching fire. This is a positive sign as Alabama starts a stretch of 3 ranked SEC games in a row.

Set the EDGE – Alabama was successful in setting the EDGE on pass attempts, but could clean up their efforts in the run game. Between Devan Thompkins moving over to BANDIT and Xavier Griffin adding depth at WOLF, the Tide did a good job of replacing snaps from the injuries to Dez Zulu and Justin Hill.

Run Forest, Run! – While not as productive as the Florida State game, Alabama put up a respectable 124 yards on the ground. They didn’t need to run the ball while Keelon passed for 365 yards in the air. The offensive line and tight ends were great in run support. Alabama’s run game should continue to be a compliment to the offense moving forward.

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Roll Tide -Jake