The Alabama defense defense has yet to resemble the tradition of the Crimson & White this season.
No game proved that more than Vanderbilt last week, with the Tide surrendering 40 points to a Commodores squad that went into the game as nearly 25-point underdogs.
And according to DC Kane Wommack that may have come from a lack of preparation:
Vanderbilt Did Things Alabama Didn’t Expect
“Some of the plays they had in the first half were things that we had not seen on film before — some things they were doing out of on-ball tight end pictures, off-ball tight end pictures, Wommack said on Monday. “We made some adjustments with our front and some things we were doing with our defensive ends, in terms of assignment responsibility. That helped us out on first and second down. Got them to a number of third-down situations, where we didn’t execute and get off the field…
“…They did a really nice job of holding some things throughout the game, so they would throw new wrinkles in consistently throughout the game, which kept us in a constant pursuit of adjusting to what they were doing. I thought they had a really good game plan in that regard.”
Whatever the case, you can’t boast players like Keon Sabb, Malachi Moore, and perhaps the best LB in the entire nation via Jihaad Campbell and cite the reasoning of not seeing the same things on film that occurred in the game.
Part of coaching is adjusting on the fly, playing to your players’ strengths and correcting deficiencies as they arise.
Alabama was unable to do that through the Vanderbilt game, and the defense nearly lost them a massive lead the week before against the Georgia Bulldogs.
So if Alabama is going to truly make a run and show that last Saturday in Nashville was just a blip on the radar, a fluke, or an outlier, not being prepared because of what was shown on film prior to the game isn’t going to fly.
