Tyler Booker couldn’t shake the feeling he had on the team bus leaving Vanderbilt, so he took out a pen and paper. He’s intentional about how he expresses his emotions. Following a historic loss last Saturday, he wrote about what he was feeling at that moment, and ultimately what’s needed to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It’s dated and titled ‘The Vandy game’,” Booker said. “So whenever I don’t feel like waking up or eating the right things I’ll go back to that list, so that will be my motivation for the next couple of weeks. But I’m focused on South Carolina this week.”
That’s the balance Alabama’s trying to strike this week: continuing to deal with the fallout of their shocking 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt while focusing on South Carolina this Saturday. DeBoer said that players, unlike others on the outside, can’t afford to let losses linger longer than 24 hours. But it’s clear that the sting from last Saturday’s defeat is still reverberating in one way or another.
The majority of the discourse this week has been analyzing, reflecting and reacting to what was on display last weekend, from the defense’s collapse over the last six quarters dating back to the Georgia game, to Malachi Moore’s late-game outburst, to the offense’s efficiency and more.
Meanwhile, South Carolina awaits with a defensive front that will challenge Alabama’s offense and an offensive commitment to running the ball, an area where Alabama’s defense has struggled. The chance to rectify last week’s mistakes can’t get here soon enough.
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A fast start is critical on Saturday. With an 11 a.m. kickoff, Alabama will need to establish momentum early on to get the crowd energized. That was something it failed to do last week at Vanderbilt in a different type of subdued environment: a 28,000 capacity FirstBank stadium that’s currently under construction.
These moments haven’t come often for Kalen DeBoer, who holds a 108-13 record as a head coach. He’s 6-2 in weeks following a loss with an average margin of victory of 19.6 points. He’s only lost back-to-back games twice in his career: at Fresno State in 2020 and Washington in 2022.
That year in Washington, back-to-back losses led to a seven-game winning streak to end the season and an 11-2 record. Losses that are few and far between are something he and Alabama’s program have in common. Players say there’s been an emphasis on responding in the right way.
“Just making sure everybody’s uplifted and not letting Vandy beat us twice,” defensive lineman Tim Smith said.
As for DeBoer’s demeanor, Smith said there’s been a noticeable difference this week.
“His demeanor definitely has changed,” Smith said. “You all have seen and spoken to DeBoer. He is a nice dude, but since everything that has happened, he has buckled down in the last few days. I love it. I am here for it, and it is interesting to see him break in that shell. We are going to get everything we want accomplished.”
Injury updates
Alabama’s wide receiver corps was shorthanded last Saturday when Kendrick Law (lower body injury) missed the game and Kobe Prentice exited after sustaining an upper body hit from two defenders on a play that was initially flagged for targeting but reversed upon review. On Wednesday, neither player was full-go in practice but have a positive overall prognosis.
“Both of them are out here going through workouts,” DeBoer said. “On track like we thought they should be, making progress toward the weekend. Wouldn’t say that they’re full-go yet, but they’re on pace as we had hoped. So getting some work in, some individual and some team work there too, so it’s progressing along and they’re doing a good job.”
Alabama’s receiver snap count against Vanderbilt, excluding Prentice, went as follows: Germie Bernard (45), Ryan Williams (43), Cole Adams (16), Emmanuel Henderson (5), Caleb Odom (5). Adams is still recovering from his arm injury, sporting a large brace since the injury occurred.
Down to just two receivers who carry a heavy load in Bernard and Williams, it will be interesting to see how Alabama’s passing offense adjusts this weekend. Henderson seems in line for a much larger role. He hauled in a long catch in the opening drive against Georgia last week and has steadily impressed the new coaching staff since its arrival.
Elsewhere on offense, starting guard Jaeden Roberts is dealing with a few injuries that are holding his workload back. He had hand surgery just before the season, but on Wednesday position coach Chris Kapilovic revealed that he’s playing through other pain as well.
Transfer Geno VanDeMark has been rotating with Roberts on the right side, logging 22 snaps to Roberts’ 24 last Saturday.
“He’s in pain on a daily basis. ” Kapilovic said of Roberts. “You don’t have to be a doctor to see that when you’re watching him move around. He’s playing through some things that I don’t know most people would. We know we’ve got to give him … a series here and there just to kind of let his body feel a little better. Take a breath and go. He’s good with it. We kind of work together: ‘How are you feeling? What do we need to do here?’”
On the defensive side, outside linebacker Yhonzae Pierre posted a photo to his Instagram story from what appeared to be a hospital bed on Tuesday. DeBoer said he will miss Saturday’s game with a wait-and-see approach afterward. Pierre, a redshirt freshman, started earning spot snaps against Wisconsin and earned some praise for how he’s developed.
“Yhonzae will not be with us this weekend, just with his injury,” DeBoer said. “Actually didn’t have the information until later yesterday afternoon on exactly where that stood, so I’m expecting him to be out for this weekend, but we’ll see after that.”
Picking up the defensive pace
Alabama’s defense is searching for answers on Saturday. A unit that was dominant in the first half against Georgia has surrendered 67 points, 784 yards and allowed third down conversions at a 54 percent clip in the last six quarters. In the ongoing process of making weekly adjustments, players have universally pointed to one thing that could help: getting the play calls in sooner.
“I just think sometimes, we get the call in a little late,” Moore said. “It gives us a little anxiety of not knowing what the offense is going to run or adjusting to their formations. Coach (Wommack), that kind of was his style of calling, wanting to put us in the perfect position.
“We feel like if we just get the call in just a little bit quicker, it gives us time to line up and go with the man in front of us.”
To Moore’s point, there have been multiple instances this season where poor communication pre-snap and players subsequently being out of position has led to positive plays by the other team. In the two snapshots below from Vanderbilt and Wisconsin, players have shown signs of struggling to get properly aligned at times.
South Carolina likes to play with some pace, ranking 24th nationally in plays per game (73.6). Against Vanderbilt, Alabama’s defense played on its heels a good amount. The adjustments, or lack thereof, will be a leading storyline on Saturday. According to Moore, there’s been an appropriate level of accountability on all fronts.
“Coach (Wommack), he’s been doing a great job of coming in and taking accountability on his part,” Moore said. “The coaches and the players too. I think everybody is being very accountable for what happened Saturday and definitely working very hard to never let it happen again.”
Tracking the run game and time of possession
On paper, Alabama’s run game is operating at a high level. The Tide offense is generating 194.8 rushing yards per game and the trio of Jam Miller (8.2 yards per carry), Justice Haynes (7.2) and Jalen Milroe (4.8) all boast impressive yards per carry averages. But other numbers indicate that there could or should be more balance to help both sides of the ball.
Alabama only ran the ball on back-to-back instances four times against Vanderbilt. Miller and Haynes have had double-digit carries just one time each in Alabama’s five games (both against South Florida). Factor in that Alabama’s explosive nature limits the amount of offensive plays it runs week-to-week and the defense’s recent third-down struggles, and the result is an offense that ranks 108th nationally in average time of possession (27 minutes, 35 seconds).
“We were playing a little bit of catch-up throughout the game so we didn’t have as many opportunities to run the football as maybe we were anticipating,” offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said. “I do think there were some moments where we ran the ball well. Jam had some good runs. Justice had some good runs. It just kind of was the course of the game and how it was going. I think that’s a point of emphasis to be more efficient and effective at running the football.”
Time of possession will be a key factor on Saturday as well going against a South Carolina team led by quarterback LaNorris Sellers, a dynamic runner. Alabama’s offense still scored 35 points on 46 plays in under 18 minutes against Vanderbilt. Overall, that side of the ball is not the issue. Still, Sheridan and Booker pointed out that their non-successful drives on Saturday could’ve been the difference by holding the ball longer and winning the game.
Avoiding an early deficit, and then feeding a run game that’s been very effective in limited chances is key on Saturday. And it might need to be the top priority given the injury questions at wide receiver.
“I think at the end of the day you want to be in control of the game,” Sheridan said. “If you score fast, that’s part of it. We’re not going to stop the guys from doing that. We’ve had a lot of short scoring drives this season which sometimes can sway the clock one way or the other but I certainly think you want to be in control of the game and able to execute and get first downs.”
Photo of Jam Miller: Carly Mackler / Getty Images
