The similarities between last week’s loss to Vanderbilt and this game, a narrow victory over South Carolina, were starting to be too much to consider – right up to the point that the Bama defense, still reeling from its visit to Nashville, did this week what it could not do seven days earlier: After failing to cover the Gamecocks’ desperation onside kick attempt, the Crimson Tide defense stoned the USC offense outside of field goal range and intercepted a pass as the clock ran out to preserve the victory.
This game won’t be part of any best-of compilations; it won’t move the needle at a school where games that award trophies are the norm and most people were expecting a multi-score Alabama margin of victory in the first place. But for a team that had found itself embarrassed on a national stage a week prior, then saw a former starter on defensive line quit mid-week, then endured a mountain of postmortems and the shoveling of dirt onto its casket by analysts and fans alike, there’s an old adage that holds true: Better to almost lose than almost win.
Unlike last week, when Bama’s offense could seemingly put up whatever numbers it wanted to while the defense was scorched over and over like July 4th charcoal, it was the offense that couldn’t find its rhythm against South Carolina. Its quarterback sputtering, its offensive line starting to leak oil, and its running game erratic, Alabama would have to count on its defense to get one desperate stop. And in a finish almost identical to the one against Georgia, Bama got just enough of what it needed from its secondary to seal the deal.
In doing so, this game went onto the pile of recent college football matchups that were probably highly entertaining to a neutral observer, but were maddening enough to drive the fans of the actual participating teams to heavy drinking. On top of that, Alabama fans were trying to accurately gauge just what kind of team they really have in 2024, and didn’t yet have the benefit of the finish of the Vanderbilt-Kentucky game to help provide the perspective on the quality of last week’s loss relative to whatever standard they were trying to judge against. The same questions that applied to Alabama before this game apply to it now: Is this team capable of doing big things?
Frankly, if Saturday’s win over South Carolina proves to have any relevance going forward as a measuring stick, the answer is cloudy at best. Alabama might be able to survive a struggling defense, but it can’t do it with an offense that isn’t playing its best every week. The real questions to answer, coming out of this game, are whether the issues that have emerged in the running game over the last three weeks fixable, to go along with whether Alabama can clean up its run defense, which has pushed the boundaries of adequacy the last two games.
The other question, a much broader one, is whether this is the new normal for Alabama football, and for college football in general. Blame it on NIL, the transfer portal, an emergent player discipline and empowerment change in the landscape that sees coaches’ influence diminished – whatever you want to attribute it to – the days of joyless murderball seem likely to be over, at least here, and at least for a couple of years while the program resets. While pondering that, Alabama fans also should probably examine Kalen DeBoer’s 2023 Washington results: After beating four mediocre teams by an average of 32.8 points per game to open the season, the Huskies then won by 7, 3, 8, 9, 10, 7, 2, 3, 3 and 6 points in their next 10 games. Included in that second set were extremely close wins over Oregon State (22-20) and rival Washington State (24-21), a pair of programs that weren’t nearly on the Huskies’ level.
Translation: Fans might have to be content with the final results and not just look beyond style points, but forget they exist entirely.
So where does South Carolina fit in all this?
The Gamecocks have now lost to SEC bluebloods twice in 2024 (LSU and Alabama) by less than a touchdown in a game they either led late or had the chance to take the lead at game’s end. There’s little doubt, after watching them in person, that the defensive turnaround in Columbia has been substantial, and that South Carolina has prime-talent players at several positions, not the least of which is its edge rushers. The Gamecocks just don’t have enough of those players – yet.
But this was also a Gamecock team that probably shouldn’t have challenged Alabama through the air the way it did. Starting QB LaNorris Sellers came into the game with unimpressive passing stats, but put up decent enough numbers to have his team in it at the end. Alabama should be thankful that Sellers doesn’t quite have an instinctive feel for edge pocket pressure just yet, and that his footwork still betrays him a bit when the chips are down, such as the missed 2-point conversion play and the final interception. This was probably the most mediocre skill talent Alabama will see from conference teams the rest of the way in, and the Crimson Tide was a long way from shutting them down today.
But in the spirit of almost losing rather than almost winning, this win stopped the bleeding at one game, and gives Alabama hope that it can pull back to the top levels of the SEC race with a win in Knoxville next Saturday. Vanderbilt’s win over Kentucky also may have silenced some of the loudest critics who defaulted to “it’s Vandy” rather than look more closely at how that team is currently constructed. In a year where transition is happening on a daily basis, DeBoer will probably take any positives he can find, whether they come against a bottom-half SEC opponent or not.
Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-South Carolina:
1. Bama forced USC’s hand with pressure. Was it due to the Gamecock OL, or is Alabama finding something? The Crimson Tide recorded 7 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 3 QB hurries and broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage. It also forced 4 turnovers, including 3 fumbles. This was the antithesis of the Vanderbilt effort, where Alabama seemed to win the scoresheet at times, holding the Commodore running game to mediocre production, but couldn’t get off the field. In the first half, Bama didn’t allow a single third-down conversion, although South Carolina’s first drive of the second half saw the Gamecocks convert 5-of-5 chances on third down and take the lead. In the end, this is closer to what Bama wants from the 4-2-5 Swarm system – a high number of negative-critical outcomes for the opponent’s offense, but there’s still a lot to clean up otherwise. The added pressure against South Carolina, though, was welcomed. Now the big question: Was this a function of (needed) changes on the Alabama side, or was it due to the fact that South Carolina came into the game ranked dead last in the nation in both sacks allowed and tackles for loss allowed? We suspect it was a bit of both. Alabama used different personnel packages today from what was seen last week, in particular its double-Bandit look with Jordan Renaud on the field at DE opposite either Jah-Marien Latham or L.T. Overton. Bama also used a true 4-3 alignment, 3-3-5 alignment and appeared more tactical, for lack of a better way to state it, with its substitutions, especially up front. And then there were the last three snaps of the game, where Alabama brought overload pressure and kept South Carolina out of field goal range. It was far from a perfect day, but a defensive effort on the level of this one probably wins the game the week before. There is still much to correct, however, such as …
2. ILB play spotty for a second straight week, although Jefferson’s return was felt. Alabama was able to change up some looks by using Justin Jefferson on the field along with Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell, but for a second straight week, ILB gap execution was substandard and it made the defensive line look far worse than it actually was. It’s almost as if Bama’s inside backers are freestyling rather than hitting assignments consistently, and against a team with better QB play, or more dynamic running backs or better interior OL – or the combination of all three, which Alabama will see at least 2-3 times down the stretch – this is going to be a problem. Bad tackle angles were also an issue at times, allowing Raheim Sanders to work the cutback lanes to great effect on multiple occasions. Alabama also needed better supportive containment against Sellers than it got, although Sellers is a dynamic athlete and is going to get his yardage against most defenses. To be frank, Jefferson looked like the best ILB Alabama had on the field, which is good for Jefferson but shouldn’t be the case given what Bama was expecting to get from Lawson and Campbell. Offenses have found they can exploit the middle of the Bama defense.
3. This was on the way to being Milroe’s worst game as a starter until late. How much of it was an OL issue? The intentional grounding from the Bama end zone in the second quarter was one of Milroe’s five worst career lowlights to date, simply a play that cannot be made in any situation against any opponent. Things were already going sideways for him, however. South Carolina did a reasonably good job of taking away the QB power runs, or at least limiting them, but the bigger issue was how Milroe responded to pressure between the tackles. Alabama hadn’t played a team yet in 2024 with edge rushers like the Gamecocks have, and it showed; Kyle Kennard had 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks, although Bama kept Dylan Stewart off the stat sheet. Overall the Tide OL gave up 9 tackles for loss and 4 sacks, but Milroe magnified the problem in the middle quarters by reverting to some old habits of holding the ball too long and dropping his eyes. The late touchdown pass to Germie Bernard – although one Bernard probably should have sat on where he caught it, so that Alabama could run the clock out there – helped bolster the stat sheet but it was also a good read and throw in a clutch situation. Perhaps it’s a function of how many times thus far that Alabama has had to lean on Milroe to win, and when he doesn’t have his A-game, it’s a force multiplier for Alabama’s demons. Either way, he faces an even better defense next week, and can’t afford a repeat of this performance.
4. Suddenly, Alabama isn’t getting explosive plays from its RBs. Jam Miller led all Tide rushers with just 42 yards on 12 carries (3.5 avg.) today, but probably his most critical play was eating a killshot from a defensive end that sprung Milroe on an option run off the left B-gap. Justice Haynes continues to struggle; while he did score once on a nice run in the red zone, he was ineffective elsewhere. This is the third week in a row that Alabama’s running backs have failed to make a significant contribution on the stat sheet. Going back to point No. 3, Alabama needs to do a better job managing the hits Jalen Milroe takes, and that is done largely by getting the backs more involved in the running game. It might be time to give Richard Young a look, but there are other issues in play – RG Jaeden Roberts is far from 100-percent healthy, for instance – and Miller in particular appears to give plus-effort on plays. But this is now moving from being a slump to a trend, and it’s one Alabama can ill afford to maintain much longer. The offense depends on the running backs being a consistent threat, to say nothing of how that plays into Milroe’s ability to make explosive plays downfield in the passing game, and Bama just isn’t getting that right now.
5. There are issues galore on defense; today, at least, CB play was not one of them. The bust on South Carolina’s second-quarter touchdown came after Domani Jackson was hurt and and Zavier Mincey, who has played not much at all at cornerback this season, was being asked to man the spot. Jackson ultimately returned to the game and made the game-saving interception as time ran out, but it was the play that knocked him out of the game in the first place that has been indicative of what he has brought to the defense. (Side note: For those complaining about Jackson bringing the ball out of the end zone – had he not, he would have been relying on officials to correctly administer the rule of carried momentum, with 2 points on the line had they not; Jackson made was the right decision.) Jackson has been a surprising physical presence, both in edge run support and the way he attacks wide receiver screens. He’s been essentially a no-go option for opposing offenses. Jaylen Mbakwe also played well in this game, as did Zabien Brown and DaShawn Jones. Alabama has become vulnerable over the middle of the field the last couple of weeks, but the outside defense is usually well-leveraged and that’s not where teams are hurting Alabama. The touchdown throw to Nyck Harbor in the 4th quarter was one of those perfect passes, perfectly placed, to a receiver who is 6’5” and 235 pounds working on a CB; we can forgive that. The point is, for the most part in 2024, the concern over CB play hasn’t developed into a real problem. Perhaps Tennessee will find a way to do it, but South Carolina did not.
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN