Monday will be a serious moment for student-athletes and coaches at the University of Alabama, in terms of football, but the immediate reaction from the Crimson Tide’s win over Mississippi was not pleasant.
Despite its offense scoring 63 points and not losing a step since Tua Tagovailoa’s departure, Alabama’s defense took several steps back against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss. The crafty offensive mind coached his team to the most points (48) and yards (647) allowed by a Nick Saban defense to an unranked team since the AP Poll era started in 1936. Saban was obviously sick to his stomach in watching the performance, but former players and Tide fans were the ones that expressed the most concern.
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With a matchup versus Georgia this week and having Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and others on the horizon, swift changes must be made on behalf of the defense. In reflecting on Alabama’s third win of the season, yours truly of Touchdown Alabama Magazine highlights five major takeaways from the Tide/Ole Miss contest.
1. Mac Jones should no longer be doubted at quarterback
Mac Jones is on a mission.
Even with Tagovailoa gone, Alabama is more explosive than ever on offense. Jones showcased his talents last year versus Arkansas, Auburn and Michigan, but national media is seeing that the redshirt junior is no joke. He is more than just a placeholder, in fact, Jones looks like an elite signal caller with National Football League potential through three games.
Regardless of wet field conditions, he carried Alabama to a win over Mississippi.
Jones was highly efficient with the football for a third consecutive week; however, he surpassed his own marks in completion percentage.
In his seventh game as a starter, he connected with five different receivers and completed 28 of 32 pass attempts (87.5%) for 417 yards with two touchdowns to no interceptions.
Alabama converted six of seven third downs and scored on seven of eight red zone possessions with Jones.
During the second half, it became a fireworks show between Jones and Matt Corral.
The fourth-year quarterback for the Tide got the edge.
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He leads the Southeastern Conference in completing rating (79.5%), raw quarterback rating (95.9, not adjusted) and yards per pass attempt (13.3). Jones has completed 66 of 83 passes for 1,101 yards with eight touchdowns to one interception.
He has Alabama averaging 51 points per game — most in the Saban era — and he is serious about the Heisman race.
Jones has wanted people to respect him more, and now he is getting it.
2. Brian Robinson emerges as Najee Harris’ complement
Najee Harris had a career performance versus Mississippi that was full of game breaking moments, including a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He posted 206 yards rushing on 23 carries with a career-high five touchdowns.
The senior also totaled three catches for 42 yards.
Harris has placed himself firmly in the Heisman talk and possibly be the first running back taken in the 2021 NFL Draft, but the bigger story is the emergence of Brian Robinson Jr. As a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., he has turned in back-to-back strong outings versus Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
After totaling 60 yards rushing on 10 carries against the Aggies, Robinson delivered some punishment to Mississippi’s defensive front.
He chimed in with 76 yards rushing and one touchdown on 10 attempts.
Robinson had a long run of 18 yards and averaged 7.6 yards per rush.
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Landon Dickerson, Alabama’s center, expressed his disappointment in the run game against Texas A&M and offensive line got things straightened out. The Tide posted 306 yards rushing with seven scores and has a complement to put with Harris.
3. DeVonta Smith still owns Ole Miss’ defensive secondary
Alabama football is truly “Wide Receiver University” or WRU.
Whether it is Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie or DeVonta Smith, one of them (if not all three) is constantly going to produce massive numbers on defenses. Waddle took control in meetings with Missouri and Texas A&M, while Metchie took a moment to introduce himself to the college football world against the Aggies. Smith turned in solid performances in the first two weeks, but he decided to remind people last week on how good he is. He shredded Ole Miss in 2019 for a career-high 11 catches for 274 yards receiving and five touchdowns in a 59-31 victory for Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. In case Mississippi forgot about him, Smith returned with another stellar night on the field. He grabbed a game-high and new career-high 13 passes for 164 yards with one score. The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder averaged 12.6 yards per catch and also collected a 14-yard rushing touchdown as well.
Currently, Smith leads Alabama in receptions with 27.
4. Lane Kiffin will have Ole Miss as a major threat in the SEC
News came from Dylan Moses (Alabama’s middle linebacker) and Nick Saban on Lane Kiffin having the Crimson Tide’s defensive signals committed to memory from his three years at the program.
Although there is much truth to the statement, Kiffin and Ole Miss will be a major threat in the SEC. Most coaches only hope and pray to beat Saban; however, there are very few coaches that truly carry a confidence and believe they can defeat him. Kiffin is one of those talented, but highly confident coaches.
He had a Saban-coached defense confused, lost, out of sync, missing tackles, taking bad angles, and not looking like a team that Alabama fans grew accustomed to watching. After scoring 48 points and racking up 647 total yards, all Kiffin has to do now is recruit defensive players.
This rivalry looks to be heading back to where Hugh Freeze had it from 2014-16.
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All three matchups came down to the wire between Freeze and Saban, with Freeze winning two of them.
5. Time for a change at defensive coordinator for Alabama
Most of the time, I am spot on with things concerning Alabama football.
However, I will also admit when I am wrong and I missed it on Pete Golding.
Everything is not on the fault of the coach, but when players look lost on the field, calls are not being communicated, players are unsure about where to be at, and guys are gambling on plays instead of being sure of themselves… this is a coaching issue.
For a second consecutive season, Alabama has not been functioning on defense. Injuries played a role in it last year, but players are healthy now and the excuses will not cut it. As exciting as it to have an entertaining offense, Crimson Tide football was not built on offense. The game is changing and things have evolved, but when one has a defensive-minded head coach (Saban) and the program has traditionally been about that side of the ball… defense is the lone area fans never want to see take a back seat.
Does the Tide look at promoting Charlie Strong to defensive coordinator?
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Answers to this question remain to be seen. He was hired back in the spring as a defensive analyst.
Strong, 60, has not been a defensive coordinator in this decade to face these offenses. He was a strong head coach at Louisville (2010-13), but his stops at Texas and South Florida were unfruitful.
He did operate an incredible defense at the University of Florida in 2006 and 2008, both of which won a BCS National Championship under Urban Meyer as head coach at the time.
It will be interesting to see what Saban’s move is, but considering a change at coordinator should be an option.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
