The first half of Alabama and Western Kentucky is officially complete and despite the lopsided score of 42-0 the game left a good bit for fans to chew on during the breakthrough of Kalen DeBoer’s first game as the new head coach.
Here are a few of the major takeaways from the first half of play:
Elijah Pritchett steps in for Kadyn Proctor and issues from the group remain
After transferring back to Alabama in the spring, Kadyn Proctor’s return was put on hold after suffering a pregame injury in warmups and did not see the field in the first half. Stepping in for Proctor was Elijah Pritchett who spent all of fall camp in a battle for the right tackle spot with Wilkin Formby.
Pritchett’s play remained a bit inconsistent, and so was the group’s play early on.
At times the front of Pritchett, Tyler Booker, Parker Brailsford, Jaeden Roberts and Formby appeared dominant, particularly in the run game. When things were right they went very right in the form of a Jam Miller touchdown and providing Jalen Milroe the time to connect deep.
But at other points penalties and missed assignments came up a bit too often.
Keon Sabb is here and made his presence felt
Turnovers were a point of emphasis for Alabama coming into the game and Michigan transfer Keon Sabb made sure to take the point to heart.
Sabb intercepted Western Kentucky quarterback T.J. Finely twice in the first quarter of play helping set up the Crimson Tide’s offense for both of its first scoring plays of the half.
In a secondary that saw both starting safeties Jaylen Key and Caleb Downs leave the program, Sabb has been more than a bandaid early on for Kane Wommack’s defense.
Ryan Williams gives fans a glimpse of his talent bringing down a pair of big touchdowns in his debut
There was a ton of buzz about wide receiver Ryan Williams coming into the season and the freshman was able to show just a sliver of his talent.
Near the end of the first quarter, Milroe connected with Williams on an 84-yard touchdown to extend Alabama’s lead to 21 at the time.
Williams didn’t see another pass until under the two-minute mark in the second quarter when Milroe went back to him for a 34-yard touchdown where he broke through a Hilltopper tackle.
DeBoer shared earlier in the week that the Crimson Tide would possibly play up to 7 wide receivers on the day, but if Williams continues to flash plays like those, he may take a few more reps in the rotation moving forward.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
