Alabama’s defense has been a conversation for every college football consumer since the second half of the Georgia game.
Fans, local media, and national media cannot help but to be concerned with the issues it is seeing from the Crimson Tide.
RELATED: ESPN College Football analyst says Alabama’s defense needs ‘significant improvement’ to be a CFP contender
Roman Harper, a former Alabama safety, is an ESPN analyst for SEC Network.
He broke down with Cole Cubelic the most glaring problem the Tide must fix defensively.
Harper pulled up the fourth down and nine that South Carolina converted on Alabama last week for a touchdown. He said lack of communication and eye discipline in the Tide’s pre-snap defense led to the score. Malachi Moore, a fifth-year senior, did not have the right eye discipline on the play and communication did not happen.
Moore was asked to do too much in Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt.
The communication was not coming in fast enough from Kane Wommack, Alabama’s defensive coordinator. This led to Moore having to walk down from his strong safety position to give the call to the linebackers. The linebackers looked so lost on plays that is caused Moore to have the meltdown he had late in the fourth quarter against the Commodores. Everything starts with Wommack getting the call in quickly so that it can be made across the defense. Alabama has to be better in eye discipline and communication.
A lot of folks have been talking about the defense of @AlabamaFTBL So @colecubelic and I broke it all down and why @GamecockFB was able to convert on 4th&9 and why EYES 👀 and pre-snap communication are vital to cleaning up these issues #read&react #sec #secfootball pic.twitter.com/NUeAEuKafo
— Roman Harper (@Harp41) October 15, 2024
Kalen DeBoer and the Tide earned a 27-25 win over the Gamecocks, but it could have been worse.
It will face more hostile environments, starting with Tennessee this weekend at Neyland Stadium.
RELATED: How does Alabama’s secondary stack up against Tennessee receiving core?
Alabama also has LSU and Oklahoma on the road too. If it wants to be a true contender for a conference championship and advance to the College Football Playoff, communication on defense must improve. Players have to talk more on the field to put the team in a better position to be successful. Wommack has to start the communication by getting the call in faster.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
