Alabama football’s defense held East Carolina to 10 points last Saturday, but defensive coordinator Kane Wommack took the blame for the defensive breakdown that led to East Carolina’s only touchdown of the game.
East Carolina quarterback Mitch Griffis found wide receiver Tyler Johnson for a 68-yard gain, setting up a passing touchdown from Griffis to wide receiver Jeremiah Melvin at the goal line.
This was the only touchdown Alabama allowed on Saturday, and Wommack provided an in-depth explanation of why the breakdown occurred.
“We did have a miscommunication piece on the opposite side of the ball when we’re in that coverage,” Wommack said. “The ball was in the middle of the field, and they were going tempo. They got to an empty play. I could of put us in a better situation there. I could of put us probably in a better call to start with. Ideally, when they’re running four verticals down the field, you want to get a reroute on that number two receiver. We did not get a reroute, so now all of a sudden, he’s running down the seam quickly. There was a communication that should have been made on the back end with our middle third player, who when they come out in that formation, we say hey, there’s the threat of being able to run four verticals here, and that did not happen. So, we kind of lost the middle presence of the defense in that regard. Both Bray [Hubbard] and Zabien [Brown], between the two of them, we got to do a better job of holding off that seam in the hook drop and then creating more overlap in the defense as well. A number of things broke down including that I could have put them in a better situation there.”
Wommack believes future opponents will test Alabama on similar concepts, so he plans to address the issue in practice this week.
“It’s something that we will make sure we address because whatever you put on tape, you’re going to see it again,” Wommack said.
The defense played a strong game overall. The Crimson Tide held the Pirates to 162 total yards. The Pirates threw for 160 yards and ran for two yards, meaning they averaged less than a yard per carry.
Alabama will play at Kentucky this Saturday. The game is set to air on ABC and start at 2:30 p.m. CT.
