Alabama football has been the most inconsistent team in the collegiate game this year, and that is putting it lightly.
Kalen DeBoer inherited one of the most talented rosters in the sports, but the Crimson Tide has three losses on its regular season schedule that is probably should not have. The postseason dream of playing for a Southeastern Conference Championship is dead and hopes of getting into the College Football Playoff are on life support. Alabama had an opportunity to handle business versus Oklahoma last week at Memorial Stadium (Norman, Okla.), but it failed. The Tide suffered a 3-24 loss on a night where the Sooners dominated the trenches on both sides and Alabama had too many self-inflicted mistakes. Alabama fans and media alike are wondering what is truly wrong with this team. Why can’t this version of the Tide turn the corner and be consistently good?
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Greg McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback, offered insight this week in his Always College Football podcast.
The 2009 BCS National Champion said Oklahoma ‘exposed an obvious Achilles heel’ of the Crimson Tide.
Oklahoma’s win over Alabama showed that the Tide have an obvious Achilles heel…
“The game felt eerily similar to what Vanderbilt did.” – @GregMcElroy #RollTide pic.twitter.com/klICH0zNwp
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) November 25, 2024
“Alabama has a pretty obvious Achilles heel,” McElroy said. “Here is how you play them. You play keep away. You keep their offense off the field. You get out to an early lead, they’ll probably get a little impatient, and they’ll probably get a little one-dimensional. If you looked at the game plan that Oklahoma used, the game felt eerily similar to what Vanderbilt did several weeks ago against Alabama. The amount that Alabama has, and that fact they felt they were constantly playing from behind, it was a very uncomfortable situation to be in. So Alabama’s offense, while Milroe deserves to shoulder some of the blame for sure, he was not alone in the subpar performance. As far as Alabama’s defense is concerned, massive time of possession advantage in favor of Oklahoma in the first 30 minutes. Then in the second half, Alabama’s defense made adjustments but at that point it was already in a position because of the turnovers by Alabama’s offense, they weren’t going to likely be in a position to be super successful.”
McElroy is correct. The Oklahoma game for Alabama felt like the Vandy matchup. Vanderbilt owned time of possession, played keep away, and cashed in on Alabama’s mistakes. The Crimson Tide panicked and made more mistakes in a 35-40 loss.
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Oklahoma did the same thing and earned its biggest win of the season.
Alabama has to come with the execution, focus, discipline, and energy on Saturday or Auburn will win the Iron Bowl.
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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.
