Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
ARLINGTON, Texas -- No one wants opening games to be sloppy. Not players, not coaches, not fans. But, almost inevitably, they are. Plenty of Alabama's now-traditional neutral field openers in recent years have fit that bill, including West Virginia last year. There have been exceptions: Clemson most notably, but Michigan, too. Those are the exception, not the rule. And it's not just Alabama. Many highly-ranked teams took a while to shift out of neutral this weekend, unless they were playing opponents so outclassed that they couldn't provide even minimal resistance.
Alabama played a ranked team, the only team in the Top 25 to do so, although to be perfectly frank, if Wisconsin is the third-best team in their conference, it's a league with no more depth than a Texas creek in July. The Crimson Tide quarterback, Jake Coker, was making his first career start. Plenty of freshmen saw action. So there were mistakes. The kickers struggled. There were 11 penalties for 120 yards. Alabama can't do those things later in the year, against SEC competition, but it's not later in the year.
Nick Saban wasn't displeased. His major complaint was the intensity level of the reserves that got into the game in the fourth quarter, which is simultaneously Sabanesque and worrisome for future opponents.
"Work in progress," then, are the words for September, as they usually are. Coker has room for improvement but he certainly showed potential. Saban, even in the post game press conference, still stopped short of declaring Coker the undisputed, permanent No. 1 quarterback but it's hard to imagine that Coker won't get the first call against Middle Tennessee State next week.
Derrick Henry, meanwhile, was his usual huge, fast self, though he seemed to be a much more complete back on Saturday than he was earlier in his career in terms of blocking and catching passes. The explosion in opposing secondaries remained the same. The fact that he only had 13 carries should help down the road, in terms of keeping him fresh. So will the return of Kenyan Drake, who still has some rust but also had some burst.
"Here's where we are," Saban said. "We can take this game and say here's what we did well and here's where we need to improve and then work on those things."
Saban didn't have a comment on punter J.K. Scott's uncharacteristic 36.7 yard average on four points. He gave Adam Griffith, who missed two field goals, another vote of confidence. So it will be interesting to watch the kicking next week.
Saban wasn't asked much about the defense, which probably speaks for itself. Joel Stave, the Wisconsin quarterback, kept finding open receivers in the first half (14 of 16.) That door slammed shut in the second half, with Stave going 12 for 27, much of that coming against the Crimson Tide reserves. Wisconsin never had a running attack of any value in the game. And the defense is probably going to get better, too. So Alabama is going to be a tough out, no matter who they play.
The goal, of course, isn't to be a tough out. It's to be a champion. But no one is a champion in the first two weeks of the season (as was the case for last year's champion, Ohio State.) Teams improve, and what matters is just how much improvement there is. And Alabama showed it has plenty to build -- but plenty to build with.
- See more at: HURT: Alabama under construction, but has material
TideSports.com Columnist
ARLINGTON, Texas -- No one wants opening games to be sloppy. Not players, not coaches, not fans. But, almost inevitably, they are. Plenty of Alabama's now-traditional neutral field openers in recent years have fit that bill, including West Virginia last year. There have been exceptions: Clemson most notably, but Michigan, too. Those are the exception, not the rule. And it's not just Alabama. Many highly-ranked teams took a while to shift out of neutral this weekend, unless they were playing opponents so outclassed that they couldn't provide even minimal resistance.
Alabama played a ranked team, the only team in the Top 25 to do so, although to be perfectly frank, if Wisconsin is the third-best team in their conference, it's a league with no more depth than a Texas creek in July. The Crimson Tide quarterback, Jake Coker, was making his first career start. Plenty of freshmen saw action. So there were mistakes. The kickers struggled. There were 11 penalties for 120 yards. Alabama can't do those things later in the year, against SEC competition, but it's not later in the year.
Nick Saban wasn't displeased. His major complaint was the intensity level of the reserves that got into the game in the fourth quarter, which is simultaneously Sabanesque and worrisome for future opponents.
"Work in progress," then, are the words for September, as they usually are. Coker has room for improvement but he certainly showed potential. Saban, even in the post game press conference, still stopped short of declaring Coker the undisputed, permanent No. 1 quarterback but it's hard to imagine that Coker won't get the first call against Middle Tennessee State next week.
Derrick Henry, meanwhile, was his usual huge, fast self, though he seemed to be a much more complete back on Saturday than he was earlier in his career in terms of blocking and catching passes. The explosion in opposing secondaries remained the same. The fact that he only had 13 carries should help down the road, in terms of keeping him fresh. So will the return of Kenyan Drake, who still has some rust but also had some burst.
"Here's where we are," Saban said. "We can take this game and say here's what we did well and here's where we need to improve and then work on those things."
Saban didn't have a comment on punter J.K. Scott's uncharacteristic 36.7 yard average on four points. He gave Adam Griffith, who missed two field goals, another vote of confidence. So it will be interesting to watch the kicking next week.
Saban wasn't asked much about the defense, which probably speaks for itself. Joel Stave, the Wisconsin quarterback, kept finding open receivers in the first half (14 of 16.) That door slammed shut in the second half, with Stave going 12 for 27, much of that coming against the Crimson Tide reserves. Wisconsin never had a running attack of any value in the game. And the defense is probably going to get better, too. So Alabama is going to be a tough out, no matter who they play.
The goal, of course, isn't to be a tough out. It's to be a champion. But no one is a champion in the first two weeks of the season (as was the case for last year's champion, Ohio State.) Teams improve, and what matters is just how much improvement there is. And Alabama showed it has plenty to build -- but plenty to build with.
- See more at: HURT: Alabama under construction, but has material
