Alabama
Is Alabama football defense outperforming expectations under Kalen DeBoer?
With returning starters all through the middle of the Alabama football defense − at defensive tackle, inside linebacker and safety − stopping the run figured to be a strength of the 2024 Crimson Tide. Meanwhile, Alabama entered the season green with inexperience at cornerback and at the pass rush edge, suggesting that growing pains were inevitable in pass defense.
It’s been much the opposite through three games.
Part of the reason, certainly, is that the quarterbacks the Crimson Tide has faced to date aren’t exactly dynamic passers. Western Kentucky’s TJ Finley has been pedestrian at best in his career against tough competition, South Florida’s Byrum Brown was more effective as a runner against UA, and Wisconsin starter Tyler Van Dyke barely played against Alabama due to a first-quarter knee injury.
Still, UA defensive coordinator Kane Wommack is excited by what he’s seen from his cornerbacks, led by starters Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown.
“In the last two games, we’ve had over 100 snaps of man coverage, and on the outside in man coverage our corners have only given up two catches for 24 yards. So (I’m) really pleased by the consistency we’re seeing from some of those young players on the outside,” Wommack said. “I think we’ve been fairly sticky in coverage. I think we’re denying some of the easy-access throws, and at the same time, we’ve been able to limit some of the explosive plays downfield.”
GOODBREAD: How DeBoer differs from Saban on game day
NOT JUST YET: Much of Alabama offense won’t be installed in 2024
Wommack sees more issues with the run defense. Wisconsin rushed for 149 yards and its top back, Chez Mellusi, averaged six yards per carry against the Crimson Tide. Up next for Alabama, of course, is a foe that can absolutely gash defenses with the run: Georgia. With Trevor Etienne averaging 6.5 yards per carry as a highly-talented transfer from Florida, the Bulldogs will check for soft spots in Alabama’s run defense early and often on Sept. 28.
“I still think there’s some things we’re not doing well enough in the run game right now. I think we’ve got to continue to work in cleaning up some of our fundamentals and techniques,” Wommack added. “I also think schematically, when we call some of our pressures, we have not executed those things well enough up front.”
Etc.
A week ago, it was noted here that Alabama very much needed sophomore left tackle Kadyn Proctor to be in peak form coming off a shoulder injury in his season debut at Wisconsin. The outcome? He delivered exactly that. Over 46 snaps, his pass protection allowed no sacks, no hurries and no hits on QB Jalen Milroe. He wasn’t penalized once, and he turned in the fifth-best run-blocking grade of his 15-game career, per Pro Football Focus. … Former Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram spoke to the Crimson Tide on Friday night before UA’s road game at Wisconsin. Ingram was in Madison as part of FOX Sports’ broadcast team. He also spoke to the team in Tuscaloosa in August.
Around the SEC
After Wake Forest bought its way out of a Sept. 13, 2025, road game at Ole Miss last week, Rebels coach Lane Kiffin understandably criticized the move. But his lament about how difficult it will be to find a replacement opponent on short notice rings hollow. In fact, there’s an easy option within a bus drive of Oxford that would eagerly sign up: Southern Miss needs a game for Sept. 13 next year, too. … The Billy Napier Death March moves to Starkville this week. Does it end there? If Florida drops its third September loss to a Mississippi State team that just got drummed at home by Toledo, Gator fans will be incensed. Then again, interim coach stints are designed to last a messy few weeks, not a messy three months. And this early in the season, getting an early start on a job search is overrated as an advantage. … Imagine it’s your school’s first league game as a new member of the SEC. You’re 3-0. You’ve got ESPN’s “College GameDay” coming to town. And you (Oklahoma) get blasted at home by one of your own favorite sons (Tennessee coach Josh Heupel). It could easily happen Saturday. … SEC Spread Pick of the Week: Needing to get even for the season, this week’s pick advises the under on the Florida-MSU total (58.5). Season ATS: 1-2 (.333). All-time ATS: 22-6-1 (.776).
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
Welcome to BamaCentral’s “Just a Minute,” a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI’s beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.
Watch the above video as BamaCentral baseball beat reporter Theodore Fernandez reflects on the first two months of Alabama baseball’s season and explains why the team has left much to be desired despite success on the field.
At face value, this has been a successful campaign for Alabama baseball. Entering the final four weeks of the regular season, a Crimson Tide team that was projected to finish No. 13 in the SEC is 9-9 in conference play, and just one game out of fourth place. The first sweep of Auburn in more than a decade, the Frisco Classic title, and a road series win over Oklahoma are big-time results that speak to the potential Alabama clearly possesses.
But it continues to appear increasingly likely that this team may not realize that potential.
There are issues up and down the roster. The bulk of the attention has been on Justin Lebron’s struggles. His career-high in errors and underwhelming offensive numbers have led to his draft stock beginning to fall, and it led to him even being experimentally moved out of the two-hole for a game against Arkansas.
Players like Luke Vaughn and Jason Torres have struggled, and there is still a significant amount of regular roster experimentation occurring on a week-to-week basis. Will Plattner, Justin Osterhouse, Chase Kroberger, Andrew Purdy and Peyton Steele are all among the players who have started games over the past two weekends and still appear to have undefined roles.
The biggest question remains the bullpen, as it is nearly impossible to predict what it will provide on any given day. There was a two-weekend stretch where it gave up just five earned runs over 22.1 combined innings against Auburn and Oklahoma, willing Alabama to wins in games where the bats did not show up. Then there have been the lows: implosions against Arkansas and Texas that cast serious doubt on the unit’s ability to show up in big moments.
In all of those areas where the team has struggled, there is hope of a turnaround. There are the bullpen’s aforementioned elite stretches. There are the web-gem plays in short by Lebron, that will leave him with one of the most impressive defensive highlight reels of any player in the nation. There’s Torres responding to a 1-for-12 weekend against the Razorbacks with a two-hit game where he drove in one of Alabama’s two runs to avoid a sweep against Texas last Sunday.
In a sport defined by randomness, where the thinnest of margins can mean the difference between going home in a regional or making a run to Omaha, we simply have no way of knowing where Alabama will land.
Would we really expect it any other way?
That’s baseball.
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A “joyful” 10-year-old Alabama girl was found dead soon after being reported missing — with another juvenile charged with her murder.
Katheryn Bigbee, 10, was reported missing just before 11 p.m. Friday, when police were called to an undisclosed address in Calhoun County, AL.com reported.
“Officers responded immediately to the residence,” Piedmont Police Chief Nathan Johnson said in a statement. “They tragically discovered a deceased juvenile inside the home.”
It remains unclear where the house was, or whether it was the young girl’s family home — but another juvenile was soon taken into custody and hit with murder charges.
Their identity and connection to Bigbee have not been disclosed due to their age.
Bigbee’s cause of death also remains unclear, with police saying the investigation was still ongoing.
“Our family has been torn to pieces, and we have lost the most amazing, sweetest little girl,” relative Blake Trammel wrote on Facebook.
“She was a light in any room she walked into. I cannot express the pain, guilt, and emptiness that has come from all of this. We don’t have answers, only more questions,” he added.
The girl’s school also recalled her as a beloved member of its community.
“Our entire Piedmont Elementary School family is grieving as we remember a sweet little girl who brought smiles, kindness, and a bright light to our halls each day,” the school said in a statement.
“Katheryn had a joyful, spunky personality that made her truly special,” the school said. “She was an enthusiastic reader and will be remembered for the happiness she shared so freely.”
“She will always be a part of our school family, and her memory will live on in the hearts of her classmates, teachers, and all who knew and loved her.”
Alabama AHSAA softball key dates and top teams approaching the 2026 playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Alabama’s AHSAA softball playoffs are just around the corner with three of the state’s top teams ranked in the national Top 15.
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The No. 5 Orange Beach [AL] Makos, No. 10 Thompson [Alabaster, AL] Warriors, and No. 15 Wetumpka [AL] Indians are all ranked in the most recent edition of the MaxPreps Top 50 with the start of Alabama’s postseason less than two weeks away.
Orange Beach was previously ranked No. 1 before losing to the South Warren [Bowling Green, KY] Spartans last week. Both teams were undefeated going into the contest, and the Barbers Hill [Mt. Belvieu, TX] Eagles took the Makos’ place at the top of the rankings following the loss.
WATCH: ALABAMA AHSAA SOFTBALL ON THE NFHS NETWORK
Key dates for the Alabama AHSAA softball playoffs
|
DATE |
PLAYOFF DEADLINES |
|
5/1-5/26 |
Area Tournaments |
|
5/11-14/26 |
Regional Tournaments |
|
5/18-22/26 |
State Tournaments |
National Top 50 contenders by classification
Alabama’s three nationally-ranked teams all compete in different classifications.
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Class 7A
The Thompson Warriors are 34-1-2, and they compete in the AHSAA’s top-level Class 7A ranks. The team’s only loss is to the No. 15 Wetumpka Indians in a 3-2 setback on April 3.
Class 6A
Wetumpka is 34-5, and as noted above, they are the only team to beat Thompson so far.
Class 4A
Orange Beach is the state’s top-ranked team despite competing at the AHSAA’s Class 4A level. Their loss to South Warren of Kentucky in a 6-1 setback on April 9 ended a 45-game win streak at the time. The Makos had only allowed 25 runs all season prior to the relative outburst by the Spartans.
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