Alabama
Alabama’s Anemic Third Down Offense Against Missouri: What I Noticed In the Crimson Tide’s Homecoming Victory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala — The No. 15 Alabama defeated No. 21 Missouri 34-0 in Bryant-Denny Stadium to allow the home crowd to celebrate Homecoming without stress. The Alabama offense mustered 486 yards of offense but still left some to be desired as the Crimson Tide converted on just two of its nine third down attempts on Saturday afternoon.
Two Alabama drives stalled out near the red zone, resulting in field goals, and while the Missouri offense battled its own struggles with Brady Cook leaving the game, finding more consistency offensively has been a theme throughout the season.
Every Alabama Third Down Attempt against Missouri This past weekend.
What do you notice? pic.twitter.com/xUOkIl0v0m
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 28, 2024
Two Alabama drives were killed due to second down penalties putting the Crimson Tide behind the sticks. Two others drives were ended by Missouri sacks, four incompletions with three going off the hands of Alabama wide receivers ended others as Alabama’s passing game still has room for improvement.
Let’s take each third down attempt and look at the processes to determine why the Alabama offense struggled on the money down on Saturday.
1. 1st Quarter, 9:42, Third-and-Five
Alabama calls a toss to running back Justice Haynes on its first third down of the game but the play is blown up in the backfield for a two-yard loss.
The play call is strong for the situation when looking at the down and distance and Missouri’s alignment. Both Tigers’ safeties and their slot corner are aligned inside Alabama’s slot receiver Kendrick Law, giving the Tide the leverage advantage on the snap.
Unfortunately, two blocks aren’t executed well, throwing off Alabama’s blocking pattern and resulting in the tackle for loss. Tight end CJ Dippre stalemates the Missouri defender on the edge, but the penetration forces the pulling Jaeden Roberts and Parker Brailsford to run the hump, junking up Haynes’ path to the edge. Alabama’s Kendrick Law is known as one of the best blockers on the team but he appears to take a strange approach to his assignment, going to his assignment’s inside shoulder instead of outside, allowing his defender to easily get outside and add to the negative play.
2. 1st Quarter, 7:03, Third-and-Nine
Alabama wide receiver Kobe Prentice had a challenging day as he couldn’t catch any of his four targets in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. Prentice motions from one into three from the Crimson Tide’s trips right set and runs an out route right at the first down marker. Unfortunately, he can’t haul in the pass as it goes off his outstretched hands.
The Alabama offense line handled a unique pressure look well, but Milroe still had to make an adjustment in the pocket based on the rush. The pass falls incomplete but Milroe put it in the only position he could to allow Prentice to make a play on in. A little further would be out of bounds, and a little more inside may have resulted in a disastrous interception.
3. 1st Quarter, 1:37, Third-and-Six
Missouri’s Johnny Walker Jr. blows up Alabama’s chances at staying on the field by dipping underneath Kadyn Proctor for a sack on third down.
Missouri only rushes three and leaves a spy for a potential scramble but Proctor is beaten before Milroe can get to his second read as Walker Jr. gets to Milroe in 2.6 seconds.
4. 2nd Quarter, 11:25, Third-and-16
Missouri rushes three with two linebackers sitting on the line of scrimmage as a spy in case Jalen Milroe escapes. Unfortunately for Alabama, three is all it took as Johnny Walker Jr. pulls off almost the same exact pass rush move, this time against Elijah Pritchett, for his second sack on consecutive third downs.
Alabama is behind the chains due to a holding call. The route concept reflects the down and distance as three Crimson Tide receivers are running verticals, while the fourth one sits down right at the sticks.
These routes never get a chance as Walker Jr. sacks Milroe three seconds after the snap.
5. 2nd Quarter, 4:48, Third-and-19
The Crimson Tide got down to the 11-yard line but a holding penalty backed them up.
The penalty forced Alabama into another long yardage situation where the percentages to convert are much lower.
Missouri rushes four with a fifth caught in between rushing and covering Jam Miller. Jalen Milroe gets good protection, sets his feet and delivers a ball down field to Germie Bernard. Unfortunately, the pass is a little long for Bernard as it goes off his outstretched hand. While the pass falls incomplete and Alabama has to try a field goal, Milroe’s placement is in the only place that gives Bernard a chance to make a play.
6. 3rd Quarter, 8:27, Third-and-10
The Crimson Tide go back to the well and dial up the same play as #2 above just to the opposite side of the field. It’s nearly the same result as well.
Kobe Prentice motions from one into three in Alabama’s trips right formation. Prentice runs an out route and beats his man but can’t haul in quarterback Jalen Milroe’s pass as it goes off both hands this time.
Alabama’s pocket gave Milroe nice protection and he delivered a solid, catchable pass, unfortunately, Prentice can’t reel it in and the Crimson Tide has to punt again.
7. 3rd Quarter, :18, Third-and-11
This play looks like one of one of Jalen Milroe’s worst throws of the day, but further context will inform you that Ryan Williams ran the wrong route on the play.
“We can’t have someone substitute in a route you run. And sometimes he doesn’t make the throw that you want or he wants. But then there’s other times too where guys just got to make sure they stay the course and run the routes the way they need to be run,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the game.
The TV broadcast clearly shows DeBoer on the sidelines frustrated with the route that was run.
Alabama’s in a two-by-two set and Missouri is rushing five. The Crimson Tide holds up decently on the rush, but a linebacker flashes in front of Milroe’s face just before the throw.
Williams was open on his route, but the communication is critical and Milroe expected the freshman to run a different pattern.
8. 4th Quarter, 12:09, Third-and-four
The Alabama starters converted just a singular third down on the day and it came when the Crimson Tide was already up 27-0.
Missouri rushes five and Alabama’s protection holds up well, allowing the pass routes to develop. Jalen Milroe finds Ryan Williams underneath who’s helped off the line of scrimmage with the releases of Germie Bernard and Kendrick Law.
Williams takes the reception nearly 25 yards as he shows he’s one of the most electric players in college football.
9. 4th Quarter, 1:37, Third-and-three
The Crimson Tide backups converted their only third down attempt on what was the game’s final live play as Alabama took two knees after to melt the clock.
Ty Simpson finds himself in the shadow of the end zone with an RPO call on his hands. Roq Montgomery blows his block and Simpson wisely pulls the ball looking for a screen to Ty Lockwood. Missouri’s defender jump into the passing lane preventing Simpson from pulling the trigger and instead he wisely pulls the ball down to follow running back Daniel Hill through the rushing lane to barely get the first down.
Alabama’s third down numbers were not good on Saturday as the Crimson Tide converted just two of its nine attempts and the starters converted just one of eight. Kalen DeBoer’s offense averaged needing 9.2 yards on third down against Missouri creating difficult down and distances to overcome throughout the day.
The Crimson Tide has two weeks until its road trip to Baton Rouge in what will virtually be a College Football Playoff eliminator game. If Alabama wants to give itself a chance at postseason success it must focus on creating more manageable down and distances to give itself a better chance at converting and keeping the offense on the field more consistently.
Alabama
Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.
Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.
The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.
——
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
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