Alabama

Is Alabama football defense outperforming expectations under Kalen DeBoer?

Published

1 year ago

September 18, 2024

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.”

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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.

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Alabama

Alabama-LSU football rivalry still great, but won’t ever be the same again | Goodbread

Published

16 hours ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

Alabama-LSU football rivalry still great, but won’t ever be the same again | Goodbread

An era came to an end on Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and it’s hard to say the next era is an improvement.

Hard, but not impossible.

Alabama football handled important business at home in beating LSU 20-9 as coach Kalen DeBoer ran his two-year home record to 12-0. Outside the stadium, it felt very much like the fiery rivalry it’s become; well-captured for posterity by intrepid beat reporter Colin Gay. Inside the stadium, only LSU’s broken season − the Tigers entered with three losses and an interim coach after Brian Kelly’s firing − made it seem anything less.

It was still the passion-filled, hard-hitting affair that it’s always been.

But it also marked the last year of the SEC’s commitment to pit these two programs annually. They’ll play only twice over the next four years, then the league will re-evaluate its new scheduling format that increased league games to nine per team. It’s just not going to be the same going forward, and no, it’s not really a rivalry anymore, because it can’t be circled on every calendar.

So it’s with a lump in the throat that this goodbye must be said, but the alternative would’ve been more like a lump on the head. The SEC assigned Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State to Alabama as its three annual opponents over the four-year schedule cycle from 2026-2029, and of course, Auburn and Tennessee were the right two rivalries to keep. They just mean more to the fan base, and for the SEC, they mean more for television ratings. As for the decision to include Mississippi State, that comports with the league’s effort to maintain some balance in the difficulty of each school’s three annual foes, as well as a parallel goal of geographical proximity.

Of course, the 2025 season by itself makes a poor argument that Tennessee, Auburn and LSU would’ve been too tough an annual trio to saddle Alabama or anyone else with. Tennessee’s not bad, Auburn’s not good, and LSU’s not anything special. But across time, those are three programs that have proven they’ll invest the resources necessary to be a dangerous foe in any given year, and that’s not something that can be said about Mississippi State.

Speaking of programs with resources, Alabama will catch Texas twice in the same four-year cycle, not coincidentally in the two years that it won’t face LSU. In other words, the TV monster will be well-fed regardless, and navigating an SEC schedule won’t be a picnic for anyone. That’s to be expected when the deepest league in the sport adds two helmets like Texas and Oklahoma.

The Alabama-LSU breakup was the right thing to do, but it be strange absence from the schedule. The 2027 season will mark the first year it won’t be played in my lifetime, and I’m 54. The last time it wasn’t played (1963), BeatleMania swept the UK and a gallon of gas set people back 30 cents.

And boy have there been some big ones.

LSU’s 9-6 overtime win in 2011 was truly epic. A defensive struggle for the ages with future NFL players all over the field. Rightly billed as the Game of the Century, it might’ve been the last truly great defensive game, at least played by a pair of national powers at the time, before RPO offenses changed everything. Celebrities from LeBron James to Shaq to dignitaries like Condoleezza Rice lined the sideline. The whole scene belongs in a museum.

There have been some marvelous finishes, too.

Just a year after the 9-6 game, AJ McCarron hit T.J. Yeldon with a screen pass for a 28-yard touchdown in the final minute for a 21-17 win.

Former Alabama LB Marvin Constant stuffed Josh Booty at the goal line on the final play of the 1999 game to preserve a 23-17 Alabama win, and it all but cost him his career. Constant blew out multiple knee ligaments on the play, and was never quite the same player again.

It’s been a long and memorable marriage.

But with the advent of the nine-game schedule, it’s a marriage that’s run its course.

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.

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Alabama

Alabama receives massive news on WR Ryan Williams hours before LSU game

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2025

Press Room

Alabama receives massive news on WR Ryan Williams hours before LSU game

The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1) have completely turned things around since their Week 1 loss to the Florida State Seminoles, putting themselves in position to control their own destiny for a College Football Playoff berth — and potentially a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

However, the stakes continue to rise with each passing week. On Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama will host the LSU Tigers (5-3) in a primetime showdown — LSU’s first game since firing head coach Brian Kelly.

The Crimson Tide enter as 10.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, but they’ll be facing a team with nothing to lose, while Alabama carries all the pressure to perform — a combination that can sometimes produce unpredictable results.

Just hours before kickoff, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer and his team received some major news regarding star wide receiver Ryan Williams. After missing several games due to a leg injury, Williams has reportedly progressed well and is expected to play against LSU, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

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So far in 2025, Williams has appeared in seven games for Alabama during his sophomore season, recording 33 receptions for 495 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 70.7 yards per game.

Although he’s remained a highly talented receiver, Williams hasn’t quite lived up to the lofty expectations set for him after his standout freshman season. Many anticipated he would take the next step and emerge as one of the nation’s premier wideouts — right alongside Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith.

Nonetheless, Williams’ presence on the field alone forces LSU’s defense to account for him at all times due to his big-play ability. In his last appearance against South Carolina, he hauled in seven receptions for 72 yards.

More NCAA: Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire Addresses Future With Program

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Alabama

Woodrow Lowe, Alabama Star Linebacker and 11-Year Chargers Defender, Dies at 71

Published

2 days ago

November 7, 2025

Press Room

Woodrow Lowe, Alabama Star Linebacker and 11-Year Chargers Defender, Dies at 71

Woodrow Lowe, a three-time All-American linebacker at Alabama and an 11-year starter for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, has died. He was 71.

Lowe died at his home in Collierville, Tennessee, on Thursday, according to the National Football Foundation.

Lowe was a 2009 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame inductee. He starred at Alabama (1972-75) and was the second player in program history to make the first-team All-America list three times. He helped the Crimson Tide make the Sugar Bowl in 1973, losing to eventual national champion Notre Dame, and was a consensus All-America selection the following year.

“Woodrow Lowe was one of the finest linebackers ever to play the game, and we are deeply saddened to learn of his passing,” NFF Chairman Archie Manning said. “A three-time All-American and one of the most decorated linebackers in college football history, he defined excellence at one of the top programs in the country.

“After his playing days, he dedicated himself to shaping young lives as a coach and mentor, carrying forward the lessons of excellence and dedication that defined his own career. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the entire Alabama football community.”

Born June 9, 1954, in Columbus, Georgia, Lowe got his football start at Phenix City Central High in Alabama. He stayed in state for college and set a single-season record at Alabama with 134 tackles in 1973. The Tide went 43-5 during his four seasons in Tuscaloosa, and his 315 career tackles still rank fourth in school history.

A fifth-round draft pick by the Chargers in 1976, Lowe played in 164 of 165 possible games during his NFL career and tallied 21 interceptions, including four returned for touchdowns.

He coached at the high school, college, and professional levels before retiring in Tennessee. Lowe also was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame and the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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