Coming into the season opener, Alabama fans were most anxious to see how the Tide looked along the rebuilt lines of scrimmage, some shiny new toys at running back, and of course wunderkind QB Keelon Russell. The competition was a far cry from what they’ll face in SEC play, but outside of some first game communcation issues, things went reasonably well.
A few impressions:
The defensive front looked as good as advertised
Alabama started a completely overhauled defensive front with the exception of Wolf LB Yhonzae Pierre. It’s tough to argue with the results
when only two rushing yards were allowed in 60 minutes of game play. Granted, there was a 22 yard loss on a bad snap that made that number look better than it is, but ECU’s two top running backs managed only 32 yards on 12 carries, and the pass rush helped hold the Pirates to 0/9 on third down.
Terrance Green looks like a find in the middle, as there wasn’t much room to run inside. We didn’t hear Devan Thompkins’ name called very often on the broadcast, but sometimes that can be a good thing for a defensive lineman. There certainly weren’t many soft edges on the day. Pierre got his first of what should be many sacks on the season, and even added a pick six for good measure.
Considering the quality of the secondary, this defense will be nothing short of dominant as long as the front can play like they did yesterday.
…and the offensive line acquitted itself well for a first game
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but in general you had to be pleased by the offensive line. Michael Carroll is an absolute monster in the middle, and Jackson Lloyd looked ready to be The Man at left tackle. Racin Delgatty did struggle at times from a pure power perspective, and that will be something to monitor as we go forward. Left guard rotated between William Sanders and Mal Waldrep, and that competition may go another week. We saw a couple of communication issues between Jayvin James and Carroll on the right side, but that is to be expected in the first game together.
Russell was generally able to escape and make something happen when there was a breakdown, and there weren’t many. Delgatty is undersized but seemed to do a nice job with the line calls. We will need to see further development across the board, but early returns were encouraging.
The secondary is elite, but cornerback depth is worrisome
Alabama had one busted coverage to allow a third of ECU’s offensive production on one play, but outside of that looked quite strong. The tackling was especially impressive. It was concerning, however, that Carmelo O’Neal came into the game and immediately got burned for an explosive play in man coverage. Five-star freshman Jordan Edmonds had reportedly been pushing for playing time before going down with a foot injury, and Alabama may well be feeling that loss. Put Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee in bubble wrap if you have to, those guys are critical to this defense.
Trae’shawn Brown and EJ Crowell flashed huge potential
Brown’s stat line doesn’t look great because he suffered a six yard loss on one of the few offensive line mishaps on the day, and had a long TD run called back by a highly questionable hold on Delgatty. Still, he was able to show his explosiveness on that run and will certainly have a role in this offense. Daniel Hill was able to grind out the blue collar yards and looked like he had more juice after some hard offseason work.
EJ Crowell, though? That kid looks like special. He showed off his burst and a nice stiff arm while scoring Alabama’s first touchdown of the season.
He also had an unreal spin move through contact but I can’t seem to find the clip. In any case, that group has far more potential than last year’s version.
Ryan Coleman-Williams dominated the targets
If there is one takeaway from the passing game, it’s that Russell loves throwing the football to RCW. It was assumed that Lotzeir Brooks would be the de facto WR1 following his breakout late last season, but Russell peppered Coleman-Williams with targets, even after two early drops. The two also fumbled a botched mesh exchange, but in between combined for 130 yards on 5 connections.
Derek Meadows had a nice grab down the sideline in the first quarter and finished with three catches, with Brooks and Rico Scott getting two apiece. We didn’t see much of freshman Cederian Morgan, which was something of a surprise considering the way he played in the spring.
Keelon Russell is a budding superstar, but the gambling can be dangerous down the road
Keelon’s ability and poise jump off the screen. He looked nothing like a redshirt freshman making his first start once the ball was snapped, though there were a couple of understandable management issues early in the game that caused a couple of burned timeouts. Keelon is almost too confident at this stage, holding out for a big play on a couple of occasions rather than taking the nice profit that the defense was giving him. These are things that will work out in film study, and it’s always a fine line to walk for a coach. Russell won the job because of his playmaking ability.
Much has been made about Russell’s unwillingness to slide in the opener, resulting in some unnecessary hits. Expect that to change.
Special teams looked much better
Outside of a muffed kickoff return that was simply a concentration error, the special teams had a solid day. Coleman-Williams had an explosive punt return, Conor Talty had a perfect day, Lorcan Quinn showed himself to be a weapon on kickoffs with 100% touchbacks on his nine attempts, and Alex Asparuhov averaged 52 yards on two punts with no returns. This unit was an area of concern in the offseason, and for one day those fears were assuaged.
Most importantly, the team emerged healthy. Scott left the field unable to put weight on a leg at one point, but that appeared to be hamstring cramps owing to the absurdly hot field conditions. Crowell looked no worse for wear after missing significant time in both the spring and the fall. Hopefully the coaching staff will be able to get through to Russell this week and get him to take better care of himself. As long as he is healthy and progressing, the sky is the limit for this team.
What were your thoughts on the game? Anything we missed?
Roll Tide.
