Winning in the SEC isn’t easy, and head coach Kalen DeBoer has seen that over the past couple of weeks, escaping with a 27-25 win against South Carolina a week after losing against Vanderbilt.
Although the game was narrower than most fans would have liked, the Crimson Tide won and moved to 5-1 on the season. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of the victory.
The good
The Alabama defense got to the quarterback. After the defense couldn’t get a sack last week against the Commodores, the Crimson Tide finally dialed up the pressure and sacked South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers four times.
Alabama had three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Jalen Milroe once again used his legs effectively in the red zone, rushing for two scores. He now has 10 rushing touchdowns on the season. Running back Justice Haynes also added a touchdown on the ground.
Germie Bernard stepped up. It seemed that wide receiver Ryan Williams was getting a lot of attention from the Gamecocks defense, which opened up more opportunities for Bernard and,as a result he had four catches and a season-high 89 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch late in the 4th quarter.
The Crimson Tide defense forced big turnovers. Linebacker Jihaad Campbell forced a fumble on Sellers that was recovered by defensive end Keanu Koht right before the end of the first half. Sellers had another costly turnover in the fourth quarter, fumbling right into the hands of defensive lineman LT Overton, which led to an Alabama touchdown drive to take the lead.
With time winding down near the end of the game, cornerback Domani Jackson picked off Sellers in the end zone to seal an Alabama win. The game ended with four total turnovers for the Crimson Tide defense.
“Domani’s a ballplayer,” Campbell said. “He had his eyes on the ball and caught that pick for us to [seal the win].”
The bad
Haynes and Jam Miller couldn’t get going. The two Crimson Tide running backs combined for only 68 yards on 20 carries and a measly 3.4 yards per carry, a far cry from their efforts in the first five games.
The offensive line struggled. Milroe was sacked four times and spent most of the game running away from defenders.
Gamecock defensive lineman Kyle Kennard had three tackles for loss and two sacks, and Elijah Pritchett appeared to struggle with him all day. The O-line allowed nine tackles for loss in total.
The tight ends were limited. CJ Dippre and Josh Cuevas couldn’t repeat the success from the past two weeks, as they combined for three catches and only two yards.
The defense continues to give up fourth-down plays. Although the Gamecock offense only went for it on fourth down twice, one of them proved costly: Sellers connected with wide receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a 36-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 9.
The ugly
Third down continues to be a struggle for the Alabama defense. The defense allowed South Carolina to go 7-15 on third downs, including an especially ugly drive in which the Gamecocks went 5-5 on third downs and scored a touchdown to take the lead.
“You can’t allow five [third down conversions] in one drive,” DeBoer said.
Milroe made some costly mistakes. The intentional grounding resulted from staying in the pocket a bit too long and not bailing out in time. The two interceptions were flat-out bad decisions.
The first turnover came with 11 seconds left in the first half. He threw a pass intended for Cole Adams over the middle that got intercepted and returned to the Alabama 19, which resulted in a field goal for South Carolina right before the half ended.
The second turnover was simply a poor pass from Milroe. He lobbed a pass to Bernard, who was in heavy coverage in the end zone, and it was once again picked off.
“I need to do a better job of eye discipline,” Milroe said. “[I need to] learn from it.”
The onside kick coverage. The Crimson Tide had two different players try to recover the football but each failed to secure it, giving South Carolina the ball with the chance to win the game.
Similar to previous games, the penalties were costly. The Crimson Tide had a stop on a third-and-21, but Campbell was flagged for roughing the passer, which gave the Gamecocks a new set of downs.
Right before the intentional grounding on Milroe, wide receiver Caleb Odom was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the kickoff, which gave Alabama poor field position.
On the game’s second-to-last drive, linebacker Que Robinson had Sellers sacked but was flagged for a face mask, which resulted in a new set of downs and a touchdown on the next play.
Despite all that went wrong for the Crimson Tide, the team escaped with a win and will now have its sights set on the “Third Saturday in October” for a crucial matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers. The game will be at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC.
