Alabama’s 15 penalties in the 24-17 loss against Tennessee continue a theme of discipline problems for the Crimson Tide.
The team is averaging 8.9 penalties per game in the 2024 season, which ranks seventh-highest in the FBS
“We’ve got to be better, there’s no question,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the Tennessee game. “You can’t win a football game when you have mistakes like we had out there and all the penalties.”
Fans will be quick to blame DeBoer for the team’s discipline issues this season, but the reality is this has been a problem for the team even in legendary head coach Nick Saban’s final seasons.
Saban’s last trip to Knoxville felt eerily similar to DeBoer’s first in terms of penalties, as the 2022 matchup saw the Crimson Tide commit a notably high 17 penalties in the crushing 48-45 loss to the Volunteers.
The 2022 season was puzzling for the Crimson Tide. Expectations were very high, as the team had Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young and surefire top-five draft pick defensive end Will Anderson return to the team, along with key transfer additions and the No. 2 recruiting class in the country coming in, according to 247Sports.
What followed was a disappointing 10-2 season and no appearance in the College Football Playoff. Penalties turned out to be a big issue the team could never overcome, as it ranked third in penalties per game with 8.3.
The team’s poorest efforts that season were centered around penalties. Along with the loss in Knoxville, the team had 15 penalties against Texas, a game in which Alabama had to escape with a 20-19 win even with Longhorns starting quarterback Quinn Ewers getting injured in the first quarter and not returning.
“We had a lot of mental errors,” Saban said following the close win. “We shot ourselves in the foot too much.”
The final nail in the coffin that season for the Crimson Tide came against LSU in Death Valley, when the team once again struggled with discipline and had nine penalties in the 32-31 loss, which all but dismantled Alabama’s playoff hopes.
2023 had many similar problems for Alabama. Although the penalties per game weren’t as high — the team ranked 68th — penalties still reared their ugly head in big games.
The rematch at Bryant-Denny Stadium versus Texas didn’t go much better than the previous season. 10 penalties for the Crimson Tide contributed to a 34-24 loss, and two of the penalties negated Alabama’s touchdowns.
Alabama also had to escape with a close 26-20 win against unranked Texas A&M in College Station after committing a season-high 14 penalties, one of which called back a blocked field goal return for a touchdown.
A big reason Alabama hasn’t been able to recapture a national championship has been penalties, but an even bigger cause is the timeliness of these penalties and how they take away crucial touchdowns, like against Texas and Texas A&M, and how they can shift momentum in a hurry.
In the 45-40 loss against Vanderbilt this season, the Crimson Tide had forced the Commodores to a rare fourth down punt with a chance to tie up the game and capture momentum. But somehow, the team allowed two players to get on the field wearing the same jersey number — Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown — during the critical fourth down play, which resulted in a penalty and a new set of downs for the Commodore offense, who then scored a touchdown on the drive.
Arguably, one of the biggest momentum-shifting penalties Alabama has had in recent memory came against Tennessee in 2022. On a fourth-and-5 with only 4 minutes left in the game and Alabama up 49-42, a pass interference call on safety Malachi Moore wiped out an interception and an 82-yard return by Kool-Aid McKinstry that would have essentially sealed the game and kept the Crimson Tide undefeated.
Instead, the penalty gave the Volunteers offense a fresh set of downs, which Tennessee scored with on the very next play to tie it at 49. If that wasn’t enough, Alabama had forced another fourth down on that same drive, but this time, safety Brian Branch was called for pass interference to extend the drive.
“Way too many penalties,” Saban said after the loss. “We did too many things to help them.”
The backbreaking penalties continued when Alabama returned to Neyland Stadium in 2024. After a Crimson Tide incompletion led to a crucial fourth and seven with just under two minutes left in the game and the team down by 4, wide receiver Kendrick Law shoved a Tennessee defender in the face mask. This resulted in a personal foul and a nearly impossible fourth and 22, which the team failed to convert.
Due to the penalty issues continuing into the 2024 season, Alabama is now 5-2 and seemingly needs to win out the rest of the way to make the College Football Playoff.
If Alabama wants to recapture the glory of previous national championship seasons, it must clean up the penalties as soon as possible.
