In its past two games, the Alabama Crimson Tide has had trouble playing up to its potential in the first half. Against Florida, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was beat over the top for a 65-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game, and the Gators almost went up two touchdowns before settling for a field goal, effectively allowing the Tide to stay in the game. A week later, the same problems haunted the Tide, as they looked sluggish the entire first half of the Vanderbilt game. Alabama only held a slim 7-0 lead with less than a minute to go in the first half before making it a two-possession game against the Commodores. Head coach Nick Saban said he’s looking for his team to avoid the same mistakes that put them in those positions. “I was hopeful that we sort of learned the lesson that when we don’t play our best, and we don’t have the proper psychological disposition…that we become average very quickly,” Saban said.

            Junior tight end Michael Williams echoed his coach’s thoughts. Williams said his team has been practicing with increased speed this week to avoid another cold open.

“I mean, you have to start fast, and that’s what we try to do,” Williams said. “And the last couple games, it hasn’t happened, so in practice, we just do a lot of hurry up just to make us go faster… We can’t have a sluggish start, so we try not to do that in practice.”

Hanks cites importance of passing game

            So far this season, Alabama has ranked 72nd in the nation in passing yards per game, with roughly 218 yards a game this season.

Coming off the heels of the Tide’s best passing performance of the season against Vanderbilt with 237 yards, senior wide receiver Darius Hanks said he’s seen a lot of improvement in the passing game as the season’s progressed. “I feel like every week, we progress out there,” Hanks said. “Last week, we had a lot of big plays in the passing game, I feel. It’s a grind. Every week, we just gotta come out and get better.” Still, Hanks said even though his team’s offense is mainly run-first, the biggest place for betterment on the offense is in the passing game.

“I mean, it’s not where we need to be, I feel,” Hanks said. “But we have a lot more work that can be done in that area.”

Practice notes

Offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio was limited to a stationary bike at practice but was allowed in full pads and a non-contact jersey.

Running back Demetrius Hart returned to practice in a non-contact jersey and participated in running back drills.

Running back Eddie Lacy was held to limited practice time. Linebackers C.J. Mosley and Chris Jordan both practiced.