re: Bama Football Tidings

What’s behind Alabama’s penalty problem By Michael Casagrande | mcasagrande@al.com

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Twice in his opening statement Monday did Nick Saban mention Alabama’s issue with penalties.

Through three games, the Crimson Tide’s 7.7 average penalties rank 102nd-best and the coach is already sick of it. The flags were flying regularly Saturday with a season-high 11 costing 92 yards in the 47-23 win at South Carolina.

“A lot of these penalties that we got in this game were unforced errors, jumping offsides, things like that, critical situations,” Saban said. “Not substituting correctly on defense. We cannot put ourselves in those positions. Third and 10 is a whole lot different from third and 5, so you get an offsides or whatever and they hit a big play because you’re playing different types of coverages.”

Twice Alabama was set to take over possession if not for penalties on defense and both cost points.

First, an illegal substitution flag negated Patrick Surtain’s interception on the Gamecocks’ first drive that ended in a field goal. And in the closing seconds, Christian Barmore’s targeting flag on fourth-and-goal gave South Carolina the opportunity to score a final touchdown.

While the defense was flagged seven times (one declined) to the offense’s five in Columbia, there’s almost an even split in the penalties through three games. The defense has 11, offense 10 with four more on the special teams. Saban has the other for his unsportsmanlike conduct in the Duke game.

The official total is 23 for the season since three were declined. A year ago, the three-game tally was 22 flags after seeing 10 thrown in the season opener.

South Carolina caught Alabama’s defense in illegal substitutions twice (once declined) on Saturday.

“They were on us,” defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said. “Just loafing.”

The fast Gamecock tempo was a factor, cornerback Trevon Diggs said.

Yeah, they were going fast and, you know, we had to make quick adjustments,” he said. “They were going fast and they were subbing guys out, so we got to be better at that part, subbing and getting guys out faster.”

Of the 10 offensive penalties so far, only one could be attributed to killing a drive. Alabama couldn’t get a first down after a 15-yard face mask flag on tight end Miller Forristall at South Carolina on a possession that ended with a missed 37-yard field goal.

Three holding calls against Duke were overcome for first downs on drives that ended either in field goal attempts or a touchdown.

Alabama finished the 2018 season ranked 55th in penalties averaged with 5.8 a game -- down from the 5.0 that ranked 31st in the 2017 national title season.

No. 2 Alabama (3-0) faces Southern Miss at 11 a.m. Saturday before playing SEC games all but one Saturday the rest of the season.

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Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Southern Mississippi Preview with Kyle Henderson and Heath Hinton
17:20
BamaInsider Alabama Football
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Southern Mississippi Preview with Kyle Henderson and Heath Hinton

Henry Ruggs talks Alabama's advantages on special teams
7:07
Touchdown Alabama Magazine
Published on Sep 17, 2019
Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs talks about the team's impressive special teams performances so far and his mindset when catching passes over the middle.

Alabama to be more reliant than ever on freshmen in front seven By Matt Zenitz | mzenitz@al.com

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Not once during any of his first 12 seasons at Alabama did Nick Saban have more than one true freshman starting on a full-time basis in his front seven.

Typically, there hasn’t been even a single true freshman within that starting front seven.

That’s what makes the Crimson Tide’s current situation so crazy.

When Alabama takes the field against Southern Miss on Saturday, more than half of the players in that front seven could be true freshmen.

With preseason All-SEC defensive end LaBryan Ray now out indefinitely and possibly out for the year due to an ankle/foot issue, his backup — Justin Eboigbe — could become the latest true freshman starter for the Tide in that front seven that was already starting three other first-year players.

“I think we’ve got to work hard with those guys to get them to play well,” Saban said. “There’s no substitute for experience. There’s no question about that. And we do have a lot of young guys playing in the front seven, but the challenge for us as coaches is to try to teach those guys. And I think if those guys can get really comfortable with the basics and the basic fundamentals, then their ability to adapt in a game or when different things come up, they’re going to be able to adjust. But you really can’t coach experience into players. You can just try to teach them how to do things.”

For the most part, the youth movement in the front seven is a product of an unlucky stretch of injuries for Alabama over the last month.

Two other true freshmen, Shane Lee and Christian Harris, stepped in at inside linebacker after the Tide lost preseason first-team All-American Dylan Moses and redshirt senior Josh McMillon to significant injuries in August. Lee and Harris have both started each of the first three games, a freshman-freshman inside linebacker duo that’s been lined up right behind a true freshman nose tackle, D.J. Dale, who’s the only one of the freshmen that isn’t starting because of an injury.

Now, Dale may have another freshman lined up right next to him in Eboigbe, who missed the first two games of the season due to a foot injury.

It would add another young player to a defense that gave up 459 yards to South Carolina on Saturday, including 357 yards during the first three quarters.

“As they get more repetitions, hopefully they’re going to improve and develop confidence,” Saban said. "That’s our goal with each and every one of those guys.

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Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.

Alabama's Slade Bolden, left, evades South Carolina defenders to pick up a first down for the Crimson Tide. Photo | Getty Images
'Smooth' Slade Bolden could be the latest facet to Alabama's potent offense Tony Tsoukalas • BamaInsider @Tony_Tsoukalas

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The play netted just two yards, but it might have opened up a can of worms for future defensive coordinators to worry about.

Alabama showed a new look on offense last week during its second drive of the third quarter as receiver Slade Bolden entered the game as a Wildcat quarterback on third-and-2 from the South Carolina 31-yard line. Working out of the shotgun with fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle beside him at running back, Bolden faked a handoff before darting up the middle.

At first, it looked as though the 5-foot-11, 191-pound redshirt freshman was going to be swallowed up quickly as three Gamecocks defenders swarmed in on him behind the line of scrimmage. However, Bolden wriggled away, ultimately diving for a first down to extend the drive.

“When they put it in, we were real excited for it,” receiver DeVonta Smith said of the play. “We were talking about Waddle thinking he’s a running back, so we were just excited to see what they were going to do and we were like, ‘I hope y’all just don’t mess this up.’”

They didn’t, bringing about another dangerous facet to Alabama’s already explosive offense.

Last week was the first time Alabama used the Wildcat package this season, but it likely won’t be the last. Last year, Alabama lined up Josh Jacobs as its Wildcat quarterback nine times, resulting in 35 yards and eight first downs.

Like Jacobs, Bolden served as a Wildcat quarterback in high school. During his senior year he was named the Gatorade Louisiana Football Player of the Year, passing for 1,622 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 1,460 yards and 20 more scores.

“We just thought maybe there’s something that we could utilize him in in short yardage,” head coach Nick Saban said, “and he does a good job of that.”

According to Bolden’s high school coach Jerry Arledge, the Crimson Tide can expect much more from the elusive playmaker. Arledge’s first memory of Bolden came during a seven-on-seven game the summer before the athlete’s freshman year of high school.

“He was out there in the slot, and we flipped the ball out there to him,” Arledge recalled. “There were two or three guys, and he made them miss and then goes and scores. I said, ‘Who is that kid?’ I look and see he’s an incoming freshman. He didn’t stay with the freshman team very long.”

After featuring at wide receiver and running back during his freshman year, Bolden received his first opportunity behind center during the second game of his sophomore season as West Monroe (La.) High School’s starting quarterback suffered a broken ankle in the first quarter. Switching to quarterback at the half, Bolden recorded 212 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries to help his team to a 44-36 victory.

From there, Arledge did just about anything he could to get his playmaker the ball in space. By the end of his high school career Bolden had lined up at wide receiver, running back, quarterback, defensive back and also returned kicks.

“We’d love to have about four or five of him every year,” Arledge said. “Well actually, more like six or seven. We’d find a spot for all of them.”

Even as an underclassman, Bolden’s athleticism garnered attention from across the nation. One of Arledge’s favorite stories is of a Washington assistant who called him after watching the four-star recruit’s highlight reel.

“When he saw him on tape he said, ‘I found the next (Christian) McCaffrey,’” Arledge remembers. “He went back and told that to (Chris) Petersen.”

While Bolden lacks the elite speed of other members in Alabama’s vaunted receiving corps, he makes up for it with his elusiveness.

“He’s not the fastest, but Slade is precise with everything he’s doing and he’s got great hands,” Smith said. “Slade is just a smooth person, just goes out there and does all the right things. He’s going to run his route at the right depth and do it how he’s supposed to do it.”

Added fellow receiver Henry Ruggs III: “We call Slade Julian Edelman every day. The way he’s been practicing since the spring, he’s really been improving a lot and he’s been making a lot of plays.”

After appearing in just one game last year, Bolden has served primarily on special teams this season. Last week, he recorded a tackle to stop a fake punt in the second quarter.

His opportunities on offense have been a bit more limited. Listed as the backup to Jerry Jeudy and Jaylen Waddle at slot receiver, Bolden has been involved in just 24 offensive snaps through Alabama’s first three games, according to Pro Football Focus. However, those numbers could see a slight uptick if the Crimson Tide plans on using its new package more frequently in the future.

“I think you want to feature the players that you have so if you have players that are capable of doing something, we’ll ask him to do it, which Slade can in this case,” Saban said of using Bolden out of the Wildcat formation. “We usually decide how we want to do short-yardage from week to week, even though you have some specialty things that can create an advantage, then you obviously want to try to do that in game-planning.

“I do think that when you have diversity and players that can do multiple things, whether they’re playing offense, defense or special teams it always enhances your chances of scheming things that can help you be successful.”

Regardless of how many more times Alabama elects to use Bolden behind center, the redshirt freshman has already proven to be a capable playmaker with the ball in his hands. At the very least, that’s one more thing opposing defenses have to worry about moving forward.

“He’s strong, fast, elusive and he can make people miss,” Arledge said. “He’s one of those who can just change direction in a heartbeat. He believes in himself and his ability to make things happen.”

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Anyone know why Lewis wasn't at practice today?

Saban knows his presence November thru possibly January is extremely important.

This is why you are not a coach. These guys are still learning to jell as a team. This will be something new as I understand they spread it out and throw a lot to guys in space. Our NIckle and Dime need all the work they can get before the OM, and AU's coming around with that kind of O. Including LSU with their now pass happy O

That’s fair, but I still wouldn’t play them in the 2nd half