What in the world is going on in Tuscaloosa, Alabama?
Alabama, where quarterback play has been so solid through the better part of the Nick Saban era (Greg McElroy, A.J. McCarron and Jake Coker all won national titles and were serviceable, and then there was the record-breaking years of Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young), has a passer now that is, at best, an enigma in Jalen Milroe.
The offensive line, long the most dominant, impressive thing about a Saban-coached Crimson Tide team, has ranged anywhere from very good to very, very bad, including nine pre-snap penalties in a pull-the-fat-out-of-the-fire game against Texas A&M in College Station, and multiple sacks last week against Arkansas.
The Tide seems to have problems running the ball, although some of that appears to be the unwillingness of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to call run plays.
Heck, even saying “the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide even sounds weird.
On the other hand, Alabama has won five straight games since losing to Texas and has looked flat-out dominant at times (against Ole Miss in the second half, against Mississippi State the entire game, and in the first half against Arkansas.
We won’t talk about the mess that was the Tide’s game at South Florida, although it was a win.
So, ESPN.com writer Alex Scarborough heard our cries and has an excellent piece on what the heck is up with ‘Bama now (What to make of one-loss Alabama ahead of pivotal stretch).
For his part, Milroe is convinced they have the problems fixed, although it didn’t appear to be fixed with a nightmarish second half at home against Arkansas last week, an eventual 24-21 Tide win, but they only scored three points in the second half.
“We do have our swagger back,” Milroe said, “but we do have to acknowledge that we’ve got a lot of work to do. But I will say this: that we are hungry to improve and we’re excited for what the future holds.”
