Alabama pass protection woes continue for second straight week

TAMPA, Fla. – For the second week in a row, Alabama’s offensive line surrendered five sacks. This time, though, it came in a 17-3 win over South Florida. The Crimson Tide’s first five didn’t give its quarterbacks time to throw as the passing game only generated 107 yards.

Asked about the offensive line after the game, head coach Nick Saban was blunt.

“Well, how many sacks did they have?” Saban said. “Based on that, I wouldn’t evaluate it very well. Some of them were mental errors. We knew they were gonna pressure a lot. They’ve got a really good pressure package. We messed up the protections several times. We got beat a couple times. 

“So we need to get that fixed because that’s been an area that has been a consistent problem for us all year – last week with the sacks, this week with the sacks. And those are drive-killers, and we’ve gotta eliminate that.”

The Crimson Tide was down one starter as left guard Tyler Booker was in uniform but didn’t see the field due to back spasms, Saban revealed after the game. Stepping in for the veteran beside true freshman left tackle Kadyn Proctor was Terrence Ferguson, who is a program veteran and opened preseason camp with the ones but has been a reserve to start the year.

Alabama’s ground game wasn’t bad, as Roydell Williams and Jase McClellan combined for 203 rushing yards on 30 attempts (6.77 ypc) as the senior duo received a lion’s share of the carries. The Crimson Tide gained 168 of its 203 yards on the ground on runs of 10 or more yards.

Saban pointed to the team’s final drive as what he wants to see more of from the O-line.

“I challenged the offensive line and said, ‘Don’t give them the ball back. Take the clock and the game,’ and that’s exactly what they did,” Saban said. “We got in some close formations because they were giving us so much edge pressure and giving us negative plays.”

But for the second game in a row, the pass protection was not its best. All five sacks came when Ty Simpson checked in the game at quarterback in the second quarter, with the first two taking place on third down. Saban was asked if USF did anything that surprised Alabama.

“They have probably as exotic a pressure package as anybody we play against, and they do a really good job of executing it,” Saban said. “And I don’t think they did anything different. 

“It’s just that the multiples, there’s so many multiples that you’ve gotta change protections and slide protections different ways and recognize how to do that. I thought we did a good job in practice of handling it, but we didn’t do a good job today in the game a couple times handling it.”

The Tide will look to get Booker back and improve its pass protection as it enters SEC play this upcoming week. Alabama will welcome Ole Miss to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 23, and will face a Rebels defense that entered Week 2 with the third-most sacks in the league. Veteran offensive lineman Darrian Dalcourt assessed the line play after the win.

“I think that we can play a little harder, finish more plays,” Dalcourt said. “It’s a work in progress. We’re gonna watch the film and see what we can do better. But I’m proud of the way we finished the game.”

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