Alabama football nearly saw disaster strike twice in two weeks.
The No. 7 Crimson Tide squeaked by South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks 27-25 at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday, a win secured with an interception by Tide cornerback Domani Jackson on the final play of regulation. The game-winning TD came on a 7-yard fourth-quarter rush by Jalen Milroe.
Alabama’s two-point win against the Gamecocks came one week after the Crimson Tide lost to Vanderbilt 40-35 in Nashville, Tennessee. And on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, many of those same problems continued to emerge for the Crimson Tide.
Here is how Alabama graded out in its latest win against South Carolina before a road date with Tennesse next Saturday:
Jalen Milroe was not comfortable at all against South Carolina.
Four sacks were only part of the story. Milroe had to make decisions much more quickly than he was used to against the Gamecocks’ pass rush, leading to an intentional grounding call in the end zone that ended in a safety, multiple interceptions and miscues and an unbalanced offensive game plan that kept the Crimson Tide offense guessing.
This is a game Milroe and the Alabama offense did not take control of even when it took the lead for good in the fourth quarter with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Germie Bernard.
Saturday was a performance where the Alabama offense survived instead of thrived.
Kane Wommack said in the days leading up to Alabama vs. South Carolina that he looked forward to seeing the response of his defense against the Gamecocks. Instead, those same problems that plagued the Crimson Tide against Vanderbilt came back to Tuscaloosa.
Alabama did its job against one of the worst offensive lines in college football, forcing multiple sacks and tackles-for-loss. But Alabama’s third-down defense remained dreadful, especially in the third quarter where a long, unrelenting scoring drive of 16 plays lasting nearly nine minutes left the Crimson Tide absolutely gassed.
South Carolina continued the narrative Vanderbilt started, one where opposing offenses keep the ball for as long as possible, one that generated more than 300 yards of offense, one that keeps the Crimson Tide defense on the field and forced to make takeaway plays to flip momentum, which proved to be the difference against South Carolina compared to Vanderbilt.
But the narrative remains. It’s a “bend-but-don’t-break” narrative that is set to continue against Tennessee and any other SEC program Alabama faces moving forward.
James Burnip was a star for Alabama football Saturday afternoon. But he did not determine Alabama’s outcome Saturday.
A 66-yard punt was erased by a roughing the kicker penalty. He followed with a 59-yard punt that landed on the South Carolina 10-yard line, and a 31-yard punt that landed on the South Carolina 11 in the third quarter.
Alabama lost an on-side kick opportunity late in the fourth quarter after South Carolina came within two points, which the Crimson Tide ended up surviving after Jackson’s final-play interception.
Trailing 19-14 in the third quarter, Emmanuel Henderson Jr. nearly made a disastrous mistake with a fumble on a kickoff return, but quickly recovered.
Kalen DeBoer came out swinging early, converting on a fourth and 1 in the very first drive of the game in Alabama territory to set up two 30-yard completions and a Milroe touchdown run.
By the end of the second quarter, Alabama collapsed, one plagued by defensive miscues, an inability to respond to South Carolina’s pass rush and multiple penalties. It was a collapse from which Alabama very nearly did not recover.
In a week where the Alabama football program preached its eagerness for a response to the Vanderbilt loss, the Crimson Tide barely survived against South Carolina.
One week after Alabama did the unthinkable and lost to Vanderbilt, it nearly collapsed once again in a game that brought more questions than answers ahead of a road date with Tennessee.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him atcgay@gannett.com or follow him@_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
