All season, Alabama football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has been substituting heavily in the defensive backfield, playing backups in meaningful minutes against top opponents much more than what’s typical at most programs.
The time for it to pay off is this week.
The Crimson Tide will be without safety Keon Sabb due to injury, and he’s not the only one on UA’s initial injury report. Defensive back Red Morgan is listed as probable, but in better news for Alabama, two defensive backs limited or injured against Tennessee − Zabien Brown and DeVonta Smith − will be ready to play. UA’s secondary depth was heavily tested against UT last week, and it will be no different against the Tigers for Alabama Homecoming (2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, ABC). Safety Bray Hubbard is expected to get his first career start at free safety in place of Sabb.
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Key to their efforts will be limiting the impact of Missouri star WR Luther Burden. He’s one of the most explosive offensive weapons in the country, even though his production (37 catches, 447 yards, four TDs) is down compared to last season. At 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds, he’s built like a running back and has power as a ball carrier to go with elite vertical speed. He’s played 260 snaps at the slot position this year, per Pro Football Focus, far more than his action as an outside receiver. That means he’ll match up more with UA’s nickelbacks than its cornerbacks, so the primary challenge will fall to Smith.
Familiar Foe
Missouri’s defense should look awfully familiar to Alabama’s offense on Saturday, as Tigers defensive coordinator Corey Batoon held the same role under Crimson Tide DC Kane Wommack when Wommack was head coach at South Alabama. Batoon’s defense isn’t quite identical to Wommack’s − according to UA tight end C.J. Dippre, Mizzou employs “more off, more bail” coverage in the secondary to prevent the deep pass − but fundamentally, the systems are quite similar.
“When you get into the season you’re working against the scout team, so we’ve been doing that quite a few weeks, but since January all the way to August, we went against our defense, ones on ones, twos on twos, so we’ve seen that defense for such a long time, we’re going to be able to relate back to it,” added Dippre.
Etc.
Mizzou QB Brady Cook brought a new meaning to the phrase ‘comeback win’ last week when he went to a Columbia hospital during the Tigers’ game against Auburn for an MRI, and eventually returned to rally his team from a deficit for a 21-17 win. It was an inspiring tale well-told by the Columbia Tribune, but one at least a couple Alabama players didn’t learn of until days later. … Alabama lost to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years a few weeks ago, but it’s been even longer since Missouri topped the Crimson Tide. UA leads the all-time series 5-2, and the Tigers’ last win was in 1975 in Birmingham, 20-7. … Former Alabama QB Eli Holstein, who entered the transfer portal after last season, has Pitt at 6-0 while averaging 382 passing yards per game with a TD-INT ratio of 15-5.
Around the SEC
Texas fans wasted no time making a spectacle of themselves when they threw debris on their own field following a controversial call in a 30-15 loss to Georgia (the SEC issued a $250,000 fine). But do they travel as well as they trash? We’ll know Saturday at Vanderbilt, where Longhorns fans will presumably have a chance to outnumber the home Commodore faithful. Meanwhile, it can’t be said that SEC fan decorum has a perfect record. Tennessee fans rained debris on Ole Miss in 2021, which was ex-UT coach Lane Kiffin’s first game at Neyland since leaving the Vols after one season. Alabama fans might also remember the Ole Miss student section trashing a Vaught-Hemingway end zone (I was nearly hit with a red high heel) when a disputed call went Alabama’s way in 2007. … Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell has been dismissed in the wake of what’s been a miserably bad Sooners offense over the first half of the season. … SEC Spread Pick of the Week: Alabama-Missouri under 55 total points. Season ATS: 2-4-2 (.375). All-time ATS: 23-8-3 (.720).
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Experience of secondary depth must pay off now for Alabama football
