Three corrections the Alabama Crimson Tide need to make to avoid upset against Wisconsin

On paper, it looks like the Alabama Crimson Tide cruised to victory in their first two games of the regular season.

And while that was the case against WKU, the same can't be said for the first three-quarters of last week's USF game.

So with the first true test of the season on the horizon , the Alabama coaching staff knows they have to clean up their gameplan and execution, with these three areas being highlights:

Fewer Penalties

"I think just simple execution and fundamentals," said OC Nick Sherdan when asked about the difference between the first three quarters and last six minutes. "I think obviously we all know that we had some issues with some penalties and some lapses in execution, and that certainly hurt us in the first three quarters of the game. I thought the guys did a better job of executing simple things well. We were explosive in the game, we just had a lot of those called back. We just need zero in on the details, fundamentals and execution; and there's a lot that goes into that but that's also what ended up hurting us. When we didn't focus on the small things, when we didn't play with fundamentals and technique, we fouled and we had penalties."

One of the biggest plays of the game was Jalen Milroe's huge run that reached the endzone. The problem is, that play didn't count because of a holding call. Negating plays of that nature cannot continue to happen, especially against a team like Wisconsin.

Lessen the explosive runs

"Probably the most disappointing thing is we had a number of explosive runs that were given up, said DC Kane Wommack. "We had a couple of misfits. We had three times where we did not execute our pressure properly, so we had essentially missed patterns in the pressure that we bring, and we need to be able to capitalize off those things, and then two missed tackles. From that standpoint, I thought we let the quarterback — you know, when we call some of these pressures, the intent is to get the quarterback on the ground and make him uncomfortable, and because we did not execute in those moments, we didn’t take advantage of that, and thus they took advantage of that in the run game. Those are things we need to get cleaned up."

Wisconsin does two things well, play the run and run the ball. A team built on the trenches, how well they play up front will be a determinant in their ability compete with Alabama, and big runs will only help that.

Start Fast

“There’s nothing like playing at home here at Bryant-Denny, but I think there is something to knowing you’re going into a great environment, said Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer. "These guys really probably haven’t been there— maybe a couple guys from the Midwest that have seen that or been on a visit maybe at one point. It’s going to be a great atmosphere up there. And I think it’s one that when you’re preparing to go play those games, and we’ll of course have that many times here with the SEC schedule too, that hostile environment, taking it on and just kind of knowing that it’s you versus everyone there. I think our guys are looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to improving on this last week and knowing that we’re going to have to in order to get a win against Wisconsin on Saturday.”

A 14-13 start to the fourth quarter, it's one thing to rally late and make the necessary plays at home to ensure victory against South Flordia. And certainly, valuable lessons were learned . But It's entirely different when you're on the road in one of college football's greatest atmospheres.

The Tide need to come out swinging to ensure a victory.

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