On Thursday's edition of " Always College Football " with Greg McElroy, the former Alabama quarterback previewed big-time matchups coming up on Saturday.
To open the show, McElroy began by discussing Alabama traveling to Wisconsin as Kalen DeBoer will see his first true test as Alabama's head coach. McElroy posed four questions about the matchup, questions that very well could impact the final score come Saturday.
1. Can Wisconsin take advantage of a young secondary?
McElroy opens this questions by discussing the offensive progress that coach Luke Fickell and his offensive coordinator have had since working together at the program.
Wisconsin averaged 23.5 points per game in 2023, and the passing yards were also a bit lower than Badger fans are accustomed to. However, the run game, which has always been the Badgers' strong suit, has remained solid.
In Wisconsin's first few weeks of the season, their offensive "big plays" factor has not really shown up just yet. Only a handful of their plays have resulted in 13 yards or more just in their Week 1 matchup against Western Michigan.
However, the Badgers have an experienced quarterback in Tyler Van Dyke, who played against the Tide a few seasons ago while he was with the Miami Hurricanes.
Alabama's secondary is very young, and did flourish in Week 1 against Western Kentucky as they tallied two interceptions in the first half. However, USF's receivers were often open in last week's matchup, but could never take advantage of it because of inaccurate throws.
McElroy says if Van Dyke can take advantage of this secondary and produce a great showing, it will be a much closer game. The Tide currently hold up as a 15-point favorite.
2. Can Wisconsin create negative plays to stop the run?
McElroy then questions the defensive line of Wisconsin, saying they will need a great showing to slow down the Alabama run attack.
In their matchup against Western Michigan, Wisconsin only had one tackle-for-loss, which came on a sack by Elijah Hills. Week 2 against South Dakota was a huge bounce back for the defense, as the Badgers tallied six tackles-for-loss and three sacks.
This defensive production would need to show up against a powerful Tide offense, and with the uncertainty of the health and inconsistency of Alabama's offensive line, the Badgers would need to take advantage of that.
3. Can Alabama eliminate mistakes?
Alabama's game against USF was absolutely different from their Week 1 performance against Western Kentucky.
Alabama would lose three fumbles in the game against USF, and commit numerous offensive penalties, mainly at the offensive line, that brought back big plays and even touchdowns. McElroy explains these mistakes will be much more costly if repeated against a team like Wisconsin.
That, along with making sure snaps are much cleaner, will need to be resolved from the Alabama offense in order to win comfortably on the road.
4. Can Alabama be more efficient and less explosive?
A lot of Alabama scores so far this season have come from big-time plays in both the passing game and rushing game.
Big plays from Ryan Williams, Justice Haynes and Jam Miller have shown the nation that the Tide offense under Kalen DeBoer can be very explosive.
However, McElroy explains that issues with snaps, fumbles, short drives, and penalties have also shown that the Tide's offense may be relying more on the explosive plays instead of the efficient time consuming drives.
Alabama saw a lot of three-and-outs in their matchup against USF, and McElory explains that with a quality opponent in Wisconsin, the Tide will needf to find and play that efficiency if they want to leave Wisconsin with a comfortable win.
Related: Biggest Question Marks as Alabama Prepares for Road Trip to Wisconsin
Local News
Comments / 0