Mailbag: Is Alabama football ahead of where it was to start Nick Saban's final season?

Alabama football got its 2024 campaign and coach Kalen DeBoer's inaugural season with the program started on the right foot with a 63-0 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was a game that saw Alabama dominate in all aspects.

Following the win, we asked for questions and comments from Crimson Tide fans. Now, we have some answers, thoughts and observations. Onto questions and answers:

Question/comment: This defense may struggle with teams like Georgia. But it will help with games against Ole Miss, Texas and Tennessee.

Answer: Alabama's new swarm defense really showed to be a force against Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers offense could not withstand the Crimson Tide defense and struggled to get any consistency going, its longest offensive play of the night being a 16-yard reception from TJ Finley to River Helms in the first quarter. Michigan transfer Keon Sabb had quite the debut, setting the tone early with a pair of interceptions in the first quarter.

Finley was eventually replaced by Caden Vetkamp in the second quarter, but he was unable to get much going for the Hilltoppers offense, either. In total, the Alabama defense held Western Kentucky to 145 yards compared to that of its offense's output of 600 yards. It marked Alabama's first shutout since 2022.

Question/comment: This year's team feels 100 miles ahead of last year's team after Week 1.

Answer: Last year's Alabama team did look undisciplined early in the season but progressively got better as the season went on. But that's to be expected — teams to get better over the course of the season, that is. This year's team for sure came to play against Western Kentucky. DeBoer, his staff and his team came prepared, and Saturday proved it.

Alabama seemed to have some early-game nerves, five of its seven penalties coming in the first quarter. It quickly settled into the course of the game, being called for two penalties over the remaining three quarters of the game: a holding penalty in the second quarter then a delay of game penalty in the third.

There was a high snap in the first quarter that was fumbled by Milroe, which he later referred to as "first-game jitters." Alabama played pretty clean for the majority of the game after that, though, not giving up any other turnovers.

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Question/comment: What's going on with Kadyn Proctor?

Answer: The real answer to this is: We don't know. When asked about it postgame, DeBoer reiterated that Proctor was unable to play and said that they will continue to evaluate his condition. It hasn't been explicitly said what happened with Proctor, either, he was just seen in street clothes on the sideline with what looked to be his left arm in a sling under his shirt.

An upside in this is that Alabama has plenty of guys ready to fill in on its offensive line. Elijah Pritchett was that guy on Saturday night, despite battling with WIlkin Formby at the right tackle spot. Formby ended up getting the start at right tackle on Saturday with Pritchett shifting over to left tackle. Miles McVay was listed as Proctor's backup on the depth chart, but Pritchett got the nod instead.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Mailbag: Is Alabama football ahead of where it was to start Nick Saban's final season?