There’s a bittersweet feeling in Tuscaloosa coming off of Alabama’s 65-31 victory over Arkansas. On one hand, the Crimson Tide’s offense continued to roll, reaching the 60-point mark for the second time this season. On the other hand, Alabama gave up its highest points total since its national championship loss to Clemson in 2017.
Alabama is currently a 28.5 favorite heading into Saturday’s homecoming matchup against Missouri. Here are five questions to consider leading up to the game.
1. How will the secondary adjust to the loss of Trevon Diggs?
Trevon Diggs’ broken foot couldn’t have come at a worse time. After allowing a season-high 405 yards of total offense to Arkansas last week, the last thing Alabama needed was to lose a key player at a position it didn’t have much depth at to begin with. Making matters worse, Alabama now faces a Missouri team which ranks No. 9 in total offense with 530 yards per game, including an average of 318.4 yards through the air.
Despite a shaky performance last week, Diggs has been a key contributor this season, leading the team with six pass breakups. The junior is also one of the most experienced players in Alabama’s young secondary, a unit that already lost backup safety Daniel Wright (shoulder) and backup cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (knee) for the season.
That leaves Alabama with several fresh faces and not much room for error moving forward.
Junior college transfer Saivion Smith has led the cornerbacks in individual drills during practice. Smith began the season as a starter at cornerback and will likely take Diggs’ spot across from freshman Patrick Surtain II. Alabama also has a veteran option in Shyheim Carter, who has started at Star out of the nickel package and shifted to safety out of the dime package. Diggs’ injury could also mean more action for freshman Josh Jobe, who drew plenty of praise during fall camp.
"It's a big loss, but we have to step up,” safety Deionte Thompson said. “Us, the older guys, we have to get the younger guys on the same page as us. We have to bring them in for extra film meetings, meet with them one-on-one, teach them the adjustments so they can be ready to play winning football."
2. Is Alabama’s offense moving too fast?
Alabama head coach Nick Saban says he isn’t apologizing for his quick-strike offense. However, the rate at which the Crimson Tide is lighting up the scoreboard has caused its own players’ heads to spin.
"Trust me, as an offensive player, sometimes it’s even frustrating how fast we can score,” tight end Hale Hentges joked. “It’s like, ‘OK, let’s get in a rhythm, let’s get in a groove.’ You throw a block and you’re like, ‘OK, that was one play.’ The second play, I’m getting my feet wet and all of sudden we score and it’s like, ‘Well, off to the sideline again.’”
Alabama leads the nation with 40 offensive touchdowns, taking an average of just 5.4 plays to find the end zone on those drives. During last week’s game against Arkansas, Alabama scored two touchdowns on its first three plays of the game.
While Hentges jokes about the annoyance of constant scoring for the offense, the short drives can be taxing on Alabama’s defense. That could play a bigger factor this week against a Missouri team that ranks third in the nation averaging 87.8 plays per game.
“Time of possession is probably important in a game, especially when you're playing against a team like Missouri, a fastball team,” Saban said. “They're up in the 90s in a lot of their games in terms of the number of plays. So when you don't get some balance in sort of controlling the ball for some period of time, it can wear on the defense a little bit.”
Despite the lack of rest, Alabama defenders aren’t complaining. Smiling, Thompson said he isn’t calling for the offense to step off the gas anytime soon.
“We don't want them to stop scoring, we want them to light up the scoreboard,” Thompson said. “We just have to be ready. Like sudden change, they score fast it's a sudden change situation and we have to be prepared for it.”
3. Will Tagovailoa finally see the fourth quarter.
Missouri might be Alabama’s toughest challenge to date, but can the Tigers take the Crimson Tide into the fourth quarter? Tua Tagovailoa has yet to take a snap in the fourth quarter as Alabama has been well ahead by that point in all six of its previous games. In fact, the sophomore quarterback has only taken 45 offensive snaps in the second half.
Tagovailoa took a season-high 18 second-half offensive snaps against Texas A&M, followed by 16 during the third quarter against Arkansas State. He took seven during last week’s game against Arkansas.
“Sometimes we have a plan for how we want to do it and sometimes you sort of do it by feel,” Saban said when asked how he decides when to lift his starting quarterback. “We have a lot of confidence in both of our quarterbacks. So, every time we get an opportunity to play Jalen [Hurts], we certainly want to do that.”
Tagovailoa piled up a career-best 387 yards and four touchdowns through the air against Texas A&M. He should be in a position to put up similar numbers if he’s allotted an equal amount of time on the field against Missouri. The Tigers rank No. 117 in the nation, allowing opponents an average of 284.8 yards per game through the air.
4. But what about Missouri’s quarterback?
While most of the national attention is placed on Tagovailoa, Alabama defenders haven’t overlooked the quarterback they’ll be facing Saturday.
Missouri quarterback Drew Lock ranks second in the SEC, averaging 297.4 yards per game through the air. Through five games, the senior has completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 1,487 yards and 11 touchdowns with four interceptions.
“Drew Lock is hands down one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, if not the best,” Thompson said. “The way that he can get the ball out of his hands is very fast. The way they move, they average a play every six seconds after the ball is snapped. They average the most plays in college football. It’s going to be a fast-paced game. We have to get lined up, get the call, communicate and be ready to play.”
Despite Lock’s impressive numbers, he’s struggled in Missouri’s past two games, completing a combined 40 of 84 passes (47.6 percent) for 425 yards with three interceptions in back-to-back losses to Georgia and South Carolina.
5. Is Irv Smith Jr. Alabama’s secret weapon?
With all the talent Alabama has at the receiver position, it might come as a surprise to some that tight end Irv Smith Jr. is second on the team with 332 receiving yards. Those who see the junior tight end every day in practice aren’t as shocked.
Smith showed off his big-play ability on the opening play from scrimmage last week, taking a short pass from Tagovailoa down the right sideline for a 76-yard touchdown.
“He runs like a 4.5. He might as well be a wide receiver,” Hentges said. “It would surprise me if I did that and ran down the field. But for Irv? No, that’s not surprising. He makes those plays all the time during practice. He’s a very explosive player for us, and we’re definitely going to need him going down the stretch.”
Tagovailoa later connected with Smith for a 47-yard reception that eventually ended with Ruggs recovering a fumble and returning it 12 yards for a touchdown. The 123-yard performance marked the first time the tight end reached the century mark in his career.
