We'll use this space on Mondays to revisit key sequences, evaluate players or analyze trends we see developing in the games on Saturday.
Everything has to go in one of three buckets: Good, Bad or Different.
You'll see what I mean.
GOOD: Christian Harris sparks Alabama's defense
Let's break down Missouri's first drive again.
First play: A traditional option play to the right.
Freshman Will Anderson takes the quarterback, Patrick Surtain II slows down the pitchman, but it is Christian Harris who blows him up for a 1-yard loss.
Second play: Missouri receiver drops the pass three yards in front of the line of scrimmage. Linebacker Dylan Moses was in a perfect position to make the tackle if he completed the catch.
Third play: Harris roars past the offensive line untouched to sack the quarterback for a 9-yard loss. Missouri is forced to punt from its own 26-yard line, having lost 10 yards in three plays.
Officially, Harris finished the night with six tackles, two for loss, and a sack. I’m pretty sure he actually got seven as Jordan Battle seems to be incorrectly listed as making the stop on the very first play.
According to Pro Football Focus, Harris graded out as Alabama’s third best starting defender with a defensive grade of 72.5. He only graded out higher in two SEC games last season (Arkansas and Texas A&M).
DIFFERENT: Leaning on the run
With Tua Tagovailoa off to the NFL, Alabama seems content to run the ball more. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide passed 32 times while running the ball 36.
That matches up pretty well with what Alabama did last season once Jones took over for Tagovailoa.
Tua Tagovailoa's impact on Alabama's offense (2019)
| No. of games | Average pass attempts | Average rush attempts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power 5 games Tagovailoa started and didn't leave due to injury | 5 | 36.6 | 31.2 |
| Power 5 games Jones started | 3 | 31.33 | 35.33 |
Now, this chart is great, but admittedly it’s not perfect. Alabama held a huge lead for the entire second half on Saturday, so it’s no surprise the Crimson Tide ran the ball 14 times in the final quarter but only passed seven times.
However, Alabama held similarly huge leads at times with both Jones and Tagovailoa last season. The numbers above and on Saturday reflect an offense that prefers to lean on the run a tad more with Jones than it did with Alabama’s former quarterback.
BAD: Alabama's fifth drive
After a slow start, the Crimson Tide ripped off three straight scoring drives to take a 21-0 lead. At times it looked effortless, then as if this was a Madden game between best friends, Alabama decided to call up something unconventional just to see if it would actually work.
Mac Jones faked a handoff to Brian Robinson Jr. on the left before tossing it back to DeVonta Smith, who immediately found himself cornered.
Smith should have lost 10 yards on that play. Instead, he doubled back and lost an additional two yards for his efforts.
Alabama followed that play up with a false start, and the two ensuing completions weren’t enough to dig Alabama out of the 27-yard hole it faced.
Missouri started the next drive on their own 40-yard line, and the Tigers ended that series with a field goal for their first points in the game.
DIFFERENT: Alabama's No. 3 receiver appears irrelevant.
Like many in the state, we spent the summer speculating which receiver would step up and help fill the void left by both Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III.
After Saturday, it seems that was all a huge waste of time. DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle saw 12 (38.7 percent) and 10 (32.3 percent) targets, respectively. That’s a total combined target share of 71 percent.
Meanwhile, the third option in Alabama’s passing game, running back Brian Robinson Jr., only got three targets (9.7 percent).
Last season, Alabama’s top two receivers, regardless of who that happened to be that game, finished with a combined target share somewhere between 45.8 percent and 58.8 percent.
It’s not such a huge surprise to see Smith and Waddle surpass this number, but it was a little surprising to see a third weapon fail to emerge for the Crimson Tide.
Last season, Alabama’s third option in the passing game (whoever that happened to be that week) was targeted on 16.5 percent of passing plays on average.
Saturday’s result makes me wonder if any of these receivers will manage to carve out a role anywhere close to that consistently. John Metchie III or one of the others could have a few big games, but it seems like Alabama is content to funnel the passing game through Smith and Waddle for now.
GOOD: Alabama's kicking game
Will Reichard’s return went smoothly, as the sophomore drilled a 34-yard field goal and all five of his extra points.
It doesn’t seem like much, but Crimson Tide kickers, Reichard and Joseph Bulovas combined to miss three of 83 extra-point attempts last season (3.6 percent).
Bulovas converted only four of six field goals (66.7 percent) attempted from that distance or closer in 2019. Reichard drilled both his short kicks, although he did miss a 37-yard attempt against South Carolina.
Other than that lone kick, it’s hard to complain about Reichard’s performance for the Crimson Tide to date. His only other misses were 48 and 49-yard kicks taken in his first collegiate game, and he drilled one kick from those same distances the next week.
There are only two problems with Reichard right now. His small sample size and the context surrounding his kicks. None of Reichard’s field goals have come in high-pressure situations.
On Saturday, Reichard’s field goal came in the game's final minutes, with Alabama holding a 22-point lead. The most important field goal from the kicker last season came in the second quarter of the South Carolina game when Reichard drilled a 23-yard attempt to put Alabama up seven points.
BAD: Alabama's other RBs
With less than two minutes left in the first half, running back Brian Robinson Jr. dropped what should have been a 23-yard touchdown pass. The frustration on his face was impossible to miss.
That drop felt like the kind of play that could eventually cause Alabama to look elsewhere for running back touches. Luckily for the senior back, his freshman competition looked even worse.
Trey Sanders entered the game at the end of the third quarter, along with Bryce Young. He finished the game with nine carries for one yard. Six of his carries went for 0 or negative yardage.
Oh, and he also caught one pass for a loss of two yards. Yikes.
Suddenly, Robinson Jr.'s 18 yards on four carries looked solid. The senior also caught one of his three targets for a loss of two.
Of course, their carries largely came when Missouri expected Alabama to try and run out the clock. Still, Alabama is going to need backs on the field that can pick up yards in less than ideal situations.
It was the first game ever for Trey Sanders, and he is coming off a significant injury. So he might need to find confidence in himself from a physical standpoint.
It's hard to find an excuse for the normally dependable Robinson Jr., but both backs will need to improve dramatically if Alabama is going to give them any meaningful touches in the future.
