Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa was almost disastrous for the Alabama Crimson Tideas the program narrowly escaped its second straight loss to an unranked team by defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks by a final score of 27-25.
A result that improved Alabama’s record for the year to 5-1 overall, as well as 2-1 in SEC play. This was simply a disappointing performance from Alabama. Crimson Tide this left many answers to questions from the previous week.
Not only were the Crimson Tide outshot in total yardage, 374-313, but Alabama once again struggled on third down, as the Gamecocks converted numerous attempts. In fact, this was just a game where the Crimson Tide simply struggled after jumping out to an early 14-0 lead when they appeared to be in control.
So with that in mind, here are five takeaways from Alabama’s 27-25 win over South Carolina in Week 7:
1. Third problem, again
After Vanderbilt Commodores Converting 12 of 18 on third downs against Alabama’s defense in Week 6, the Crimson Tide once again struggled to get off the field Saturday afternoon. Alabama held South Carolina to just 7 of 15 on third downs Saturday, bringing the last two weeks’ total to 19 of 33 on third down conversions against two teams the Crimson Tide should own on final downs.
2. The fourth downconversion bites again
Speaking of late-game struggles, one of Alabama’s highest-scoring plays against Vanderbilt ended on fourth down when the Crimson Tide allowed a 36-yard touchdown pass. Alabama also allowed a touchdown pass on fourth down in that game and now holds its opponents to a combined 7 of 8 on fourth down attempts dating back to Georgia’s victory.
3. Turnovers turn out to be profitable and costly
Turnovers were a major talking point for both teams coming out of Saturday, but looking at the Crimson Tide in particular, they both hurt and helped Alabama in Week 7. Overall , Alabama suffered four forced turnovers from the South Carolina offense – with none. bigger than a Domani Jackson interception in the fourth quarter – but also struggled with them with two Jalen Milroe interceptions.
4. The offensive line struggles at times
Alabama’s offensive line struggled at times Saturday, allowing a total of four sacks to South Carolina’s defense. Alabama also struggled in the ground game, amassing just 104 rushing yards, a number that will certainly need to improve in the future.
5. I have to finish
Finally, it is clear that the end of Saturday’s match was certainly not ideal for Alabama. After taking a 27-19 lead with 1:54 to play, Alabama soon gave up a South Carolina touchdown, followed by the Gamecocks recovering an onside kick that gave them a chance to win the match entirely before rolling a pick.
Moving forward, the Crimson Tide will definitely need to do a better job of finishing games, starting this week in Knoxville.
This article was originally published on Roll Tide Wire: 5 takeaways from Alabama’s 27-25 win over South Carolina
