Can Alabama's Defensive Scheme Stop the Run? What I Noticed In The Crimson Tide's Loss to Vanderbilt

The Crimson Tide gave up over 100 yards after contact on Saturday as the Commodores took the fight to Alabama on Saturday.

Mar 6, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack gives directions during practice of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team Wednesday. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

The first questions on many people's minds when former Alabama coach Nick Saban retired in January, went straight to the defensive side of the football as the Crimson Tide had been running the same scheme for the last 17 seasons under the seven-time national champion.

Alabama moved quickly to hire Kalen DeBoer to lead the program forward but his expertise is on the offensive side of the ball. Roughly a week later DeBoer selected South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack to lead the Alabama defense meaning a shift away from Saban's defensive scheme was inevitable.

Change is a scary thing when you're familiar with a tried and true path to success, and those fears spurred questions about if Wommack's 4-2-5 "Swarm Defense" would be effective at the highest levels of college football.

The Crimson Tide started the season strong on the defensive end, holding teams to just 33 points through the season's first 14 quarters. Unfortunately, Alabama's allowed 67 points over the last six quarters reincarnating the offseason doubt in the effectiveness of Wommack's defensive scheme.

Alabama's defensive issues were dismissed last week due to Georgia's second half offensive approach and thanks to the Crimson Tide faithful going home winners. On Saturday against Vanderbilt, the defensive deficiencies allowed the Commodores to claim the biggest win in program history taking down the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide 40-35.

Vanderbilt utilized a triple-option style offense while picking their moments when to push the ball downfield. The Commodores careful yet deliberate approach allowed them to run 75 plays over the course of 42 minutes as Alabama appeared uninspired and was unable to get off the field allowing Vanderbilt to convert on 12-of-18 third down attempts and their only fourth down attempt of the game.

Vanderbilt averaged 3.1 yards per carry on Saturday, and while that's not eye-popping by any standard it was exactly what the 'Dores wanted.

"They're going to run the clock down, shorten the game. We knew that that was going to be the case, we talked about it all week long," DeBoer said after the loss. "All week I've said [Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea] has done a great job of playing team football, and that's exactly what they did. It comes down to being assignment sound, and they put you in isolated spots where one guy has to get the ball carrier down.

Vanderbilt's older offensive style is the perfect counter to Alabama's modern defensive scheme as Wommack's "Swarm Defense" appears to be predicated on creating negative plays in the passing game as modern offenses get creative through the air.

The 'Dores kept mixing its looks up in the running game and utilized quick passes to keep the offense on the field. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia completed 80 percent of his passes as he looked to get the ball into his playmaker's hands as quickly as possible.

The Alabama defense didn't generate a sack or even a single pressure on Pavia, according to the statisticians at FirstBank Stadium. The Crimson Tide didn't force any fumbles or interceptions and only broke up two passes.

Alabama managed seven tackles for a loss with Quandarrius Robinson tallying three by himself, but if those sporadic negative plays are all the Tide can muster will the Wommack system be successful?

It's easy to look at the stat sheet and see 166 Vanderbilt rushing yards and question the approach, however, a closer look at the film reveals Alabama's problem is not schematic in nature.

Wommack has harped on his units need to find consistency in run-fit throughout the season, but Saturday's debacle was less about a schematic deficiency and more about a lack of effort and intensity.

Vanderbilt entered the game as one of the nation's leaders in yards after contact offensively. The Commodores gained four or more yards after contact with an Alabama defender on 17 different occasions on Saturday, resulting in an extra 112 yards gained.

Eight of those 17 occasions came from either Alabama inside linebacker Deontae Lawson or Jihaad Campbell resulting in 62 of the extra 112 yards gained. Three of those 17 occasions came on third down allowing Vanderbilt to extend drives and melt clock.

"It was hard to get off the field on third down," Lawson said. "Penalties hurt us early and that created some long drives for us and [we] just got beat on man coverage. Some plays we were just getting out leveraged and that created big plays."

Skepticism of the "4-2-5" is certainly fair after Alabama's most recent performance, but the Crimson Tide did enter Saturday's game with the nation's top third-down defense and eight turnovers gained under its belt.

The Crimson Tide only forced two Vanderbilt punts throughout the entire contest but would have likely forced three more with a bit better tackling at the point of contact. Every extra possession matters in a one-score SEC road game, no matter who the opponent is.

Yards After Contact Chart - Alabama v Vanderbilt / Joe Gaither - Canva

Can Wommack's defensive scheme win at the highest levels of college football?

Time will tell, but Alabama must first raise its level of physicality at the line of scrimmage and upon contact with the ball carriers before being able to properly evaluate the schematics of the "Swarm Defense".