Everything Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack Said Ahead of Iron Bowl

The Crimson Tide defensive coordinator faced numerous questions after losing to Oklahoma this past week.

Kane Wommack / Joe Gaither Screensho

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 13 Alabama football lost last week to the Oklahoma Sooners in upset fashion but have no time to lick their wounds as the Auburn Tigers are on deck. The Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator, Kane Wommack, spent time in the Naylor Stone Media Room in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility on Monday talking about what went wrong for the Crimson Tide before turning his attention to the Auburn Tigers.

Opening Statement:

"Obviously, disappointing loss. Looking back on the week against Oklahoma, I thought our guys had a good week of preparation. I think our guys, they care a lot. They work their tail off. We talk all week, every week, about having a sense of urgency, and ultimately, all of your preparation showing up on game day. We didn’t do that to enough consistency to go execute and take care of business in the game.

"I thought — obviously, a ton of run game, that was the way they were going to see the game, to try and run the football and manage the game for their defense. We gave up seven explosive runs for 140 yards, and that really, ultimately, was the thing that we couldn’t give up. They had 50 runs overall, and just 43 for about 115 yards or whatever it was, so there was some good things we did, but we are not consistent enough, play in and play out, executing and doing our job, whether it was a fit by a linebacker, a defensive lineman, a corner, you had a couple of those one-off runs that we didn’t fit consistently enough. You can point toward the exact same play where we are doing our job and executing and knocking things out. I thought we adjusted well in the second half and our guys did fix the issues as the issues came, but certainly, it just wasn’t enough.

"I thought the drive before half was critical. We needed to get a stop there. We gave up a touchdown. Coach talks all the time about the middle eight, the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. That’s something we’ve done a nice job of as a team. We certainly did not do a good job of that, then in the third quarter, we’ve got to find a way to hold them to a field goal when they get the ball off a turnover. We did not do that.

"Turnover margin was something we’ve done a really good job of this season. When we win the turnover margin, we’re a hard team to beat. When you don’t, you don’t get enough takeaways on defense, enough game-changing plays on defense, we put ourselves in a bad situation.

"Our guys have a maturity. They have handled things. Our leaders have stepped up in the moment. Certainly, they understand what this week means to this program and what this game means to our university and our fan base. It’s something — we’re all excited for the week of preparation. Very impressed with Auburn and the way they’re playing right now. My background — I’ve known Hugh Freeze for a long time and know a number of people on that staff. I think they’ve done a really good job of getting their guys to play at a really physical level, and they’re playing really hard. I thought those things showed up the other night against Texas A&M. Like everyone in the SEC, there’s been some ups and downs. It’s about fighting and finding a way to finish. They’re certainly doing that right now.

"From a run-game standpoint, they present a number of challenges for you. I think Jarquez Hunter is a phenomenal ‘back, as tough of a ‘back as we’ve seen. Creates a lot of yards after contact. Does a really good job of finding ways to stay patient so he can create explosive plays in the run game. You’ve got some one-plus style of offense with the quarterback, and you’ve got guys on the perimeter who can make explosive plays down the field.

"We’ll have our work cut out for us. Looking forward to the challenge and excited to go play in a great rivalry game."

How do you correct the errors from the Vanderbilt and Oklahoma games so they aren't used against you in the future?

"Everybody's going to go look at what other teams have done to have success, on both sides of the ball, as part of a game plan. I did think (against Oklahoma) we saw a ton of one-plus style offense-- quarterback options to help the offense; as much as we've seen from anybody this year. So I thought that's certainly always going to be challenging when you have one extra hat in the box. And the key is, you're going to get some yards when you have that style offense in the run game, most certainly. But you got to keep them from having the explosive plays. And that really, ultimately, was the thing for us. We had answers, and we fixed those answers when they came back to those plays, but now building off of that consistency so those things don't happen in the first place. That was ultimately the thing that we didn't do for the first half to give up the real scoring drive that they had right there before halftime." 

On Deontae Lawson's injury status and how that will affect the defense moving forward... 

"Deontae will not be with us this week in the game, and I'll let, I'll let coach kind of handle it from that point forward. 

I think when you lose a guy that is kind of your steady maker in the in the box, does such a great job with the green dot communication, is such a leader for our guys and a great communicator on the field, that's tough. That's a tough loss for sure but I think our guys stepped up. Justin Jefferson stepped up in the second half and really did a good job of going in and playing the Stinger, the weakside position for us. We've got some young guys that I think are trending in the right direction right now with Jeremiah Alexander and Justin Okoronkwo, Cayden Jones. Those guys are doing a nice job to where they're obviously going to have to continue that, and this week is going to be really important. But like everybody, you're going to have some of these injuries that you have to deal with, and it's got to be a next man up mentality. And I think our guys have the right mindset in terms of what they're going to be required to do on gameday." 

On who will wear the green dot helmet in Lawson's absence... 

"Justin Jefferson has been doing that all season, he's kind of our number two there in that position and has done a really great job. Obviously, Jihaad can do it. It's just Jihaad plays so many different positions for us that it's hard when a guy's moving around like that for him to be the green dot communication. So we have two guys that certainly can handle it, but Justin will take the majority of the responsibility." 

On his evaluation of Jah-Marien Latham at Wolf against Oklahoma... 

"I thought Jah-Marien being able to move over to the wolf in one week based off of some of the injuries that we have, Deontae being a little bit banged up, did a great job in the week of practice and played pretty well in the game. There are some similarities in the Bandit and Wolf positions, but then there's also some very staunch differences. I thought he did a really nice job of making those adjustments throughout the week, and then really was fairly consistent in his execution on game day. So very proud of him, and appreciate him doing that. I told him as much. 

To have to move positions as a starter on our defense to go move and play a different position in the game, that's what's great about some of our leaders, right. Those guys will step up and do whatever it takes in the moment. That's what's going to be required when you lose guys like Que Robinson and Deontae Lawson." 

What's the biggest issue that need to be fixed from the Oklahoma game?

"I thought when you deal with a one-plus style offense, it's going to, now they have the quarterback as an element to the run game. Normally, when you can say hey, we have somebody who's a post player, somebody outside covering, you're kind of taking away some of the layer of the defense because you need that extra number in the run fit. So what that does is, it puts you in a position that everybody has to make those one-on-one tackles. There's maybe not quite as much overlap as a traditional quarterback handing the ball off. Those were really some of the issues that we had. Whether the quarterback kept the ball and ran it for a couple of explosive plays that we gave up, or some of the other runs were the ability for the quarterback to keep the ball, now kept us light in the box on the front side when he handed the ball off to the running back. Those are the things, you're ultimately going to give up some yards when you're dealing with an option style team and one-plus offense. But it's those explosive plays. You've got to be able to get them down before they can create explosives to either flip the field or maximize drives to score like they did right before the half." 

What makes Hugh Freeze and his offenses hard to stop?

"Like any good coordinator, he has found ways over the years to adjust to his personnel. I think that's the challenge for everybody as you move to the end of the season, identifying what you do well as a team but also what wrinkles you have to have. You have to constantly be mixing things and changing things in the SEC. I think he's done a really nice job of that the last couple of weeks. They are committed to running the football, and they're committed to creating explosive plays in their passing game downfield. So those are the things I think would be a staple of who he's been over the years. He's done that a number of different ways and a number of different facets with different quarterbacks. Different offensive skill players. But ultimately, I think they do a great job of finding ways to establish a run and then using that run game to create explosive plays downfield in the play action game as well. RPOs are certainly a piece of what they do. It always has been. They make you defend the lateral space out of their run game as well. "

Looking back on film, any adjustments you wish you would've made?

"I think there's always ... There were probably two or three things I would have rather called this vs. that. You look at it, I think you've got to be critical of yourself first in terms of, OK what could I have called to put ourselves in a better position? Quite honestly, the explosive plays that we gave up, probably one of those calls I would have liked to have had back. The other two really didn't hurt us, but I thought I could have called something better in the moment. But really, I think that's the hard thing. Getting guys to play consistently play in and play out and do the same high-level job. You have that exact same run and we knock it out. All of a sudden maybe they come back to it, and we didn't do our job in that moment. I think building consistency has been really the challenge for us in Year 1, and that's something we're going to have to continue to strive to do this week against a good rushing attack."