Desmond Howard rips Alabama secondary as ‘weak link’ vs. potent Tennessee offense
The Alabama defense has struggled this season, in particular its secondary. The Crimson Tide are allowing 213 passing yards per game, which ranks No. 63 nationally.
The pass defense has dropped off dramatically from last year when Alabama allowed 191 passing yards per game, which was No. 24 nationally.
ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard discussed Alabama’s issues in the secondary Friday afternoon on SportsCenter, ahead of the Crimson Tide’s matchup with Tennessee.
“Quite frankly, Alabama’s secondary, they’ve probably been the weak link to their defense,” Howard said. “I think they’re pretty strong up front, but I’ve had conversations with a couple of coaches that have played against Alabama. And they said that this secondary is probably the weak link of their defense, and probably the weakest they’ve seen at Alabama in quite some time.
“So they’re going to have to make sure they come to play or Tennessee’s going to take advantage of their secondary.”
While Howard sees the Crimson Tide secondary as a big issue, he actually expects Tennessee to come out and establish the run to start the game. The former Heisman Trophy winner is a big fan of Tennessee junior running back Dylan Sampson, who has already rushed for 699 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
“I’ll tell you what, I think they do it first and foremost with the run. You look at this Josh Heupel offense, and people, I think the misconception is they like to throw the ball all over the yard,” Howard said. “They’re going to do that, but Dylan Sampson is a problem.
“He leads the SEC in rushing yards per game at 116. The young man averages 6 yards per rush. And he has 15 touchdowns on the ground. And I also think once they get Dylan Sampson going, that’s going to open up the passing game.”
Alabama will need its defense to play well, particularly its secondary, to win in Knoxville Saturday afternoon. The game is slated to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by ABC.
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