Tide still trying to find its identity

TUSCALOOSA | When University of Alabama coach Nick Saban showed his football team the film from Saturday’s game against Western Carolina, it included something he called “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

Among the ugly was the Catamounts’ touchdown, even though it was nullified by a holding penalty, because two defensive backs failed to wrap up the ball carrier, and consequently missed the tackle.

“If you were in the meeting room, you wouldn’t have felt like you had won [52-6],” senior cornerback Simeon Castille said.

However, one of the good things was almost certainly the joint tackle by linebackers Darren Mustin and Rolando McClain, who not only dropped the running back for a loss, but sent his helmet flying from the impact.

That’s part of the identity Saban has frequently discussed and hopes his team continues to develop. Should he use another movie title to describe it, “The Fast and the Furious” would be a good choice.

“I think we took a big step toward finding one, because I don’t think it can be found in one game, really,” Castille said. “But I definitely think we’re in the right direction of trying to be a relentless team, a team that dominates its opponent for 60 minutes and makes the other team not want to really play.

“I think we did a good job hitting those guys and everybody played with great effort.”

Consequently, this is the key starting point that Alabama spent all offseason trying to reach, though the extensive Fourth Quarter and summer conditioning programs.

Among the numerous aims was to not only be faster, but more physical and aggressive in a smart way, in every facet of the game.

There were plenty of examples in hard hits alone against the Catamounts.

Special teams: The opening kickoff, senior wide receiver DJ Hall and junior running back Jimmy Johns both crushed an opposing player, helping spring sophomore Javier Arenas for a 35-yard return. The hits also helped set an immediate tone.

“I definitely think we’re more physical through the summer program and things we went through,” said junior safety Rashad Johnson, who led the Tide with eight blocks. “A lot of guys got a lot stronger and a lot faster, so we’re definitely a more physical team.”

Offensive line: A perfect example was on an early run when sophomore tackle Andre Smith was more than 20 yards downfield driving an opposing player to the ground. When asked why he did it, Smith simply said it was because the guy was standing there.

“We did well in certain areas,” Smith said. “There’s room for improvement.”

Offense: Alabama had 13 carries for 10-or-more yards, and eight total big plays (20 yards or more) by four different players (none by a wide receiver), including redshirt freshman Terry Grant’s 47-yard touchdown that took advantage of some excellent downfield blocking on the first offensive play.

“We have a lot more intensity this year, we’ve turned it up a notch,” Hall said. “We’ve got guys who want to make the big blocks downfield. You get a lot of chances to do that with the guys we have the backfield.”

But running backs weren’t the only ones taking advantage of blocks by players like junior tight end Travis McCall and sophomore wide receiver Mike McCoy. When John Parker Wilson took off to his left for an early 15-yard gain, the first defender to get near the junior quarterback promptly took a punishing hit from Johns, leading to extra yards.

“We’re trying to do that and it’s not just at the line of scrimmage,” Wilson said. “It’s down the field. It’s receivers on run plays. It’s DJ peeling back and blocking when I’m running out of bounds. The whole game, we’re trying to send that message.”

The defensive exterior: Any team will likely have some missed assignments and tackles in the opener, but there’s a reason why coaches generally say there’s more improvement between weeks one and two than at any other point of the season.

Two outside players who definitely fit the desired aggressiveness mold were junior starter Ezekial Knight (four tackles, one sack and forced fumble) and sophomore backup Brandon Fanny (five tackles), who were both playing the hybrid linebacker/defensive end position for the first time in their careers.

“It was crazy,” senior end Wallace Gilberry said. “Not taking away from anything we did last year, I think we had more big hits in that game than we did all last season.”

The defensive interior: Despite having no career starts between them, Mustin, McClain and sophomore defensive tackle Lorenzo Washington combined for 18 tackles, one sacks, 21/2 tackles for a loss and one forced fumble. Although Saban called the front seven “soft” to the point of attack at times, they also laid some heavy-duty hits.

“I think you’ve got to strike up front and dominate the line of scrimmage,” Saban said. “If you’re going to be consistent in stopping the run you have to be aggressive in how you strike and come out of your hips and attack the offense. We try to attack the offense.

“I think there were times in the game where we kind of caught the blocks, instead of attacking the blocks. That’s something that we can improve on, and we’ll work hard to improve on it. We just have to play a little more physical.”

So what’s the coach looking for? Consistency. Otherwise, just a lot more of the same intensity and determination as the season goes on and defense evolves. But now every fan knows what Saban meant when on the first day of spring practice he said the top priority was to change the mental outlook of the team.

Saturday was just chapter one of the season. While “Furious” remains the goal, the Tide’s real identity will continue to develop as the schedule gets tougher, especially against SEC rivals.

“You want to try and strike fear into them,” Castille said. “I know I was trying to.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.