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Report card: Rating Alabama football for loss to Tennessee
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Report card: Rating Alabama football for loss to Tennessee

Read this Alabama football report, learn from it, then throw it in the trash.

This report, with these figures, is far from refrigerator material.

Alabama is sputtering, and Saturday’s 24-17 loss to Tennessee at Neyland Stadium is just the latest example. The Crimson Tide (5-2, 2-2 SEC) has two losses before November for the first time since 2007, Nick Saban’s first year as coach.

“We can’t match the offense and defense right now and play great team football,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said after the game. “There are times when we have to be able to separate ourselves and have that killer instinct. And right now we’re not doing that. And it’s not like they don’t try. Only the execution needs to be improved.”

Here’s how we graded the Crimson Tide in the loss to Tennessee.

Alabama offense: D

Three chances in the first half for takeaways from the defense, and the Alabama offense couldn’t do anything on any of them. The Crimson Tide scored no points off turnovers. That’s unacceptable, even against a good Tennessee defense.

Alabama had many self-inflicted wounds, including missed throws, difficulty running consistently, turnovers (two interceptions) and third-down issues (3-for-14). It all added up to a forgettable offensive performance. The attack even had the chance to redeem itself not once but twice in the closing minutes, but it could not achieve a first defeat. Instead, the game ended with Jalen Milroe throwing an interception. At times, the Alabama offense has taken the lead when the defense has sputtered. Saturday was not one of those times.

Alabama defense: C+

Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s unit shutout the first half. Three takeaways made that possible. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, Tennessee found ways to exploit Alabama’s defense in the second half, scoring 24 points in the second half. The Crimson Tide gave up 214 rushing yards during the game. In the second half, Tennessee’s running game scored two of three touchdowns over seven drives in the second half. Despite the problems after halftime, Alabama’s defense got going late. It forced a punt with 2:25 to go. Then, after the offense squandered the ensuing drive and failed to convert on fourth down, the Crimson Tide defense held the Vols to a field goal on a short field.

The defense gave Alabama a chance, but the offense couldn’t capitalize. The loss lies much more on the attack, but the defense is certainly not without blame. It just wasn’t the main culprit.

Alabama special teams: B+

Alabama forced Tennessee to miss two field goals in the first half, which increases this mark. But the Crimson Tide missed a field goal of their own, albeit from 54 yards, slightly overshooting the score. Punter James Burnip got a lot of work, punting seven times and averaging 46.7 yards per punt. Graham Nicholson also made the second field goal of his Alabama career on his fourth attempt. Otherwise, there wasn’t much to stand out on the special teams front.

General: C-

Alabama struggles to play team football. It seems like offense and defense can’t play well at the same time these days. It’s been one or the other a lot of the time. Combine that with self-inflicted wounds, indiscipline and careless mistakes, and Alabama isn’t playing winning football right now. Combine that with facing a Tennessee team that is one of the better teams in the SEC, and it resulted in Alabama losing for the second time in three weeks.