Alabama football has found success in almost every season for over the past decade. What will have to happen for a successful 2019?
Last season was historic for Alabama football in many ways. Over the course of the regular season, they turned a program known to consistently run the ball into a gun-slinging spread offense. Tua Tagovailoa torched defense after defense as the Crimson Tide ripped through the first half of their schedule by historic margins of victory.
Defensively, players like Quinnen Williams and Christian Miller wreaked havoc on quarterbacks. The Tide’s pass rush was sturdy this year thanks to the surprising emergence of Quinnen Williams as a star. In the secondary, players like Deonte Thompson and Patrick Surtain helped the Tide a lot against teams that emphasized passing, but the loss of Trevon Diggs early in the season hurt them as well.
You can’t talk about last season without mentioning Jalen Hurts and his legendary performance against Georgia in the second half of the SEC Championship game. In the few drives that Hurts got in that game, he wrote his name in the crimson flame at the University of Alabama.
Although Clemson tore through Alabama in the final game of the season, the Tide still succeeded a lot. Their successes are because of many things. Some of those keys to a successful 2018 were pass rush through the defensive line, depth at the quarterback position, the emergence of Josh Jacobs as a bonafide changeup running back, and the wide receiving corps being one of the best ever.
This year’s team has every chance to be just as successful as last year’s if not more, but the keys to victory will be a lot more different than they were in 2018. Here are five keys to a successful season for Alabama football in 2019.