TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Three times, the Alabama defense forced a turnover against Tennessee on Saturday and tried to swing momentum in the Crimson Tide’s favor. But the three turnovers resulted in zero points for Alabama as the offense followed each one with a punt.
Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan used a form of the word “disappointing” three times in his answer to a question during Monday’s press conference about the offense being unable to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the defense.
“In the games that we’ve played the best collectively as a team, we’ve done that–– our defense has created turnovers, and we’ve been able to put points on the board off of those,” Sheridan said. “And unfortunately for us this past week, we didn’t do that. That was disappointing because I certainly felt like there were opportunities in the game for us to capitalize on those, and we didn’t do it. And it goes back to execution, the calls that you make. Obviously you always reflect on that and what you could’ve done different. That was a factor in the game, and I was disappointed we weren’t able to capitalize in those moments.”
Creating takeaways has been a strength of Kane Wommack’s “Swarm D” so far this season. Not including turnovers on downs or missed field goals, the Alabama defense has forced 15 turnovers this season (eight interceptions and seven fumble recoveries), which is tied for eighth in the nation in turnovers gained. (For reference, Alabama only created 19 total takeaways in 14 games last season.)
Alabama’s offense has scored six touchdowns after the defense has forced a turnover this. Five times the ensuing possession ended with a punt. Twice the Crimson Tide turned the ball back over on Jalen Milroe interceptions, and two times (Georgia and South Carolina) an interception was the final live play of the game. (Technically Alabama ran two plays to kneel the ball out after Zabien Brown’s game-sealing interception against Georgia.)
The defense has yet to score a touchdown of its own on a pick six or scoop and score. Alabama does not have any type of non-offensive touchdown this season through seven games. The chart below shows the resulting drive of every Alabama offensive possession after a defensive turnover.
So the first five times the Alabama defense forced a turnover, the offense was able to turn it into points, specifically a touchdown, but it has only happened one time since then with Milroe’s touchdown run in the fourth quarter against South Carolina.