Alabama Football: Three audacious forecasts for the Tide’s game against Wisconsin
These audacious forecasts will enable Alabama Football to triumph handily when they travel on the road for the first time in 2024.
Alabama Football’s first road trip to Madison in 96 years to play the Wisconsin Badgers is coming up in just 48 hours. We’ve examined every aspect of the game, including Wisconsin’s attack and defense, and we’ve provided the Tide with offensive and defensive winning strategies. Now it’s time to take a risk and predict the outcome of the match.
We went 1-3 in last week’s audacious predictions, which would have guaranteed us a spot in the Hall of Fame if we were baseball players. Ryan Williams found the end zone for the second week in a row, as we accurately predicted. In the fourth quarter, he did it on a touchdown that gave Alabama its first two-possession advantage of the game and signaled the start of the dam breaching as the Tide broke the game open in the closing minutes.
We were wrong when we said that Jalen Milroe would record his first career 400-yard offensive performance. Merely 204 yards separated him and that mark.
Additionally, we were wrong to think that the Crimson Tide would score a non-offensive touchdown. Despite Kendrick Law’s initial kickoff return in the second half appearing to have the potential to go all the way for a touchdown, Law fumbled in order to save his legs for more crucial situations rather than sprinting the remaining distance to the endzone. Alabama was unable to force a turnover defensively instead.
Even if one out of three might be Hall of Fame material, at Bama Hammer, we always aim for more. We’re moving forward this week:
3. Kendrick Law erupts
For more than a year, Alabama supporters have been anticipating a Kendrick Law breakthrough performance. Law has shown signs of promise, but he hasn’t yet reached his full potential. This season, he has only made one reception, which was a 22-yard touchdown against Western Kentucky in the season’s opening game.
Law has regularly had an impact on the game in addition to catching the football, even if he was shut out last week. He has consistently set up his teammates for success and is a willing blocker on the edge. However, Law has to eat now.
We haven’t seen much of the playbook’s inventiveness in the first two weeks, but I believe that a lot of it centers on Law because of his strength and quickness. Given that Law may be the team’s fastest player, I anticipate that DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan will find new methods to get the ball into Law’s hands as the playbook opens. Screen passes, pop passes, jet sweeps, and possibly one or two go-routes off a double move.
The big game that Tide supporters have been waiting for, and I believe this is the one when Law finally lives up to his potential.
2. Alabama achieves a touchdown that isn’t offensive.
On this one, we’re going back to the well once more. Regarding Kane Wommack’s defensive plan and forcing takeaways, I have great expectations. You can tell from listening to him that Alabama’s defense is a focal area because he was quite dissatisfied with the team’s inability to force a single turnover against USF last week.
Like the standard offensive play calling, I believe Wommack has also been playing a cautious defensive game. Alabama’s yards-per-play defense ranks sixth in the nation statistically, and they’ve accomplished this without causing a great deal of chaos in the backfield. In an effort to get the young secondary as prepared as possible for the impending big tests, they have been satisfied to rush three or four players and allow them to get reps against weaker opponents.
This week, I believe the playbook will be opened up more, and Alabama will be affecting the quarterback more. The biggest threat to the Tide’s defense thus far is Tyler Van Dyke, and Wommack isn’t going to sit back and let his secondary get by on its own. Anticipate novel blitz packages that we haven’t previously seen, and watch for the Crimson Tide to apply intense pressure to Van Dyke in an attempt to induce one or two errors.
Officially, I’m going to bet that it’s going to be super senior Malachi Moore with a pick-six to calm the Camp Randall throng.
There are several 100-yard rushers for Alabama.
The Tide’s interior offensive line versus the young and thin Badgers defensive line should be Alabama’s greatest edge over Wisconsin. Kadyn Proctor appears likely to participate, therefore Alabama should be playing at maximum capacity up front. Last week, Alabama had trouble running the ball for the majority of the game, but after Elijah Pritchett was added to the lineup at right tackle, things started to look up.
That ought to reassure supporters of Alabama that Proctor and Pritchett in full health will be the key component needed as the team tries to define its offensive identity. I believe that identity will work best in a power-running style, especially with one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the country in Milroe.
On Saturday afternoon in Madison, I believe that identity will be revealed. I predict that the Crimson Tide will control the trenches and that at least two of their players will cross the century mark on the ground. Given his ability to stretch drives with his legs and break lengthy touchdown runs, I believe Milroe will be one of them. Before the bye week, I believe that Miller or Haynes will join him as the Tide cruise to a decisive win.
