'Ain't Nothing Like Hitting the QB': Alabama Thrives in Sacks Department against Wisconsin

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Imagine winning 73-0 and allowing just 148 total yards, but the defensive coordinator says the "execution was not good enough."

Well, this was the case for Alabama during its Week 2 win over Louisiana Monroe. The Crimson Tide logged 12 tackles for loss against the Warhawks, but didn't record a single sack. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has emphasized the need for sacks throughout the offseason and also the past couple of weeks.

The Crimson Tide cruised past Wisconsin 38-14 at home on Saturday. Alabama came into the game with one sack on the young year, but had three by halftime. The pass-rush finished the game with four sacks.

"That's great to see," head coach Kalen DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. "You know, mixed in some pressure at times, but there were some sacks where our guys just won their one-on-ones and continued to work off each other. There are a couple of times where they pass, there are going to be times where there's a lane that opens up.

"They got good football players, too. But for the most part, I thought, we were there and it was the next guy running to the ball carrier, running to the quarterback, and so just continue to harass them over and over and over. Just being present. So I love the effort that the guys gave. You know, we'll see more on the film, but it seemed positive."

Alabama WOLF linebacker Qua Russaw has received more snaps than a typical game over the past two weeks due to a lower-body injury sustained by Jah-Marien Latham. Russaw showed a lot of promise on Saturday with a sack and a tackle for loss. The redshirt sophomore loved seeing his teammates thrive in these stat categories as well.

"It's exciting to see that," Russaw said. "That's stuff that we work on at practice every day, and we finally get to the quarterback, it just feels good. For me, ain't nothing like hitting the quarterback, getting the ball out too. It's exciting to see that, and stuff we work on at practice showed up on the field."

"[Wommack] brought that up a lot [during the week]. Just emphasizing that we've got to get the quarterback on the ground. Coming into the [ULM game], y'all know we didn't do good and do what we needed to do. Throughout the practice week we emphasized that."

Russaw explained that a big part of the difference in creating one vs. four sacks comes down to "playing like they love the game." Fellow WOLF linebacker Yhonzae Pierre had a sack, and the same could be said for BANDIT LT Overton and true freshman defensive lineman London Simmons.

Overton led Alabama in pressures by a decent margin last season, but he couldn't finish the job as he only tallied two sacks in 2024. Simmons is not only filling in for Tim Keenan III (ankle injury), but also Jeremiah Beaman (season-ending knee injury). Russaw stated that Simmons is "going to be a good ball player throughout his years here."

Alabama co-captain and inside linebacker Deontae Lawson had three more total tackles than any other member of the Crimson Tide. None of Lawson's nine tackles were for loss, but he was thrilled with Russaw, Simmons, Pierre and Overton by saying, "It's definitely a pleasure to see that we can get home ... We'll build on that."

Alabama has built on a few things since the loss to Florida State in the season opener, but one that's been criticized by the college football world more than anything is the team's toughness and intensity. The players and coaches have been adamant that these traits have been showcased on a daily basis for the past couple of weeks.

The narrative of this team being "soft" is something Lawson firmly believes is inaccurate. Tripling their season sack total in a single half against a Big Ten program reinforces Lawson's take.

"As a man, you don't want to get called soft," Lawson said. "It obviously makes you feel a certain way. We can do all of these things throughout the week, but it's going to determine how you play. It's going to come down to how you play.

"We could do all of the chat in the locker room about the talks on social media, but at the end of the day, all we can do is go out there on Saturday and let it all go. I feel like we've been doing that and we're looking to change that narrative.

"Honestly, I don't think we're a soft program. Everybody has their own opinion, they don't really know what's going on, but we know we're not a soft group. We pride ourselves on physicality, swarming the ball, taking the ball off of people and that's what we're going to do."

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