Everything Kane Wommack Said After Alabama Lost to Oklahoma

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spent time with the media after Alabama's 23-21 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday. Wommack discussed which defensive players stood out and areas his unit can improve before the program's next game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

Kane Wommack Opening Statement

“Ok, obviously very disappointing in the outcome on Saturday. We had in the one touchdown we gave up we had three missed tackles, never should’ve happened. Very disappointing in that situation right there. We’ve improved a lot from a tackling standpoint as a team and never should’ve let them in the end zone and we lost the turnover margin for the first time all season long. You do those two things and you don’t win the game. Our players are certainly disappointed. They’ve got a great mentality right now. On Sunday they took great ownership of the things that we have to do defensively to put ourselves in a position to go win a football game and they’re ready to respond and go do that at a much higher level moving forward.

“This is a team, Eastern Illinois obviously holds a special place in my heart. It was my first defensive coordinator job at 26-years old and had some great memories there. I learned a lot, positively and certainly through certain adversity as well. There’s some people that are still in that program, Tom Michael, their athletic director who I have a tremendous amount of respect for. So a neat opportunity to play them and obviously for our guys I think we’re all just ready to get back there on the field. So looking forward to the week of preparation and practice and continuing to get better as all good teams have to do this time of year. You cannot stay the same. You have to find creative ways to better yourself individually and we’ve got to find ways to be better defensively as well.”

Red Morgan’s Play lately?

“Yeah, Red has always been - He’s a good football player. He flashes, he’s bouncy, he’s very athletic and he’s hard to get your hands on in space from a standpoint of he can kind of - all those field RPOs out there he’s kind of slippery and he’s also a really physical kid. He’s probably one of the best strikers I’ve seen from a tackling perspective. There’s a timing and understanding to a great tackle and to get your foot and shoulder in the ground at the right time to where you have enough forward shin angle and enough lean to be able to maximize that power. Red’s probably as good as I’ve seen at being able to strike. He’s getting more and more comfortable with his consistency and his execution. He’s better and better in man coverage. I know he got a penalty the other day, but I really thought he was in great position there. I thought he did a really good job. So he’s just becoming a more and more complete player. That’s a young man that we asked a whole hell of a lot of a year ago, to come in here and start as a true freshman and it was because we didn’t have another answer. So we put a whole lot on his plate and some things he handled really well and some things he had to push through the adversity, but now he’s come out on the other side as a very good football player. Proud of his fight and excited to see what he’ll do on the back end of the season.”

On Domani Jackson...

"I think as much as anything, the maturity that Domani has showed to just go to work every day, find ways to get better. He's had some of his best practice habits over these last three to four weeks, and it's showing up in games. I told him I'm proud of him for that. The way that he has operated, the way he has handles the adversity in his individual performances, and still found a way to put himself in position to go out there, and when his number was called, to make plays. He had five tackles in the game, which is awesome. There's a whole heck of a lot of football yet. To have the maturity to know your number is gonna get called again and to be ready for that. I tell this to you guys all the time and I tell it to the players, we have to answer for what we put on tape, but we also get rewarded for whatever we put on tape. Right now, Domani did a hell of a job the other day."

How close was Qua to playing?

"Very close. It was really a game time decision. I know sometimes you use that word, but it was something we're trying to decide in pregame. I think that we're in position for him to play very soon. Obviously he needs to have a good week of preparation and feel good. He pushed last week, we pushed last week. So we'll see how he has handled that. I haven't seen him from an on the field perspective because we didn't run full speed or anything on Sunday. So we'll get a chance to see what he looks like on Tuesday and kind of go from there. Qua's a very good football player. When he has gone out, and he practiced all of last week, I was impressed with how consistent he was doing his job, his responsibility. There's a but of a learning curve knocking the rust off a little bit, but he did a really nice job last week. Excited to feel like when he does get back on the field we're gonna be able to get him out there and get him rolling."

On Edric Hill...

"Another young man that's trending in the right direction. I was hard on those defensive linemen as I am on anybody in the room. Edric, Jordan Renaud would be another one. We've been tough on those guys, we've challenged those guys. It's really rewarding to see the maturity of their practice habits show up in games. Edric's aways been a great athlete and he can create things with his strength and size and athleticism, but he's becoming a more consistent football player and those things are showing up on game day."