'They're Pissed': How Alabama Plans to Fix Pass Defense After Rough FSU Performance

Sports admin September 22, 2026 0 Comments

‘They’re Pissed’: How Alabama Plans to Fix Pass Defense After Rough FSU Performance

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s secondary came into the 2026 season with expectations to be among the best units in the nation.

But this past Saturday against Florida State didn’t put that narrative on display. Seminoles quarterback Ashton Daniels threw for 377 yards, the second-most of the Kalen DeBoer era, only trailing Carson Beck’s 439 in 2024. Alabama beat FSU 50-36, the third-most points Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack’s unit has allowed since 2024.

“Obviously, appreciative to be able to get the win despite a highly disappointing, uncharacteristic pass defense,” Wommack said on Monday. “I think the worst that I’ve seen since we have been here. Really proud and appreciative of our offense keeping us in that game. I thought they did a fantastic job of continuing to gain the momentum even when we gave it back. And that obviously is something that our guys, that’s not characteristic of who we are in the secondary.”

Alabama doesn’t practice on Sunday, so Monday was the first time hitting the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields. Wommack shared that the secondary is “pissed” about last Saturday’s performance and that “they did not do their job at a high enough level.” Alabama Wolf linebacker Yhonzae Pierre said after the game that captain and safety Bray Hubbard was “not satisfied” in the postgame locker room.

Wommack said that the defensive backs have the sense of urgency to get it fixed after a “highly disappointing day.” So, how will pass defense be addressed in practice this week, as No. 8 Alabama prepares to host South Carolina?

“Go right back to work,” Wommack said. “We had a great week of preparation last week. Our guys have done a really nice job in terms of the sense of urgency they’ve had in practice. Our habits are at a very high level, but those things have to translate to game day. My job as a coordinator and us as a coaching staff is to make sure that happens.

“We will have a plan in place that if we are not executing a certain area of our defensive structure that I will make adjustments to get that done. But we’re not gonna throw out any piece of the game plan that we had going into Florida State moving forward because our guys have shown that they can do that consistently, and have done that outside of our pass defense in that game.

“I’m going to give them an opportunity to get that fixed first before I start eliminating things from the game plan. However, it is my job to have a plan in place if it doesn’t look the way it needs to on Saturday.”

As previously stated, Wommack dubbed the pass defense against FSU as the worst he’s seen at Alabama since arriving in 2024. In that first year, UA was 19th in the FBS in passing yards allowed per game with 185.8. In 2025, the Tide was 15th with 180.6. It’s a small sample size with an outlier, but through three games, Alabama has allowed 227.7 passing yards per contest.

Alabama’s pass defense will need to quickly fix its mistakes before South Carolina comes to Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide won each of the last two meetings (2024 and 2025) by a combined margin of nine points. The Gamecocks had the same quarterback for both of those matchups, and the same is said for Sept. 26.

“Their offense right now is highly efficient and explosive,” Wommack said of South Carolina. “[Gamecocks quarterback] LaNorris Sellers is running the ball as good as I have seen him in three years, and he is also creating a lot of explosives in the passing game with a very athletic receiving core. So we’ll have a great challenge for us. As always, it’s about us. And looking forward to getting back out on the field in Bryant-Denny on Saturday.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as ‘They’re Pissed’: How Alabama Plans to Fix Pass Defense After Rough FSU Performance.

This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 7:00 AM.