Tide offense struggles again in loss

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Five games through the season, Alabama is already proving why preseason expectations don't carry a lot of weight.

Yes, the Crimson Tide may be right where a lot of experts picked them record-wise at 3-2, but how Alabama has gotten to that point has been a little baffling.

Talk of an explosive offense having to bail out a depleted defense has gone to the wayside after Alabama's second consecutive lackluster performance on offense.

Through three quarters, Alabama only had 147 yards. During the first three frames, Alabama had nine possessions and nine punts.

"We couldn't run it, we couldn't throw it, we couldn't make a first down," Alabama football head coach Nick Saban said. "You saw it just like I saw it. It wasn't very good. We didn't get them blocked. We didn't make a first down until midway in the second quarter."

Alabama ran 12 plays in the first quarter for only 19 yards. With those numbers, it's not surprising that the Tide went three-and-out on all four possessions in the first frame.

Alabama totaled 329 yards of total offense in the game, its lowest mark of the season. P.J. Fitzgerald accounted for more yards than the offense as the punter. He punted 10 times for 369 yards.

"We didn't get rolling in the first half," Wilson said. "I don't really know why."

Alabama finally picked up a first down on its first drive of the second quarter when Wilson found Terry Grant for 27 yards on a screen play. However, three plays later, the Tide had to punt it away again.

Alabama appeared as if they were about to get right back in the game when Prince Hall intercepted Florida State quarterback Xavier Lee deep in Alabama territory.

The Tide strung together its best offensive drive of the game on the ensuing drive, pushing all the way to the 25-yard line. But, on third-and-2, Preston Dial jumped, pushing Alabama back five yards.

On the next play, Wilson was sacked at the 38-yard line, taking the Tide out of field goal range.

"There's no doubt that we have to play better, but I don't think we are going backward," Wilson said. "We've just got to get it back on the right track, and we can have a really good offense."

Following suit with the last two weeks, Alabama put together a solid fourth quarter. Wilson threw 28 passes in the final frame, connecting on 13 of them, including both touchdown passes.

Wilson completed 28 passes on 53 attempts, both career highs, but only accounted for 240 yards.

DJ Hall made a spectacular catch on a fourth down play to help Alabama avoid the shutout with a little more than 5 minutes to go in the game. Keith Brown followed Hall two drives later with a tremendous touchdown catch, but it was too little, too late.

"It's only good to come back in the game, if you come back and win," Saban said.