Inconsistent defense troubling to Tide

As the coordinator of a blue-collar, mostly inexperienced defensive unit, Kines and his assistants have prodded and patched and put together a unit that ranks No. 22 nationally in total defense. All things considered, that ranking is remarkable given the number of new starters.

Alabama gave up 350 passing yards and 372 total yards to Hawaii in the opener, and since then has not allowed a 200-yard passing game, and only Florida (with 330 total yards) has posted more than 287 total yards.

Tennessee averages 421.5 yards per game, the best figure in the SEC and the 13th best in the nation.

"If they can put up four (touchdowns) on Georgia in one quarter, we've got to be playing hard every single play," linebacker Matt Collins said.

"They can pound the ball on you and they can spread the ball and pass on you," added linebacker Terrence Jones.

Kines put it this way: "This is one of the best offensive football teams we've seen in a lot of years. They've got all the ingredients right now."

Tennessee's offense, clearly re-energized with the return of coordinator David Cutcliffe, is doing it at all levels. Erik Ainge's passing is the best in the league.

"He's a lot more efficient and he's making good decisions," Tide defensive tackle Jeremy Clark said. "He's not making mistakes."

The challenges today run the gamut for an Alabama defense that has had issues crop up in recent games.

For instance, Duke, statistically one of the worst running teams in the country, bashed the Crimson Tide for a season-high 201 rushing yards. Ole Miss ran for 81 yards in the first half before the Tide tightened up.

"This (Tennessee) team is going to try to run the ball, too, like Ole Miss did," Alabama coach Mike Shula said. "When we're doing things right, we're pretty good at stopping it. We've just got to do it right more often."

Ole Miss was a horrid passing team statistically, yet Brent Schaeffer burned the Tide for 163 yards and 13-of-20 passing for one of his best percentage days.

Opponents also are beginning to sustain long scoring drives versus Alabama at a better rate than they have since the debut season of the Shula-Kines regime in 2003.

Alabama's coaches and players pass off a lot of the yardage damage to teams introducing new schemes when they face the Tide.

"With the group we had last year, it didn't take but a play or two to get (adjustments to new schemes) tied up," Kines said. "Sometimes with a young guy, he's got to see it and you've got to go over and talk to him about it. When you've got 97,000 people hollering and screaming, it's hard for him to listen until you get in there at halftime sometimes."

Kines' reaction to the Tide's rushing defense, which has allowed more than 100 yards in five consecutive games and an average of 150 yards per game in that span?

"Again, which half is it?" Kines asked. "I think early in (recent) games we've struggled a little bit ... until we get a fix on it. Once we get a fix on it, we play pretty good. One thing we do is we play hard, and once we get a bead on it, the playing hard helps you."

Looking For A Sack: Wallace Gilberry is trying not to get frustrated. He's telling himself that his pass-rushing work and his run-stopping efforts on the Alabama defensive front do not go unnoticed.

But that "zero" on his stat line for sacks means some fans will simply assume he has had a down year through seven games.

"I've missed a couple," said Gilberry, the junior from Bay Minette. "(Ole Miss' Brent) Schaeffer has been the closest so far. (Arkansas') Mitch Mustain, I missed that one. Almost every game we've had, I've missed one."

Gilberry has created some havoc, however, with a team-high seven quarterback hurries and 4.5 tackles for loss. He rationalizes the lack of sacks.

"They double-team me constantly, a lot of play-action passes, rollouts away from me," he said. "It's no secret."