All the things No. 1 Alabama's doing wrong

Nick Saban reacts in the first half of Alabama's 45-23 win over Texas A&M.

Nick Saban kinda smiled before walking off the podium Saturday evening. He'd just delivered a bonus thought after a round of questions following Alabama's 45-23 win over Texas A&M.

Saban just wanted a little help.

His Alabama team was 4-0, almost unanimously voted No. 1 in the two major polls and had set a few offensive records.

After all, it's this group in the interview room that feeds the sunshine train. They (we) produce poison that could kill a rat.

"If our players spent all the time reading the paper and listening to what you all say about them," Saban said at his Thursday radio show, "we'd never have a chance."

That's bad. So, he requested a little negativity from the assembled media.

Never being one to miss a rare opportunity to look on the cloudy side of things, I obliged.

Here's what's wrong with Alabama's undefeated, mostly unchallenged, No. 1 football team that's a 49-point favorite to beat Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.

Penalties

You can't break the rules. Alabama is No. 107 (of 130 FBS teams) in terms of penalty yardage. It averages 72 yards a game after getting flagged nine times for 82 yards Saturday against Texas A&M. That included two illegal blocks on punt returns, a few holding calls on the offensive line and a delay of game to open a possession.

In four games, Alabama penalties directly led to nine first downs for opponents -- two against the Aggies and both on scoring drives. A touchdown came off the board in the opener because of an illegal block on a punt return on a night the Tide was flagged 10 times for 111 yards.

Punting

JK Scott is missed. Alabama's punted 15 times so far for an average of 35.9 yards. That is 120th best in the 130-team FBS. There was a 13-yard shank in the equation Saturday against Texas A&M.

The positive for true freshman punter Skyler DeLong? Alabama is one of eight teams who have not allowed a single punt return this season. Six were fair catches and four of the 15 were downed inside the 20.

Lack of forced fumbles

The seven interceptions are good, but Alabama's forced just one fumble. That's tied for 112th in the country.

Saban over the last few years has spoken about the extra attention they've placed on stripping the ball from opposing ball carriers and had been working. Alabama was No. 10 in forced fumbles in 2015 and No. 5 in 2016. Things slipped to 83rd last year and now it's almost last. Xavier McKinney knocked the one fumble loose last week at Ole Miss while Phidarian Mathis recovered it. The Tide scored six plays later to go up 21-7.

Ball security

Speaking of fumbles, Alabama lost three in the first three games. The Texas A&M win was the first without losing one. Still, the three giveaways there rank 75th. Two of the three lost fumbles came inside the red zone.

The rat poison here is none of those three lost possessions led to points from the opponents. In fact, Alabama has a 52-0 edge in points off turnovers, but don't pay attention to that.

Tua Tagovailoa's thrown 22 incomplete passes

And 46 of the completions didn't score touchdowns.

That's not perfect.

Just kidding.

I think.

Big plays

The Alabama defense has allowed 18 plays of 20-plus yards. That checks in at 78th nationally.

Of those, 13 came on passes and five on runs. The 54-yard rush by Texas A&M's Kellen Mond was 11 yards longer than any run by an Alabama player this season. The 75-yard Ole Miss touchdown on the first play two weeks ago was 13 yards longer than any passing play Alabama's defense allowed in 15 games in 2016.

Last year's defense didn't allow a pass of longer than 46 yards until Georgia hit an 80-yarder to Mecole Hardman in the championship game. Overall, the 2017 Alabama defense was 31st in 20-yard plays given up.

Running the ball

Saban noted Texas A&M dedicated an extra man to the box in an effort that limited the Tide to 109 rushing yards on 28 attempts.

That was the fewest Alabama gained on the ground since getting just 66 yards on 32 attempts in 2014 at Arkansas in a game the Tide won 14-13.

Kicking?

It was an issue a few weeks ago, but Joseph Bulovas has looked strong since taking over the job. He's 19-for-19 with extra points and 4-for-5 on field goals. That includes a 47-yarder against Texas A&M.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

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