Although the Alabama Crimson Tide is 7-1 and had a huge victory Saturday night against Tennessee, there are still problems that exist, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

The Tide had several blown coverages against the Vols which could have cost them the game. And although the defense seemed to have gotten together by the end of the game, it is still a concern to some that Alabama is struggling on that side of the ball.

ESPN’s college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit talked about Bama’s issue on defense on the ESPN College Football podcast.

“The defense has been a mystery,” Herbstreit said. “They played so well late last year. To me, when he (Nick Saban) has veterans at the second and third level, that defense is so devastating, because they’re so complicated, and they do so much that years when they don’t have experience, you have the busts in coverage. There’s confusion. Again, they’re not playing two coverages; they’re playing an NFL defense. So, it requires hand signals, everybody on the same page.

“Right now, they get certain looks (from the offense), and they’re just not clicking the way you’d expect them to click with a veteran group.”

Herbstreit seems to think that’s the only thing missing from this team to make this them special.

Alabama has a bye week before facing LSU on Nov. 6.