A week ago, Alabama head coach Nick Saban left the field happy his team had won but not fully satisfied. This week, he was even less satisfied.

Apparently, if you don’t trounce a team 52-6, the disappointment grows. All sophomoric joking aside, as a perfectionist, Saban had every right to be disappointed following a 38-10 win against Western Kentucky on Saturday.

It’s nice to get a win, but Saban understands the team faces much greater challenges ahead this season. Saban called the SEC a conference of “pit bulls” and suffice it to say, Saban doesn’t believe his team is ready to fight with the pit bulls.

The team talk was of spending practice hours devoted to showing improvement. However, the team looked about the same as last week against USC in terms of overall performance.

The defense continued to look stout against Western Kentucky, allowing just 3 points until the last minute of the fourth quarter. The unit looked sloppy at the end of the game, although a sloppy turnover by the Alabama offense put the defense in a difficult position. Given all of the messy play at the end of the game, it is easier to understand Saban’s frustration.

A huge road contest against Ole Miss looms. This is a team that has beaten Alabama the past two years. After that, Alabama has two light games before facing four very challenging SEC opponents, three of them on the road.

Perhaps the biggest frustration from the perspective of fans is the poor play by the Alabama offensive line. Yes, the team’s offensive line showed great improvement in the second half, getting pushes for Bo Scarbrough and B.J. Emmons. However, the first half was a different story.

Scarbrough and Emmons had less than 10 yards combined rushing, while leading rusher Damien Harris finished the entire game with just 45 yards rushing. The team needs more if it is to defeat Ole Miss, and a successful running game against SEC opponents starts with the offensive line.

In addition to not paving the way for a successful ground game, the offensive line simply made too many mistakes. During the first half, they elicited two false start penalties, as well as two holding penalties. If that weren’t enough, center Bradley Bozeman snapped the ball over the head of Blake Barnett, putting the team back at midfield, instead of in field goal range.

Luckily, Barnett fell on the snap to maintain possession, but mistakes of this nature can be game changers in a close contest against the likes of LSU.

Saban mainly wants to see the team cut down on penalties. Fans want to see a clearer offensive identity. This isn’t the pound opponents into submission with the running game with an occasional play-action pass seen with several recent renditions of Alabama (grossly oversimplified, obviously).

The offensive line simply isn’t there yet, although Cam Robinson and the rest of the group showed signs it might get there soon. The front started clearing room for Harris in the second half. Emmons scored on a 6-yard run and found room on other carries. Scarbrough received a pancake block from true freshman linebacker Mack Wilson on a 2-yard touchdown run.

On the other side of the ball, Alabama fans are seeing the dominant defense witnessed for most of Saban’s tenure. Dalvin Tomlinson clogged up the middle of the defensive line and even had a vicious sack. Tim Williams had a solid outing, while Jonathan Allen once again completely harassed Western Kentucky quarterback Mike White for most of the game, even blocking a field goal attempt just before halftime.

Meanwhile, the passing game was a mixed bag. All of the explosive plays occurred under Jalen Hurts’ watch, although Hurts’ timing was off on a number of throws and he underthrew his receivers on a play or two. It’s to be expected with a true freshman quarterback, but it’s an area that can be cleaned up nevertheless. Also, Gehrig Dieter, Robert Foster and O.J. Howard all dropped catchable passes, all three of which might have resulted in scoring plays.

So, while the defense carried the day again, the offense still looks just OK and fans can understand Saban’s ire. Certainly, he takes things to a different level (see: Lane Kiffin), but his frustration has merit. Alabama has two wins now but is capable of so much more.