This next college football season can’t come fast enough in Tuscaloosa. The sour taste of Clemson 44, Alabama 16 hasn’t softened since January.

With it comes a new focus that comes only after humiliation on such a grand stage. This offseason in the Crimson Tide football complex was spent deconstructing what happened to close what was once a historically positive 2018 season.

Keep in mind this is all relative. This was a team that was the unanimously No. 1 for a big chunk of the fall -- playing without a serious challenge until December.

The core of the offensive weapons return outside of Josh Jacobs, Irv Smith and Damien Harris. The defense lost Quinnen Williams up front but a solid foundation is back. Nobody is celebrating that on Bryant Drive, however.

What can Alabama improve for 2019?

Here’s what we think Nick Saban and his staff circled in the ledger for problems to fix.

Big-plays allowance

A young secondary was a glaring issue facing Alabama’s defense entering the 2018 season. Considerable talent was lost to the NFL and almost every position would have a new or lightly experienced player.

Some of those problems came to a head in the final weeks of the season when some of the nation’s better passing offenses stood in the way of a national title. That can’t continue in 2019.

The big plays became the downfall in the championship game when Clemson hit on plays of 26-plus yards on each of the five offensive touchdown drives. In fact, only one of the 15 touchdowns scored by Alabama opponents in the final four games included drives without at least one 20-yard play. Those plays averaged 35 yards a pop.

Clemson gained 65 percent of its passing yardage on the five big plays that included throws of 62 and 74 yards. They came at the worst possible moments since four of those five chunk plays came on third-and-long.

Alabama’s big-play allowance broke a recent trend of success there for Alabama defenses. The Tide allowed 26 plays of 30-plus yards in 2018 -- exactly double the total from the previous season.

30-yard plays allowed

Year Number allowed 2018 26 2017 13 2016 21 2015 19

Each of the three post-Iron Bowl opponents threw for at least 300 yards. That includes Georgia, the No. 73 passing offense that averaged 226.1 and hit 300 just once previously that season against Vanderbilt.

A little more experience returns at cornerback for Alabama this fall. Patrick Surtain II is now a sophomore after starting most of his rookie season and Trevon Diggs is back from a broken foot that ended his junior season in the sixth game. Saivion Smith, in coverage for a few of the backbreaking plays against Clemson, left early for the NFL.

Punting

For all the issues in the kicking game, the punting has been elite in the Saban era. It backslid considerably after JK Scott graduated following the 2017 season.

Alabama ranked 128th of 130 FBS teams averaging 35.8 yards per punt. On the bright side, the Tide’s 42 attempts were the fourth fewest nationally.

In terms of efficiency, Alabama was No. 90 in the punting rankings compiled by FootballInsiders.com. That measures “the average values generated per punt based on the field position of the punt team and the field position at the conclusion of the play,” according to the site.

Alabama was in the top 16 of that ranking five of the previous seven years with 2015 as an anomaly at No. 109.

Punting efficiency on FootballInsiders.com

Year Ranking 2018 90 2017 12 2016 54 2015 109 2014 6 2013 7 2012 16

It didn’t cost Alabama in big moments, however. The two punts against Clemson averaged 55 yards and neither resulting drive ended with a touchdown.

And Saban spoke highly of Skyler DeLong, a true freshman last season who lost his job midway through the season. Nerves were an issue last year, Saban said, while noting the improvement since.

“He’s got more confidence,” Saban said on ESPN during the A-Day Game. “We work with him. We worked on his drop, his speed in getting rid of the ball more quickly. So now he’s just become a little more consistent. So hopefully we can carry that into the season.”

Red zone offense

This was more of a late-season issue that was critical in the loss to Clemson. The Tide scored touchdowns on just one of the four trips inside the 20 in Santa Clara.

The first three drives of the second half of that game ended at the Tiger 24-, 11- and 9-yard lines, respectively. The first was the botched fake field goal when it was clear confidence lacked in the kicking game down 31-16 with one missed extra point.

The Orange Bowl was better with six scores in six red-zone trips excluding the final kneel down at the 10-yard line. The only red-zone interception was nearly a complete disaster. Tua Tagovailoa threw it on the first possession of the SEC Championship a play after the sack that sprained his ankle.

For the season, Alabama ranked 78th in red-zone scoring percentage at 82.3. That comes with the caveat of leading the nation in visits with 79. Just two years earlier, the Tide was 24th in red-zone scoring at 89.2 percent.

Handling success

With a few exceptions, it was clear Alabama wasn’t the same team after beating then-No. 4 LSU, 29-0 on the first Saturday of November. Outside of the first quarter against Mississippi State, second half against Iron Bowl, Jalen Hurts’ fourth quarter against Georgia and the first quarter of the Orange Bowl, inconsistencies were evident.

See no further than the 10-10 halftime score against The Citadel.

This also comes with an asterisk of improved competition in November-January outside of the FCS team Alabama eventually beat 50-17. A few statistical examples of what slipped in the last seven games compared to the first eight.

Third down conversions

First 8 ... 56.2 percent

Next 7 ... 47.3 percent

The Oklahoma game was the exception here at 7-for-10 while Clemson was the worst performance of the season on third down. The Tide was 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) with the next lowest success rate of 33.3 (4 of 12) coming against Mississippi State.

Turnover margin

First 8 ... +11

Next 7 ... - 5

Alabama gained just four turnovers in the back half of the season as the pristine sheet for the offense also faltered. The two interceptions against Clemson led to touchdowns, the first of which was a pick-6. In total, Alabama lost nine turnovers in the final seven games after giving up six in the first eight.

Points off turnovers

First 8 ... 90

Next 7 ... 21

This works in hand with the last one. The defensive scores dried up along with the success on drives following turnovers. None of the Tide’s points in the final three games followed turnovers.

Tackles for loss/sacks

First 8 ... 7.75/3.25

Next 7 ... 6.4/2.7

Alabama didn’t affect the backfield as much to close the season and the Clemson game was the only of the season without a sack.

Kicking

This is neither a surprise, nor new.

Things just went to the next level when extra point misses totaled nine. Like red-zone offense, the silver lining was the fact Alabama led the nation in attempts with 92.

The ninth miss came against Clemson in the first quarter. Then in the second, a kickoff out of bounds gave the Tigers a short field for a quick six-play drive that ceded the only lead Alabama held that evening.

It was certainly a factor in Alabama’s No. 85 ranking in the S&P special teams efficiency. That was a considerable drop off from 2017 in a downward trend that began in 2013.

S&P special teams efficiency ranking

Year Ranking 2018 85 2017 52 2016 48 2015 48 2014 45 2013 37 2012 17

There is hope in true freshman kicker Will Reichard. The Hoover graduate nailed a 43-yarder on A-Day and was one of the nation’s top kicking prospects of the 2018 class.

“I think the guy is a really talented guy,” Saban said on National Signing Day about Reichard. “I mean, he’s a really good person, hard worker, really good specialist in all regards – he can punt, he’s a really good kicker, he’s had great production as a young player. We looked at it as a chance to improve our team in that area.”

A few others

-- Alabama was 82nd in fumbles recovered with seven. Two years earlier, it was No. 7 with 13.

-- The Tide was better than its opponents in nearly every season-ling statistical category. The exceptions: Punting average, extra point percentage and first downs allowed by penalty. The foes picked up 29 to Alabama’s 21. In terms of penalty yardage, Alabama was 65th with 53.1 a game after being 21st (40.6 yards a game) a year earlier.

-- Alabama fumbled the ball 16 times last year to rank 50th. That’s actually an improvement from a No. 96 ranking in 2017 and No. 118 in 2016.

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