Alabama has not always exactly looked like Alabama in going unbeaten thus far this perilous year. And the static around college football’s monolithic program hasn’t always sounded the same, either.
Let Ole Miss and ol’ friend Lane Kiffin run up 647 yards of offense — the most ever allowed by Alabama — and 48 points — the most ever given up by the franchise in a victory — and there was bound to be some carping about the state of Alabama’s defense and the future of its coordinator Pete Golding.
No one wanted to much hear about there being no spring practice or the limitations in the fall in bringing the defense and all its new parts up to speed. Bama allowed an average of 30 points in its first three games, and that was a number as difficult for its loyalists to swallow as broken glass.
Then let Nick Saban, the man who built his dynasty upon the rock of defense, come up with this astounding conclusion after beating Georgia 41-24, and it seemed as if the very laws of football physics had been repealed:
“It used to be that good defense beats good offense. Good defense doesn’t beat good offense anymore,” Saban told ESPN.
But, here in the lead-up to its SEC Championship game Saturday night against with Florida — matching two of the top eight teams in the country in total offense – Alabama would like to remind the world that you still can’t spell Crimson Tide without the D.
In putting together a borderline unbelievable kind of lopsided run in its past six games, all against SEC competition (41.3-point margin of victory), Alabama has maintained some use for defense. True, Saturday’s SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium features two of the country’s top eight offenses. But please do factor in a Crimson Tide defense that has allowed but 8.8 points per game to the last half-dozen opponents.
The Gators figure to be the biggest test for the proud-again Bama D since its trip to Oxford, Miss.
“I think that we’re certainly going to be challenged in a different way with the type of quarterback (Kyle Trask) and passing game that Florida has,” Saban said after dispatching Arkansas 52-3 last week. “I think we’re gonna have to show that we can stand up and play against a team like that.”
With all due respect, Patrick Surtain, Alabama’s certain first-round pick of a cornerback said, “It’s going to be an uphill battle. We’re going to be prepared for it, going to be locked in for the game. We’re going to be excited for the challenge.”
Since the Ole Miss game, Alabama has committed its share and more of mayhem. There have come 15 forced turnovers, including four in its last game. And a pair of pick-six interception returns and a third defensive touchdown.
And here’s a Trask alert: Eight sacks vs. Arkansas, 22 since the Mississippi wake-up call.
So, what awakened the beast?
As Surtain ascertained, “At first, we were a bit antsy, I’d say. But now we’re more confident in ourselves. We trust what we do each and every day throughout the week. We prepare better throughout the practices. I feel like that got us our advantage in becoming one of the best defenses.”
With the NFL being such an eager consumer of Alabama products, there continually is great turnover on defense. Saban points to much growing up in a hurry for the unit this year, especially along the last line of defense.
“Early on we had four out of five new starters in the secondary and some young guys playing up front on defense,” he said. “I think their confidence — knowing what the expectation was in terms of what we were supposed to do as a defensive team – was probably not where it needed to be from a knowledge and experience standpoint.
“Also, you face a lot of different multiples of things that you have to prepare for when you’re playing against different offenses. That contributed, too, to the sort of learning curve that these guys had to go through. I think as they gain knowledge and experience throughout the year, they improve. We made less mental errors, sort of played better as a unit, tackled better, played better as a unit.”
Funny how well-coached teams just seem to improve as a season progresses.
At least until Saturday there is some peace in the Alabama kingdom, a feeling of well-being that just maybe all defense didn’t leave town when old coordinator Kirby Smart left for Georgia five years ago. Golding has some highly placed support. “Pete’s really worked hard this year, done a really good job with our players in terms of being patient and teaching, allowing them to learn and grow,” Saban has said.
Nothing really has changed. There remains one standard around this program — “That’s becoming one of the most dominant defenses in college football,” Surtain said.
Florida will stress-test the reputation and reality of all that.
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