In Alabama’s 52-12 victory over Southern Mississippi, the Crimson Tide defense held the Golden Eagles to only 56 yards of rushing offense and 3.1 yards per carry. For each of the three games this season, the Crimson Tide has held its opponents to 60 yards or fewer of rushing offense, including only 28 yards against West Virginia in the season opener. No team has scored a rushing touchdown against Alabama this season.
Alabama’s red zone defense has been one of the best in the nation. In six trips within the 20-yard line, Alabama has allowed only one touchdown, holding its opponents to field goals on the other possessions. In terms of scoring, Alabama’s defense ranks 10th in the nation, having only given up 11.7 points per game.
Alabama’s pass defense, is another story. Southern Mississippi passed for 207 yards against the Crimson Tide – only one yard less than the Golden Eagles’ total against Alcorn State the week before. The Alabama secondary has shown a susceptibility to the explosive play. Against Southern Miss, Alabama gave up four completions of over 20 yards.
“Defensively, I thought we played well, but I also thought that we gave up too many plays that are the kinds of stops we’re going to need to make in the future,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said after Saturday’s game. “Those turn out to be explosive plays where we’re in pretty good position and should be able to make a play.”
This season, Alabama has forced two fumbles, recovered one and has not intercepted a pass, which Saban said the team will have to improve.
“I think that getting more turnovers and emphasizing that is going to be important,” Saban said. “We’ve been doing a good job of taking care of the ball, but we need to be able to get more turnovers on defense. I thought the pass rush was pretty good. I don’t know about the sacks, but we affected the quarterback quite a bit. We’re going to have to do some things to improve our coverage.”
Alabama’s secondary will be without one of its most experienced players when it welcomes Florida and quarterback Jeff Driskel next week. Safety Nick Perry was ejected during the third quarter Saturday night after being flagged for targeting. The senior will miss the first half against the Gators, stretching Alabama’s secondary against a team averaging 345.5 passing yards per game.
“[We’ll] just [lose] knowledge in the backfield,” safety Landon Collins said of Perry’s suspension. “That’s about it. Other than that, we’ve got other safeties who will step up and will learn the keys and concepts of what’s going on. That’s what we have to do. We have to have other guys step in and do exactly what he has to do.”
