Alabama’s defense will face a different obstacle on the field against Texas A&M on Saturday. After facing Georgia and Arkansas, the team will experience a change in speed in the Aggie’s fast-paced spread. The Crimson Tide will have to be on their toes at all times when the Aggies’s offense is out there with them.
“They’re going to try to go fast,” head coach Nick Saban said. “When they’ve got their four wide outs in the game, you’ve got to try to get as much speed on the field as you can.”
Alabama is prepared to play its bigger guys inside to prevent the run, which Saban said Texas A&M has been trying to do more effectively this season, and it will play its more athletic guys on the edges.
Aggies’s quarterback Kyle Allen can also use his feet – something else the Alabama defense will be on the look out for. Over the course of five games, Allen, who follows behind leading rusher Tra Carson, totaled 136 yards on 40 carries.
“That being said, it does create opportunities for more players to play,” Saban said.
One of those players is Alabama defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
“We consider him a starter, even though he doesn’t start,” Saban said. “We certainly consider him that way and he plays a huge role on the defensive front because of the diversity that he has as a player.”
Tomlinson has seen time during every game this season and totaled 12 total tackles and two quarterback hurries, but Jarran Reed gets the starting position.
Tied at six with Minkah Fitzpatrich, Tomlinson shares his lead in pass breakups for Alabama.
“He’s one of those guys that bats a lot of balls down and is very, very instinctive,” Saban said.
As a junior, Tomlinson has had two ACL injuries in his athletic career. During his time at Alabama, he was faced with his second in 2013 and ended up redshirting, which he did the year prior as well.
“He has shown great character in how he’s handled personal injuries to get back and continue to improve and get better,” Saban said.
He came back in 2014 for his sophomore year and played in all 14 of Alabama’s games. He finished the season with 22 total tackles, two sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.
“Dalvin is a guy that has enough explosive power to play the run, but he’s althetic enough to be a good pass rusher and finish on the quarterback,” Saban said.
Tomlinson and the rest of the defense will face a challenge in Texas A&M’s running back Tra Carson who is a little different from running backs Alabama has faced in the past. Saban said Carson is a bigger, more powerful downhill runner.
“[He’s] more kind of along the lines of the kind of backs that we’ve had around here who can run through tackles, has some power and plays with some toughness, but he’s still a very good receiver,” Saban said.
It’ll all come back to rotating players in and out of defense in order to keep their energy high and keep up with this Texas A&M offense.
Defense has done well for Alabama this season. It has totaled 387 tackles with 33 for loss. It also has had 16 sacks, eight interceptions and 39 pass breakups.
Although Alabama is 5-1 and defense has been strong, there’s always room for improvement.
“I don’t think there’s a player on our team that you can really say, ‘I’ve played my best,’ yet,” Saban said. “That’s what we always shoot for. That’s what we’re working for. That’s probably what we need this week against a very good A&M team.”
