It is not the suffocating style of defense that was displayed under coaches such as Paul Bryant, Gene Stallings or even during the early parts of Nick Saban, but this year’s group for Alabama has managed to still be solid.
While it must improve its efforts against the run, the Crimson Tide is allowing 14.8 points per game – which is just outside the top-10 nationally at No. 13. Injuries have played a huge role with not having linebackers Dylan Moses (knee) and Joshua McMillon (knee) this season.
The Crimson Tide also don’t have LaBryan Ray (foot) for a period of time, and it has forced Saban to start more true freshmen than usual.