Alabama’s defense has been effective and, at times, dominant in most of the games it has played this season. In two games, however, it was porous.
In 10 of its 12 games this season, Alabama kept its opponents with 24 points or less. In seven of its last eight games, Alabama kept its opponents with 17 points or less – including two games in which it awarded only three points (Kentucky and Arkansas) and one in which it conceded zero (State of Mississippi).
None of these 10 opponents, however, are among the country’s top 25 in scoring or total attack.
Alabama played against two teams that ranked in the top 10 in attack scoring and the top 14 in total attack, and those games were very different for Crimson Tide, who allowed 48 points against Ole Miss and 46 points against Florida.
This is reason enough to be optimistic that the Ohio State attack, ranked in the top five nationally, both in the scoring attack (43.4 points per game) and in the total attack (544.9 yards per game) and coming out of a 49-point, 639-yard performance against Clemson, he could have a great day against Alabama’s defense.
It will probably be necessary considering the Alabama attack – led by four healthy superstars in wide receiver DeVonta Smith, quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and left striker Alex Leatherwood who all won national individual awards on Thursday night – scored on everyone.
Crimson Tide averaged 48.2 points and 535 yards per game this season, and they have faced three opponents (Notre Dame, Georgia and Texas A&M) with statistically better defenses than Ohio. Even when their defense is at its worst, their attack still put them at the top, scoring 62 points against Ole Miss and 52 points against Florida.
The defense of the state of Ohio is better than the defenses of these teams, however, and if it can even provide some resistance to the Crimson Tide attack, it could be enough for the Buckeyes to win the national championship if their attack could work in the College Football playoff semifinals and have a kind of day like the Rebels and Gators did.
Alabama’s defense recognizes this possibility, so Crimson Tide is not excusing his struggles against top competitors as he prepares for the title game on Monday night in Miami.
“Consistency in performance is really, after all, what determines how well you are playing, and we have played well in some games this year. Other games are not as good as we would like. And as coaches, we need to do a better job of putting our players in a better position so they have a chance to succeed, ”said Alabama coach Nick Saban this week. “I think we need to continue as a team in defense to focus on the things that we can improve so that we can play with a little more consistency in the game inside and outside the game.”
When Alabama’s defensive coordinator, Pete Golding, reflects on why Crimson Tide has struggled in defense at times, he thinks he has been hampered by mental errors and inconsistent fundamental execution. And he doesn’t think these issues were exclusive to games where they lost a lot of points.
“I think there were several games where we kept them with a few points, but we haven’t played yet, they just haven’t taken advantage of that,” said Golding. “So I think the most important thing to do is to evaluate ourselves and the things we have to be able to clean and perform individual tasks in all 11 and then put them all together on the same page.”
Given that many of Alabama’s worst defense games, especially the Ole Miss game in which he dropped 647 yards, took place at the start of the season, there are indications that Crimson Tide has improved on that side of the ball over the course of the season. That’s what Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson thinks after watching the movie.
“They are a great defender with talent, length. They are going to make this incredibly challenging. I just think that as they play, they get better and better, ”said Wilson. “Great teams do what it takes to win every week, and that’s what their defense does and that’s what Coach Saban did as well as anyone who’s ever coached football.”
Alabama’s defense kept Notre Dame with just 14 points in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl. (Photo: Tim Heitman – USA TODAY Sports)
That said, Florida’s 46-point game against Alabama’s defense took place just three weeks ago in the SEC Championship game, suggesting that the Crimson Tide remains quite vulnerable against attacks that are good enough to exploit its weaknesses. And they know that there may be no one with more potential to do that than Ohio State, which ranks third nationally in run yards per try (6.04) and seventh national in run yards per try (9, 9).
“You look at their attack, they can literally do anything,” said Alabama linebacker Christian Harris. “They can run the ball at any time. They can play it at any time. ”
Alabama is coming out of one of its best defensive games of the season against Notre Dame, in which Crimson Tide scored 31 points, but kept Fighting Irish with just 14 points in 375 yards to comfortably win in the Rose Bowl. This gave Crimson Tide confidence in himself by going into his fight with the Buckeyes.
“We learned from experience what we need to do,” said Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. “I felt that we prepared better each week. We improve each week by flying towards the ball, making adjustments and learning from previous games in which we fought, and in a way we fixed and corrected what we needed to do. ”
“They can literally do anything.”– Alabama linebacker Christian Harris on Ohio state attack
Even though Florida and Ole Miss proved that Alabama’s defense is quite winnable, Ohio’s attack does not expect anything to come easy on Monday.
“They are very talented, very talented in every way,” said Ohio state center Josh Myers. “They have good, big, strong and athletic guys across the board, and they know their scheme very well. You can see it coming through the film. They are extremely disciplined and extremely good at their technique. ”
Crimson Tide will feel that their defense has something to prove on Monday.
“I think every week we try to make a statement,” said Harris. “We know that we have a very good attack. We know that there were times when we were a little unstable in defense. But you are as good as your last game. ”
But given that the Buckeyes are quite capable of making great plays in attack, even if Alabama doesn’t make it easy, Crimson Tide will need to play their best defensive football of the season to prevent the State of Ohio from putting a large number on the scoreboard.
“They are going to play enough games because they have a lot of good players at many points where you have to dispute everything,” said Golding. “We have to be solid in the racing game. We have to try to stay ahead of the currents, put them in obvious passages, because they are really balanced.
“When you look at the state of Ohio, they have an average of 43 (points per game) and when they don’t, it’s because they turned the ball. It is not because people stopped them. It is because they made a mistake. People made them make mistakes and made them pay for it, and they left the field, whether by a turn or a fall. So, I think that’s the critical part of this game. ”