Earlier this year I wrote an article that clearly outlined that Alabama’s 2020 defense was even worse than last year’s fiasco edition. Later I wrote an article that explained why it would get better. You can read that here.
Well apparently, the article that explained why things would pick up on the defensive side of the ball was a nice rub on the old crystal ball and things outlined in that article sure seem to be coming true.
To show the improvement, let’s look at the 2019 stats, the stats from the first three weeks, the last two games and finally the stats as they are now and you can see for yourself the strides they’re making.
———–2019 Stats——1st 3 wk’s Stats—-Last 3 games Stats—-Stats so far in 2020
Avg Pts given up – 18.6 ———30.3——————8.5—————————22
Rush yds given up – 137.15—–150.66————–107———————–128.83
Pass yds given up – 187.23—–322.33————–198.33——————-260.33
Offense given up – 324.38—–473.00————–305.33——————-389.16
3rd down conv. % – 35.68%—–54%—————-31.25%——————41.24%
But let me give you a few stats that aren’t here. In the last 10 quarters of play, Alabama has just given up 1.7 points per quarter. That’s amazing.
How ironic was it that they held both Tennessee and Mississippi State to just 163 yards passing each in the last two games? You rarely see exactly the same yardage for two different teams. And another ironic stat was in their last two games against those same two teams they held both teams of a third-down conversion rate of just 25% each?
Keep in mind that in those last game stats that Georgia was included in those totals and they are a for real top 5 team in the country. Alabama hardly has a pushover schedule.
So the youngsters, and remember, this is a very young overall defensive group, are coming up to speed with getting that “mental muscle reflex” action down pat. They are playing better as a group, being fooled less when defensive backs are left on an island in man to man coverage, and the front lines of the defense are both making the rushing yards harder to come by and the quarterback hurries more frequent.
If this defense continues the improvements documented here, this team could be unstoppable by playoff time. Mac Jones, Devonta Smith and Najee Harris are all making a case for Heisman votes and so far there hasn’t been a team that has even begun to show that they can stop this Alabama offense. Putting a great defense of the field with them would be disastrous to any other team hoping for a championship.
Larry Burton is the senior writer at Touchdown Alabama Magazine and has been published in almost every media outlet for college sports. He was Bleacher Report’s #1 college football writer in reads and comments and now has slowed down his writing from that hectic pace. Follow Larry on Twitter for inside thoughts and game time comments at https://twitter.com/LBSportswriter
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