Alabama’s defense is still licking its wounds after surviving a shootout in Oxford, Miss. over the weekend. While the Crimson Tide’s 63-48 victory over Ole Miss wasn’t always pretty, Nick Saban is hoping it will serve as the wake-up call his team needs heading into one of its biggest games of the season.
“I think it doesn't ever hurt to really get in a fight,” Saban said during his Monday Zoom call with reporters. “I'm really proud of the way our team handled the fight, played through the fight. No one showed any desperation at all in terms of the effort and the poise that we continue to play with in a very, very difficult game.”
Things won’t get any easier for No. 2 Alabama this week as it hosts No. 3 Georgia in one of the most-anticipated matchups of the season. The Tide (3-0) is currently a six-point favorite over the Bulldogs (3-0), who enter the matchup coming off a 44-21 victory over Tennessee. However, Kirby Smart’s defense figures to be the biggest test Alabama has faced to date this season.
Here’s what we learned about the Tide on Monday as it begins its preparation for the Bulldogs.
Saban delves into defensive issues
Pete Golding has had happier times in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The defensive coordinator was already in a bit of hot water with Tide fans following a disappointing first season in charge of the defense last year. This season hasn’t done him any favors either.
Through three games, Alabama is on pace for its worst defense in the Saban era, giving up an average of 30.3 points and 473 yards per game. This past weekend was particularly rough as the Tide surrendered a school-record 647 yards to Ole Miss.
Monday, Saban was asked about his team’s recent defensive deficiencies and whether he felt his players are being set up for success on the field.
“First of all, I don’t think the call is necessarily the issue," Saban said of Golding. "I think the execution of the call has been the issue. Sometimes we coach players for what we want them to be. But we really need to coach them for what they are. And when I say that I’m talking about how much experience do they have? How much can they handle? How much can they execute?
“So, if the players are mis-executing, that’s not a good thing from a coaching standpoint because that means we have to do a better job of teaching them or make sure we’re not trying to teach them too much so they go out there and they can’t perform well with confidence and make plays we’d like for them to make.”
Alabama’s mistakes last season were primarily attributed to a lack of experience as season-ending injuries to Dylan Moses, Joshua McMillon and LaBryan Ray forced the Tide to start four true freshmen in its front seven.
With Moses and Ray back as starters and the rest of the Tide’s young players a year wiser, inexperience wasn’t thought to be as much of an issue this season. Nevertheless, Alabama’s is still continuing to suffer defensive lapses at an alarming rate.
“So you mentioned two players that have experience but we have 11 guys out there at once so it only takes one guy to make a mistake,” Saban explained. "And when everybody gives ‘my bad’ one time, that’s 11 mistakes. Well, that can be a lot of yards. And we’ve had some guys that have made multiple mistakes, either have to get fixed or replace them. And we’re going to work in every endeavor and try to get better.”
While Golding desperately needs to improve his unit moving forward, it’s a bit harsh to lump all of Alabama’s defensive mistakes on him. Several defenses have struggled this year as a pandemic-shortened offseason left less time for preparation.
“I think for a long time when we were able to not practice against each other, even in the summertime we couldn't have 7 on 7 or we couldn't do any drills against each other,” Saban said. “It's much easier to practice offense on air than it is defense on air because you're reacting to something all the time. Maybe that contributes to it. I really don't know.”
Saban clarifies sign-stealing comment
Saban is pumping the breaks a bit when it comes to accusing Ole Miss of stealing signs. Following last weekend’s game the head coach questioned if Lane Kiffin and the Rebels might have known the Tide’s calls, stating “it seemed like every time we called something, they had the best play that they could have against it.”
The statement generated plenty of attention and even drew a response from Kiffin, who tweeted Sunday that his team was moving too fast on offense to steal any signs.
“FYI when u go as fast as we do we call our play first,” Kiffin posted in the tweet. “Stealing signals wouldn’t help us at all because we are snapping the ball (while) they were still trying to just line up.”
Monday, Saban clarified his comment when asked if his team found any evidence to suggest Ole Miss was indeed stealing signs over the weekend.
“I think what I was really speaking to was we were more like, I felt like we were always one play behind,” Saban said. “When I say one play behind, I mean, sometimes when you play in the NFL against Joe Montana or somebody really good, you always feel like you’re one play behind because if you call this, they do the right thing against that. I think that was more what I was referring to, as if they knew what we were going to do.
“Some of that is our issue in terms of how we disguise things. They were going fast. We were struggling to get lined up. We didn’t do a very good job of disguising things. So, they were able to take advantage of a lot of situations, and they know us well, so all those things probably contributed to me feeling a little bit like we were one play behind.”
Alabama has confidence in Hellams at safety
Alabama’s defense will be short-handed during the first half against Georgia as starting safety Jordan Battle will be forced to sit out after he was ejected for targeting during the fourth quarter of last week’s game against Ole Miss. Starting in his place will likely be fellow sophomore DeMarcco Hellams, who filled in for Battle following his ejection.
Hellams has served as Alabama’s sixth defensive back out of the dime package this season and has 11 tackles over three games. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound defensive back tallied a career-high four tackles against Ole Miss but struggled at times, earning a 49.9 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus while missing two tackles and allowing two receptions for 63 yards.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in DeMarcco,” Saban said. “I think he went in there and did a good job. He’s been a really good special teams player for us. Played some in dime. We just got to get our whole group on defense, aight, to play with better eye control and look at the right things so they can react to the plays better.
Joshua McMillon finding a new role
Najee Harris earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors Monday rushing for 206 yards and a school-record five touchdowns against Ole Miss. However, when asked about what he was most proud of during the performance, the star back couldn’t stop gushing over McMillon.
McMillon, a graduate linebacker, still hasn’t seen a snap on defense this season but did see his first action of the year last week as he was brought on as a fullback out of the jumbo package. The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder appears to be a natural at the role as his block helped spring Harris free on a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“If you go back and see that, it’s the best block,” Harris said. “He made a good block. Obviously, for a defensive guy to come in the game, make that big-time block, that’s one of the highlights.”
McMillon was set to be Alabama’s starting Will linebacker last season but suffered a season-ending knee injuring during fall camp. After receiving a medical redshirt from the NCAA, the Memphis, Tenn. native elected to return to the team for his sixth year this season.
Monday, Saban explained that McMillon is still limited on defense as he continues to recover from his injury. However, the veteran is proving that he can still help the Tide in his new role.
“He's done an outstanding job in that he's very instinctive at doing it,” Saban said. “We've tried to put bigger guys there, and we tried a couple guys, but he did it the best. And he has done a really good job. He's embraced that role. He's been a great leader on the team, done a good job.”
