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Alabama’s defense has been effective, and at times dominant, in most games played this season. In two games, however, it has been porous.
In 10 of its 12 games this season, Alabama have kept their opponents 24 points or less. In seven of their last eight games, Alabama have kept their opponents 17 points or less – including two games in which they allowed just three points (Kentucky and Arkansas) and one in which they did not allow any. (Mississippi State).
None of those 10 opponents, however, rank in the top 25 nationally, whether for offense or all-out attack.
Alabama played two teams that placed in the National Top 10 on offense and the National Top 14 in all-out offense, and those games went very differently for the Crimson Tide, who allowed 48 points against Ole Miss and 46 points against Florida.
That’s reason enough to be optimistic that the Ohio State’s offense, ranked in the nation’s top five in both offense (43.4 points per game) and total offense (544.9 yards per game) and after a performance of 49 points and 639 yards against Clemson, may have a great day against the Alabama defense.
It will likely have to be done, given the Alabama offense – led by four healthy superstars in wide receiver DeVonta Smith, quarterback Mac Jones, half-back Najee Harris and left tackle Alex Leatherwood. who all won individual national awards Thursday night – scored on everyone.
The Crimson Tides are averaging 48.2 points and 535 yards per game this season, and they’ve already faced three opponents (Notre Dame, Georgia and Texas A&M) with statistically better defenses than Ohio State. Even when their defense was at its worst, their offense still put them above the top, scoring 62 points against Ole Miss and 52 points against Florida.
Ohio State’s defense is better than those teams’ defenses, however, and if it can even provide some resistance to the Crimson Tide attack, that could be enough for the Buckeyes to win the National Championship if their attack can click that in College Football Playoff Semifinals and have sort of a day like the Rebels and Gators did.
The Alabama defense recognizes that possibility, so Crimson Tide won’t apologize for his struggles against the best competition as he prepares for Monday night’s title game in Miami.
“Consistency of performance is really, at the end of the day, what determines the quality of your play, and we have played well in some games this year. Other games are not as good as we would like. And as coaches, we have to do a better job of putting our players in a better position so that they have a chance to succeed, ”Alabama coach Nick Saban said this week. “I think we have to continue as a defending team to focus on the things we can improve so that we can play with a little more consistency game after game.”
When Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding reflects on why Crimson Tide has struggled to defend at times, he thinks they’ve been hurt by mental errors and inconsistent core execution. And he doesn’t think those issues were exclusive to games where they gave up a lot of points.
“I think there were a couple of games where we kept them low in score, but we still didn’t execute, they just didn’t take advantage,” said Golding. “So I think the most important thing is to assess ourselves and the things that we need to be able to clean up and complete the individual tasks in the 11s and then collectively put them on the same length of wave.”
Given that many of Alabama’s worst games in defense, particularly the Ole Miss game in which he gave up 647 yards, came early in the season, there are indicators that Crimson Tide has improved. on this side of the ball as the season progresses. . That’s what Ohio State Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson thinks after watching the movie.
“It’s an excellent defense with talent, length. They’re going to make it incredibly difficult. I just think as they play they just get better and better, ”Wilson said. “The great teams do what it takes to win every week, and that’s what their defense does and that’s what Coach Saban has done as well as anyone who has coached football before.”
The Alabama defense kept Notre Dame just 14 points in the college football playoff semifinals at the Rose Bowl. (Photo: Tim Heitman – USA TODAY Sports)
That said, Florida’s 46-point game against Alabama defense came just three weeks ago in the SEC Championship game, suggesting that Crimson Tide remains quite vulnerable against infractions. good enough to exploit their weaknesses. And they know there may be no one with more potential to do this than Ohio State, which ranks third nationally in rushing yards per attempt (6.04) and seventh. nationally in passing yards per attempt (9.9).
“You kind of look at their offense, they can literally do anything,” Alabama linebacker Christian Harris said. “They can run the ball anytime. They can launch it at any time.
Alabama have just won one of their best defensive games of the season against Notre Dame, in which the Crimson Tide scored 31 points at the season low, but kept the Fighting Irish to just 14 out of 375 points. yards to comfortably win at the Rose Bowl. This gave confidence to the Crimson Tide for their clash with the Buckeyes.
“We’ve learned from experience what we need to do,” Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “I just felt like we prepared better every week. We got better every week by flying to the ball, making adjustments and learning from previous games where we struggled, and sort of fixed and fixed what we needed to do.
“They can literally do anything.”– Alabama linebacker Christian Harris on the Ohio State attack
Even though Florida and Ole Miss have proven the Alabama defense to be very beatable, the Ohio State offense doesn’t expect anything to be easy on Monday.
“They’re really talented, really talented in every way,” said Ohio State center Josh Myers. “They are good, big, strong and athletic in all areas, and they know their plan very well. You can just see it coming through in the movie. They are extremely disciplined and extremely good with their technique.
The Crimson Tides will feel their defense has something to prove on Monday.
“I think every week we try to make a statement,” Harris said. “We know we have a very good offense. We know we have times where we’ve been a bit unstable in defense. But you’re as good as your last game. ”
But given that the Buckeyes are very capable of making big offensive plays even if Alabama doesn’t make it easy, the Crimson Tide are going to have to play their best defensive football of the season to prevent Ohio State from putting. a big number. the dashboard.
“They’re going to make enough contested games because they have a lot of really good players in a lot of places where you have to challenge everything,” Golding said. “We have to be strong in the racing game. We have to try to stay one step ahead of the chains, to put them in obvious passages, because they are really balanced.
“When you look at Ohio State, they’re averaging 43 (points per game) and when they don’t, it’s because they returned the ball. It’s not because people arrested them. It is because they made a mistake. People made them make mistakes and they made them pay for it, and they got off the field, whether it was a turnover or a third party. So I think that’s the essential part of this game.
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