Byron Young reveals what Alabama did to contain Bijan Robinson, Hudson Card

The Alabama Crimson Tide escaped Week 2 with a close win over the Texas Longhorns thanks, in part, to the Tide defense. Defensive lineman Byron Young discussed how the Bama defensive line focused on stopping the run as the team preps for Week 3 versus ULM.

“I think it was really just the same thing we try to do every week,” Young said during his press conference on Tuesday. “The first thing we talk about as a defensive line is stopping the run. We say you have to earn the right to rush the passer so every week, we focus on standing in our gaps, the runs they might run, whether it’s gap scheme or zone scheme, we just focus on stopping the run.”

On Saturday, the Texas offense only rushed for 79 total yards. The Bama defense limited star running back Bijan Robinson to 57 yards on 21 carries, including a long run of 18 yards.

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After quarterback Quinn Ewers‘ exit from the game due to injury, the Alabama defense had to switch into a different mode, faced with the more mobile backup, Hudson Card. Young and the defensive line limited Card to eight yards on six carries in the 20-19 win.

“I think it was the same thing we talked about all week, not allowing him to get out of the pocket, not allowing them to try to extend plays with their legs,” Young said. “It wasn’t anything we had to make a huge adjustment for, we just game planned for it throughout the week.”

Young finished the game with three tackles, including a tackle for loss. So far on the season, he has five tackles.

Nick Saban: ‘This was like playing an SEC game on the road’

It wasn’t always pretty, but Alabama walked away from its game against Texas with a victory on Saturday. Afterward, Nick Saban said this won’t be the last time his team plays in an environment like the one at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium.

Saturday marked the first time Alabama and Texas played since the 2009 national championship. But the two teams will see plenty of each other in a couple of years when Texas leaves the Big 12 for the SEC.

In fact, Saban said the Longhorns — and their fans — are SEC-caliber already.

“This is like playing an SEC game on the road,” Saban said. “This kind of atmosphere, this kind of team that we’re playing. That was a lot better team than people give them credit for. And they’re going to be in the SEC. If they were in the SEC right now, they’re probably in the top half of the league. This was a real test for us.”

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.