Caleb Downs 'played really well' in Alabama debut, Nick Saban says

Caleb Downs made his Alabama debut in a 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee and the freshman safety already impressed head coach Nick Saban.

In total, Downs had six tackles and two assists, making his presence known on a dominant defensive day. This comes from a prospect who had a lot of hype coming out of high school.

As the page turned to Week 2 preparation for Texas, Saban outlined what he liked from Downs.

“I think Caleb played, you know, really well,” Saban said. “He plays fast, he’s physical. I think that was a really challenging game, especially for a young player to have to play with all the formations and adjustments that we had to make. And I think he handled it really, really well.”

As a member of the Class of 2023, Downs was a five-star recruit out of Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 1 safety in the class and the No. 5 overall prospect in the class.

Caleb Downs impresses in freshman debut for Alabama

Downs began his career by racking up some tackles. At this point, the freshman can only get better.

Tackling was a point of emphasis but Saban didn’t say it was perfect. That’ll have to get cleaned up before playing the Longhorns.

“We tackled decent,” Saban said postgame Saturday, via BamaOnline. “I think we had a couple missed tackles, and I thought that, especially, you saw the perimeter plays that they ran, whether they were jet sweeps, bubble passes, advantage throws, whatever, the whole game plan – which I kind of told the players it would be this way – that they would get the ball out quick. We wouldn’t have a lot of chances to get a whole bunch of sacks.

“The ball was gonna come out quick, we’re gonna have to break on the ball and we’re gonna have to tackle well in space. And I think that we did a pretty good job of that, and I think that’s why they didn’t have very many explosive plays.”

Alabama hosts Texas to highlight Week 2 in prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa.