Lane Kiffin on Alabama defense: We got dominated up front

After Saturday’s 42-21 loss to Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was understandably dejected in his post game press conference.

He didn’t sugarcoat why the Rebels lost the game.

“I tell it how it is, good and bad. We got dominated up front. So that isn’t hard to see. I’m sure you saw that watching. Matt [Corral] didn’t have very much time. We had negative runs. They had guys in the backfield. So, again, that’s not us doing a very good job. It’s also credit to a really good defense by #31 (Will Anderson, Jr.) and then #10 (Henry To’o To’o) made plays,” Kiffin said.

“You know, I thought about it towards the end of the game. Coach Saban said a year ago, that he felt like afterward was like every call was the right call that we had. Everything went our way. And I felt like that today for them defensively. You know, we go with speed option on fourth down. #10 makes a great play and catches [Jerrion] Ealy. Ealy tries to cut back for some reason. So, credit them for showing up and making a lot of plays.”

The fourth-down play that Kiffin discussed above was a very critical one.

Check it out below as Alabama linebacker Henry To’o To’o ensured that Ole Miss had zero chance of getting the first down.

Henry To’o To’o stopping the fourth down play 💪

pic.twitter.com/2nq9fg6U1o

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 2, 2021

Alabama linebackers

In the Ole Miss game, To’o To’o dominated, racking up 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hurry in the stat sheet.

Sophomore linebacker Will Anderson, Jr. was his usual, highly disruptive self on Saturday. He tallied nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and two quarterback hurries.

To’o To’o is a former five-star prospect coming out of high school and transferred to the Crimson Tide from Tennessee. His addition in the 2021 off-season was a big reason why many people in the media like Gene Chizik were saying Alabama’s linebackers were the best in the country.

Anderson, Jr. has made a name for himself as one of the most dominant linebackers in America the second he set foot on the Tuscaloosa campus. In 2020, as a freshman, he was named to the All-SEC second team. The Georgia native finished third in the SEC with seven sacks in his first year of college football. The 6-foot-4, 243-pound linebacker also finished third in the SEC in tackles for loss (10.5) in his first year with the Crimson Tide.

Both players displayed their dominance on Saturday and demonstrated just how much of a problem they will be for college football teams across the country in 2021.