Alabama defense stifles Ole Miss offense in win to open SEC play

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Lane Kiffin thought Alabama had changed defensive play-callers, moving from Kevin Steele to Travaris Robinson. After the Crimson Tide defense suffocated his Ole Miss offense in a 24-10 win, he joked another change might have occurred.

“They did a good job, so I commend them,” Kiffin said Saturday. “Maybe Coach (Nick Saban) took over. They did a really good job on third down. I mean, it wasn’t exotic. They played man-to-man and did a good job against us. I thought Malachi (Moore) played really well. Kool-Aid (McKinstry) and (Terrion Arnold), we tried to go after him like last year, and the guy did a really good job.”

Alabama limited Ole Miss to 301 yards, which was 236 yards below the Rebels season average, and only 10 points. Prior to Saturday’s SEC opener in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Ole Miss had not scored less than 37 points in a game, with 73 coming in its win over Mercer.

“Holding a team like that down to 10 points is very, very good,” linebacker Dallas Turner said. “Very, very good. I heard they were averaging like 50-something points a game. It was very good holding them down just to 10.”

The Crimson Tide (3-1, 1-0 SEC) kept quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Quinshon Judkins and the rest of the Rebels’ rushing attack from breaking free, holding them to 56 yards on 29 carries (1.9 ypc). Dart’s rushing total was affected by the pressure Alabama was able to apply with five sacks, 10 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hurries in the win.

For the second game in a row, Turner led the pass-rushing charge with two sacks, while linebacker Chris Braswell and defensive lineman Tim Smith each generated 1.5 sacks. 

“We just race to the quarterback,” Braswell said of Turner. “Whoever gets there first, that’s what we kind of do. We work on it all the time in practice, but overall, even though we compete against each other and try to see who’s gonna get the sack first, we’re a team. That’s my brother.”

After a first-quarter touchdown run by Dart, the Alabama defense held Ole Miss to three straight three-and-outs. Over its final eight drives, the Rebels were intercepted (by Arnold), kicked a field goal and turned the ball over on downs to cap its final offensive series of the afternoon. Ole Miss also struggled on third down, going 3-for-14.

“These guys are hard to play against,” head coach Nick Saban said. “They do a lot of formations, a lot of motions. I thought our guys did a pretty good job of adjusting to it in the game and especially did a good job in the second half. Really pleased.”

Saban wasn’t the only one to praise the defense. While the spotlight was on Jalen Milroe after he returned to the starting lineup, he quickly thanked his defensive teammates.

“The defense played their butts off,” Milroe said. “They played hard for us all four quarters. We pick up on their energy. They play hard. They play tough. They have great energy on the sidelines and then their confidence. I’ll honestly say that the defense is doing a great job right now, and it’s leading towards the offense.”

Alabama’s defense played well last week at South Florida, but any other outcome would have been a disappointment. Putting together another impressive performance against an offense like Ole Miss was more of a statement, as the Tide imposed its will on Saturday.

“I feel like as the game went on, we started to make them quit,” Turner said. “We could see it in their eyes. We still hammered them as a defense, still getting hits on the quarterback and whatnot. It was a very good game making them quit. That’s always the goal.”

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