BOL on YouTube: Alabama vs. Auburn reactions

Join BamaOnLine staff writer Clint Lamb and team expert Jimmy Stein as they react to Alabama‘s thrilling 27-24 road victory over the Auburn Tigers in the annual Iron Bowl on Saturday. Some of the topics from today’s conversation include:

-Run defense struggles

-Role changes for Caleb Downs, Malachi Moore

-Certain offensive issues reemerge

-Breakdown of the legendary pass from Milroe to Bold

-And more!

Snap Count Observations – Preview

Defensive Backs

Terrion Arnold – 59 snaps (100%)

Kool-Aid McKinstry – 59 snaps (100%)

Malachi Moore – 59 snaps (100%)

Caleb Downs – 59 snaps (100%)

Jaylen Key – 57 snaps (96.6%)

Kristian Story – 9 snaps (15.3%)

Observations: Key was back in the starting lineup at safety, but he seemed far from 100%. He got better over the course of the game, so maybe it was more knocking off some rust. Either way, there were a couple of ugly moments for the UAB transfer, especially as a tackler. I’d expect him to be a lot better this Saturday against Georgia though. I did think it was interesting that Story was Alabama’s sixth defensive back in Dime situations, but there was a reason for that.

On Saturday, we actually saw Downs and Moore switch positions. Downs was manning the Star position while Moore was lining up at safety. As a result, the five-star freshman saw a career-high 34 snaps in the slot. He also saw a career-low snaps at safety (2). Through the first nine games, he’d been getting 28.1 snaps per game as a free safety, according to PFF. Yet over the last three games, he’s only averaged 7.3. What’s the reason for this? Well, I think there are several.

First, Alabama’s three most recent Power Five opponents (both past and present) field offenses with strong run games. Kentucky deploys a lot of pro-style looks with running back Ray Davis being third in the SEC in rushing yards (1,066) and second in rushing touchdowns (13). Auburn’s entire offensive identity this year is based on having a strong run game, which it did Saturday against Alabama. And while it’s true that Georgia brings true offensive balance to the table, its rushing attack has averaged 239.3 yards over the last three weeks while scoring nine total touchdowns on the ground.

Arnold is an elite run defender when he’s playing cornerback on the perimeter. He’s more than serviceable when playing Star too, but Moore is better at mixing things up around the line of scrimmage. Downs, however, is the best Alabama has to offer in that area. He’s a sure-tackler and extremely physical. Plus, he has better man-coverage traits than Moore, which is exactly what you’ll probably want against Georgia’s top two targets in the passing game (Brock Bowers and Dominic Lovett). With those two guys being the primary slot options, playing Downs at Star might’ve served multiple purposes against Auburn (helped against AU’s strengths while also providing a solution against Georgia).

Here’s the thing though… I don’t think Downs or Moore looked overly comfortable at their new positions. I mean, obviously they’re not new at them. Moore has started games at safety and spent the entire spring there while Downs has seen spot action at Star in other contests. But against a Hugh Freeze offense that had been preparing multiple weeks for Alabama, there were new things thrown at this Crimson Tide defense that created some communication breakdowns in coverage. Should UA scrap the plan altogether? No, not necessarily. It took Arnold a little time to get comfortable after making the switch to Star earlier in the year. This is at least something to monitor though.

Auburn only attempted 16 passes in the game with four of those targets going at either Arnold (3) or McKinstry (1). Arnold didn’t allow a single catch while McKinstry gave up one for 15 yards. Obviously, it’s not a large sample size to go off of, especially compared to a passing game led by Beck (who’s averaging 30.8 attempts). But McKinstry has now gone six-straight games of allowing just 15 receiving yards or fewer. In fact, he’s only given up more than that twice this year (47 against Texas in Week 2 and 40 against Texas A&M in Week 6).

Arnold also notched two interceptions, giving him five on the year. As BamaOnLine beat writer Charlie Potter pointed out on Monday, that’s now good for No. 1 in the SEC and No. 5 nationally.

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