Without considering the four extra overtime periods, it was a long four quarters for the Alabama offensive line during the Iron Bowl. Auburn saw loads of success against a Crimson Tide front that has been beat up and inconsistent all season long.
Head coach Nick Saban was forced to bench right tackle Damieon George in favor of original starter Chris Owens, while starting center Darrian Dalcourt was replaced due to his ankle injury with Seth McLaughlin.
The improvements were marginal, to say the least, as the Tigers tallied 7.0 total sacks on quarterback Bryce Young while also forcing six quarterback hurries, 11 tackles for loss and holding the Crimson Tide to just 71 rushing yards on the night.
With a Georgia defensive front that is likely the top in the nation, Alabama has its work cut out for it and Saban shared what the unit needs to do in order to have a chance on Saturday.
“I think we gotta play more physical,” Saban said the media on Monday. “I think we’ve gotta be more aggressive in terms of how we come out of our hips, play with power, whatever it is. We’ve gotta try and dictate when we’re in the run game and get moving. We did a better job of that in the second half. And we gotta try to give our players a chance with some advantage runs when we do try to run the ball. So pass protection was an issue at times. But we just gotta do a better job of staying square. The quarterback’s gotta do a better job in the pocket so that the O-line knows where he’s going to be.
“So there’s a lot of things we need to work on when it comes to pressures. We gotta have a good plan for how we block them. There’s a lot of things that I think we’re capable of improving and I have a lot of confidence that the players will go about it the right to get it done this week.”
The Bulldogs defense is an experienced group that has shut down every one of its opponent’s offenses as it’s allowed just 83 points through the regular season. Its pass rush is also relentless as it has a team total of 41.0 sacks on the year while surrendering an average of 79.4 rushing yards per game, which is second in the SEC.
According to Pro Football Focus, the defense has also caused 114 quarterback hurries and 204 total pressure on the year.
“They play a good system,” Saban said. “They have a good scheme. They’re well-coached. And they have really good players, and they play hard. I mean, they play with a lot of toughness. They’re fast reactors. They’re very instinctive. So they’ve got a combination of a good scheme and really good, well-coached and a lot of good players who make a lot of plays by playing sort of team defense. They don’t mess up a lot. They do what they’re supposed to do and they’re pretty confident in the way they do it.”
In addition to Georgia’s stout front, Alabama’s running backs room continues to deal with injury with starting running back Brian Robinson now dealing with a lower-body injury.
Saban said on Sunday that the team would evaluate Robinson throughout the week, but this is a group that’s already suffered three season-ending injuries, and should the senior not be able to go Trey Sanders would be the only healthy scholarship running back on the roster. Alabama has also converted linebacker Demouy Kennedy and wide receivers Christian Leary and Slade Bolden to emergency options at the position.
“We’ve gotta get them ready to play,” Saban said on his running back options. “There’s nothing else we can do about that. Injuries are a part of the game. We don’t ever like seeing any player not be able to compete, especially when they’ve had a great year all year long and probably wanna play in this game because of that. But as a coach, you just have to coach the players and try to get the players ready that you have available to play in the game and have confidence in them and try to do the things that they can do well to help the team.”
At the very least, the Crimson Tide will look to clean things up in time for the SEC Championship game for whoever is receiving a handoff out of the backfield.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
