Alabama’s offense grabbed nearly every headline from the first scrimmage.
Whether it was Jalen Milroe’s passing, exciting plays from the running backs, or young wide receivers stepping up, the offensive side of the football had more information leaked out from the practice.Kane Wommack and the Crimson Tide’s defense clapped back over the weekend in the second scrimmage. Kalen DeBoer had a different tune in front of the media as he praised the defensive line and secondary for creating turnovers. The Tide has a balanced team and fans should be excited about it.
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DeBoer mentioned that practice last week was huge for the defensive line.
“There were also some times where the defense got to the quarterback and finished drives off,” he said.
“A lot of times those are in your third down situations. It’s third down, your back is to the wall, and the defense got home. I do think our defensive line is doing a really good job against the run.”
Some of the success for the defense came because a few offensive players were banged up.
Jam Miller, a junior running back, is very good in pass protection but didn’t scrimmage last week.
Jaeden Roberts, a redshirt junior, is back as the starting right guard for the Crimson Tide.
He suffered an injury early in Alabama’s scrimmage, but Roberts is expected to play week one against Western Kentucky. DeBoer stated how physical last week was, and the defensive line made it that way. He called the scrimmage the ‘most physical’ one he’s been a part of since becoming Alabama’s head football coach.
Success on defense starts with the front unit.
Freddie Roach, Alabama’s defensive line coach, has his position doing its job. If the defensive line is consistently causing problems for opponents, the Tide will have a very entertaining season.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.