Alabama’s secondary entered the season with many concerned about its youth.
The freshmen defensive backs are starting to mature at the right time.
Zabien Brown, a former five-star cornerback, earned the starting job for his efforts in fall camp. The California native was dynamic at Mater Dei High School, showing his ability to mirror wide receivers, play the football, and create turnovers.
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Carson Beck attacked Brown a lot last week in Alabama’s matchup with Georgia. The freshman was left on an island, but he emerged with multiple marquee plays. He trusted the technique and strategy he learned from Kane Wommack and Maurice Linguist, and it allowed him to make the biggest play of the game. Brown recorded one of four critical takeaways for Alabama, sealing the Crimson Tide’s 41-34 victory with an interception off Beck. He had six tackles, a pass breakup, a tackle for loss, and an interception. Wommack embraced his freshman after the game, showing how proud he was with him for continuing to fight.
“They took shots at Zabien Brown from the second play on,” Wommack said Monday. “He really navigated it well and a lot of the downfield throws, I thought we did a really nice job of the majority of the night. When you have over 20-plus downfield throws, I think they had 22 or 23, they are going to connect on some. They did against him early in the game or in the second half of the game, but for him to stay locked in to those moments and not be overwhelmed by adversity won us the football game.”
Wommack said Brown will be able to draw from that confidence for the rest of his career.
“I told the defense nobody in the room will forget that moment,” he said.
“This season we need to make sure we rely back on that when adversity comes which it will.”
Brown grew up in the biggest game to date for Alabama in the Kalen DeBoer era.
He is looking forward to making more significant plays.
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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.
