A former Georgia quarterback now has a lot of respect for the Alabama defense after watching the Crimson Tide defeat Kentucky.
Aaron Murray, who is an ESPN color commentator and college football analyst, knows what a great Alabama defense looks like, and he feels this year’s Alabama defense is good at all three levels.
“This defense for Bama is elite,” Murray said. “The front seven, they’re big, they’re fast, they’re physical, they get after the quarterback, they’re explosive off the snap. And obviously we knew heading into the season that this secondary was probably gonna be the best secondary in America. No one was open. Man, these guys locked them down. They made the quarterback’s life a living hell. (Kenny) Minchey is a good quarterback. But we raised this issue again last week. He’s not explosive. He doesn’t have that pop. He can dink it and dunk it. He’s not a giant threat to constantly push the ball vertically down the field. And when you face a defense like Alabama that’s this good, you’re not going to consistently have ten to fifteen play drives that work out in your favor. You have to create chunk plays. They don’t have the guys or the quarterback right now to create chunk plays against that caliber of a defense.”
The Alabama defense limited Kentucky’s offense to 10 points in the Tide’s 45-17 win over Kentucky. They kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard in the second half.
Murray is not the only former SEC quarterback speaking highly of Alabama’s defense. Greg McElroy is also high on Alabama after watching the Tide defeat Kentucky in person as a color commentator for ESPN.
“This Alabama defense is the real deal, guys,” McElroy said on ESPN’s Always College Football. “Alabama trailed 17-13 at halftime, scored 32 unanswered points, the largest Alabama win after trailing at the half since the SEC expanded in 1992, and it was Kalen DeBoer’s first win at Alabama. After trailing at the break, he had been 0-for-7. In the second half, Kentucky had zero points, three first downs, and 62 total yards. Two of those yards came on the ground. Alabama’s run defense has allowed 65 rushing yards total through two games. Alabama has seven sacks through two games. Pretty impressive to see where they’re heading. If you listen to DeBoer himself, they forced them to throw a bit more, and the pass rush got home. That’s the identity. They have not allowed anybody to run the football. They have a pass rush that is real, that is clearly improved from a year ago, and a defense that continues to create points every single week. I think this Alabama team, especially on that side of the ball, is very, very real.”
Alabama will be back in action Saturday when it takes on Florida State at home.
