D.C. Reeves
TideSports.com Managing Editor
Room in this article was reserved to describe some form of conflict for Alabama's defense, a logical decision given the past two times it tried to stop this high-flying, revved-up Texas A&M offense.
Then the defense went out and defied logic.
Ryan Anderson tallied a team-high six tackles in Alabama's 59-0 win.
Against an attack and a playcaller that had given the Crimson Tide fits, the Crimson Tide posted a shutout, not allowing as much as a decent stretch of positive plays to the Aggies in a 59-0 rout Saturday.
Looking nothing like the defense that experienced breakdowns in the second half of a loss to Ole Miss two weeks ago, if Alabama's performance wasn't perfect, it was close.
"Defensively, this is the best we've played against this kind of offense," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
The numbers back up that statement emphatically.
Texas A&M gained 172 total yards, or 27 percent of what it gained against Alabama in College Station, Texas last season.
The Crimson Tide allowed 5.6 yards per play in a loss to Texas A&M at home in 2012, a gaudy 8.8 in a 49-42 win last year and just 3.1 yards per play on Saturday.
That pesky playcaller, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, had never been held to fewer than 10 points as a head coach.
The effort started up front as Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill was harassed from the outset. Alabama stacked up nine tackles for loss and six sacks, disrupting so many of the trademark perimeter plays that have helped the Aggies pile up so many points.
"It was a great feeling," linebacker Ryan Anderson said of the team's mindset after the win. "It's always a great atmosphere in the locker room when we win and especially when the offense scores 59 points and the defense pitches a shutout, everyone is going to be real excited."
Between the start of the game and Alabama taking a 52-0 lead early in the third quarter, the Aggies had accrued just two plays over six yards. Texas A&M was 2-of-13 on third down.
After Alabama's 45-yard touchdown to go up 52-0, the Crimson Tide had more points (52) than the Aggies had total yards (50).
"I think the best thing that we did, which was one of the key things in the game, is we affected the quarterback with four guys rushing," Saban said. "And I think that was the real key to the game."
"Alabama was the superior team in all three phases," Sumlin said.
Even the energy was different on defense, something Saban said he saw change in the fourth quarter of its win against Arkansas last week. The team was celebrating in a scrum on every third-down stop. During one kickoff, the entire defense was jumping in unison to music blaring through the Bryant-Denny Stadium speakers as it waited to take the field for more domination.
"It was good feeling to see everybody with all that energy and intensity out there," said Anderson, who nabbed a team-high six tackles and one for loss. "You could definitely tell it means something to everybody right now."
And a win in this fashion, with this kind of defensive effort, made a statement no one saw coming.
"I was very surprised because they have fantastic players on their team," safety Landon Collins said of the shutout. "They're always going to put some points on the board. The past two years that we played them they definitely threw the ball downfield and made big plays. We expected a real good game and surprised they didn't score on us."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1694282#sthash.AY83axzx.dpuf
TideSports.com Managing Editor
Room in this article was reserved to describe some form of conflict for Alabama's defense, a logical decision given the past two times it tried to stop this high-flying, revved-up Texas A&M offense.
Then the defense went out and defied logic.
Ryan Anderson tallied a team-high six tackles in Alabama's 59-0 win.
Against an attack and a playcaller that had given the Crimson Tide fits, the Crimson Tide posted a shutout, not allowing as much as a decent stretch of positive plays to the Aggies in a 59-0 rout Saturday.
Looking nothing like the defense that experienced breakdowns in the second half of a loss to Ole Miss two weeks ago, if Alabama's performance wasn't perfect, it was close.
"Defensively, this is the best we've played against this kind of offense," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.
The numbers back up that statement emphatically.
Texas A&M gained 172 total yards, or 27 percent of what it gained against Alabama in College Station, Texas last season.
The Crimson Tide allowed 5.6 yards per play in a loss to Texas A&M at home in 2012, a gaudy 8.8 in a 49-42 win last year and just 3.1 yards per play on Saturday.
That pesky playcaller, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, had never been held to fewer than 10 points as a head coach.
The effort started up front as Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill was harassed from the outset. Alabama stacked up nine tackles for loss and six sacks, disrupting so many of the trademark perimeter plays that have helped the Aggies pile up so many points.
"It was a great feeling," linebacker Ryan Anderson said of the team's mindset after the win. "It's always a great atmosphere in the locker room when we win and especially when the offense scores 59 points and the defense pitches a shutout, everyone is going to be real excited."
Between the start of the game and Alabama taking a 52-0 lead early in the third quarter, the Aggies had accrued just two plays over six yards. Texas A&M was 2-of-13 on third down.
After Alabama's 45-yard touchdown to go up 52-0, the Crimson Tide had more points (52) than the Aggies had total yards (50).
"I think the best thing that we did, which was one of the key things in the game, is we affected the quarterback with four guys rushing," Saban said. "And I think that was the real key to the game."
"Alabama was the superior team in all three phases," Sumlin said.
Even the energy was different on defense, something Saban said he saw change in the fourth quarter of its win against Arkansas last week. The team was celebrating in a scrum on every third-down stop. During one kickoff, the entire defense was jumping in unison to music blaring through the Bryant-Denny Stadium speakers as it waited to take the field for more domination.
"It was good feeling to see everybody with all that energy and intensity out there," said Anderson, who nabbed a team-high six tackles and one for loss. "You could definitely tell it means something to everybody right now."
And a win in this fashion, with this kind of defensive effort, made a statement no one saw coming.
"I was very surprised because they have fantastic players on their team," safety Landon Collins said of the shutout. "They're always going to put some points on the board. The past two years that we played them they definitely threw the ball downfield and made big plays. We expected a real good game and surprised they didn't score on us."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1694282#sthash.AY83axzx.dpuf
