Windham Wrap-up: Pete Golding Deserves Some Recognition After Alabama's Defensive Performance Against Ole Miss

The Alabama defensive coordinator talked in the offseason about getting the defense back to the "Alabama Standard," and Saturday's performance against Ole Miss showed they are on the way.

After last season's Alabama game against Ole Miss in Oxford, many Crimson Tide fans were not pleased, particularly with defensive coordinator Pete Golding. 

Even though Alabama won the game, the defense gave up 48 points and nearly 650 yards of offense. It was just not something people were used to seeing in the last decade: an offense scoring at will on an Alabama defense.

Now, a year later, the Rebels once again brought in statistically the top offense in the country to the matchup at nearly 52 points per game. 

Coached by Golding, the Crimson Tide defense shut out that offense until almost halfway through the third quarter when Alabama was already up 35-0.

Facing the same quarterback from a season ago and many of the same offensive players, this Alabama defense was more prepared for the speed and tempo of Ole Miss. They were also prepared for the Rebels five fourth-down attempts, three of which became turnover on downs. 

The defense did eventually give up 21 points with the last touchdown aided by a pass interference penalty with less than three minutes left. Both head coach Nick Saban and defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis acknowledged after the game that the defense and team as a whole have to do a better job of finishing. 

The defense will have the chance to finish a game starting with a bedraggled Texas A&M team in College Station on Saturday, but also throughout the rest of the regular season schedule. 

Golding and some of the defensive players have talked about getting back to the Alabama Standard. Are they fully there yet? No. But after Saturday's performance against Ole Miss, they are getting close.