All Things CW: What Constitutes a Great Defense in College Football Now?

Alabama fans need to focus on two statistics when it comes to the Crimson Tide's defensive success in 2021, and they're not ones you'd necessarily consider.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It's been 10 years since Alabama won the national championship with one of the best defenses college football has ever seen. 

Not only did the Crimson Tide pull off the only shutout in BCS/CFP history, with a 21-0 victory in the national championship game against LSU in New Orleans, but it was just the second unit ever to lead in the nation in all four major categories of team defense — total, scoring, rushing and pass efficiency.

The other was Oklahoma in 1986, although the 2017 Crimson Tide came extremely close to matching the accomplishment (finishing a close second in that last category). 

The 2011 Crimson Tide defense gave up 183.6 total yards, 8.2 points, 72.2 rushing yards and had a passing efficiency defensive rating of 83.7, and no one was close to Alabama in any of those categories.  

Those numbers would be unheard of today due to the changes in college football, which is much more offensively friendly. 

This following statistic may illustrate how much things have changed. 

In 2011, Alabama's opponents executed 720 plays. Over a 13-game season (remember, the Crimson Tide didn't play in the SEC Championship Game), that's an average of 55.4 plays. In contrast, the Crimson Tide offense ran 865 plays over the course of the season. 

Last season Alabama ran almost the exact same number of plays as the opposition (902 to 909, respectively).

That’s 69.9 plays per game.

A lot can happen in 15 plays, which was ironically how often Alabama's offense scored last season (15.7 to be exact, and that doesn't factor in field goals). The list of SEC head coaches now includes Jimbo Fisher, Dan Mullen, Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach, Eliah Drinkwitz, Josh Heupel, Shane Beamer, Bryan Harsin and Josh Heupel, who are all offensive-minded coaches. 

Nevertheless, Alabama hasn't changed its defensive goal when it comes to one key statistic: points allowed. Saban's always had the same target for the defense, hold opponents to 13 points or less. 

"I don't care if they’re throwing it 70 times or the running is 70 times, it doesn't matter," defensive coordinator Pete Golding said. "We got to find a way to keep them out of the end zone and there's multiple different ways to do that based on tempo offenses, throwing the ball. A lot of times make them drive the field, and then once they get low red, let's tighten this thing up. They don't have much space, and play well in the red zone, play well on third down.

"But that's not going to change from a point aspect, that's not going to change."

How many times did Alabama hold the opposition to 13 or fewer points last season? Four, all during the second half of the regular season beginning with the 41-0 shut out of Mississippi State.

The Crimson Tide went from averaging 26.4 points per game during the first half of the regular season (including the 63-48 shootout against Ole Miss), to 7.2 during the second half. 

However, it yielded 28.0 in the postseason, mostly due to the problems it had against Florida in the SEC Championship Game. 

“I think one of the big issues last year on our team being fairly young is we made a lot of mental errors, especially in the first half of the season, and I think that was knowledge and experience," Nick Saban said. "When you have more experienced players, I think hopefully you cut down on those mental errors that actually help people make plays against us. So I think that’s the key to the drill."

There's been a night-and-day difference with Saban defenses when he has an experienced unit, especially in the secondary. That bodes well for this year's team as the only players who really needed to be replaced were defensive lineman Christian Barmore, linebacker Dylan Moses and All-American cornerback Patrick Surtain II. 

Contrary to what a lot of fans believe, Alabama had a good defense last season while playing an SEC-only schedule. It just didn't have a great one, especially when compared to Saban's other Crimson Tide teams. 

It led the SEC in scoring defense even after going from 16.8 points at the end of the regular season to 19.4 after playing Florida, plus Notre Dame and Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. Marshall led the nation at yielding 13.0 points, while Northwestern topped the Power 5 conferences at 15.9.

Alabama was third in the SEC in total defense, behind Texas A&M (317.3) and Georgia (321.0), two teams it defeated. Army led the nation (275.3), and, surprise, West Virginia was best among Power 5 teams (291.4). 

Georgia topped the nation in rushing defense at 72.3 yards per game, while Texas A&M was second at 92.0

Alabama led the SEC in pass-efficiency defense while Arkansas was distant second at 131.91, which ranked 52nd nationally.

Year	Total D	Scoring D	Rushing D	Pass-Eff. D
2011	183.6 (1)	8.1 (1)	72.2 (1)	73.7 (1)
2012	250 (1)	10.9 (1)	76,.4 (1)	103.7 (7)
2013	286.5 (5)	13.9 (1)	106.2 (7)	116.8 (26)
2014	328.4 (12)	18.4 (6)	102.4 (4)	116.5 (30)
2015	276.3 (3)	15.1 (3)	75.7 (1)	105.2 (8)
2016	261.8 (2)	13.0 (1)	63.9 (1)	106.5 (9)
2017	260.4 (1)	11.9 (1)	94.7 (1)	96.8 (2)
2018	319.5 (16)	18.1 (12)	121.3 (19)	115.8 (23)
2019	324.4 (20)	18.6 (13)	137.2 (37)	109.75 (4)
2020	352.2 (32)	19.4 (13)	113.1 (17)	119.4 (18)

It seems more than reasonable that a defense averaging fewer than 13 points allowed, along with 300 total yards, 100 rushing yards, and a passer efficiency rating of 100 during this day and age would easily fall into the "great" realm.

Maybe the 2021 Crimson Tide could do that, but those aren't the numbers Alabama needs to focus upon this season.   

Alabama was tied for sixth in the nation in turnovers gained with 22, but it also played 13 games in 2020. It tied Kentucky and LSU for the league lead, although the Wildcats played only 11 games and the Tigers 10. 

Finally, the Crimson Tide was 77th in third-down defense, with a .415 success rate.

It would like to do better on the former, but absolutely, positively must improve on the latter. 

Simply put, great defenses find ways to get off the field.  

Quote of the Week ... 

Tua Tagovailoa got a lot of attention this week when he successfully sidestepped a request to make a prediction about the upcoming Alabama vs. Miami game in Atlanta. 

However, during that same press session he also got a question about Nick Saban, who remains as popular as ever (note sarcasm) in South Florida after leaving the Dolphins to take over the Crimson Tide.

“I mean growing up, you hear Nick Saban and you’re like, ‘That’s Nick Saban!’" he said. "I don’t know. You see him in movies. He’s just big time. I don’t know. It’s just something about his demeanor and the way he coaches his players and what he expects out of his coaches. I think that’s what makes him successful.”

Easily topping that as the quote of the week from a former Crimson Tide player in the NFL was safety Landon Collins, who is coming back from an Achilles injury suffered last October. He was asked about the differences between when he arrived at Washington to when Ron Rivera took over as head coach. 

He hit the answer like he would a running back in the hole. 

“They brought some tough guys in here, some great guys,” Collins said. “Guys that came out here to compete, and I love it because we didn’t have nobody complaining. 

"That’s the biggest thing I was worried about. My first couple of years here, a lot of people would complain and were worried about this heat. [The guys they brought in] just came out here and practiced, and when you got guys that like that, it’s really just to come out here and play and play for the love of the game. It’s amazing.”

Collins added: "What Ron is doing now, man, he’s done an amazing job. I just want to be a part of it as long as I can because it’s a special team for sure.”

Look for Collins to be in the running for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Yes, More Olympians 

Alabama Adapted Athletics, which has won numerous national championships in basketball and tennis, has 18 athletes with ties to the program who are competing in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo through Sept. 5. 

The list includes assistant coach Shelby Brown, who is seeded fourth in the wheelchair tennis single tournament (she's already been eliminated from the doubles draw). 

The active athletes include:

• Abby Bauleke, Team USA, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball

• Joy Haizelden, Team Great Britain, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball

• Bailey Moody, Team USA, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball

• Ignacio Ortega, Team Spain, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball

• Lindsey Zurbrugg, Team USA, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball

The 12 former Crimson Tide athletes competing:

Michael Auprince, Australia, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Jannik Blair, Australia, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Babsi Gross, Germany, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Jude Hamner, Great Britain, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Bo Hedges, Canada, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Rosalie Lalonde, Canada, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Kate Lang Germany, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Cindy Ouellet, Canada, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Catha Weiss, Germany, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Lori Williams, Great Britain, Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Arinn (Juice) Young, Canada, Men’s Wheelchair Basketball 

Annika Zeyen, Germany, Handcycling

Also in Japan is Alabama's Darrell Hargreaves as a Paralympic Referee. Ironically, while he can't work a Team USA game since it's his home country, Hargreaves can work games of teams that include Crimson Tide athletes. 

Numerous athletes are in action every day, and can be watch on the NBC family of networks, including the Peacock streaming service. 

A final note regarding Alabama Adapted Athletics, which just opened the only collegiate tennis facility for adapted student-athletes in the nation. It will host the 2021 Level 1 USTA Wheelchair Tennis National Championships on Oct 7-10.

Tide-bits

• Speaking of that 2011 defense, every starter went on to play in the NFL, but only two are still active this season: Dont’a Hightower and Dre Kirkpatrick. Chances are neither will make the 10-year reunion Alabama will celebrate this season, fittingly the weekend the Crimson Tide hosts LSU on Nov. 6. 

• Alabama has another player up for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award as linebacker Henry To'oTo'o was named to the watch list. Tagovailoa won the award in 2018 and 2019.

• The latest odds from @betonline_ag have Alabama basketball listed as 20/1 this season. That's not to repeat as SEC champions, but win the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Favorite Gonzaga is 7/1 followed by Memphis at 9/1. The Crimson Tide is set to face both this season, along with Kentucky (14/1). 

• Left-handed reliever Adam Morgan has been terrific for the Cubs. Per the Chicago Tribune, since coming back from surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his left elbow, the 31-year-old has an 0.66 ERA over his last 17 appearances (one run in 13⅔ innings). During that span, Morgan has struck out 19 while walking four, and limited opponents to a .167 average.

• It surprised no one when Arkansas was picked to sweep the SEC cross country titles in the annual coaches poll, as the men have won 26 titles (since joining 30 years ago) and the women have won eight straight. The only other school to receive any first-place votes was Alabama. The women got four and were picked to finish second, while the men got one vote and were slated for third. The SEC cross country season is set to begin next week, and the 2021 SEC Cross Country Championships are slated for Oct. 29 in Columbia, Mo.

• No one may be happier to see a "normal" schedule this fall than Alabama volleyball coach Lindsey Devine. With an SEC-only schedule last season, Alabama opened against No. 7 Missouri followed by No. 4 Florida. The Crimson Tide never had a chance to get any momentum going en route to a 7-15 season. "We learned a lot, but now we're walking into a new season," Devine said. "You never know what's going to be thrown at you." On Friday, it opened with two wins at the Marshall Invitational. Following the weekend tournament it will play six of its next nine matches at home. The team returned its top five kills producers on offense, including team-leader Abby Marjama who had 285 last season while also leading the Crimson Tide with 23 aces. 

Did You Notice?

• Ranking the Preseason 2021 Heisman Candidates

• The First Thing to Understand About NIL Is That Nobody Fully Understands NIL

• How the Bucs Are Leading a Linebacker Revival

• Philip Rivers Leads Alabama High School to Win in Coaching Debut

• The 2021 college football season opens today. Check out the schedule and TV times in the BamaCentralforums.

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW appears regularly on BamaCentral. This is normally a premium article.