Alabama DB Patrick Surtain II Focused on National Title Aspirations
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama junior defensive back Patrick Surtain II has the potential to rake in a lot of awards this season.
And why not? The veteran defender has played a key role in directing the Crimson Tide secondary all season, which has turned into one of the most stifling in the country in the second half of the 2020 season.
This past week, Surtain has been named a semifinalist in four awards: the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Jim Thorpe Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.
But while he is honored to be up for the awards, Surtain’s not letting the potential hardware distract him from the job at hand.
“I have to say I’m excited for the awards,” Surtain said. “I’m obviously very thankful for the awards but I’m not looking forward to awards, I’m looking forward to winning the national championship with my teammates and depending on what we need to do to finish this season out strong.”
Even when the Crimson Tide defense had a slow start to the season, Surtain was always there to rally the troops and make impact plays. Since the midway point of the season, though, the Crimson Tide had seen some major growth.
Since the game against Georgia back on Oct. 17, the Crimson Tide has not allowed an opponent to put more than 17 points on the board. In fact, Alabama has only allowed five touchdowns in its past five games.
To Surtain, the defensive improvement all boils down to defensive coordinator Pete Golding and his sweating over the small stuff.
“He helped us focus on the little things,” Surtain said. “You know, communication, flying around to the ball, being as one solid unit and the young guys, they go up there for extra film study. Even the older guys, we all locked into one particular thing and that’s becoming one of the most dominant defenses in college football.”
Surtain’s efforts have certainly caught national attention, evidenced by the awards that he’s been nominated for. However, his efforts have not gone unnoticed in Tuscaloosa, either.
On Wednesday evening during his weekly press conference, Alabama coach Nick Saban commended Surtain, saying that he couldn’t be happier with his performance this season.
“Well, I think you define Patrick as consistency in performance,” Saban said. “He’s really played well all year long. He’s just done a really good job. He practices well every day, sets a really good example. He really prepares well for the game. He’s smart. He understands concepts and he understands what the other team’s trying to do. I think he puts himself in position to make the right play based on what he needs to do to help our defense be successful.
“He’s made a lot of really good plays himself, so I couldn’t be more pleased with the way he’s played all season long.”
Alabama is now undergoing preparations for its final game of the regular season at Arkansas. The Crimson Tide will now take on its second road trip in as many weeks, along with a third trip the following weekend to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game against Florida.
While it might be tempting to look past the 3-6 Razorbacks in anticipation of the Gators, Surtain is dead set on the challenges directly in front of him.
“[Arkansas is] a very high-motion team,” Surtain said. “They like to do a lot of pre-snap stuff to see what the defense does. They got a very balanced offense, a good passing game and a good running game so it’s going to be a very competitive game and it’s going to be a competition type of game for us.”
While it might be tempting to bask in the spotlight of media attention or to look ahead to the SEC title game, Surtain is focused on what matters most to himself, his coach and his team:
Taking the Crimson Tide back to a national championship game.
