Alabama Defensive Players To Watch vs. Texas in Week 2

Texas will need to keep the Alabama defense in check to have a chance on Saturday

Matt Galatzan | Sep 7, 2022

Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

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Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns and frankly most of the nation, have eyes set on the Week 2 meeting between Texas and Alabama.

The Longhorns are coming off a 5-7 season, the program's worst finish since 2016. First-year coach Steve Sarkisian has made changes over the offseason, most notably picking up transfer quarterback Quinn Ewers who will likely start the season.

That paid dividends in Week 1, with the Longhorns taking home a 52-10 win over Louisiana Monroe.

Coming into Austin will be an Alabama team that is fresh off a national championship appearance finishing 2021 with an impressive record of 13-2 (7-1 in SEC).

They also took down Utah State 55-0 in Week 1, and looked to many like the best team in the country - on both sides of the ball.

Make sure to stick with LonghornsCountry.com through our season preview series, where we will analyze every opponent on the Longhorns schedule in 2022. We've already looked at the Alabama matchup as a whole, as well as offensive players to watch on the Tide’s roster.

Now let's take a look at some of the defensive players Texas should have its eye on.

DB Malachi Moore

Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore battled injuries in 2021, but a year before had quite the freshman season. When healthy, expect Moore to get back into the rotation and face up against a quite elite Longhorn receiving core.

Moore had four tackles and a pass deflection in Week 1.

LB Will Anderson

As the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Anderson finished the 2021 season with 101 total tackles, 56 solo tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks and three pass deflections. These stats put him in the conversation for best player in College Football. Expect more of the same in 2022.

Anderson had five total tackles in Week 1.

LB Hentry To'oto'o

Another member of the stellar Alabama linebacker group, To'oto'o looks every bit the part of an NFL talent. Last season, 111 tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble, with two pass deflections. In the blowout in Week 1, he had three tackles.

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Published Sep 7, 2022

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.