Alabama Football Swagger: 2017 Week 5 All-Stars

Defense – Minkah Fitzpatrick

Levi Wallace does deserve the honorable mention, considering he did have two interceptions which he ran back one for a touchdown. It was the first defensive score that Alabama football earned, this season.

However, Fitzpatrick played like a man possessed against Ole Miss. He was in on eight tackles, five were solo, with a huge sack that stopped the only momentum that Mississippi’s offense had:

Two of Fitzpatrick’s tackles were for losses, but the sack for 12 yards buried any chance of Patterson magic to bring Ole Miss back from the depths in the second quarter. It negated the Rashaan Evans penalty for roughing the passer, earlier in the drive. At that point, the score was not completely out of hand, and Ole Miss QB Shea Patterson was trying to create some magical comeback, until Fitzpatrick pounded him into the ground.

Ole Miss never recovered from that drive, continuously being frustrated by the overwhelming dominance of the Alabama football defense. Fitzpatrick did much to lead the squad not only in the statistics department but he also psychologically weakened Mississippi’s already-struggling mindset on offense.

Final Thoughts

Wallace’s touchdown was the cherry on top of the whoopin’ on the defense’s sundae. That whoopin’ was made possible by Fitzpatrick’s excellent skills and leadership in the secondary.

The offensive line opened up a can of ‘whooping cream’ of their own, blocking the Ole Miss D-Line like a professional sumo wrestler pushing around a school-yard bully for practice.

Put the two together, and that’s a whole lotta ‘whooping’ going on. And, it tasted D-licious to all of the Alabama football fans.