Alabama Football: Defense makes adjustments once again

Alabama Football Special Teams: C

This was a rare off game for the Alabama special teams, as Will Reichard missed his first two field goals of the season. Fortunately, these misses did not cost the Tide, and the hope is that Reichard will be better off having gotten them out of the way in what proved to be an inconsequential game.

Punter James Burnip took the field just once, and his 50-yard boot pinned LSU inside its own 20-yard line. Of course, the Tigers would quickly go 85 yards for a score on their first possession, but Burnip did his job and was never needed again as the Bama offense found its rhythm.

Alabama Football Defense will learn & grow from this

Overall, the Alabama defense only solidified my belief that it is an elite unit in this game. Of course, I would like to see the defense play four quarters of elite football, but that would’ve been a tough task against Jayden Daniels and company.

For those that are concerned about the Tide’s defense in the first half, take these relative performance numbers into consideration. While Alabama allowed 478 yards, by far its worst outing of 2023, it held the top-ranked LSU offense to its second-worst game of the year in terms of both points and yardage.

While there are other good offenses still in postseason contention, there is not one that will stress a defense vertically and sideline-to-sideline like LSU.

More specifically, there is not an individual player that will give the Bama defense as many issues as Jayden Daniels did. At the end of the day, I think the Alabama defense will be better for having faced such a potent offensive attack.

If this group hasn’t peaked yet, college football might be in trouble.