Alabama Delivers Best Defensive Showing of Season at Tennessee According to Nick Saban
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Consistency in performance, building off a strong second-half performance against Georgia, was what University of Alabama coach Nick Saban wanted to see from his defense against Tennessee on Saturday inside Neyland Stadium.
And he got it, as the Crimson Tide was able to allow season lows in total yards (302) and points in the 48-17 victory over the Volunteers.
"I thought the defense played better tonight," Saban said following the game. "This is probably the best we have played, even though there were some plays that you can be critical of. I'm sure we will do everything we can to get those things fixed. But I was proud of the way the guys played. They played with a little more confidence and we were pretty aggressive overall."
Leading the charge on that side of the ball was sophomore linebacker Christian Harris, who totaled 10 tackles and one tackle for loss, and freshman defensive back Malachi Moore, who recorded a pivotal scoop-and-score on the Volunteers' opening possession of the second half.
"Seeing a young guy make plays like that gives us all motivation across the board," junior cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. "We can depend on him and he is making plays."
On the year, Moore has now forced three turnovers, including two interceptions against Texas A&M and Georgia, respectively. The Trussville, Ala. native is only touching the surface of the player he can be for the Crimson Tide.
"The sky is the limit for him," Surtain said. "As the season goes along, you can tell he is getting better and more comfortable as the weeks go by. Like I said, he is only going to get better,"
An area where the Crimson Tide has struggled throughout the season has been on third down. Coming into Saturday's matchup with the Volunteers, the defense was allowing opponents to convert at a clip of 51.4 percent, which is one of the worst in the Southeastern Conference.
But the unit did more than hold its own against Tennessee. The Volunteers only converted on 25 percent (4-of-16) of its third downs attempts.
"We worked on numerous things in practice this week," Surtain said. "The coaches have been putting us in key roles and the best positions we can be in. You gotta give credit to the front seven, linebackers, secondary, all of the defense. We have been communicating better and just flying around."
Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano threw for only 162 yards on 13-of-24 passing against the Crimson Tide's secondary and 75 of those yards came on back-to-back plays in the third quarter.
Two weeks removed from allowing a school-record 647 yards against Ole Miss, Surtain believes the best is still to come from this unit after finding its rhythm over the last six quarters.
"We have held ourselves to a higher standard," Surtain said. "We knew Ole Miss wasn't our best performance and we have learned from that game as the weeks have gone on. Our role is to continue focusing on making plays, communicating and flying around."
