Alabama Run Defense 'Took Another Step in Right Direction' Against Mizzou

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A strong argument could be made that Alabama's biggest problem defensively since last season has been stopping the quarterback run.

In 2024, former Oklahoma quarterback Jackon Arnold rushed for 131 yards, South Florida's Byrum Brown (108 yards), Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (56) and then-Tennessee's Nico Iamaleava (44). Three of these four games resulted in losses. In the 2025 season-opening loss at Florida State, quarterback Thomas Castellanos rushed for 78 yards and a score.

Alabama faced Pavia and Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander again last week, in the first quarter, and Alexander logged a 65-yard touchdown run while Pavia had a 36-yard keeper. After rushing for a combined 113 yards in the first quarter, Vanderbilt had 13 in the second, seven in the third and two in the fourth.

No. 8 Alabama took down No. 14 Missouri 27-24 on the road on Saturday afternoon. Coming into the game, the Tigers were viewed as perhaps the Crimson Tide's toughest challenge against the run. Quarterback Beau Pribula is a mobile athlete and running back Ahmad Hardy had the second-most rushing yards this season.

And like the Vanderbilt matchup, Mizzou started hot in the run game against the Tide, as Pribula's first three carries went for 39 yards. But Alabama quickly adjusted, and he finished the first half with 41 yards (two more yards after the first drive) on seven carries (four more). Hardy rushed for the same number of yards and attempts before the break. He finished last week's game against UMass with 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

"The explosives, we've done a good job other than the first drive and that play right there," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said at halftime. "We're making them earn it. Just got to continue to strain every single play, make them line up and play another play. Playing team football right now."

Alabama couldn't have started the second half much worse, as quarterback Ty Simpson was strip-sacked on the first play and Mizzou recovered in the red zone. Hardy had a nice run and Pribula cruised into the end zone, and it appeared the Tide shifted back to its start to the game.

But Alabama shook it off and Pribula finished the second half with 20 rushing yards (61 for the entire game) and Hardy had just 11 (52). This made a difference, as Pribula switched gears to the passing game. He closed the contest completing 16 of 28 pass attempts (57 percent) for two touchdowns and two interceptions.

"Yeah, some of it's just doing your job," DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. "I mean, the quarterback keeping it around the edge and the contain, eyes got to be in the right spot. Everyone's got to do their job. We emphasize finishing and getting to him and he's a tough back—they both are.

"Quarterback did a nice job with his legs, I knew that would be a concern. But all in all, I'm proud of the way we kept fighting and got off the field throughout the whole game. They went down the field throwing the ball more than anything at the end, but rush defense, I think we took another step in the right direction."

The defensive turnaround against the run after the first drive was very apparent, and it changed the course of the game. Alabama BANDIT LT Overton played a key role in stopping the run game, as he finished Saturday with six tackles, including 1.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.

"I feel like we responded really well [to stopping the run after the first drive]," Overton said. "We still have got a lot to work on, not just inside but outside zone. Any kind of run—QB runs, draws, all of that. But we could've started faster for sure."

DeBoer has preached throughout the week that Alabama must start fast on both ends. And while it improved against the run as the game went on, that was obviously not the case in the first quarter.

"We've got to start faster," Alabama linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, who tied for a team-high seven tackles, said. "It's something that we're going to take 24 hours, we're going to take a look at the film from this game and then we're onto the next, but we've got to harp on starting fast for the next game. ... We're going to emphasize this week starting fast and just doing everything from the beginning."

As Alabama held Missouri to 163 rushing yards—significantly fewer than its nation-leading 310.3 average—it aims to continue making progress next Saturday at home against Tennessee.

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