Alabama's Defense Geared Up to Face Gunner Stockton and the Georgia Run Game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 17 Alabama travels to Athens this Saturday to take on No. 5 Georgia in the program's SEC opener. The Crimson Tide faces lingering questions about its defense, despite holding its last two opponents to a combined 14 points, as the Bulldog offense looks much closer to what the defense faced in the first week against Florida State.

Alabama's defensive front gave up 230 yards on the ground to the Seminoles in the season opener, as they appeared lethargic and lackadaisical, often guessing in gaps and failing to pursue the football effectively.

The Crimson Tide responded by holding Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin to 93 and 92 yards a piece on the ground in its last two games, but questions still linger as the Warhawks and Badgers offenses are a far-cry from what Alabama will see in SEC play.

“I think we are taking strides," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. "Every team is working to get better, and those are the things that I've told our guys. Everybody has issues right now, but everybody's gotta work to get themselves better, and the good teams are the ones that just better themselves week by week.

"I think our run fits are improving as we go. I don't think we're where we want to be, and certainly, I think there's some things that we've put on tape that we're gonna have to answer for as we go down the season — things that I would imagine Georgia and other teams in the SEC are gonna try to expose. And so we wanna make sure that we have a plan for those things, but I think our guys have been very locked in, the work that we've done thus far. We've had a good off week of practice.“And I think for — you, think about this team, this is a tough, gritty, their backs run hard, they're physical. And so it's ultimately gonna be about bringing a grown man to the ground, right, and the physicality that it takes to do that over and over, because I think Coach Bobo does a really good job of just staying committed to the run game as it goes on. And those are like body blows in a boxing match, right? You gotta be able to match pound for pound for as many times as they wanna run the ball.”

Georgia's offense currently ranks 30th in the nation in running the ball, averaging 209 yards per game on the ground. The Bulldogs took that element into Knoxville and ran for 198 yards in its SEC opener against Tennessee, pounding the Volunteers with 55 rushing attempts in the win.

The Bulldogs have a stable of runnings backs, with four backs taking 10-or-more carries on the season. Nate Frazier leads the way with 39 carries for 189 yards and two scores, but Georgia's secret sauce in the running game through three games has been utilizing its quarterback Gunner Stockton.

Stockton's third on the team with 28 attempts for 124 yards but leads the Bulldogs with three rushing scores in three games.

“I think they do a really good job with Gunner in the run game," Wommack said. "It's just enough to keep you honest. You see the run game at the right time. Certainly, third downs and red zone, and those are things that will always be the case for offenses. But he's a physical kid. He's tough. He's gritty. He's willing to get the yards in the read game. He makes the right decisions the vast majority of the time. And so he has certainly brought an element to their run game that maybe they didn't have as much with Carson a year ago. And I think that's something that certainly we're gonna have to account for.”

Alabama's struggled against mobile quarterbacks under Wommack, allowing 78 yards and a score to Tommy Castellanos in the opener, 131 yards to Jackson Arnold in a loss to Oklahoma last season and 56 yards to Diego Pavia in the Crimson Tide's loss to Vanderbilt last year. The Crimson Tide must improve in this area to make the most of this season as the remaining schedule is littered with mobile quarterbacks.