No. 1 Alabama’s defence embracing that ‘hateful’ mentality

The Gators were fortunate to see Georgia beat Kentucky in Lexington on a last-second field goal.

Alabama leads the nations in rushing defense and sacks per game and is second in total yards allowed and scoring defense going into Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.

Arkansas is 15-6 against the spread at home against a team with a winning road record, 1-5 against the spread after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game, and 4-0 against the spread in their last 4 games against LSU. “I’m not trying to forecast anything later, but we’re one of those teams that gets better as the season goes on and is very unsafe”.

LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron said he has rarely sent replays of questionable calls or non-calls by officials to the league office, but he did on Monday morning. Alabama found a couple in the fourth quarter for the margin of victory, but, man, what a defensive battle this one was. “I believe we’re just getting started”.

The dominating performance came after star safety Eddie Jackson was lost for the season with a broken leg.

That is exactly what LSU is dealing with right now after a 10-0 loss to top-ranked Alabama on a loud and lively Saturday night at Tiger Stadium.

“On defense, we’re pleased with the way we played”, Orgeron said. This makes the SEC race a lot tighter. Really played well. And he’s a bright guy that is a good competitor and really prepares well for a game. I think it’s a mindset whether we’ve done well. We’ll no doubt hear about how the conference was a tad overrated, but that will be debated all the way to bowl season. Everyone can want to jump ship at times like that but you’ve got to keep grinding away and getting better. Eight means an unblocked defender, but that’s a common look, and running backs can often make the eighth defender miss. And in a nutshell we have the reason why the SEC West is, as Arkansas receiver Drew Morgan said on Saturday night, a different beast.

“But Alabama has now won so much and for so long that fans (of other SEC teams) seem resigned to the belief that resistance is futile”, the article says.

“We just had some miscommunications on what we were trying to do. Guys just want to stop the run, stop the pass, stop everybody we play”.

Texas A&M was upset by 4-5 Mississippi State, putting a nail in the coffin of their playoff aspirations. “All of us had to deal with some kind of emotional letdown. We really did a good job”. But LSU’s offense could not capitalize against menacing defensive end Jonathan Allen and the rest of Alabama’s suffocating defense. Scott averaged 51.6 yards per kick on his five punts for 258 yards. Husky quarterback Jake Browning went for 378 yards and six touchdowns in a 66-27 trouncing of Cal.

Both players were also recognized by Alabama coaches as players of the week.

That’s amusing. As dominant as Alabama has been, I could’ve sworn that Nick Saban and company have failed to run the table in the conference in each of the last six years, and this year isn’t over. Scott and linebacker Keaton Anderson earned special teams honors.