How much has Alabama football defense grown since last Georgia win?
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As Alabama football’s defensive unit prepares for Georgia for a second time, defensive back Zabien Brown doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary ahead of the SEC championship.
It’s a normal week of practice, he said. Alabama watches film from all of Georgia’s games, he said.
“Just get ready,” Brown said.
One of those games is Alabama’s 24-21 win against Georgia on Saturday, Sept. 27, a contest where the Crimson Tide allowed three touchdowns and 357 yards of offense, a tilt where the Bulldogs offense averaged nearly 7 yards per play, a game where Alabama had six tackles-for-loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
But, as Alabama looks back at film from its win against Georgia, it sees a defense that was not in its final form.
Teams grow, Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton said, not only mentally, but physically too. And he’s seen that growth from the Crimson Tide defensive front.
“Honestly just striking a dude. … You just see a whole different change of mindset and intensity,” Overton said. “Dudes just trying to get after each other and get better. Bring each other up.”
While Alabama safety Bray Hubbard said there are scheme changes from the Crimson Tide each week defensively, the defensive backfield is “taking steps in the right direction with getting the ball out more” and being more “disruptive in the pass game.”
Alabama allows 16.5 points per game, second best in the SEC. The Crimson Tide allows 282.17 yards per game and 4.9 yards per play, each of which are top-four in the conference. Alabama is tied for the third-best turnover margin in the SEC with LSU with 19 turnovers gained and 11 turnovers lost.
Brown knows the Alabama defense has grown tremendously. But that is not unique to the Crimson Tide.
“(Their) offense has grown a lot,” Brown said. “So it’s going to be a whole new game on Saturday than it was a couple of months ago.”
Alabama kicks off against Georgia in the SEC championship at 3 p.m. CT Saturday, Dec. 6.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football defense talks growth since last Georgia win
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