Ryan Glasspiegel
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Alabama escaped with a victory over Ole Miss in Oxford tonight, but this wasn’t supposed to be a game where Ole Miss made it a one-score game pending an onside kick in the final minutes. Alabama gave up 48 points on over 600 yards; I can’t ever remember seeing their defense miss that many tackles under Nick Saban. A night game against Georgia looms next Saturday and if their defense doesn’t play better.
Yes, we need to give Saban credit for getting with the times on offense. What was a plodding attack for years and years has given way to an offense where the quarterback airs it out. You saw this with Tua Tagovailoa and it’s been on full display this season with Mac Jones. The reason they didn’t lose despite giving up miles of yards is that Jones threw for over 400 yards (with two touchdowns). Najee Harris added over 200 yards on the ground and a ridiculous five touchdowns.
Alabama can have this type of performance and still beat Ole Miss. Maybe it winds up that Lane Kiffin, having worked under Saban, knew how to scheme to exploit holes in his defense. But Georgia is a legitimate national title contender and if they gain 600 yards and score 48 points do you really think Bama is coming out with a win?
I think in general the offenses look a click or two ahead of defense is across-the-board, based on the ridiculous box scores. UGA played well on defense against a solid Tennessee team, but this Bama offense is another monster. I expect to see some points, even against George’s defense. Bama is too balanced to stop entirely. If Georgia holds them under 30 that will be an accomplishment, so the question will be can the offense score 30+ on Bama? I’m not sure yet. They definitely need to turn Bama over a couple of times to win this game. If UGA falls behind early and gets into a shoot out it’s not going to be good with a young QB. They need to get up early, control the clock on the ground, and keep Bama’s offense off the field.