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The Tuscaloosa News
How Missouri shutout is creating belief for Alabama football defense ahead of LSU game
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- How Missouri shutout is creating belief for Alabama football defense ahead of LSU game
Shutouts in the SEC don't happen often.
Until Alabama football's 34-0 win against Missouri on Saturday, the SEC had not seen a shutout in a conference game since Tennessee 's 56-0 win against Vanderbilt Nov. 26, 2022. The Crimson Tide hadn't shut out a conference opponent since a 41-0 win against Mississippi State on Oct. 31, 2020.
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Kalen DeBoer knew shutouts in the SEC didn't happen often. So he made the shutout a priority, taking a timeout to set up a play that halted a 13-play, 89-yard drive at the Crimson Tide 1-yard line.
It's a shutout Alabama deserved, DeBoer later said. It's a shutout that has brought juice to a defense that was once questioned, one that has transformed into a ball-hawking unit that has created 10 turnovers in its past three games.
"It gives you life and momentum, belief," Alabama outside linebackers coach Christian Robinson said. "And you're excited to go back out there no matter what happens because we did it last series, so we can do it again."
Can Alabama football defense use momentum vs. LSU ?
It is momentum Alabama will need against LSU, an offense that averages 34 points and 460.3 yards of offense per game, with Garrett Nussmeier leading the SEC's second-best pass game with 337 yards passing per game.
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For Alabama, just like it didn't matter what Missouri did or had at its disposal, it won't matter against LSU either.
It's the product of an Alabama defensive unit that is getting more comfortable, that is minimizing mistakes, that is using intricate and changing defensive pictures to force quarterbacks to hold onto the football long enough for a pass rush to create havoc.
It's the product of a unit that feels it is continuously improving, a unit that has not not reached perfection.
"(Robinson) talks about it every day," Alabama linebacker Qua Russaw said. "It's just like we're all going to hunt as one and do our one of 11. Like do our job, basically."
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What did that approach turn into against Missouri? The lowest number of total yards allowed by an Alabama defense to an SEC opponent since Sept. 24, 2022. It's why Alabama became the first team in nearly two years to shut out an SEC opponent.
"It takes a lot of trust to see and know that your teammates are doing their part," linebacker Que Robinson said, highlighting a defense that simply read its keys, performed individual assignments and believed that its members would do the same.
Oct 26, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Malachi Moore (13) breaks up a pass intended for Missouri Tigers wide receiver Luther Burden III (3) during the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-Imagn Images
But Colin Hitschler is quick to clarify. Alabama vs. Missouri was by no means perfection.
"Our players always want more," said Hitschler, Alabama's co-defensive coordinator. "So even though the scoreboard might say a shutout, they're still mad about some of the plays that happened in the game and things that they feel like they can improve on. So the standard is not about the score. It's about the process."
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Alabama vs. Missouri was not perfect. But the Crimson Tide did its job defensively: eliminating the volume of plays by the Tigers offense to give Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide offense a chance to score.
That, Robinson said, is repeatable each week. That's what has brought juice to Alabama's practice field during the off week and into LSU game week.
"Whenever you win," Robinson said, "you get to reaffirm the things that it takes to win."
Alabama will take on LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT on Nov. 9 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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: Missouri shutout is creating belief for Alabama football defense before LSU
