Alabama Crimson Tide defense under the microscope vs. Missouri Tigers
Alabama football will need to put on a show defensively against Missouri.
How will Alabama’s defense fare against the Missouri Tigers in their season opener? That is the question after an uncharacteristic bad defense last year, compared to the lofty standards of the past. The last time these two teams played one another was 2018 in a neutral site game and Alabama delivered a 39-10 blowout. That same season the Crimson Tide received a beatdown of their own at the hands of the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff Championship game.
The Missouri Tigers had a successful season that year as well. They finished with an 8-5 (4-4 SEC) record and lost 38-33 in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Two years later, the Tigers have a new head coach in Eliah Drinkwitz who has a reputation as a proven winner. He coached the Appalachian State Mountaineers to a 12-1 record and a Sun Belt Conference Championship. He has won five conference championships and earned a perfect 8-0 bowl game record in 10 seasons at the FBS level. From 2010-19, he won 74 percent of his games with a 98-34 overall record and 72 percent in the conference with a 57-22 record there.
As far as their opponent is concerned, The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 2 and are coming off of a 35-16 VRBO Citrus Bowl win against the Michigan Wolverines. They have lost five starters on the defensive end including Raekwon Davis, Trevon Diggs and Xavier McKinney. In the front seven, they’re getting back a core of players, including DJ Dale and LaBryan Ray on the defensive line and linebackers Christian Harris, Shane Lee and Dylan Moses.
Moses looks to have a bounce-back year after tearing his ACL in late August before the season began. Lee and Harris were the team’s leading tacklers with 86 and 63 tackles on the year, respectively.
Do the Missouri Tigers present problems for Alabama football?
For starters, no one knows yet who the Tigers starting quarterback is going to be. That’s probably by design for Drinkwitz. While it may present a problem for Nick Saban and the crew in terms of game planning, whoever it is, the Crimson Tide will be ready to roll.
The quarterback competition comes down to TCU transfer Shawn Robinson and backup quarterback Connor Bazelak who completed 15 passes for 144 yards in 2019 behind Kelly Bryant and Tyler Powell.
The Tigers ended the 2019 season at 6-6 (3-5 SEC) in Barry Odom’s last season. Bryant was the main signal-caller and threw for over 2,000 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions in addition to rushing for 242 yards and one touchdown.
Robinson’s dual-threat capability fits with Missouri’s style of play. Drinkwitz ran a system at Appalachian State that allowed Zac Thomas to flourish under center last season. He threw for 2,718 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for 440 yards and seven scores.
If Missouri wants to be competitive against Alabama, Robinson is the guy because he can use his legs to make plays, he has a strong arm that throws accurate passes, and while takes risks with some of his throws, big plays can be made.
Alabama’s defense will have to contend with the Tiger’s two-headed monster of Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie who can hurt a defense in both the rushing and passing game.
The Tigers offense could put up a fight on Saturday but don’t anticipate them overpowering the Tide. It should be an intriguing test for both teams because Alabama football can’t afford to come out and let the Tigers offense run rampant and for the Tigers, it’s a big test for a new head coach with a winning pedigree outside of the power five.
One game won’t determine if the Alabama defense is back to the dominant form it’s been for the Saban era, but it’s the first step in re-establishing the unit is not going to be a pushover as it was at times last year. If the defense looks dominant against Missouri, it’ll be another encouraging sign this team is ready to win another national championship.
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