Nick Saban breaks down Alabama defense success on third down

Alabama took care of business against Tennessee, pulling away from the Volunteers 52-24 after a 28 point explosion in the fourth quarter. For the second week in a row, the Crimson Tide dominated their opponent on third down on both sides of the ball. After the game, head coach Nick Saban spoke on what made the Alabama defense so successful on third down.

“We really kind of made simple calls that our players could execute,” Saban said. “They’re counting a little bit on going fast in those situations. Sometimes if the defense is ready to go and they run the stunt properly you can get some penetration and that was really important. We had two or three of those in the game that I think we’re really big.”

Against the Crimson Tide defense, Tennessee converted just 2 of 12 third down attempts. On the other side of the ball, Alabama’s offense converted 15 of 20 third down attempts.

Against Mississippi State the week prior, Alabama converted 12 of 16 third down attempts, while Mississippi State converted jus 7 of 16 third down attempts.

Alabama’s defense limited the Volunteers to just 64 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr led the team with eight tackles to go with 1.5 sacks. Linebacker Christian Harris had a .5 sack of his own and defensive end Phidarian Mathis had a sack as well.

As successful as the Alabama defense was on third down, Tennessee caught the Crimson Tide defense by surprise early with chunk plays.

In his halftime interview, with his Crimson Tide leading 24-17, Saban lit into his defense for busted coverages that led to points for Tennessee.

“Well we busted two coverages for two touchdowns,” Saban told ESPN’s Katie George. “We had them stopped and gave them an opportunity by roughing the kicker when it was third down and about 30. Turned the ball over on the nine-yard line — so we’ve done a lot of shooting ourselves in the foot which we need to get fixed, because these guys are capable of moving the ball and scoring points.”

Alabama’s defense came to their senses after some early slip-ups. After the clock ran out in the first quarter, Tennessee didn’t pick up a first down until the fourth.

Nick Saban and Alabama will enjoy a bye week this weekend. After the break, the Crimson Tide look towards a matchup with the LSU Tigers.