Alabama defense nearly flawless

TUSCALOOSA | This time there was no long touchdown run that kept the opponent in the game in the fourth quarter, as there was in the University of Alabama’s season opener against Virginia Tech.

This time there was no long pass out of the end zone to change field position early in the game, and no coverage breakdown that turned a field goal opportunity into a touchdown drive, as there was a week earlier against Florida International.

This time the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide’s defense was nearly flawless, with North Texas finding its only real success against a unit that had begun to substitute freely with an overwhelming lead in the third quarter.

Alabama held a Mean Green offense that had gone three-and-out just five times in its first two games to seven three-and-punt possessions. The Crimson Tide gave up only seven first downs, 61 rushing yards and 126 passing yards in a dominating performance Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“We played pretty well defensively for the type of offense they have,” UA head coach Nick Saban said. “It was a little different today. They didn’t run as many options because they didn’t have their quarterback.”

With North Texas starter Riley Dodge out after sustaining a shoulder injury in last week’s overtime loss to Ohio, the Mean Green turned to backup Nathan Tune, who did a good job of getting rid of the ball quickly – trading off the chance for big gainers to avoid any chance of big losses.

Containing the North Texas receivers was a crucial part of Alabama’s game plan.

“Their offense is real unique,” linebacker Dont’a Hightower said. “They’re a pitch-and-catch team. They depend on their … yards after catch to get the ball moving, but I think we did pretty good with it.”

North Texas completed just six passes for more than six yards in 23 attempts.

On the ground, UA’s front seven bottled up North Texas’ running game. Of 26 running plays for the Mean Green, 19 went for three yards or less.

“Our offensive line was pushing guys out of the way, but they still had guys filling the gaps,” North Texas head coach Todd Dodge said.

Nose guard Terrence Cody disagreed.

“I believe the defensive line dominated up front,” he said.

The Tide’s only major breakdowns came in the third quarter on North Texas’ only scoring drive, after UA began to bring in some second-team defenders. First, Tune scrambled toward the right sideline on third-and-three and fired a 32-yard completion to Michael Outlaw. Two plays later, Tune found Lance Dunbar for a 34-yard touchdown.

Putting together a complete defensive effort was Alabama’s goal.

“We were finishing pretty strong the last couple of games but we weren’t starting like we wanted to,” Hightower said. “We all noticed that as players, not just the coaches, but as players we sat down and talked about if we eliminated mental mistakes how much better we would be.

“I think we showed that pretty well today. We had like two mental breakdowns, but we started and we finished well.”

Said safety Mark Barron, “All we talked about was coming out and dominating our opponent for 60 minutes, and I think we did that today.”

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy.deas@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0224.