Crimson Tide a thief on the road

TUSCALOOSA | If the rate at which the University of Alabama forced turnovers over the first month of the season could be described as a trickle, the last two weeks have been an outpouring.

The Crimson Tide collected only four takeaways through its first four games. Just two of those were forced by the defense (two others came via special teams), but in road victories the last two weeks at Kentucky and Ole Miss, Alabama has gathered nine takeaways to more than triple its season total.

UA coach Nick Saban didn’t have much of an explanation after a 22-3 win over the Rebels, but said the focus in practice on turnovers has gone unchanged.

“We did the same thing the first four games of the year to get turnovers that we’ve been doing the last two weeks,” Saban said in his post-game remarks at Ole Miss. “We’ve gotten nine the last two weeks and four in the first however many weeks. So the next time you ask me, I’m going to ask you.”

Alabama is in a three-way tie for the Southeastern Conference lead in interceptions with nine, along with LSU and Auburn. Thanks equally to a minimal amount of giveaways by the Crimson Tide offense, UA also ranks first in the league in turnover margin at plus-9 for the season. Extending the run of interceptions won’t be easy going forward, however. Alabama’s next opponent, South Carolina, has a quarterback in Stephen Garcia who has thrown just one interception in his last 139 pass attempts. Garcia has thrown only three on the season.

Linebacker Cory Reamer acknowledged there is some luck involved in creating turnovers, but said there has been a direct correlation between practices and games.

“We didn’t do a great job the first few weeks in practice of creating turnovers, and Coach (Kirby) Smart and Coach Saban talked about how if you practice it during the week it’ll happen in the games,” Reamer said. “During practice you’ll definitely see us getting the ball out a lot more than we did in the first (few) weeks.”

Seven of the nine turnovers forced the past two weeks have come by way of interception, with linebacker Rolando McClain collecting one against the Wildcats and another at Ole Miss. Cornerbacks Javier Arenas and Kareem Jackson each made their first interceptions of the season against the Rebels, while safety Justin Woodall made his second. Arenas at first thought his interception play would merely be a routine tackle, but when Ole Miss receiver Shay Hodge juggled the ball briefly, the Crimson Tide senior wrestled it away.

“It was a back-shoulder throw, so I couldn’t turn the other way to look for the ball because he would have caught it and probably run for a touchdown, so I had to turn into him,” Arenas said. “Usually you just play the ball through those guys because you can’t locate the ball. I tried to knock the ball out, and it actually came out.

“He was bobbling with it, so I was like, ‘I don’t think he actually wants it, so I’ll take it’, and I just snatched it from him.”

While Arenas’ first interception of the year came as somewhat of a surprise, Jackson’s was more anticipated.

“Coming out of the huddle I was kind of thinking they were going to go slant,” Jackson said. “From the previous games I saw that they had scored on the slant a couple of times. Once I saw (Rebels quarterback Jevan Snead) do a three-step drop and he looked my way, I just kind of broke on it and the ball was there.”

Reach Chase Goodbread at chase.goodbread@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196