Alabama’s defense has looked dominant for just about the entire season, and Saturday’s 34-6 win against Kentucky was no different.

Following Ronnie Harrison’s defensive touchdown, Alabama has five defensive touchdowns for the season, best in the nation.

Stanley “Boom” Williams was averaging 116 yards per game entering Saturday’s contest. Alabama held him to just 22 yards rushing on 9 carries. Williams was averaging 8 yards per carry, but that was reduced to just 2.4 against Alabama.

Alabama collected 4 sacks and forced 3 fumbles. Rashaan Evans and Tim Williams both had a sack and a forced fumble. Jonathan Allen earned a sack, while Ryan Anderson and Christian Miller shared one. Anderson forced a fumble and recovered it.

Allen and Shaun Dion Hamilton finished tied for the team lead with 8 total tackles. Harrison had a strong game, not just the fumble recovery for a 55-yard touchdown, but also finishing third on the team in total tackles with 7.

Defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt continues to make solid in-game adjustments with the Crimson Tide defense only getting more impenetrable throughout games. In fact, the only time the defense didn’t look intimidating on Saturday was Kentucky’s opening offensive drive that resulted in a field goal. Alabama has had issues with settling in on defense during the first quarter. Four of Alabama’s five opponents scored at least a field goal during the first quarter, the only exception being Kent State.

Meanwhile, the offense sputtered for the entirety of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Joshua Jacobs and the offensive line helped the offense get off the ground. The passing game found its rhythm in the second half. However, it has to be concerning for Alabama fans that the team missed multiple opportunities in the first half, something that’s becoming a bit of a pattern now.

On one particular sequence, O.J. Howard was wide open following a play where Gehrig Dieter was left uncovered. Of Hurts’ 262 passing yards, 173 of them came in the third quarter alone while the other quarters left something to be desired.

With all of this in mind, give credit to Jalen Hurts. He uses little mistakes as motivation to get better. He hasn’t shown much in the way of getting easily flustered. Hurts has just one interception this season, and the one turnover in Saturday’s game can be attributed to running back Bo Scarbrough, who bumped into Hurts as he was in the middle of his throwing motion.

This leads to the most encouraging thing: When Alabama coughed up the football, the defense fought to get it right back with Ryan Anderson forcing a fumble and showing focus to recover it.

In the second half, Hurts did a better job passing, although he’s had better games. He spread the ball around, although he keyed in heavily on Calvin Ridley. Ridley had career-highs with 11 receptions for 174 yards. However, 10 different Alabama players registered a catch in the contest as the Tide posted its second 300-yard passing game of the season.

Keep in mind this came without receiver ArDarius Stewart. The offense certainly misses him and should be improved upon his return.

Howard appeared banged up on one play, although he returned later in the game and appeared to be fine. Foster played in the game, his first since returning from an injury sustained in the Ole Miss game. Damien Harris played sparingly.

The offensive line continues to improve, cutting out all penalties this week and showing solid run blocking and pass protecting. Hurts had plenty of time to make throws, and the tackles opened up holes for Jacobs.

In the coming weekend, Alabama faces an opponent that won’t be taken lightly in Arkansas. Like Ole Miss, Arkansas has one of the better quarterbacks and tight ends in the conference in Austin Allen and Jeremy Sprinkle. Meanwhile, Rawleigh Williams is the SEC’s second-leading rusher (111.8 yards per game).

The good news is the Alabama defense has given fans plenty of confidence.

However, the missed opportunities and the rash of injuries on the offensive side of the ball stand as a minor concern. On the whole, the offense played well and improved throughout the course of Saturday’s game. Still, fans have to hope the missed opportunities either get corrected or will not be critical as the schedule gets stiffer.