Defense: It’s the cornerstone of Alabama football, taken to even greater heights with the addition of head coach Nick Saban.

So it comes as no surprise that the leader of the Tide defense, senior linebacker Reuben Foster, earned Most Valuable Player honors in Alabama’s 54-16 victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

The Tide’s third consecutive SEC title, fifth under Saban and 25th all-time, was earned by a combination of tough defense, solid special teams play and just enough offense to complete the thrashing of the SEC East champion.

Undefeated Alabama secures the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff and awaits its opponent in the New Year’s Eve semi-finals.

Foster turned in game-highs in both total tackles (11) and sacks (2). His 9 solo tackles were also the most in the game. He had 2.5 tackles for loss.

“It’s big, man,” Foster said of both the award and the victory. “Roll Tide,” an emotional Foster said following the game. “I thank coach Saban, my offense and my defense for believing in me. I love y’all boys.”

The Foster-paced Alabama defense was a big reason the Tide led 16-9 after the first quarter despite minus-yardage offensively and allowing the Gators to take a 7-0 lead on the opening drive.

“Man, it was a rough start at first, but we had to overcome it, show mental toughness, and really just dominate for real,” Foster said. “Like we don’t like that. We don’t like giving up points. We don’t like giving up first downs. We hate that. So we had to overcome that and step up.”

As the Alabama offense eventually turned the tables on Florida, Foster and his defensive teammates continued to do work.

Foster helped the Tide defense stuff a Florida offense that finished with 0 rushing yards on 30 attempts. All of the Gators’ 261 total yards came via the pass.

And though it was the only way Florida was able to move the football, it also presented the opportunity for three interceptions as well. One of those was turned into a 44-yard pick-six by Minkah Fitzpatrick. The other two resulted in 10 more points for Alabama, which under the leadership of Foster was typically dominant throughout.

Projected as a first-round pick, Foster leads the Tide in tackles this season. His 83 total coming into Saturday’s game included 42 solo. This is the fourth time this season that Foster has recorded double-digit tackles. It’s the first game he’s done so since recording 11 against LSU in early November.

Foster came up one tackle shy of his single-game career-high of 12 tackles, both turned in this season (vs. Ole Miss on Sept. 17; vs. Texas A&M on Oct. 22).

His two sacks are a single-game career-high and equal his sack total for the season coming into the game. The 2.5 tackles for loss are also a single-game career-high.

It’s perhaps an indication that Foster, a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and the Butkus Award, is on pace to complete an illustrious career at Alabama on the biggest stage of all as the Tide look ahead to the College Football Playoff.