TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — We’ve written countless words on how explosive Alabama’s offense is, and rightfully so. But now it’s time to feature the defense.

As Alabama’s offense has come back to earth (only 29 and 24 points respectively the last two weeks), the Crimson Tide’s defense is ascending.

Alabama has pitched back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2012, blanking LSU 29-0 two weeks ago and Mississippi State 24-0 on Saturday. Alabama hasn’t surrendered a single point in its last 13 quarters of play, which covers 152 minutes and 18 seconds of play, dating back to a second quarter Tennessee touchdown pass on Oct. 20.

“It means a lot. We’ve grown as a defense,” Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses said of the shutouts. “We’ve gotten stronger as a defense. We want to go into the Playoffs strong and finish the season strong.”

Alabama defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs said the team locks in even more late into the third or fourth quarter and the opposing team still has zero points.

“It pushes us way harder than we start off,” said Buggs, who had 5 total tackles and 1 sack Saturday against the Bulldogs. “That’s our main goal, to hold a team to zero points and keep them out of the end zone. That’s what we practice every week, hold a team to zero points. If we keep playing like we’ve been practicing, it’ll happen every game.”

Alabama limited Mississippi State to just 44 rushing yards and has held its last five opponents to 329 yards on the ground (65.8 ypg). The Tide’s last four SEC opponents have rushed for just 157 yards, an average of 39.3 yards per contest.

Making things worse, teams haven’t had a lot of time to throw on Alabama lately. Alabama is getting home with its defensive front, and hasn’t had to dial up a lot of linebacker or defensive back blitzes.

Alabama sacked Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald 5 times, with 2.5 of those coming from defensive linemen.

“It’s very important having that pressure from the defensive line, whether they’re stopping the run or getting sacks on the quarterback,” said Moses, who also had a sack. “Most people on the outside would think the linebackers would get upset because the defensive linemen are taking all the tackles, but we want them to do all of that. We want them to get pressure and make tackles. They’re making us look good, and we make them look good. We play off of each other.”

Alabama’s defense has had plenty of outside motivation to push them through the season. Some people have questioned how they would replace all the talent they lost to the NFL, and most of the talk all year has been about the explosive offense.  But now, this defense can’t be ignored. They are peaking at the right time as the Crimson Tide prepare for another playoff appearance and national championship run.

“That vision. We’re climbing that mountain and taking it step by step,” Buggs said. “They’ve elaborated on climbing the mountain and doing all the little things right. Being on time for meetings, getting to class and everything. All of that stuff plays a big part in winning. That’s what we’ve been doing as a defensive unit, getting all the guys on the same page.”

Josh Jacobs is a ‘demon’

We couldn’t go the entire piece without mentioning some parts of the offense. As skill players go, Josh Jacobs was the story for Alabama’s offense against Mississippi State. He was a workhorse in the run game, carrying the ball 20 times for 97 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a touchdown pass.

On paper, Jacobs is viewed as the “change-of-pace” back in a backfield that features Damien Harris and Najee Harris, but the junior can do it all. He repeatedly lowered his shoulder and ran through Mississippi State defenders on Saturday. He’s also a special player when it comes to make one-cut moves and getting up the field. Jacobs does everything well, and is slowly becoming a more talked-about player in terms of NFL potential. That’s saying a lot considering he was once a 3-star recruit who Alabama didn’t discover until after the 2015-16 national championship season.

“Josh was a demon running it on a couple of those runs,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Saturday. “I was really impressed with the way he played today.”

What to do with Tua Tagovailoa, other injured players

Alabama could beat The Citadel with 11 of you who are reading this piece, and the Iron Bowl won’t matter in terms of SEC West standings. So, the question becomes, how does Alabama deal with Tua Tagovailoa’s lingering knee injury along with injuries to other key players?

Knowing Saban, he’ll play everyone who is medically cleared, but it might be wise to rest Tagovailoa for the entire game or at least get him out after a couple of series. That would keep him fresh, and give third-string quarterback Mac Jones more opportunities to run the offense.

Jalen Hurts (ankle) and Deonte Brown (turf toe) are banged up as well, so there’s no real reason to play either of them. Basically, anyone with a lingering injury should be put on the shelf next week.