Lost in the Alabama Crimson Tide’s perceived atrocious defensive performance, in the season-opening victory against the West Virginia Mountaineers, was how great the unit actually performed against the run.

Make no mistake about it; the pass defense is in a state of emergency — something along the lines of DEFCON 2.

But after last season’s defensive debacles against spread- and option-based offenses: 164 yards rushing allowed to Texas A&M and 296 yards yielded to Auburn University, holding a very capable Mountaineer rushing attack to a measly 28 yards (on 24 carries, no less) is nothing to gloss over.

But when you give up 365 yards through the air, many of the highlight-reel variety, it tends to supersede anything else, positive, you may have done on defense. But with the Tide facing great rushing attacks by the likes of Florida, Arkansas, LSU and the aforementioned Auburn, they better be on their A-game.

And with some of the new techniques head coach Nick Saban has implemented, you better believe the Tide will put their best foot forward in the physical part of the game.

A Brief Philosophical Breakdown

The Tide’s defense is multiple in alignment but is a 3-4-based unit by trade. It’s heavy in the manufactured-pressure game, employing a numerous amount of exotic blitzes and line stunts.

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This is a still/diagram of Bama’s normal 3-4-based set. It’s an authentic pro-style defense equipped with a 0-technique nose tackle. By employing a 0-technique, usually a larger player capable of tying up multiple blockers, Bama is hoping to free up those around him to make plays on the ball.

Additionally, the defensive ends in this scheme are normally two-gap players meaning they have the responsibility of each gap to the side of them. Instead of penetrating the gap, these players stack the man in front of them off the snap and scan each gap before rushing the passer — if necessary.

The strong-side outside linebacker, or “Sam,” is charged with the difficult task of lining up on the closed side of the formation which sees him defend tight ends and slot receivers in man coverage. Finding an effective Sam might be the most difficult thing Saban, and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, does personnel-wise.

Former strong-side outside linebacker Adrian Hubbard was a hit-or-miss player for the Tide. He never quite seemed comfortable in coverage, yet he wasn’t much more effective getting to the passer.

The weak-side outside linebacker, or “Jack,” is played on the open side of the formation and has the chief task of getting after the passer. Xzavier Dickson notched two sacks against the Mountaineers showing that this may be a breakout year for the Georgia native at the Jack position.

The inside backers have to be versatile as well. The “Mike” plays shaded towards the strong side of the formation which means he, too, has the responsibility of covering a lot as well.

The “Will” is the star of the defense as most of the scheme is designed at freeing him up to make plays; former star C.J. Mosley is the greatest Will of the Saban era.

The Saban-Smart Defense Moving Forward

With the implementation of spread- and option-based offenses, Alabama’s defense seems to be evolving from the traditional odd-front scheme — meant to wear offenses down off sheer size — to more of a sleek, speed-based hybrid capable of keeping up with the tempo-driven offensive schemes of today.

The signing of edge-rushers like Da’Shawn Hand, who seems like more of a traditional hand-in-the-dirt defensive end opposed to the outside linebacker type, may be the norm moving forward at the Capstone.

But it’s in the trenches where the change may be most notable henceforth.

Instead of employing a traditional space-eating nose tackle, Bama will be going after athletic one-gap penetrators who can effect the game by living in the quarterback’s lap. The best player in the front seven, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, exemplifies that theory.

At 6’4″, 320 pounds, most would think of Robinson as the average run-of-the-mill 0-technique. But in the immortal words of former Notre Dame star Manti Te’o, he’s “farrrr from it!“

Robinson is a gap destroyer who has the ability to shut down the run, and he’s also capable of producing double-digit sacks. By lining him up in an interior gap, opposed to head up on a center, you take the brakes off a runaway train-like animal.

Tinkering With Personnel and Alignments

Did anyone notice that defensive end Jonathan Allen, 6’3″, 272 pounds, played most of the game at 3-technique defensive end in the Tide’s 4-3-based defense?

That’s right!

The Tide lined up predominantly in an even-front alignment against the Mountaineers and shut down their run game. I’ve pined for the Tide to move away from an odd-front alignment for quite some time now.

Saban’s mentor, Bill Belichick (New England Patriots head coach), moved away from it when spread, hurry-up, no-huddle offenses (HUNH) came to prominence in the NFL (Belichick even went so far as to implement it with his own offense).

Getting quickness on the interior may be the way to go against these breakneck-speed offenses.

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Here’s the even-front alignment the Tide operated from for most of the game. Denzel Devall (6’2″, 249 lbs “6-technique”), Allen (1-technique), Robinson (3-technique) and D.J. Pettway (6’3″, 265 lbs “6-technique”) comprised the four-man front (in this particular sequence, at least).

Every player is aligned in a gap, and they all penetrate their respective gaps off the snap. This type of back-field disruption can be tricky if the running back is shifty enough to bend it back to the edges.

But when you have a sideline-to-sideline linebacker like Ragland, or sophomore Reuben Foster, you truly give yourself a chance to shut down run games. Since all the linemen are engaged with a blocker it leaves Ragland completely uncovered and he’s able to roam and assist on the play.

Moving forward, I expect the Tide to play mostly out of a 4-3. But when the encounter pro-style offenses like LSU’s, they may morph back into an odd-front scheme.

Additionally, Marq Burnett of the Anniston Star dropped this nugget for us regarding changes in personnel/scheme:

–There was a bit of a new wrinkle to Alabama’s dime/money package on Wednesday. Generally, the Tide works with six defensive backs and one linebacker, but with Jarrick Williams (foot) out, linebacker Reggie Ragland lined up at ‘money.’ Eddie Jackson and Cyrus Jones were the corners, Nick Perry and Landon Collins worked at the safety spots with Trey DePriest at middle linebacker. Geno Smith lined up at ‘star.’ Freshman Laurence “Hootie” Jones shadowed Perry while Jabriel Washington shadowed Ragland.

Bama is steadily evolving it’s scheme in an attempt to detonate the explosive offenses it will see over the course of this season. We’ve all heard rumblings that the game is slowly passing Saban by.

For those of you that believe silly stuff like that, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you in Brooklyn.

Now, about that pass defense…