No. 1 Alabama held the high-flying offense of No. 12 Ole Miss to just 291 yards in a 42-21 beatdown of the Rebels on Saturday that showed how the Crimson Tide's push for a national title repeat will feature plenty of defense. When these teams met last season, Alabama outscored Ole Miss 63-48 on its way to a 13-0 season, but Saturday demonstrated how the Tide have improved defensively since that high-scoring affair.
The Tide's defense held the Rebels to just 78 yards rushing (2.3 per attempt) while dominating up front on both sides of the ball. Fifth-year senior running back Brian Robinson Jr. led his team with a career-high four rushing touchdowns and 171 yards on the ground as he surpassed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career. Alabama took command in the first half by denying Ole Miss on a trio of fourth-down conversion attempts and forcing a fumble that led to a touchdown.
From there, Alabama never looked back as it opened up a 35-0 lead in the first few minutes of the third quarter. The victory moves Alabama to 5-0 ahead of a road showdown at No. 15 Texas A&M next week. Ole Miss will return home to host Arkansas.
Saban improved to 24-0 against his former assistants as Ole Miss coach Kiffin fell to 0-2 against his former boss since taking the Rebels job. Kiffin said to CBS Sports' sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl before the game, "here we go, so get your popcorn ready." But in the end, his offense, which entered leading the nation with an average of 635.5 yards per game, was held to less than half that total on a humbling afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
1. Alabama owns the trenches
Alabama holds an advantage on the offensive and defensive lines against nearly every team it plays because of its top-notch recruiting and player development. But that advantage isn't always as evident as it appeared to be Saturday. After moving the football well on its first drive, Ole Miss struggled to find any semblance of run-pass balance for the rest of the first half. The issue was the push generated by Alabama's defensive line, which manhandled the Ole Miss front and kept its offense one-dimensional. Kiffin often fights back against the narrative that the Ole Miss offense is merely a passing attack, suggesting that establishing the run is critical to their plan. Alabama kept them from doing just that on Saturday because it was the stronger, more physical team.
2. "Ole Miss-cues"
Despite its struggles on the ground, the Rebels were able to move the football. However, they made too many mistakes for a team living on a thin margin of error on the road against a top-ranked team. While it's hard to blame Kiffin for chancing it on fourth downs, he should never have been forced to attempt so many fourth-down conversions in the first place. On their first drive, a pair of penalties put the Rebels behind the sticks and negated a Corral completion to Dontario Drummond that would have given Ole Miss a first down at the Alabama 11-yard line. The Rebels entered Saturday tied for 117th nationally with 30 penalties, despite having played just three games. Against the Tide, they were penalized eight times. The other game-altering miscue came when Alabama defensive end Phidarian Mathis forced a Corral fumble, which Justin Eboigbe recovered at the Ole Miss 14-yard line with 2:39 left in the first half. Alabama then quickly scored to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
3. Alabama is certified elite
Alabama's narrow 31-29 victory over Florida two weeks ago suggested that perhaps this Crimson Tide team was vulnerable by the standards of a vaunted program. With college football enjoying an early season surge of parity, it felt plausible that perhaps this group was merely great but not truly elite. Saturday's result suggested otherwise. On the heels of No. 2 Georgia's dominant 37-0 win over No. 8 Arkansas, the Crimson Tide put forth a similarly authoritative effort against a quality foe and showed why they still belong at No. 1 in the polls. With No. 3 Oregon struggling against Stanford on Saturday, it seems clear there are just two elite teams in college football, and Alabama is one of them.