Alabama's defense has impressed through the first three weeks of the season. The Crimson Tide is one of only 11 teams to allow two or fewer touchdowns through three games and ranks No. 19 in total defense. In Alabama’s 42-10 win over Wisconsin on Saturday, the Tide forced four Badger fumbles and limited Wisconsin to just 290 yards of offense.

The defense’s dominant play has also put it into an advantageous position heading into its first off week of the season. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has continued to dial up a complex scheme for his unit. But through three games, Alabama hasn’t needed to unleash Wommack’s Swarm Defense in its entirety.

“Fortunately for us, we have probably shown a small volume of defense over the first three weeks here, and that's a good thing,” Wommack said during his press conference Monday. “We carried a lot more defense going into each of those three games and once we realized that we didn't have to show certain things, we chose not to do that.”

The decision to not unleash certain defensive schemes is a calculated one. Wommack described his method of deciding which components of Alabama’s defense to show as less of a science and more of an art form. Conversations happen series by series based on the down-and-distance situations that Alabama’s defense finds itself in.

That’s not to say Alabama isn’t prepared. Wommack has his side ready to handle whatever is thrown its way during a game but also recognizes that it’s a long season. In a league with as many talented offenses as the SEC boasts, having wrinkles that opponents haven’t been able to see on film is vital for a defense’s success.

“I think that's something that we've always done a good job of schematically over the years,” Wommack said. “My dad (former Ole Miss DC Dave Wommack) always did a really good job of that, of showing wrinkles based off of, be it a game plan, or be it things that we just didn't want to show the evolution of how we maneuver through a season defensively.”

So what does that balance look like for Wommack? It starts with finding the best ways to establish stopping the run and by extension, the run-pass option plays built into modern offenses. From there it’s picking the right plays depending on the situation that don’t reveal too much about Alabama's scheme while protecting certain position groups from being put in vulnerable positions.

“So finding ways to do those things and then what compliments can we give,” Wommack said. “Be it, we want to protect our corners a little bit. We don't want them to be in man coverage so we're going to play a little cover two, we're going to play a little cover three, we're going to do some things to mix those things up. And then you certainly have your situational change-ups, you know, third down, red zone, some things from a different perspective.”

Wommack won’t have to worry about picking which of Alabama’s defensive components to unleash this week. The Crimson Tide is off during Week 4, which means the defense will get a lot of extra reps to perfect some of the schemes that it hasn't tried in games yet.

As Alabama jumps off the deep end into SEC play with a date against No. 2 Georgia on Sept. 28, those reps become crucial. Wommack said the goal for the coming week is to strike a balance in doing early prep work for Alabama’s next game while also preparing for the high-powered offenses that his side will face in the weeks after Alabama’s top-five bout with the Bulldogs.

“You want to get a jump on your next opponent, from a schematic standpoint, from a coaching standpoint. We'll get some of those things prepared,” Wommack said. “But also if there are things that we are going to see in the next few weeks that we do not see in practice or we have not seen yet this season, we may use a walk-through or a scouting period to probably get a jump on some of those things as well, based off of schematics that we're going to see from our opponents maybe the next three to four weeks.”