TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It took until the 9:35 mark in the third quarter of Alabama’s second game for an opposing team to score a touchdown against the Crimson Tide’s defense.

Alabama was tested against dynamic South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown and a fast-paced Bulls offense in its 42-16 win Saturday. Brown cut apart the Crimson Tide with his legs, finishing with 108 rushing yards on 23 carries. The Bulls attacked Alabama with speed behind it's dual-threat QB, while the Crimson Tide’s own offense sputtered for much of the game and committed three turnovers.

When Brown and the Bulls’ offense attempted to capitalize, however, Alabama’s Swarm Defense held up during crucial red zone situations Saturday. The Crimson Tide limited South Florida to field goals on three of its four trips to the red zone. The Bulls' only touchdown came after it was set up at the Alabama 39-yard line after a fumble by Jam Miller.

“Defense did a nice job forcing some field goals,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said after the game. “Just as we went through the game there in the fourth quarter, I think those were key.”

South Florida proved to be a much more difficult challenge defensively than Western Kentucky was in Alabama’s season opener. However, the Crimson Tide has developed some consistent execution in its red zone defense. Alabama allowed just nine red zone yards and prevented the Hilltoppers from coming away with points during both of its trips to the redzone.

South Florida managed to gain 33 yards in the red zone against Alabama on Saturday, though 13 of those came during the Bulls' third-quarter touchdown drive. Through two weeks of the season Alabama has allowed just one touchdown from the six red zone drives it's faced.

“In the red zone, of course, we want to drag them into deep waters,” Linebacker Jihaad Campbell said. “But just play by play we want to keep dominating, executing and just doing our job.”

Alabama also made crucial plays outside the red zone that could have ended up in critical points for the Bulls had Alabama’s offense not come alive late. Campbell was flying all over the field and finished with a team-high 11 tackles. He also added 0.5 sacks and a pass breakup. Defensive lineman Tim Keenan III racked up nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks. On South Florida’s next drive after its lone touchdown, Keenan helped set the tone for the rest of the game, sacking Brown on third down for an eight-yard loss.

“[I’m a] big juice guy, big influence guy,” Keenan said. “So I just got to make sure I’m influencing the team the best way I can by doing my job to the best of my abilities.

Alabama linebacker Que Robinson also put in another dominant performance after having the Tide's lone sack against Western Kentucky last week. Robinson got his second sack of the season in the first quarter, dropping Brown for a seven-yard loss which helped Alabama push South Florida out of field goal range. He finished the game with seven tackles, including one for loss.

"Que's skillset is unbelievable," Campbell said. "It's really big for our defense and he has a lot of speed to his game. That's the biggest thing for him."

Alabama will take another step up in its opponent when it travels to face Wisconsin in its next game. While the Badgers don’t move the ball at the same pace as South Florida, they can work methodical drives and challenge the Crimson Tide in the endzone with skilled and powerful players up front. As Alabama's offense hopes for a quicker start next week, the defensive unit is looking to carry its positive red zone trends against the first Power Four opponent of the season.

“We just can’t get bored with fundamentals,” Keenan said. “[If we] do what we got to do then we should be able to execute.”