Defense keeps Kentucky quarterback under pressure
The Kentucky Wildcats could have been flagged for too many men in the backfield numerous times on Friday night, had not so many of those men been wearing crimson.
University of Alabama pass rushers set up shop behind the Kentucky line of scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium and proceeded to beat up and harass Wildcats quarterback Stephen Johnson all night.
Jackson rarely had time to set up and look downfield. Even when he got passes away, he often ended up on his back. Alabama sacked Jackson four times, hurried him six times and spent enough time in his general vicinity to be on a first-name basis by halftime. He completed 13 of 22 attempts for just 89 yards,
"It's always a strategy to hit the quarterback when you can," defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. "As a pass rusher, you love to hit the quarterback."
Said linebacker Rashaan Evans, "Hopefully he's hurting right now. As a defense we always try to put as much pressure on the quarterback as we can because we know he's the center of the offense. If he goes down, most of the time the offense is not clicking."
Alabama's pass rush was responsible for two turnovers that led to 10 points. Late in the first quarter, Christian Miller sacked Jackson as Ryan Anderson arrived in support, with Anderson knocking the ball free and recovering a fumble that UA was able to convert into a field goal. In the second quarter, Evans mugged Jackson to jar the ball loose and Ronnie Harrison scooped it and took the return 55 yards for a touchdown.
"I was rushing and I just so happened to turn around and the quarterback was right there," Evans said. "I tried to get the ball out and that's what happened.
"I'm just happy that he scored."
The turnovers were a combination of two factors: scouting that Jackson wasn't good at protecting the ball, and timing blitzes when Kentucky wasn't in maximum protection. UA head coach Nick Saban said that Kentucky usually kept seven players – five linemen, a running back and a tight end – back to block on third downs.
Both turnovers came when Alabama blitzed on third downs, and both times came when Kentucky didn't keep seven men back in protection.
"A couple of times we'd seen (Jackson) loose with the ball and we tried to take advantage of that," Allen said. "It was just something we'd been practicing all week."
Alabama also used what Saban called "green-dogging," having linebackers who were assigned to cover a tight end or a running back utilize a delayed blitz when Kentucky kept those players in for quarterback protection.
"You know, when you do that it's really hard, seven guys blocking four, so we had a few things that we added some rushers to it," Saban said.
Alabama also forced Kentucky into obvious passing situations. Seven times the Wildcats had third-and-10 or longer.
Linebacker Tim Williams, who sat out the first half as a result of an arrest last week on a firearms charge, caused a fumble in the third quarter on yet another sack, but Kentucky recovered. He was a wrecking ball with three total tackles in the backfield for 14 yards in losses, all after intermission.