What we learned from the first weekend of the SEC Football season
By Matt Green
Alabama is still loaded on defense
In 2016, Alabama had arguably the best defense they’ve ever had under Nick Saban. They might’ve lost six starters from that unit to the NFL, including four players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, but they appear to be just as talented.
No one had a Week 1 test as difficult as the Crimson Tide. They faced no. 3 Florida State and they took care of them the way only Alabama knows how. They held the Seminoles to 40 rushing yards on 27 carries, an average of 1.5 yards per carry. They also intercepted Deondre Francois twice.
After missing all of the 2016 season, Shaun Dion Hamilton looked like a man on a mission. He led the Crimson Tide with 8 tackles and basically lived in the Seminoles’ backfield with a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. While it will be interesting to see how they replace Christian Miller and Terrell lewis, who were lost for the season, knowing Alabama, it’ll just be next man up.