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Two links from arguably the best Alabama defense remain today. Lineman D.J. Pettway and back Jabriel Washington redshirted in the fall of 2011 as teammates steamrolled its way to a national title.
The Crimson Tide led the country in every major statistical category ― allowing 183.6 yards a game, 77 fewer than the Clemson defense that topped last year's total-defense ranking.
Four years later, a touch of that confidence is back in Tuscaloosa.
"No, we aren't trying to bend, said Pettway, now a key member of the defensive line who wasn't trying to make comparisons to 2011. "We're trying to be a steel curtain. We're trying to really make history."
But college football is a different world these days. Quicker-paced offenses have changed the way the game's defended. Alabama's had a few growing pains in that regard. But how has the defense, Alabama's cornerstone in three national titles from 2009-12, evolved the most? What's the biggest adjustment?
Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart answered with a few numbers off the top of his head. In the 800 or so plays that 2011 defense faced, there were five run-pass options. Last fall, he counted 120 so called pop passes.