As noted by Nick Kelly of Tuscaloosanews.com, Lane Kiffin told reporters that Nick Saban changed his defensive coordinator from Kevin Steele to Travaris Robinson. Robinson is the secondary coach for the Tide, whereas Steele is actually the defensive coordinator — in name at the very least.
Although this might just be another case of Kiffin's antics, the strength of the defense does come from the secondary. Kool-Aid Mckinstry leads the group as he is one of the better players in all of college football this season (and one of the better names). Malachi Moore and Caleb Downs and the rest of the group the strength of the defense and one of the best position groups in the country.
Despite the way-closer-than-needed win for Alabama against USF, the Tide have a very strong defense. The offense is the reason for Alabama's struggles. The offensive line play for the Tide has not been good all season and the team has had inconsistent quarterback play from a rotating cast of players. The Tide's defense will certainly be able to get stops but the question will be if Alabama's offense can produce enough.
What does the Alabama offense need to do in order to get the win against Ole Miss?
Due to the fact that Ole Miss's offense has gone crazy in their first three games of the season, the Rebels will probably get something against Alabama's defense. With that in mind, the Tide offense can't play the way they did against USF. If they do end up having similar offense production, then it is very hard to see how Travaris Robinson's defense can get the win.
Even though this is a defense that plays to its' strength, based on the offense so far for the Tide, it's really hard to see them get a win against Ole Miss.
