First off, congratulations to Alabama wide receiver Jermaine Burton for absolutely gutting the Aggies’ porous secondary for an impressive stat line of 9 receptions, 197 receiving yards, and two touchdowns, accounting for 57% of the Tide’s offense the Alabama’s 26-20 win Saturday afternoon. Seriously, bravo, young man.
Furthermore, former Boston College cornerback Josh DeBerry, who entered the program this offseason with high hopes to provide a sense of stability in the defense backfield, was responsible for 145 of Burton’s 197 receiving yards on five receptions, grading out with an anemic 49.5 coverage grade, according to PFF.
Even worse, quarterback Jalen Milroe’s 321 passing yards were virtually the result of explosive downfield passes. Burton and WR Isaiah Bond (7 rec, 96 yards, 1 TD) exposed the third level of the Aggie D for considerable gains in random spurts. What’s confusing regarding DeBerry’s performance was the lack of care to make a change from the coaching staff as the yards stacked up, as it wasn’t until the second half before Burton’s second lead-taking touchdown that he was subbed out. It makes you think.
Moving on from the bad, there were still a lot of positives to take away from the Aggies’ elite pass rush, accounting for six sacks and eight tackles for loss, totaling 20 sacks and 38 TFLs in their last three SEC matchups. Still sporting the 10th-ranked defense and eighth-ranked rushing defense, linebackers Edgerrin Cooper (11 tackles, three sacks, three TFLs), Taurean York (five tackles) and defensive linemen Fadil Diggs (five tackles, two sacks, two TFLs) and Walter Nolen (two tackles, one sack) consistently stood out in the trenches.
Focusing on Cooper, the junior standout has elevated his game to the next level, currently ranked fifth in sacks (6) and fourth in tackles for loss (12) while currently leading the team in tackles with 41 in six games. And credit to GigEm247’s Carter Karels, who noted that Cooper’s first three seasons in the program only produced 13.5 TFLs and 0.5 sacks; tremendous improvement.
While I don’t expect the pass rush to drop off anytime soon, aside from injury-related production loss, personnel changes in the secondary need to be made ahead of next week’s pivotal road matchup vs. Tennessee, whether benching DeBerry in favor of sophomore CB Deuce Harmon or altering the scheme, second-year defensive coordinator D.J Durkin has a lot of work ahead of next Saturday.
Texas A&M will travel to face the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 2:30 p.m. CT, inside Neyland Stadium (TV: CBS).
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