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LISTEN: Former Alabama radio analyst Phil Savage suggests strategy for Tide defense to slow down Kyler Murray
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With the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl just eight days away, Alabama coaches have already implemented a game plan against Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray.
But if they’re still open to suggestions, Phil Savage has a few ideas.
Savage, a former Alabama radio analyst who also has NFL scouting and front office experience, shared his thoughts on the Orange Bowl matchup during a Friday appearance on SiriusXM SEC Radio. In the clip below, he describes how he’d attack Murray if he was coaching the Crimson Tide.
How do you slow down the 2019 Heisman winner @TheKylerMurray?
@PhilSavage spent 9 seasons as the radio analyst for @AlabamaFTBL, and he weighed in with some ideas: pic.twitter.com/wrToLbrTZ4— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) December 21, 2018
“I think you employ the — for lack of a better phrase — bend-but-don’t-break philosophy,” Savage said. “I think you make Oklahoma earn it by taking the ball eight, nine, 10 plays over the course of 75, 80 yards.”
Limiting big plays will certainly be a priority for the Crimson Tide after Murray racked them up en route to the Heisman Trophy. The way to do that, Savage believes, it to confine Murray to the pocket with Alabama’s star-studded defensive line and make him read seven-man coverages.
But Savage doesn’t think the Crimson Tide should let Murray sit back for the whole 60 minutes.
“I think you have to mix in your pressure package along the way — third downs, in the red zone,” he said. “Once the field gets compressed, I think that’s when you can dial up some of your pressures.”
We’ll see if No. 1 Alabama (13-0) can “make them earn it” as Savage suggests when it clashes with the No. 4 Sooners (12-1) at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 29 in Miami.
Marcus covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
