Jihaad Campbell: “There Was Always Juice”

BATON ROUGE, La.- Alabama's defense has had a complete turnaround this season, especially in the Missouri matchup that led to a 34-0 shutout and now a much-needed win over the LSU Tigers, which they claimed 42-13 blowout.

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For a team to succeed, both offense and defense need to excel. Making big plays, creating takeaways, and having defensive leaders are crucial when making a way for offensive plays and to prove that a team can be a formidable force.

A formidable force indeed is what Alabama was on Saturday, but it was also leaders such as Jihaad Campbell who assisted the defense and contributed to the win. Alabama's defense only allowed 13 points against the Tigers, an impressive stop had the Tigers' head coach Brian Kelly wondering, "What did these guys do for two weeks?"

According to Campbell, the secret was "to get on the field and do our job!" Going against an aggressive quarterback like Garrett Nussmeier wasn't an easy battle as he bested many teams this season. However, Campbell said while watching film, the team realized that once Nussmeier rolls out to the right and throws off his back foot, he could get the job done. And the Crimson Tide had a plan to stop him on Saturday, "our emphasis was to get him off his game so that we could execute better."

The Crimson Tide defense has improved weekly, according to fans and critics alike, but Campbell said "there was always juice within the players and coaches!"

Campbell is one of those players that has etched his name well into this Crimson Tide defense over the course of last season to now. His presence is always known when going against an offense, and he has succeeded on numerous attempts when making big stops to help his team stay the course.

Campbell finished the night with 12 tackles, six solos, six assists, and one and a half sack. His massive strip sack alone set the tone for the game. "Basically, it was a blitz that I went on, and then we made a blockage check that I went to go on. I thought that the center was going to block me, I kept going and sacked him. I told somebody that I didn't even know that we fumbled the ball; if I knew, I would've gone to grab it, but I didn't know," said Campbell on his strip sack.

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