Alabama's defenders not carried away with praise

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) Alabama&#39;s defense has allowed one touchdown and 19 points in the past four games. It has propelled the Crimson Tide to a No. 4 ranking and the lofty status as the Southeastern Conference&#39;s lone remaining unbeaten team.<br> <br> But some people are so hard to please.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re playing pretty good,&#39;&#39; is defensive end Wallace Gilberry&#39;s lukewarm assessment.<br> <br> Linebacker Juwan Simpson offers this unforgiving critique: ``Our ultimate goal is to shut them out. Outside looking in, everything looks good. As a defense, we look to achieve better things than that.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Better? The Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC) ranks second nationally in scoring defense, allowing 9.2 points and trailing only Virginia Tech (9.1) entering Saturday&#39;s visit to Mississippi State.<br> <br> Alabama has allowed only three points to both Florida and Tennessee in the past month, and hasn&#39;t allowed a touchdown in the past 11 quarters. Only Mississippi reached the end zone against the Tide in October.<br> <br> To find the last rushing TD scored against Alabama, you have to go back 16 quarters, to the Arkansas game. The Tide has allowed only two scores on the ground on the season, tied with the Hokies for second behind Kansas (one).<br> <br> And opponents have failed to score TDs on their last 15 trips inside Alabama&#39;s 20-yard line, dating back to the South Carolina game.<br> <br> But it&#39;s not hard to figure out where Alabama&#39;s defenders get their reluctance to talk themselves up. What&#39;s their strength?<br> <br> ``They&#39;re just a hard-working bunch,&#39;&#39; defensive coordinator Joe Kines said. ``There&#39;s not a lot of frills and fluff to it. This defense was put together with good old sweat and hard work.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The folksy coaching veteran includes himself in that assessment. What&#39;s the secret for his system&#39;s success?<br> <br> ``It&#39;s fundamentals that really matter,&#39;&#39; Kines said. ``X&#39;s and O&#39;s are great. A lot of young guys get carried away with all that. At the end of it, we&#39;re going to play 65 snaps and if we can make 65 tackles then we did pretty good.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> It&#39;s no surprise that Alabama&#39;s defense has been good this season. The Tide led the nation in pass defense last season, after all, and returned nine starters, led by linebacker DeMeco Ryans, safety Roman Harper and defensive end Mark Anderson.<br> <br> But it&#39;s even further removed from Kines&#39; first Alabama defense two years ago, which allowed a school-worst 333 points albeit in 13 regular-season games.<br> <br> The performance prompted some fans to call for coach Mike Shula to fire Kines.<br> <br> Now, the defense starts six seniors and ranks in the Top 10 nationally in five categories.<br> <br> ``We&#39;ve got experience and we&#39;ve got speed,&#39;&#39; Shula said.<br> <br> And Kines. ``Our guys love to play for him, because he&#39;s very smart, he&#39;s a good guy, he&#39;s a good motivator,&#39;&#39; Shula said. ``They know that he&#39;s looking out for their best.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> This defense is drawing comparisons to the 1992 group that lifted the Tide to the national championship, led by George Teague, Antonio Langham, John Copeland and Eric Curry.<br> <br> Kines dismisses such comparisons but does point to the portraits of former Tide stars that line the halls of the football building.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re not trying to be anybody,&#39;&#39; he said. ``You walk down that hall and we&#39;re trying to represent those guys that played before us. That&#39;s all we&#39;re trying to do.<br> <br> ``There&#39;s some big shadows that walk these halls.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> But the defensive measuring stick for many Alabama fans was that &#39;92 team. Linebacker DeMeco Ryans isn&#39;t ready to make those comparisons but he&#39;s hearing plenty of them from fans.<br> <br> ``I know that&#39;s the defense. Everybody talks about it: &#39;You guys are looking like the defense in the early &#39;90s,&#39;&#39;&#39; Ryans said.<br> <br> The most obvious difference?<br> <br> ``I think the main reason they&#39;re talked about is they won a national championship,&#39;&#39; Simpson said. ``That&#39;s way ahead of where we&#39;re looking at right now.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re looking at Mississippi State. But at the end of the season if we just happen to be national champs, I&#39;m sure that will be a subject to talk about with this team.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> TIDE TALK: Shula said fullback Tim Castille is questionable for the Mississippi State game with a sprained ankle ... Receiver Keith Brown (bruised quadriceps) is expected to play.<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)