Let's not go crazy. They are good, but they still have issues people aren't talking about. They got 24 points on 60 yards of short fields and a miracle TD play. they gave up 500 yards to a team with sub par QB play. 500 yards that no one is talking about. I think they are solid and a very tough out, but they still have some issues too.
Looking at that a different way, it was just under 5 yards per play, 4.98. Compare to the 5.52 per play that you allowed versus LSU.
The yardage numbers were skewed because we were both playing hurry up. We allowed too many third down conversions. Defensively, that's my big concern. We have to get off the field. They were 11 of 20 on third down, and those weren't all 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 2 conversions. Many of them were 3rd and 6 or longer, plays where you're supposed to get off the field.
People are ignoring that Bama's last two TDs came 1) after a 4th and 10 conversion where the QB nearly got sacked, and 2) after an onsides kick where it's questionable whether they could've been called for batting. Yes, we had some fortunate breaks, but Bama had some of their own too helping put them in position to have a chance.
Bama's FG attempt to tie the game at 3 early in the 2nd quarter was the last snap Bama took in the Ole Miss half of the field when the score was within one score. They were never within one score with possession of the ball on our half of the 50 after that point in the game.
I personally see some flaws that we need to address. I have concerns with our LBs. I have concerns with our OL, especially with Tunsil sitting and the injuries. Other than that though, I think we're in pretty solid shape. Bo was a pretty good QB, but Kelly appears to be a significant upgrade. He's got a little bit of work to do on his reads, but he will get better there. Our WRs are deeper than last year. Our DL is still stout and probably even better at stopping the run than last year. They held Bama to 4.48 yards per carry (eliminating the QB scramble plays that were not designed runs).
Injuries could happen at places where we can't afford them, but if we're relatively fortunate on the injury front, we should be able to sustain a high level of play.