Alabama’s secondary is filled with South Florida stars. Their goal: win a title at home
Jordan Battle looks around at his teammates in the Alabama secondary this year, and the faces are all too familiar.
Alongside the sophomore and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas alumnus at safety is former Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson standout Daniel Wright. At the two cornerback spots are American Heritage’s Patrick Surtain II and Josh Jobe, who spent his first three years of high school at Miami Columbus.
Four starters. Four South Florida players who saw their careers take off together.
Now, they’re on the verge of winning a national championship together in their hometown. Top-ranked Alabama (12-0) faces No. 3 Ohio State (7-0) at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium at 8 p.m. Monday.
“Coming from South Florida we all kind of have the same lingo,” Battle said. “We have such a great bond coming from out of the same area. I grew up playing with players like D-Wright, playing against Pat, playing against Josh Jobe. It’s just very fun to be playing against and competing for a national championship now coming from the same area.”
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They have a tall task Monday. To help Alabama win the national championship — the Crimson Tide’s sixth under Nick Saban and third in seven years under the College Football Playoff format — the Crimson Tide’s South Florida secondary will have to find ways to limit Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields has completed 73.4 percent of his passes this year for 1,906 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also coming off the best game of his collegiate career against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl — 22 of 28 passing, 385 passing yards, six touchdowns.
“He’s a great talent. He’s got a tremendous arm,” Surtain said. “He’s a leader on that team. Whatever he does affects the team a lot, but we’ve just got to look at things to do to affect him as far as getting to the quarterback, pressuring him, different disguises in the back end. Many different things to look at through the film room.”
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Surtain has been a constant in the Crimson Tide secondary for the past three seasons, starting 36 consecutive games heading into Monday and being named a consensus first-team All-American this year. The other three earned their starting jobs this season and have come to form a solid quartet.
Battle, a sophomore, is third on the team with 63 tackles and also has an interception returned for a touchdown, four pass breakups and three tackles for loss.
Jobe and Surtain are tied for the team lead with 11 pass breakups apiece. Jobe, who finished his high school career at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, also has 52 tackles and two forced fumbles this season.
Wright, a redshirt junior, has 58 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups.
The group hasn’t been without its faults. Alabama has given up more than 300 passing yards three times this year, including allowing 408 to Kyle Trask and the Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game (the most by an Alabama defense since giving up 420 to Clemson in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship).
But Alabama enters the title game ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 19 points per game.
“The confidence of the players has improved,” coach Nick Saban said. “I think the confidence that [the defense] has in each other, the understanding of how they need to play to have a chance to be successful and how everybody has to do their job if you’re going to be successful has all contributed to some improvement throughout the season.”
And Alabama’s starting secondary serves as just the latest example of the Crimson Tide’s ability to recruit top talent from South Florida.
Since 2012, Alabama has signed 14 players from Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The Crimson Tide has signed the highest-ranked player from Broward in five of the past seven recruiting cycles: St. Thomas Aquinas defensive end Dallas Turner in 2021, Battle in 2019, Surtain in 2018, Deerfield Beach wide receiver Jerry Jeudy in 2017 and Monarch wide receiver Calvin Ridley in 2015.
The South Florida talent will be on display again on Monday.
“Repping the hometown is an exciting feeling, knowing how much tradition we’ve brought into the South Florida world,” Surtain said. “It’s going to be an exciting moment and we’re going to have fun out there. We’re just going to enjoy the moment.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 1:26 PM.
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