TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama’s defense will be tested Saturday when it travels to Ole Miss.

But like Nick Saban said in his Wednesday press conference, the Crimson Tide’s defenders are trying to play to a standard. And that standard is created by focusing on improving itself, and not necessarily the two offenses that have received all the attention throughout the week.

“We’ve got to go in and do the Bama way, the Bama standard,” nose tackle Quinnen Williams said, “and do what we’ve got to do as a team and ourselves and really focus on where we messed up this past Saturday and figure out the mistakes we made on Saturday and correct those.

“... We haven’t responded yet. We’re just working on everything we’re doing and just doing what Coach Saban tells us to do and what Coach Tosh Lupoi tells us to do. So, we haven’t really focused on what we’re doing right. We’re just focusing on everything we’re doing wrong and all the mistakes and errors we had so we can be better on the end part of the season.”

Don’t get it twisted, though. Alabama is more than aware of the challenge in front of it.

Ole Miss has averaged 61.5 points per game through the first two weeks of the season, which is good for third-most points per game nationally and tops in the SEC. The Rebels also rank second in the country with 407.5 passing yards per contest, while senior quarterback Jordan Ta'amu leads the league and is ranked second in the nation with 392.0 yards passing per game.

Last week against Southern Illinois, Ta’amu recorded a career-high in yards (448), total offense (446) and touchdowns (five) in the third-best passing performance by a Rebel in school history. Ole Miss has posted 1,175 total yards, 724 of which are passing, and 123 points.

“If we don’t put any pressure on him, if we don’t get into his face, he could really mark us up on defense,” linebacker Dylan Moses said. “It could get really bad if we don’t get pressure on him. It’s more like going against an NFL-type quarterback. He has a really great arm on him, too. We have to get him out of his rhythm. We have to get him out of his zone. Get in his face. Get him uncomfortable. I feel like we do that we have a chance of winning.

“... It’ll be a great test for us, I’ll say that. It’ll be a really great test. We’ll have many great tests later on down the road, but I feel that this is one of many that’ll show where we are as a defense.”

Alabama safety Deionte Thompson directs his teammates against Arkansas State.

Through two games, Alabama has only allowed 10.5 points per game and 235.0 yards through the air per contest with a young defense, especially its secondary. Those totals rank fifth and 10th in the SEC, respectively, after two weeks. Against Arkansas State last week, the Crimson Tide held quarterback Justice Hansen to 140 yards, a late touchdown and an interception.

Safety Deionte Thompson currently leads the team with 11 tackles and three pass breakups as the quarterback of the defensive backfield, and Williams said he is a player “everyone looks up to.” Facing a high-powered passing attack, however, UA is not out to prove a point.

“No, we just have to come out and play to the standard,” Thompson said. “There’s a standard that has been created here. DBs play a certain way, and we have to play to that standard.”

Communication was one of the areas the Crimson Tide defense wanted to clean up after the first game against Louisville. Another player Williams said the defenders look to for guidance on and off the field, Moses, said he is encouraged by the progress that’s been made.

“The communication’s been great,” Wilson said. “There’s always room for improvement. And I feel like the first two games that we played, those were great preparation games leading into SEC week. And like I said, me and Mack (Wilson) have been working back and forth just in trying to make sure everyone’s on the same page so we can work together.”

Alabama’s defense will try and contain an Ole Miss offense that has scored at will to begin the 2018 season on Saturday when it travels Oxford, Miss. That’s been well-documented this week. But it will also look to aid its own offense by getting the ball back to it as much as possible.

The Crimson Tide has scored touchdowns on the opening drives of both games this year, and while the defensive players are focused on improving their shortcomings, it’s hot starts like that from UA’s offense that has motivated their teammates on the other side of the football.

“As far as what the offense does on their side, we want them to go out there and handle their business,” Moses said. “It’s just like how they expect us to go out there and handle our business. So, when they go out there and score first, it really does put, like, an extra pressure on us, so like, ‘Aight, so they scored, so now we have to go back out there and get a three-and-out.’ So, it’s kind of like the competition that we’re trying to see, like, what we can do and how we can do it.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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