For the second time this season, one of Alabama's most important defensive players suffered a season-ending injury.

This time it was the linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee late in the second quarter of the Crimson Tide's 54-16 demolition of Florida in the SEC championship game.

It was a significant blow for a defense that already absorbed the loss of safety Eddie Jackson, who fractured his leg in an Oct. 22 win over Texas A&M.

"He'll be missed," Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Hamilton, who finished the year with 64 tackles -- the third-highest total on the team.

He was a key cog, after all. Entering the game last weekend, Hamilton played 494 defensive snaps -- 95 fewer than the team's top linebacker, Reuben Foster. The junior from Montgomery had earned a reputation for doing his job and playing within the parameters of the scheme.

Just eight days ago, Saban said, "He's one of those guys you can certainly depend on to make the right choice, the right decision, be in the right place relative to what his responsibility is. It's not surprising to me that he's had the production that he's had."

Among all of Alabama's defenders, Hamilton received the fourth-highest grade in pass coverage from Pro Football Focus. Only Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jackson and Foster outperformed him in this discipline. The role Hamilton plays is an important one because in the first 12 games Alabama lined up in nickel on more than half of its defensive snaps. Both he and Foster were the only two inside linebackers on the field in that package.

With Hamilton gone, Alabama turns to Rashaan Evans.

Evans, a former five-star recruit, replaced Hamilton on Saturday. He authored a performance that teetered between good and bad. On the fourth play after Hamilton went down, he failed to track Florida tight end DeAndre Goolsby on a 25-yard touchdown reception. Evans was seen backpedaling awkwardly and later confronted safety Ronnie Harrison, as they did a quick post-mortem on what happened.

Evans, though, would get a measure of redemption. In the third quarter, he chased down receiver Josh Hammond on an end-around and limited him to a one-yard gain. Later on the same drive, he made a huge contribution during Alabama's goal-line stand. On third down from Alabama's one-yard line, Evans smashed into Jordan Scarlett, knocking him back for a one-yard loss.

"I knew what I had to do," Evans said. "I knew I had to pick up the slack. When I came in, I knew I had to do my job, and that's what I did."

Before Saturday, Evans had been on the field for 174 snaps -- playing as much in coverage as he did in run defense. Evans, who has made 35 tackles and forced a fumble that led to one of Alabama's 10 defensive scores this season, showed no deficiencies in either assignment, according to Pro Football Focus. But then again, Evans didn't excel at the level that Hamilton did.

"We've looked at Rashaan Evans as a starter on our team all year long," Saban said. "He's played a significant amount. He's always the first guy in if anything happens to Reuben or Shaun Dion...We have a lot of confidence in Rashaan."

Evans hopes that during the College Football Playoff he can prove to everyone else why the coaches have invested that much faith in him as he tackles the biggest challenge of his career.