TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s not very often that Alabama can say an SEC rival did it a favor, but Ole Miss did so a couple of weeks ago.

With the Rebels having an injury issue the Crimson Tide wasn’t sure who would start at quarterback, or which player it should prepare to face. It ended up being the player it had very little game film on, true freshman John Rhys Plumlee making his first start

Ole Miss scored 31 points. Although most of its offensive yards came in the second half after the outcome had long been decided, Plumlee still managed to run 25 times for 100 yards and one rushing touchdown.

“I thought he was really good,” junior safety Xavier McKinney said. “I wasn’t really expecting him to be what he was and how he played just because he was younger and I hadn’t really seen too much on him. But he’s going to be the truth in a couple years or really [later] in the year.”

Regardless, it led to the Alabama defense focusing on two things especially during the bye week, which of which will be key for Saturday’s game at No. 24 Texas A & M: Containing the quarterback and tackling.

Thus, the favor. The Crimson Tide got the wake-up call before facing Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond, and not after.

“We didn’t keep the quarterback contained,” senior defensive lineman Raekwon Davis said. “We lost the quarterback a lot. And it will be the same this week if we don’t keep this quarterback in the pocket. Do our job or it’s going to be another problem.”

For years one of the most-heard theories about the best way to beat Alabama has with a dual-threat quarterback who can hit downfield throws after spreading the defense out, but that’s not unique to the Crimson Tide. It describes most of the teams that have challenged for the national championship over the past few years.

From Cam Newton to DeShaun Watson, the threat of their running helped created problems, and having some good fortune didn’t hurt either. Last year, Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray couldn’t beat Alabama in the College Football Playoff, but he ran for 109 yards and threw for 308.

Alabama has also had some trouble with Mond in the past.

In 2017, he was 19-for-29 (65.5 percent) for 237 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He had 14 carries for 14 yards, but had a rushing touchdown.

Last year he really struggled throwing against the Crimson Tide. Mond was 16-for-33 (48.5 percent) for 196 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. However, he was much more effective with his legs, with 18 carries for 98 yards and another rushing touchdown.

The outcome was the same in both games. Alabama won 27-19 in the famous “rat poison” game at Kyle Field, and 45-23.

“Kellen Mond can do a lot,” Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “He can throw the ball obviously, but I think he's just as dangerous with his feel. The kid's fast. His ability to extend plays ... and I think as a defense, that's the hardest thing. Because when you have the ability to extend plays, extend drives, keep the defense on the field, keep their opposing offense off the field, you wear out the defense.”

Mond hasn’t done as much running so far this year, with a season-high 33 yards against Arkansas, but some of that has to do with his competition. The teams he needed to run against, Clemson and Auburn, were able to contain him, and against the others it wasn’t really necessary.

Obviously, the more effective Mond is overall, the better Texas A & M’s chances of pulling off an upset.

“Players have to be disciplined in doing their job,” Nick Saban said. “If you’re a contain rusher, you’ve got to contain the quarterback. You can’t be coming underneath. You’ve got to keep the proper leverage on the guy. Give the opportunity to push the pocket in the middle.”

Saban may have been hinting at the reason why reporters saw freshman defensive end Byron Young lined up with the first-team defensive line next to freshman nose tackle DJ Dale and Davis on Monday. Making his second start for injured defensive end LaBryan Ray (foot), freshman Justin Eboigbe had some containment issues — which is very common for first-year players.

Alabama also has redshirt junior linebacker Terrell Lewis back this season after missing 2018 with a knee injury, which means everyone else except for the defensive end spot is manned by a veteran.

That’s not to say they can’t do better.

The tricky thing with a mobile quarterback is knowing when to break off coverage and go after the quarterback, because by doing could result in a touchdown by the suddenly wide-open receiver. That alone requires discipline and ignoring the instinct to break toward the passer until after he crosses the line of scrimmage.

The other part it is making sure to bring him down when having the opportunity.

“Tackling – well, a lot of people don’t realize – is kind of one of the hardest things to do, especially open-field tackling, especially with the people that we’ve been playing, the opponents that we’ve been going against,” said McKinney, Alabama’s leading tackle

“I think my freshman year I missed a lot of tackles. I remember getting yelled at by Coach Saban a lot. So every practice I kind of think about that moment, and like, OK, make sure I make this tackle so he doesn’t yell at me. I pride myself on that.”

Regardless, Alabama expects to see improvement in both areas, containment and tackling this week, which have a tendency to lead to something else, turnovers.

The alternative is just not acceptable, not if Alabama wants to return to the playoff.

“It’s a team effort,” senior cornerback Trevon Diggs said.