2 Alabama stars split SEC defensive player of the week award

Alabama football’s defensive MVP for the Tennessee game was a difficult choice. So much so that even the SEC didn’t want to make the call.

The conference named two Crimson Tide players as its co-defensive players of the week. Both edge-rusher Yhonzae Pierre and cornerback Zabien Brown split the honor following UA’s 37-20 win, the league announced on Monday.

Brown made the highlight play of the game at the very end of the first half. Tennessee was threatening to pull within a field goal, at Alabama’s one-yard line.

Volunteer quarterback Joey Aguilar telegraphed a throw to the sideline. Brown saw it coming, jumped the route and picked off the pass.

Brown then took it all the way back, avoiding the one man who could have possibly stopped him. The play gave the Crimson Tide a 16-point lead, which it never looked back from.

Up front, Pierre had an enormous game, getting after Aguilar. Before Saturday’s game, he had tallied one career sack, earlier this season.

Against the Volunteers, Pierre notched three, for a total of 31 yards. He finished the game with six total tackles, five of them solo.

“He’s been right there,” Kalen DeBoer said of Pierre after the game. “And I’m really pleased with the last couple weeks, what he’s done. He played a lot of snaps last week. I don’t know what his number was today. But with just the depth chart there and the guys that are out, we’re asking more out of him, and he’s rising to the occasion.

“He works hard in practice. He’s built his stamina up more to where he can compete for four quarters now. And that’s just really cool to see. It’s really him understanding that, man, any play, I can go win one-on-one, and making sure he’s lined up and does his assignment and just strains from start to finish in each and every play.”

Alabama is back in action on Saturday, facing South Carolina on the road. The game in Columbia is scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ABC.