It happens in a matter of seconds, sometimes even a fraction of a second, after the offense lines up and before the ball is snapped.
The University of Alabama defense shifts. A linebacker drops back into coverage or a safety steps up to blitz. Or maybe not. Sometimes it's just a false tell, a fake to confuse the opposing quarterback. Sometimes it's for real.
All that movement, all that goes on, is as much between the ears as it is between the sidelines.
"It's just a mind game," Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley said, "all a mind game."
The mind Alabama defenders play games with belongs to the opposing quarterback. If UA can fool him, it gains a major advantage.
"The whole thing, in the simplest terms, defensively if you can make it look like a zone and play man, make it look like man and play zone, make it look like you're playing zone and blitz - any time you can get in the quarterback's head, you get a little ahead," said Joe Kines, who served two stints as Alabama's defensive coordinator and another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.
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