Bray Hubbard Held it Down During His Debut as a Starter

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Have yourself a starting debut, Bray Hubbard! The 6-foot-2, 204- pound sophomore held his own against the Missouri Tigers and contributed to the defensive effort to secure a shutout win over the Missouri Tigers.

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Hubbard was named the next man up after Keon Sabb's injury. The Alabama staff had a lot of faith in Hubbard and credited him for being ready to take on the challenge as a starter.

"You know, next man up mentality, I prepare every week as if I were a starter. When I found out, I was just like, man, it's time to go. I said earlier in the week that I didn't want to let down my brothers. That's my goal- I don't want to let down my brothers. Play for each other, play as a team," said Hubbard when finding out that he would be starting this week.

Hubbard recorded one pass deflection and his first interception of the season, coming up with the second out of three interceptions for the Tide. "Honestly, I didn't even know what to do. I just caught it and was like, yo, this is crazy. I kinda didn't know what to do, that's why y'all saw me run 70 yards across the field," said Hubbard on catching his first pick of the season. "That's big on their first drive of the second half. You come out and have a takeaway, that's what you want. You want to give the offense back the ball. It's about field position. It's what you really want in order to win a game like this. It's a big momentum swing when you have a game changer like that."

The Tide has had their struggles this season on offense and the defense. This win over the Tigers boosted the Tide's playoff hopes and highlighted the defensive effort to keep the Tigers scoreless, proving to the naysayers that the Tide are still making an effort. "I think we always have something to prove. You got to have a chip on your shoulder and you gotta have drive, and I think that's what we do. We play every week with a chip on our shoulders," said Hubbard on the Tide having something to prove.

Despite the difficulties during the season, both the defense and offense were able to come together and mesh well for the win on Saturday. "There are always things we can clean up. We don't think that any game is perfect. I think tonight we played really well on both sides."

The Tide will face another ranked Southeastern Conference opponent on Nov.9. Before the matchup, they will have some time to rest and retain their focus with a bye week. "You just got to stay focused. People want to relax in the bye week, but you really got to stay focused. This bye week is big for recovery purposes, and it will get you back for a big game at LSU."