What's up with Alabama football run game? Why Crimson Tide had 56 rushing yards vs LSU
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Short of Ryan Grubb’s wishes, it didn’t quite feel like Alabama football was “freaking excited” to run the football in the Crimson Tide’s 20-9 win over LSU on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The offensive coordinator said his goal was to get his offense invested in the run game leading up to the matchup. Without it, it’s a hard road to finishing. But not when you have Ty Simpson, who went 21-of-35 for 277 yards and a touchdown to power Alabama through the home win.
Coach Kalen DeBoer said improving on the ground comes down to physicality, either in stronger blocking schemes or being more aggressive when running the ball.
“We’ve certainly got to be better than what we were,” DeBoer said.
The Crimson Tide, which ranked third-worst in the SEC and No. 114 nationally in the run game prior to the LSU matchup, averaged just 2.2 yards per carry vs. LSU. Running back Daniel Hill showing the most tangible production with a 4-yard rush up the middle into the end zone to give the Crimson Tide a seven-point edge with 9:25 left in the second quarter.
But the run game as a whole was lackluster. In fact, there was only one drive in each of the first three quarters where Alabama attempted to run the ball multiple times. In the first drive of the game, Alabama accounted for its most attempts in a single drive throughout the game, gaining 13 yards on six tries.
It took until the first offensive drive of the second quarter for the Crimson Tide to try multiple rushes once more, with four attempts amassing 18 yards, capped by Hill’s touchdown score.
After a 5-yard gain from running back Kevin Riley with 6:57 left in the first half, it took almost an entire quarter for Alabama to attempt another run, a 2-yard gain from running back Jam Miller with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Afterward, it took Alabama until the last drive of the quarter to garner up two attempts for 4 yards.
The fourth quarter proved slightly more fruitful, with the first Alabama drive containing three attempts. Two counted for 4 yards, while the other came from a 17-yard run by Simpson that, along with an LSU personal foul penalty, gave the Crimson Tide a 32-yard gain from the play.
“You have to have confidence to run the ball, right? I feel like that we’re not very confident that we think we can run the ball right now,” Simpson said. “It’s all mental, really.”
For good measure, Alabama closed out its last drive of the night with three rushing attempts that totaled a gain of 7 yards, topped with a 4-yard connection from Simpson to tight end Josh Cuevas before the procession of kneels.
Cuevas said the offense was and remains excited about the run game, and after Saturday night, it will become even more of a priority.
“I think it’s on the top of everybody’s list,” Cuevas said. “I know that everybody on (the) offensive side, we know that’s a deficiency of ours right now. So I mean, in practice, we’re really trying to work on it and taking it one play at a time.”
Amelia Hurley covers high school sports and Alabama softball for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached through DM on X at ameliahurley_ or via email at ahurley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football run game fell flat in win over LSU. Here’s why
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