It seems illogical, like Utah having an NBA team called the Jazz or encouraging pitchers to give Shohei Ohtani a steady diet of fastballs.
Yet No. 4 Alabama finds itself in an unlikely predicament, given the program’s history of generating a strong running attack, entering Saturday night’s Southeastern Conference clash with LSU in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0) are ranked 114th in FBS and 14th in the SEC with a mere 118.9 rushing yards per game. It wasn’t that long ago that the likes of Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Derrick Henry could be counted on for more than that by themselves.
So what gives? How can Alabama supplement a good passing attack with improvements on the ground that might get it a real shot at the national championship many of its supporters consider a birthright?
“When we call a run play in the huddle, guys need to be like, ‘Heck, yeah, we’re going to get 8 yards here,'” said quarterback Ty Simpson.
He’s part of the reason the Tide have gotten away with a mediocre rushing game. Simpson has completed 67.8% of his passes for 2,184 yards with 20 touchdowns and just one interception. His 253 yards and two scores enabled Alabama to escape South Carolina’s upset bid on Oct. 25 with a 29-22 road win.
Even that victory underscored the weakness threatening the Tide’s aspirations of a deep College Football Playoff run. They managed only 72 yards on 23 attempts, 25 of them on Germie Bernard’s game-winning score with 34 seconds left.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said the bye week was used to help breathe life into the rushing attack.
“We spent a lot of time on evaluating types of runs, attacking the double-team,” he said. “How we’re coaching those things, how we’re talking to the guys, communication at the line of scrimmage. Everything is up for grabs.”
While Alabama tries to fine-tune the run game, the Tigers (5-3, 2-3) are trying to pick up the pieces from a 49-25 blowout loss on Oct. 25 at home to Texas A&M.
Not only did that result likely end its hopes of a CFP spot, it also ended Brian Kelly’s tenure as the coach. He was fired the day after, with the school swallowing a $54 million buyout.
Frank Wilson is the interim coach and he believes the team is ready to rally around each other for the last four games.
“The morale of our football team is extremely high,” he said. “Our team really came together during the bye week. I thought it was a time of reflection to look at the things we have not done well and to correct them. I think we understand the challenges before us and I think we’re eager to play in this game.”
LSU hasn’t been as good as most expected it would be on offense. Garrett Nussmeier is completing 65.9% of his passes for 1,806 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions, numbers far below what he put up last year when he threw for 4,052 yards and 29 scores.
Alabama owns a 57-27-5 lead in the all-time series, including a 42-13 win last year in Baton Rouge, La.
