The quarterback matchup may have grabbed the headlines, but the weather could end up handing Alabama a different kind of stage in Starkville.
All the buzz around Saturday’s trip to Mississippi State has centered on Keelon Russell and Kamario Taylor, a pair of elite young quarterbacks who could deliver one of the most entertaining offensive showdowns of the 2026 season. Instead, a heavy rain forecast may drag that conversation toward the trenches and force both Kalen DeBoer and Jeff Lebby to rethink how they want to attack.
If the conditions hold, the game may be decided more by who handles the ground game and the line of scrimmage than by who throws the prettiest ball.
That would have been a problem for Alabama a year ago. It may not be now.
The Crimson Tide’s rushing attack has climbed to 31st nationally at 188.3 yards per game through four weeks, a jump of more than 80 yards per game from last season and a rise of 100 spots from where Alabama finished nationally in 2025. The improvement traces back to a better fit up front under first-year offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, personnel more suited to DeBoer and Ryan Grubb’s system, and a younger backfield that has added some juice.
Daniel Hill has made real progress from last season and currently leads Alabama in rushing. But the room looks different because of freshmen EJ Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown.
Crowell has been the most explosive back in the group, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. He’s still learning and still getting comfortable with the parts of the job that don’t involve the ball in his hands, but the upside is obvious.
Brown, meanwhile, would be Alabama’s leading rusher if not for two long touchdown runs that came back on holding calls, one against East Carolina and another last week against South Carolina. The run erased against the Gamecocks was the kind of open-field move Alabama hasn’t seen from an RB since Jahmyr Gibbs was in Tuscaloosa.
Grubb has been more willing to lean on the run this season, even if he still has the instinct to chase the big shot through the air. That’s understandable with Russell at quarterback and all that arm talent sitting there.
But Starkville may call for something simpler. If the rain arrives, the team that protects the ball, avoids mistakes and wins the line of scrimmage will likely be the one left standing.
So while the national conversation started with Russell, this could be the week Alabama’s running backs take over the spotlight. Hill, Crowell, Brown and a much better Tide rushing attack might end up shaping the story more than anything Russell does through the air.
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