Alabama’s running game has hit a rough patch at the wrong time, and now the Crimson Tide are treating the next few days like a fix-it window.
After a strong start on the ground, Alabama has seen the rushing attack stall in back-to-back games. The Tide managed just 54 rushing yards against Tennessee and 68 against Texas A&M, a sharp drop from what had been their lowest total of the season before that - 124 yards against South Carolina.
The early numbers told a different story. Alabama averaged 3.4 rushing touchdowns per game over its first five outings. Over the last two, that number has fallen to .5.
“Just really hammering down on it,” interior offensive lineman Mal Waldrep Jr. said Thursday after practice. “Getting in the film room.
Everybody getting extra work in and being on the same page about it. We know what we have to do moving forward.
We have to be able to run the ball. We really started to hammer down on it.
Not like we weren’t before, but at the same time, it’s more of an emphasis now than it was because it’s a priority we need to be able to run the ball.”
The timing matters because LSU brings a much stiffer front than the last two opponents. Tennessee entered with the No. 42 run defense, allowing 121.6 yards per game, while Texas A&M sits at No. 55 and gives up 132.6.
LSU is a different challenge entirely. The Tigers are ranked No. 6 against the run and are allowing only 85.4 yards per game.
That sets up a clear test for Alabama: if the Tide can get traction against LSU, that would suggest the ground game can hold up against just about anyone.
Running back Daniel Hill pointed to the basics as the answer.
“Just going back to the basics,” running back Daniel Hill said of how they’re working to get the rushing attack rolling again. “Doing the little things right.
Just trying to figure out what we can do better, just as a whole. I don’t say it’s on one particular group.
O-linemen, running backs, things like that. It’s on the offense as a whole.
We’re working every day to get it back right.”
No. 10 Alabama and No.
15 LSU both have open weekends before meeting on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The game is set for 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
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