The days of a deep ball-driven offense may be over for Alabama football.
Fans didn’t expect for Alabama’s defense to be the bright spot of a 34-0 win against Missouri on Saturday, but the Crimson Tide may not have had much success scoring downfield without it.
The Alabama offense didn’t just struggle to get points in the first half of action against Mizzou. It needed to start by getting yards. Alabama gained just 34 yards in the first quarter but upped that total to 167 by halftime. The Crimson Tide led 3-0 after one period and 13-0 at intermission.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack got some sought-after three-and-outs, but fine field position wouldn’t have meant anything had Alabama not risen to the occasion on the ground.
All four Crimson Tide touchdowns came on the ground. The running back room averaged 6.4 yards on 31 carries versus an average 3.4 yards per rush on 28 attempts for Mizzou.
Junior receiver Kendrick Law announced the run with a 21-yard rush in the first quarter, and junior running back Jam Miller followed a Malachi Moore interception with Alabama’s first touchdown of the day before halftime.
Alabama had eight rushing plays for gains of more than 10 yards, adding up 213 on big plays. Six of those came in the second half for a total of 178 yards, including another carry to the end zone for 11 yards by Miller.
“I think it was great,” running back Justice Haynes said. The sophomore led the Crimson Tide with 79 yards on eight rushes, highlighted by a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Alabama football finds redemption in run game as passing falls flat
Although quarterback Jalen Milroe, a redshirt junior, started to find success as the second quarter came to a close, he threw for just 17 yards in the first quarter despite utilizing six targets downfield.
In the first half, the offense was 6-for-6 on short passes, but only 1-for-6 on medium throws and 3-for-8 on deep shots. The offense also had five third-down situations. All went unconverted.
The shortest third-down situation needed five yards to convert. The last two ended in a sack for Milroe on third-and-16 and an incompletion on third-and-19.
Alabama didn’t get going immediately in the second half. With 8:21 to go in the third quarter, three consecutive incomplete passes forced Alabama to punt. Milroe found himself with the ball again with about three minutes until the fourth quarter, only to make back-to-back misfired passes to Ryan Williams with no success moving chains on third-and-12.
Four more third-down chances came in the last 30 minutes of action. Alabama moved chains on two.
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Justice Haynes’ physical TD run draws praise from Kalen DeBoer
With little luck to be had in the air, Alabama bet on its run game. Haynes’ 35-yard scoring run with 11:06 to go came after colliding with, and bouncing off, a Missouri defender.
“For him to stay on his feet, keep the legs moving, bounce off, and then guys downfield blocking, that’s great effort,” DeBoer said.
“We have full faith with coach Sheridan as a play-caller,” Haynes said. “We just go out there and just play football.
Haynes said “whatever” Sheridan calls, Alabama’s running backs are going to “execute.”
“The want-to is there, and to see it pay off in that type of way and have guys making plays − there’s some momentum and things that we can build up from there, too − but that was really not just one for him (Haynes), but it’s one for everyone to see,” DeBoer said.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
