The #6 Alabama has been a force to reckon with this season under Kalen DeBoer. No one remembers their Week 1 loss anymore. The Tide extended their unbeaten run to 6 games against #10 Tennessee at home. The defense played its heart out and forced multiple turnovers (including a pick-six), but the offense looked shaky at times. In his review of the game, CFB analyst David Pollack noted one issue with the offense that Ryan Grubb has yet to fix.

In the Instant Reaction segment of See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack, the analyst talked about Alabama’s impressive victory over the Vols in the ‘Third Saturday of October’ rivalry fixture. Although Pollack largely praised the Crimson Tide, he mentioned a small weakness in their offensive game. “But the thing with Alabama and watching them offensively now is their run game is not great against better teams.”

While the Tide had 212 rushing yards on 36 carries against ULM, that performance was more of an outlier than the norm. They struggled in their season opener against Florida State, managing just 87 yards on 29 carries. Jam Miller and Kevin Riley, Alabama’s primary backs, combined for a mere 13 yards on 15 carries against Tennessee. The team’s overall rushing statistics show just 6 rushing touchdowns through six games.

Georgia also limited their run game. 117 yards, but they came on 38 carries. The average yards per carry is either at 3 yards/carry or less than that against ranked opponents. Even Missouri didn’t let Alabama get going on the ground.  

Alabama’s run game comes undone in front of strong defenses, as they maintain gap integrity and shed blockers, disrupting run fits before the back can find daylight. Alabama’s talented front line lacks the push to stand against physical front sevens, causing backs to hit unblocked defenders at the line of scrimmage. Moreover, their primary running backs struggle to gain separation against talented secondaries. Forcing Ty Simpson to make easy-to-read throws. Resulting in their ground attack losing its edge, as the opponents key the run and rally downhill.

David Pollack talked about the same issue before the Tennessee game. “Pribula’s mobility may decide the game, forcing Alabama’s defense to handle a dual-threat attack it has struggled against this season. “Hardy’s going to be a problem,” Pollack said, adding that Missouri’s offense “has been humming at 40–45 points a game.”

And it did take Alabama some time to contain Probula and Hardy. But they managed to do it with some out-of-the-world scrambles and great passing plays by their star QB, Ty Simpson. But before that, Tennessee did pounce on their weak run game and made life hard for DeBoer’s team.

Alabama’s upcoming matchups

For their Week 9 game, Alabama travels to Columbia to take on a struggling South Carolina. The Gamecocks may have a losing record this season, but no SEC game is easy. We’ve already seen a fair number of upsets.

Following this game, the Tide also has Oklahoma, LSU, and Auburn left on its schedule. The Sooners ended their playoff hopes last season, and DeBoer must be looking to avenge that one-sided loss where his team never got going. Then the Iron Bowl can definitely spring some surprises.

It doesn’t matter where Auburn’s season is when they play Alabama. They are already ready to face their in-state rivals, and it won’t be any different this time.