TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ Here’s the quote that opposing teams just don’t want to see.

“They’re doing a great job,” University of Alabama sophomore running back Derrick Henry said. “They have the chemistry and in this first game, they did a good job for us to be successful.

“Each week we’re going to get better and they’ll continue to get better.”

Henry was talking about his offensive line after both he and junior T.J. Yeldon had 100-yard rushing performances against West Virginia last Saturday. Specifically, Yeldon had 126 rushing yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns, while Henry finished with 113 on 17 attempts and one touchdown.

Yeldon started, but Henry had the first carry. Regardless, the Mountaineers didn’t have much of an answer for either, just as the Crimson Tide coaches hoped when putting together the game plan.

“Probably use Kenyan Drake a little bit more in special situations,” Nick Saban said. “We thought he would play a little bit more in the game; Didn’t quite come up quite as much those situations. We have a lot of confidence in all three of those guys.

“I like the way both guys played. That’s probably, as long as we can keep them healthy and they can stay healthy, that’s probably how we’ll play.”

It was the first time that Yeldon and Henry were a 100-yard tandem together, and likely won’t be the last.

Yeldon, who topped 100 rushing yards during his debut game in 2012, when Alabama opened against Michigan, has hit the century mark 12 times in 27 games, including four his last five.

Meanwhile, Henry has reached 100 in both games since being promoted to second on the depth chart during the practices leading up to the Sugar Bowl in January.

The last time Alabama had a pair of running backs rush for more than 100 yards in one game was when Henry (111) and Drake (104) did so against Arkansas last season. The week before that Yeldon and Drake also achieved that milestone, and they just missed against Ole Miss when Drake was credited with 99 rushing yards.

So how many times has Alabama had two 100-yard rushers in a game?

Only 18.

Eight have been since Saban took over 2007, including two in national title games. Eddie Lacy ran for 140 yards and Yeldon 108 against Notre Dame in the BCS Championship at the end of the 2012 season, and three years previous Mark Ingram Jr. had 116 yards and Trent Richardson notched 109 against Texas.

Additionally, Alabama is 61-1 since the start of the 2008 season when rushing for at least 140 yards (the only loss was at Auburn last season). It’s averaged 217.8 rushing yards over the 73 wins during that time span.

With 2,469 career rushing yards Yeldon is just outside of the top 10 on Alabama’s all-time list (Sherman Williams is tenth with 2,486), but on pace to top Shaun Alexander’s 3,565 this season.

Another record that could conceivably be approached is Alabama’s rushing yards per carry, which stands at 6.06 (1973). The Crimson Tide’s average has increased during each of the past seven sevens.

Year, Yards per carry
2006 3.5
2007 4.0
2008 4.6
2009 5.0
2010 5.1
2011 5.5
2012 5.6
2013 5.8

Alabama’s average last week was 5.9, and Saturday’s opponent Florida Atlantic (noon ET, SEC Network) gave up 8.7 to Nebraska last week.

If Henry’s right …

“I just continue to run hard, you know what I’m saying, to continue to be physical throughout the game from the first to the fourth quarter so I’m just focused on myself and continuing to run hard and by playing fast,” Henry said, again stating something that the next 11 opponents on the schedule didn’t want to hear.