When: Saturday, September 15th

Where: Fayetteville, Arkansas

Game Time: 3:30 PM ET

TV: CBS

What you need to know about Arkansas: Arkansas went and did the unthinkable last week against Louisiana-Monroe. They were the first top 10 team the Sun Belt has ever beaten in the history of the conference. ULM outplayed the Hogs on both sides of the ball for four quarters, and the Hogs’ program is remarkably embarrassed – and how could you blame them?

If that’s not enough, quarterback Tyler Wilson, who many believe is the best in the conference, went down in the first half with concussion-like symptoms and never returned in the second half. The word from a source inside the Arkansas program was that Wilson was kept in the hospital until late morning on Sunday due to some bleeding in the bottom of the brain from a severe concussion. Obviously, Wilson has not been ruled out for this weekend, but I’m willing to say there’s less than a five percent chance he plays. That spells trouble. Backup Brandon Allen will be thrown into the fire and forced to find time in the pocket with an offensive line that has not blocked well at all this season.

Running back Knile Davis has been non-existent so far through the first two weeks, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. He’s clearly not 100 percent yet, but backup senior Dennis Johnson hasn’t played much either. The offense got very far away from the running game a week ago and lost all sense of what it was trying to accomplish.

The Arkansas’ defense is 12th of 14 teams in total defense to start the season, and they’ve played Jacksonville State and Louisiana-Monroe. ULM’s quarterback threw for over 400 yards, and the team racked up 550 total yards. Starting corner Tevin Mitchell is out for at least this week, and he’s arguably the best player in the secondary.

What you need to know about Alabama: This program is on autopilot for Nick Saban. He has senior leaders on both sides of the ball, and talented newcomers who bring a huge addition to the team.

AJ McCarron is playing very well through two weeks. He boasts the highest passing efficiency through two weeks (199.78 rating) in the SEC, and he’s third in the country in that department. This veteran offensive line has played great, too, except for giving up some sacks last week against WKU.

The emerging star on offense is freshman running back TJ Yeldon. He leads the team in rushing with 136 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. With Jalston Fowler now done for the year, Yeldon becomes that much more important. Expect him to get just as many carries as Eddie Lacy throughout the course of this season.

Bama’s defense is third in the SEC in total defense, good for 14th in the country so far. This will be the biggest test of a passing offense they’ve faced thus far, whether Wilson plays or not.

What you need to watch: Bama has won five straight against the Hogs. The last time to Fayetteville was a dogfight but a game that was eventually won by the Tide.

For Arkansas: The Razorbacks have to find production on offense with the ground game. Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino totally aborted the ground game last week for no apparent reason. If Arkansas has any chance to win this football game, Knile Davis will have to take over. I really don’t expect Tyler Wilson to play in this game; therefore, backup Brandon Allen will have to play better than he did last week. He completed only six of 20 passes (30 percent) for 85 yards.

On the flip side, Arkansas is going to have to play some kind of defense. ULM sliced right through this defense, and it’s very alarming that this group couldn’t make adjustments in the second half against the Warhawks.

For Alabama: Bama just needs to play Bama football. McCarron will have plenty of opportunities to throw early and often against the Hogs’ secondary, and I think he takes advantage of it. He threw for four touchdowns last week, and he’s getting better and developing into a better passer and leader for the offense.

The defense is preparing like Wilson will play, and it will be the same offense whether he does or does not. The defensive line must be licking its chops seeing the hits ULM was able to put on Wilson last week and how quick they were able to get to the quarterback.

“Jalston’s been a great player in the program — a really good special teams guy,” Nick Saban said. “A great backup player for us. A really good attitude guy. Lots of character. Really good competitor.

“I know he feels badly. We feel badly, too, for him that he can’t be a part and be able to contribute to our team this year.”

Fowler is largely considered a third-string tailback, but he has played a more integral role at fullback when the Tide lined up in the I-formation. Bama was really starting to use the I-form more effectively than in the past because of Fowler’s flexibility and athleticism at the position. One big game in which Fowler would have been key at fullback would have been LSU.

Fowler entered this year as the #2 option behind Lacy, but he was dropped on the depth chart due to the emergence of freshman TJ Yeldon. Yeldon is a much more talented and natural running back with much more upside than Fowler, but Fowler was key for his veteran leadership, experience, durability and versatility.

Fowler rushed for 385 yards and four touchdowns last year, and he carried the ball 11 times this season for 85 yards.

Eddie Lacy and TJ Yeldon will now carry the full load, with freshman Dee Hart in the mix as a changeup back.

But losing Fowler for the entire year is concerning considering Lacy’s injury history. He was injured early in training camp, and he had a history of being dinged up a season ago. Lacy’s health is of utmost importance going forward.

Get well soon, Jalston.

The group was on display against Michigan with freshmen Yeldon likely stealing the show.

At 250 lbs, Jalston Fowler is often the lead blocker for Yeldon and the other guys. When the other RBs need a break, the versatile Fowler gets to carry the ball himself. He averaged over 8 yards a carry against Michigan.

Eddie Lacy got in the end zone as well:

The Matchup: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 8 Michigan

When: Saturday, September 1st

Where: Arlington, Texas – Jerry World

Game Time: 8:00 PM ET

TV: ABC

What you need to know about Michigan: The Wolverines enter 2012 as the highest ranked Big Ten team because of their 11-2 finish a year ago, but they are not really the favorites to win the Big Ten, as Wisconsin is largely the favorite. This year’s team is even stronger, with a second-year coach in Brady Hoke, 13 returning starters and a quarterback in Denard Robinson who has Heisman Trophy aspirations as a senior. He’s the top dual threat quarterback in the country, as he threw for 2,173 yards and 20 touchdowns and added 1,176 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns in 2011. However, he threw 15 interceptions and completed only 55 percent of his passes while doing so. This is the fastest and most physical defense he will likely see all year, and his Heisman hype could either flourish or take a nosedive, depending on the outcome.

Michigan previously suspended starting running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, but he is now back practicing with the team. Hoke hasn’t said whether he’ll play in the game, yet. In addition, top wide receiver Roy Roundtree had knee surgery recently, but all indications point towards him being ready by game time. Both are impact players.

Michigan’s defense returns seven of 11 starters but only return one starter on the defensive line in end Craig Roh.

Michigan will also be wearing commemorative uniforms for this game.

What you need to know about Alabama: Reigning BCS National Champs are 13-0 (past BCS Champions, not Alabama’s 2011 record) in the following year’s opener, with an average margin of victory at 45-13. The Tide returns a bevy of offensive linemen and defensive linemen looking to control this football game at the point of attack. Nick Saban has a special knack for stopping big-time quarterbacks and ‘fast’ teams. Look for Alabama to play contain on the edges and keep Robinson in check on the perimeter, making him beat them through the air. Robinson has faced good defenses before, but he hasn’t faced a scheme and a coordinator like Saban who disguises coverages and blitzes so well. Don’t think for a minute Saban hasn’t been preparing for this game for six months now. It’s part of ‘the process’.

Even though Alabama will be breaking in three new starters in the secondary, Robinson poses a greater threat in the running game. This works out better for the young secondary in coverages, too.

But just a word of caution for Alabama fans – this Michigan team is hungry, and they bear the rest of the country’s cross of losing to the SEC for several years now. Even OSU fans are eager to see Michigan upset the Tide.

What you need to watch: We can talk about Denard Robinson and how Alabama has to stop him all day, but when any team from another conference takes on the SEC, I head straight to the trenches. This was the case last year against Oregon; it applies the same way to Michigan.

The Wolverines only return one starter on the defensive line. Alabama’s strength is their offensive line, with four returning starters and one new starter in Cyrus Kouandjio, who projects better than the four returners. Alabama will run the football and set the tempo from the get-go. Running backs Eddie Lacy, Jalston Fowler, Dee Hart and TJ Yeldon will all get carries, and we’ll see a running back by committee most likely, with Lacy the most featured back if he’s 100 percent. The Tide will run to set up the passing game with AJ McCarron. His decision making will be key in this first game.

I think we all remember the hurtin’ Bama put on Michigan’s little brother, Michigan State, and this one could turn out similar if the Wolverines are not careful. But there is enough firepower on Michigan’s offense to make this too close for comfort.

We sure have been blessed as a conference to see so many good running backs come through the South and through the SEC. Some great backs have passed on to the NFL, even from a year ago, but we do have some dynamic backs returning for another year of SEC football.

The running game in the SEC is a big deal, and it directly correlates to winning. Teams have to be balanced – with passing and running – in order to win in this tough league. Whether it’s running early in the game to establish a precedence or running the ball late in the game to put away their opponent, SEC teams have to get valuable yards on the ground in order to put up W’s.

Here’s an outlook of each SEC West team as it pertains to the running game:

Cream of the Crop

Arkansas: The Hogs are sitting very pretty at the running back position and return a ton of talent and depth. Arguably the best running back in the SEC in Knile Davis returns after missing all of last season with a pre-season ankle injury. Davis ran for 1,322 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2010, and he was easily the SEC’s second-half player of the year. And while Davis is a premier back in this league, returnees Dennis Johnson and Ronnie Wingo, Jr are certainly no slouches. Johnson carried the load last year in Davis’ absence, and he rushed for 670 yards and three touchdowns. Wingo also carried 104 times for 458 yards and three touchdowns as well. If LSU did not have four proven running backs returning, Arkansas would easily be the cream of the crop at this position. There is experience, depth and talent across the board, and it will make quarterback Tyler Wilson that much more potent in the passing game…if you can believe that. I could easily see Arkansas putting up some very big numbers in the ground game.

LSU: The Tigers have quite possibly the deepest and most talented running back group in the league, if not the country. They have four legitimate backs could start for most every team in the SEC. Between the four exceptional backs – Spencer Ware, Michael Ford, Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard – there is over 2,300 yards and exactly 30 touchdowns returning. Ford happened to be the Tigers’ leading rusher last year with 772 yards and seven touchdowns, while Spencer Ware was the workhorse and had the most carries (177 carries for 727 yards and eight touchdowns). Blue is a changeup to all three, as he has both speed and power. And lastly, there’s Kenny Hilliard – a true man among boys. Hilliard came on strong around the midpoint of the season as a true freshman. Listed at 5-11 and 240lbs, he’s a load that is tough for a defender to bring down, especially in the fourth quarter when LSU is putting the game away. Picture yourself as a tired defender and a fresh 240-plus pounds running at you. It’s simple – LSU has the ability to keep all four fresh and wear teams down in the second half. Ware and Hilliard are punishing runners, while Blue and Ford are the speed backs. Naturally with all four being freshmen and sophomores last year, this unit is stronger and one of the best in the country.

Alabama: Even with such a dynamic back like Trent Richardson gone, Alabama still returns a very deep and talented running back corps. We all know that Nick Saban loves to pound teams into the ground running the ball, and it should certainly happen again this year. The best thing going for Alabama’s running backs is all the talent and experience returning along the offensive line. But let’s stick to the backs returning for the sake of arguing. Alabama hits you with two very physical backs who dish out blows just as easy as they take them. Eddie Lacy will head this group, and he is the Tide’s leading returning rusher with 674 yards and seven touchdowns last year. Sharing the load with Lacy will be Jalston Fowler. Both Lacy and Fowler are over 220lbs each, with Fowler tipping the scales at 250lbs. Fowler carried 56 times for 385 yards and four touchdowns a year ago. Alabama will feature those two backs, but freshmen TJ Yeldon and Dee Hart and sophomore Blake Sims should see playing time. Yeldon was an early enrollee who stole the show at Alabama’s A Day Game. Hart missed last season with a torn ACL, but he’s a dynamic playmaker who will likely provide a spark on special teams. This group is deep and talented, even with Richardson gone.

In Good Shape

Auburn: The good news for Auburn fans is that Onterio McCalebb is returning. We know he’s not a jaw dropping running back; rather, he relies on speed to get to the edge and turn the corner more so than running between the tackles. Now, that’s not to say he cannot run between the tackles, because I’ve seen him do it, but durability does come into question. McCalebb returns from a 2011 season that saw him carry 112 times for 641 yards and five touchdowns. While there is only one proven back for the Tigers, they have a load of unproven talent. Sophomore Tre Mason returns, as he only had 28 carries for 161 yards, and he was used primarily on special teams a year ago. He has speed to burn. Behind McCalebb and Mason are two transfers from other SEC programs in Corey Grant (Alabama) and Mike Blakely (Florida). Grant and Blakely have a load of talent, but it’s unproven talent. Dual-threat quarterback Kiehl Frazier will also help in the running department, as he looks to improve in the passing department.

Mississippi State: No longer will we see Vick Ballard carrying the load for MSU at running back. It’s now LaDarius Perkins’ position, as he looks to prove he’s an everyday back in this league. Perkins carried 87 times for 422 yards and two touchdowns last year. I’m just not sold on his ability to take the physical punishment of a between-the-tackles type of back. Behind Perkins, sophomore Nick Griffin, who carries 225lbs compared to Perkins’ 190lbs, should be the workhorse and the bruiser this offense needs. Perkins and Griffin should be able to make a nice one-two punch, but it’s not the same one-two like Ballard and Perkins. With Perkins and Griffin getting the bulk of the carries, Josh Robinson and Derrick Milton look to break into the lineup. Robinson wowed all the coaches and media with his speed this spring, but his blocking ability will come into question as he gets more playing time.

Questionable Outlook

Texas A&M: The Aggies have questions surrounding the running game. First, senior Christine Michael is returning from a season-ending knee injury in 2011. However, Michael has proven much in College Station in his first three years, rushing for a combined 2,374 yards and 22 touchdowns. But obviously everyone wants to know if Michael will be healthy for a complete season. He looks like a back destined for a 1,000-yard season. Backup Ben Malena was forced into action when the Aggies’ top two backs went down with injuries last year. Malena had 67 carries for only 259 yards and four touchdowns. True freshman Trey Williams will try and provide a spark and give the Aggies a homerun threat each and every time he touches the football. If Michael can stay healthy, I really look for this group to improve and impress throughout the year.

Ole Miss: Ole Miss’ running backs offer core speed and elusiveness, but they lack traditional size, power and durability. The good news for the Rebels is that leading rusher and playmaker Jeff Scott returns for his junior season. However, behind him, it gets a little foggy. Scott carried 116 times for 529 yards and six touchdowns. He’s not your everyday, every play back that pounds between the tackles, but he’s more of an outside runner who provides you with a homerun threat. However, the next four leading rushers last year behind Scott are either gone from the program in some fashion or have switched positions. Senior Devin Thomas should be a more than adequate backup, but there are durability questions surrounding him as well. And if you’re into wildcard players, Tobias Singleton would qualify. Singleton will play some wide receiver, too, but the coaching staff will need to figure out ways to use Singleton at running back and get him the football in space. The Rebels do not have many proven entities at running back at the moment, so they can’t afford any injuries to this position.

Record: 8-0

MVP: No one other than Mr. Trent Richardson himself is the MVP for this football team. He is the gasoline that runs this engine. Richardson is leading the SEC in rushing right now with 989 yards on 149 carries and 17 touchdowns. He’s averaging 6.6 yards per carry, and he has elevated his game this year and come out stronger than ever. One man will not bring this cat down, it’s a gang-tackle situation when he’s got the football. He has emerged as what most think is the Heisman frontrunner. He could win that award if he has a big day against LSU.

Runner-up: Courtney Upshaw has been a stud this year for the Tide, and there were several players that could have been named as the runner-up on an 8-0 team for the Tide. However, Upshaw single-handedly dominated the Florida Gators, returning an interception for a touchdown, knocking John Brantley out of the game and tackling Florida’s backup quarterback Jeff Driskel, only to hurt his ankle and knock him out for the LSU game. Upshaw has forced two fumbles, leads the league in tackles-for-loss with 11.5 total and is fourth in the SEC with 4.5 sacks. He has had a great year for the Tide.

Biggest Surprise: There hasn’t been many surprises for Alabama this season because everyone has played on par with how they were supposed to. One player who has surprised me is third-string running back Jalston Fowler. Fowler is a load at 6-1, 246lbs, and he gives Alabama a legitimate third pounder to thrust into the defensive line. Fowler will be a load next season when he shares time with Eddie Lacy in the running game.

Biggest Disappointment: Duron Carter was expected to do “big things” for Alabama this season transferring in from JUCO. However, Carter did not make it on the field early and has since been redshirted for the 2011 season. If he would have been cleared earlier, Carter would have given Alabama another reliable weapon not named Marquis Maze in the receiving corps. Darius Hanks and DeAndrew White have played well, but everyone was waiting and looking forward to Carter getting on the field and being a large part of this offense, hopefully to fill the vacancy of Julio Jones. This has to be the biggest disappointment so far.

Stat To Note: This defense is playing like a well-oiled machine commanded by the General who is Nick Saban. This defense is only giving up 180 yards per game, and they are only allowing 6.9 points per game this season. That is just sick, no matter who you are or what conference you play in. It just so happens that they are doing it in the toughest conference in America. Yes, the SEC is a defensive-based conference; however, holding opponents to under a touchdown per game is crazy.

Looking Ahead: The only game that is circled and has been circled this season is the LSU showdown in Tuscaloosa. Metallica’s famous song “Nothing Else Matters” pretty much sums it up because this is the entire season for Alabama. They lose against LSU and they lose the West divisional crown, the SEC Championship and a trip to New Orleans to play another measly contender dressing out against the best team from the SEC.

When: September 10, 2011

Where: State College, Pennsylvania

Game Time: 3:30 PM ET

TV: ABC

What You Need To Know About Alabama:

This will be AJ McCarron’s first road start, ever. He clearly won the job over Phillip Sims in week one, but Sims will be there to go to if the Tide ever need him. The running game of Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and even Jalston Fowler forms a nice trio – but Lacy has to hold on to the football.

The offensive line struggled a week ago, and this unit needs to respond strongly. It’s one of the best offensive lines in the country. The running backs only ran for 175 yards a week ago, and early on, Alabama had a tough time establishing the run.

Defensively, this team is as good as or better than anyone in the country. This unit will keep the Tide in every football game this season.

What You Need To Know About Penn State:

Penn State defeated Indiana State in week one 41-7. The Nittany Lions could likely play two quarterbacks in Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden in this game. Both only combined for 114 yards passing and no touchdowns last Saturday.

However, Penn State does feature the running game and will likely try to run the football against Alabama to settle their quarterbacks in. Sophomore Silas Redd will be the starter, as he rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries last week.

Senior wide receiver Derek Moye is the best player on the offense at 6-5, 202lbs with 4.5 speed, but Penn State could have a tough time getting him the football.

What I’m Looking At:

I am looking at two things in this matchup. First, I’m looking at Alabama’s quarterback AJ McCarron, and this will be his first road game. It comes at a very difficult place to play in Happy Valley. How will he handle this start? Will he be rattled? I am interested in seeing how he responds. Alabama will likely establish the run early to open up the passing game.

Second, this Alabama defense was just suffocating a week ago against Kent State. With the quarterback situation of Penn State shaky at best, Alabama will have be set to stop the run, making Penn State try and beat them through the air. Saban is especially good in these kinds of situations.

Defense Is As Good As Advertised

Alabama’s star-studded defense suffocated the Kent State offense all game. The Alabama front seven dominated the Kent St. offensive line and shut down their running game. The Crimson Tide held the Kent State Golden Flashes to -9.0 rushing yards and sacked the quarterback four times. The pass defense of Alabama shut down Kent State’s passing attack holding them to only 20 completions out of 47 passes and 99 yards. While this was just a tune up game for the Tide and Kent State does not compare to an SEC team, the defense flexed its muscles and put a stop to just about any ball movement from the Kent State offense.

No Ingram? No Worries

As Tide faithful, we are coming to untraveled territory not seen since the 2007 season. A time before the Denny Chimes’ beautiful sound was ever heard by Alabama’s only Heisman winner, Mark Ingram. Without missing a beat, the Crimson Tide continued its dominance on the ground. While Trent struggled to go anywhere, amassing only 37 yards on 13 attempts, he still managed to punch in three touchdowns.

Eddie Lacy took every opportunity he was given by rushing eight times for 58 yards and one touchdown while keeping his average yards per carry over 7.3 yards. The running back corp. of Alabama showed its depth when third string running back/wrecking ball Jalston Fowler ran for 69 yards and a touchdown on only 4 carries. The ball is in safe hands no matter who takes the ball at running back for Alabama and should be one of the top rushing attacks in the country by season’s end.

An Arm Emerges

Heading into kickoff, the fan base was split as to who should be the next quarterback for the Crimson Tide. Sixty minutes later we all knew as to who has the upper hand in being named the starting QB for Alabama. Given three series each throughout the entire game the young guns at quarterback were given equal chances to make big plays and shine, but one young man took a little more initiative than the other.

AJ McCarron looked to be the heir apparent after Saturday’s game throwing for over 225 yards and a touchdown on only 14 completions. While he did throw two INTs, one was the fault of the receiver for tipping the ball into the air.

Phillip Sims did not help his cause by throwing for only 73 yards on seven completions and being sacked twice. Nick Saban has yet to name a starter and likely will not until after the North Texas game and will continue to give equal reps to each quarterback until that time but AJ really made a name for himself on Saturday.

An Offensive O-Line

The offensive line for the Tide looked decent Saturday but did not live up to expectations on this day. On the first couple of drives the line could barely get any push on running plays making it difficult for Richardson and Lacy to gain much ground. However, on passing plays the line created a good pocket for both AJ and Phillip. Offensive lines usually take a game to really come together and let us hope so because this Tide’s line should have been pushing Kent State up and down the field at will.

On a good note, Cyrus Kouandjio looked great, eating up defenders on every play and looked as if he may see some serious playing time this season.

Other Notes

Marquis Maze really stepped it up in filling the shoes of Julio Jones by catching 8 passes for 116 yards and touchdown.
Freshman Trey DePriest made a name for himself by accumulating 10 tackles and Quinton Dial the JUCO transfer also showed up by getting his first sack as a part of the Alabama Defense.

Red shirt Freshman DeAndrew White threw his name into the mix as a viable target for either QB by catching 4 passes for 44 yards and a near touchdown coming just a foot short of reaching the goal line. Also increasing his value by returning a handful of punts on special team.

So who is ready for Joe Pa and Penn State?

We all know that Trent Richardson is a physical specimen. The strength and conditioning coach at Alabama set a 465 pound ceiling on Richardson’s bench press, so what does Trent do? He starts repping it. Trent also squats 650 pounds, which is like putting a Harley Davidson on his back.

Trent carried the ball 112 times for 700 yards, 6 touchdowns and 6.3 yards per carry average last season – he also caught 4 touchdown passes.

There is no doubt that Trent Richardson is the man at running back for Alabama but expect Nick Saban to save his thoroughbred and give him rest when needed. So who will step up as the back-up to Trent Richardson?

If this question was asked before summer camp the answer would be much harder but due to the season ending injury of Dee Hart and the transfers of Corey Grant and Demetrius Goode the answer to the backup role is almost certain.

Now consider Eddie Lacy, the 6’1 220 pound running back who performed well last year as the go-to 3rd string running back for the Tide. Lacy was given the ball very few times last season, but when he got his touches, he made the most of them.

In only 56 carries Eddie Lacy rushed for 406 yards, which equals a 7.3 yards per carry average. Eddie Lacy also tied Trent Richardson in rushing touchdowns with 6 scores.

Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson almost have identical running styles. Both hit the hole running, love going between the tackles and delivering a hit to any defender that stands in their way. The two running backs with similar body frames can be hard to take down with arm tackles and solo attempts by a defender. Eddie Lacey can also show off his speed and break the long run – see video below:

Ball security could be Eddie Lacy’s one downfall as he fumbled the ball three times in 2010.

While three fumbles does not sound like much, you have to look at the fact the he only had 56 carries compared to Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson that have only fumbled the ball 3 times in their careers at Alabama.

Eddie Lacy is assumed to be the clear backup to Richardson but keep an eye on Jalston Fowler as a short yardage bruiser of a back who could be compared to the Steelers great Jerome Bettis. At 6’1 and 246 pounds, Fowler is a mountain of a man at running back.

If Trent Richardson is a high speed bowling ball then Fowler is wrecking ball built to destroy anything in his way. Fowler led the team last year in average yards per carry at 7.9 but only was able to manage 14 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown. Jalston Fowler has flashed speed but do not expect him to blaze by defensive backs for touchdowns. Where Jalston Fowler may be used a lot is on short yardage and goal line stands as either a lead blocker or ball carrier to move the chains or punch in touchdowns.

Nick Saban has done a terrific job in recruiting a solid stable of running backs that can carry the ball for the Crimson Tide and even with the injury of Dee Hart and transfers of Goode and Grant, the Alabama backfield should still be a force to be reckoned with. Trent Richardson will more than likely take 65% of the carries leaving Eddie Lacy and Jalston Fowler to battle over the remaining carries.

Combine these guys with a solid offensive line and you could very well see an Alabama team that will rarely have to ask either of the two young quarterbacks to win the game in the air.