Damien Harris thinks Alabama did ‘a good job’ establishing the run vs. Florida State
By Adam Spencer
Published:
At first glance, Alabama’s 173 rushing yards against Florida State on Saturday might not look so great, especially when you consider the fact that Texas A&M RB Trayveon Williams (203 yards) and Mizzou RB Damarea Crockett (202) had more yards by themselves.
However, the Crimson Tide’s leading rusher against Florida State — Damien Harris — thinks his team actually did a good job pounding the ball in their Week 1 victory.
Harris admitted that Alabama’s 4.1 yards-per-carry average wasn’t great, but told AL.com that even two- or three-yard runs add up against a defense like FSU’s:
“People see 2, 3 yard runs as bad runs,” Damien Harris said. “But I mean, every play isn’t going to be blocked perfectly and you’re not going to be able to run for 50 yards on every single play, especially not when you’re playing a team like Florida State. They had a great defense with a lot of speed and a lot of physicality, so 2 and 3 yard runs are good runs.
“They set us up with second and medium keep us out of third and long. I think we did a good job of establishing ourselves on the run game this week.”
Harris finished the game with 73 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, so clearly the holes were opening up for him.
However, if the Crimson Tide are going to continue their strong play this year, they’ll need a lot more five- and six-yard runs and fewer two- and three-yarders.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
