Damien Harris thinks Alabama did 'a good job' establishing the run vs. Florida State
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.