Film study: Alabama’s defense built to stop runners like Leonard Fournette

Alabama is built for this.

That’s the common denominator is any analysis sizing up Saturday’s marquee matchup between the Crimson Tide’s front seven vs. LSU’s Heisman front-runner Leonard Fournette.

Certainly there is proof to ‘Bama being the immovable object to Fournette’s unstoppable force. Since Nick Saban arrived in 2007, just 11 backs have rushed for 100 or more yards against the Tide. That’s by far the fewest in the nation.

“I think they’ve done a very good job with scheme, but I think it’s more they’ve put very talented men in the right position,” LSU coach Les Miles told reporters. “They’re seldom out of place, and they’re in a position to make a tackle, and they generally do.”

Alabama doesn’t stop the run through fancy play-calling or dramatic adjustments to scheme — even against the best backs.

Nick Chubb was one of the 11 who topped 100, but he needed an 83-yard touchdown run to do it.

Alabama mostly bottled him up by relying on its five- and four-star four-man front and occasionally bringing a fifth, linebacker Dillon Lee, to the line of scrimmage.

Expect a similar plan against Fournette, whom the Tide held to 79 yards on 21 carries in last season’s 20-13 victory over the Tigers.

Fournette has reached 150 in each game this season and has topped 25 carries five times.

Alabama knows what’s in store Saturday night.

“They’re the type of team to tell you ‘We’re going to line up and do this right here. We’re going to tell you we’re running to this side,'” Alabama senior inside linebacker Reggie Ragland told al.com. “It’s all about you manning up and stopping it. I think we have the right guys up front to do that.”

Alabama faced a similar challenge last year in the national semifinal against Ohio State standout Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott ran for 230 yards, by far the most Alabama has allowed under Saban.

Interestingly, Chubb’s long TD run and Elliott’s 85-yard burst came against four-man fronts.

Elliott’s came against a off zone blocking concept. He patiently waited for a cutback lane, then exploded into the second level and sprinted untouched into the end zone.

Chubb’s 83-yard TD run in Week 5 also came against a four-man front.

Neither TD required a fullback block, something LSU often affords Fournette. And as Fournette has shown repeatedly this season, he doesn’t need much wiggle room to make magic. He’s big enough to break arm tackles and fast enough to outrun defensive backs.

“They got a bunch of good NFL prospects that love to play the game,” Ragland told al.com. “They got some big, physical guys. We got big, physical guys. And it’s always been like that for years, for the past year or so. Just got to come out and be physical and mentally tougher.

“Whoever does their job the most is going to win this game.”

100-yard rushers vs. Saban’s Crimson Tide

Chris Wright

An APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.