Don’t sleep on Damien Harris, the ‘other back’ in the Alabama-LSU affair
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Leonard Fournette is getting all the attention, but Alabama’s Damien Harris figures to play just as vital a role in Saturday’s Alabama-LSU contest.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban called Fournette, “Probably one of the most dynamic running backs that has played college football for a while,” at his press conference on Monday.
However, so far this season, Alabama has had great success in containing primary backs. Ask Arkansas’ Rawleigh Williams, Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams or Kentucky’s Stanley “Boom” Williams. While all three backs have had some of the SEC’s best numbers in rushing yards, none performed well against Alabama. A&M’s Williams had just 23 yards rushing after going for 217 the week prior against Tennessee.
There is a decent chance Fournette may not even be the leading rusher for the Tigers. As Saban noted, there isn’t a whole lot of dropoff between LSU’s primary and secondary back. Derrius Guice has emerged as an offensive weapon this season. He averages almost exactly the same yards per attempt (7.96 to Fournette’s 8.07), and he leads LSU with seven rushing touchdowns.
LSU will be challenging because its offensive line is much tougher than Tennessee’s front. Tennessee presented Alabama with the challenge of both Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, although neither back truly presented much of a real challenge in the game.
However, receiving less ink on the whole but equally intriguing is: How will LSU try to shut down Damien Harris, along with Jalen Hurts, Bo Scarbrough and Joshua Jacobs? While LSU still primarily runs a physical, between-the-tackles style of offense, Alabama started embracing more of a versatile offense a few years ago, the signs of it being more abundantly clear this season.
LSU shut down Ole Miss two weeks ago, although Ole Miss’ backfield isn’t a threat to anyone. LSU lost to one potent, run-heavy team in Auburn but fared very well against AU’s ground attack. Even with Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson, Auburn managed 154 yards rushing and only 3.1 yards per rush. For the season, Auburn is now averaging more than 300 yards rushing per game.
Meanwhile, Alabama is averaging about 265 yards on the ground. Harris is the team’s leading rusher with 697 yards on the season, more than either Fournette or Guice despite the fact that three other Tide players have recorded at least 50 carries. That includes Hurts’ team-leading 95 rushes.
“If you don’t have that instinctive vision to make those cuts at the right time relative to setting up the blocks, running off the blocks, I don’t think you’re going to be very productive,” Saban said. “Damien does that very well.”
There is no question Alabama will utilize all of its running weapons if need be. Harris and Jacobs are the most versatile, but Hurts keeps defenses honest and Scarbrough brings much in terms of physicality.
Harris is likely to be first up unless he is hindered by a lingering injury.
“As this year has progressed, he’s gotten more and more confident,” Saban said of Harris. Really, the same could be said of Scarbrough who has looked much better as the season progresses.
Saban continued, “I think he has a better understanding. You can always relate that back to some degree to your coach (Burton Burns), who is teaching you the offense and how to do what you do. He’s been very productive and played with a lot of confidence and has turned out to be the kind of player that we thought he could be. We’re very pleased with how he’s performed for us all year long.”
Alabama has received big performances from its backs against LSU in recent years from Trent Richardson to T.J. Yeldon to Derrick Henry. On Saturday, Harris will be expected to follow their lead.
