TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Against each early-season University of Alabama opponent it was the same thing.
West Virginia? Nothing. Florida Atlantic? Shut out. Southern Miss? He still hadn’t shown up on the statistics page with a reception.
During those first three games the only ball thrown O.J. Howard’s way had been intercepted, which led many to start wondering if it was the second-year player, the defenses, the new starting quarterback, the play-calling of the new offensive coordinator, or a combination of all of the above.
Last season as a true freshman Howard played in all 13 games and made five starts. He caught 14 passes for 269 yards and two had touchdowns, including his jaw-dropping 52-yard touchdown against LSU, and 13 first downs.
Yet Howard said he wasn’t concerned, especially since the offense had racked up 538, 620 and 547 total yards, respectively.
“I just knew I had to wait my turn,” he said. “You have a great offense, a lot of great players, so everybody’s going to get their chance to shine.
“I just had to wait in line and my chance came.”
The drought finally ended with a 12-yard reception off a crossing route over the middle against Florida, followed by helping turn a busted play into a 10-yard gain.
“It felt good,” he said of the first one. “I think it was the fourth game of the year, so it felt good to get that catch. The first one, once you look it in and catch it, it feels good. Everything else just feels great when you catch it.”
Subsequently, opportunity really came calling at Ole Miss, where Howard was targeted by senior quarterback Blake Sims six times, with three catches for 81 yards. He also had what Nick Saban called a “critical” drop on third-and-7, and the final attempt was picked off by safety Senquez Golson in the end zone.
“I dropped a couple passes that I know I could have caught, I should have caught,” said Howard, who has six receptions for 150 yards, resulting in four first downs.
The following week Howard only caught one ball at Arkansas, but his 47-yard gain was the Crimson Tide’s biggest play of the game. With Alabama only gained 227 total yards, it accounted for 20.7 percent of the offense in the 14-13 victory.
For Alabama to get out of this offensive rut it’s going to need more of those kinds of plays and for Howard to continue making strides in the rest of his game.
For one, the Crimson Tide requires its tight ends to be heavily involved in the run game and make sealing blocks on the edges.
“I think O.J. has played better and better and better,” Nick Saban said. “I think his focus and execution in other areas other than catching the ball is what he needed to focus on. You have to be able to trust and depend on a player that he’s going to be able to do more than run out for a pass and catch the ball. That’s the thing that he has improved on most.”
Specifically, Howard has made a noticeable difference in his “hand placement, coming off the ball faster, mostly because I know what to do. I’m not really guessing what to do on a play, I really know what to do and how to do to the best of my ability.”
Second, Alabama’s other significant “mismatch” offensive threat, running back Kenyan Drake, is out for the season due to a fractured leg. Few linebackers can keep up with Howard and most safeties are too small.
Finally, defenses have started bracketing Amari Cooper with a man in coverage and a safety over the top to try and minimize his chances. Since the junior wide receiver only had two catches for 22 yards at Arkansas other opponents will likely follow suit, especially if Alabama continues to have problems with the run game.
So the more the Crimson Tide can get other players like Howard involved in the passing game, the more it should help free up the others – especially in games like Saturday’s against Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS). The Aggies were one of the two teams that Howard made three receptions against as a rookie (the other was Colorado State).
“These past few games we’ve been, I think, slacking a little bit as a whole on the offense,” Howard said. “And we know that, so we’ve got to really pick up the tempo and keep it going.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
