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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Even though the University of Alabama offense is on pace to smash numerous program records, Coach Nick Saban urged fans during his weekly radio show to have some patience at Ole Miss on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
Perhaps he was providing more than a hint to how the No. 3 Crimson Tide will attack the No. 11 Rebels: Wear them down and then grind away.
That’s been Alabama’s M.O. (modus operandi) for years, especially in Southeastern Conference games. With junior running back T.J Yeldon the primary ball carrier out of the backfield, sophomore Derrick Henry in relief almost seems unfair.
“He’s got the endurance,” junior center Ryan Kelly said about Henry. “I mean, the guy can run for days. Defensive guys, when we start going fast in the third and fourth quarter, them getting off the ground, running back there, trying to get lined up, then you’ve got Derrick Henry running at you and you have to tackle him, do it all over again, that kind of wears down defenders.
“I can’t say for them, but a guy like his stature, his size, his speed, I wouldn’t want to do that every time. It would suck.”
Kelly didn’t even get to junior Kenyan Drake, who was the best burst of the trio, but Alabama figures to lean on Henry more this game as Yeldon has a bit of a hamstring issue and senior quarterback Blake Sims is coming off a bruised shoulder.
Florida got a good taste of Henry on Sept. 20. At halftime the Crimson Tide was ahead 21-14, but it only had 30 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Following a Sims interception, Alabama started giving Henry the ball more as it went on a 16-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to take control. He would finish with 111 rushing yards on 20 carries, but it was a pass reception that gave the Crimson Tide all the momentum.
Due to a pair of red-zone penalties, Alabama had third-and-23 at the UF 32 when Sims threw a screen pass to Henry and the running back bulldozed his way 29 yards for the first down.
“I was just hyped,” he said.
“We just came out, wanted to play better than we did in the first half and wanted to execute better as a whole and make plays just so when the fourth quarter (came around) we were wearing them down.”
On the subsequent snap Henry ran in a 3-yard touchdown and the Gators were essentially done. After they went 3-and-out on the next possession Alabama drove 80 yards on eight plays to essentially make the rest of the game irrelevant.
During last year’s meeting with Ole Miss, Alabama had 254 rushing yards on 40 carries, for a 6.4 average. Yeldon had 121 yards on 17 carries and Drake finished with 99 yards on 12 attempts. The running backs also combined to make four receptions.
The previous year the Crimson Tide cranked out just 125 yards on 34 carries, but it scored 21 points in the second quarter and still managed to have a significant time of possession advantage.
Although the Rebels are fourth in the nation in total defense its 34th against the run. Henry, who was able to rest his banged up shoulder during last week’s bye, is listed as 6 foot 3, 241 pounds. The Ole Miss linebackers are Serderois Bryant (5-9, 220), Deterrian Shackelford (6-1, 247), and Denzel Nkemdiche (5-11, 212).
That’s the matchup to look for, especially in the second half.
“He made a tremendous amount of progress and he was a very good player at the end of the year, and certainly showed it in the Sugar Bowl,” Saban said about Henry. “I think his confidence and understanding of how to run certain plays and what the best way for him to be the most effective player as a runner, he’s sort of developed an understanding of and a confidence in.
“He’s sort of gotten better and better.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
