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Alabama tailback Derrick Henry had created somewhat of a folk hero persona.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound native of Yulee, Fla., arrived in Tuscaloosa a year ago and provided a bruising counter punch to T.J. Yeldon.
Then, he ran into the Ole Miss defense.
Henry had, with the exception of his first game in crimson and white, his worst game for the Tide on Saturday afternoon in Oxford. He averaged a measly 2.2 yards per carry against the Landsharks and had no impact on the game.
Prior to Saturday, Henry had notched five or more carries in seven of 14 career games. Only once did he average less than 5 yards per carry.
Henry first burst onto the scene in last season’s 52-0 rout of Arkansas with six carries for 111 yards and a score, but his breakout game was in the Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma. Henry was the bright spot in the game for the Tide, 161 yards of total offense and two touchdowns on nine touches.
He picked up right where he left off in the opener against West Virginia, rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, and then had another big game in the win over Florida. He amassed 111 yards on 20 carries against the Gators.
Henry — who looks like a linebacker — has been a nightmare for opposing defenses in the SEC as the No. 2 option to Yeldon with his outside zone runs.
However, Ole Miss never let him reach the perimeter of the field and that kept Henry contained all game long.
Saturday Down South’s Murf Baldwin explains in this film breakdown that the Rebels’ even front scraped and stringed the majority of Henry’s carries out to the sideline leaving him no room to get to the edge. Ole Miss did a fantastic job of playing good pursuit on the backside, however, leaving Henry no room to cut back as he often looks to do.
Henry will continue to compliment Yeldon well, and is still on track for a very good sophomore campaign. But make no mistake, Yeldon’s the guy.
He carried the ball 20 times for 123 yards. It was the 14th time Yeldon has totaled 100 or more yards on the ground for the Crimson Tide. With his game against the Rebels, moved into sole possession of sixth all-time on the Alabama career rushing list passing Jonny Musso. Trent Richardson is next in line for Yeldon, who needs just 815 yards to break Shaun Alexander’s all-time record.
Will Alabama feature Yeldon as its go-to back moving forward, with perhaps using Henry in down-and-distance situations? We’ll wait and see.
But we do know one thing. Henry no longer seems invincible.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
