Alabama’s offense is sparked by effective ground attack

Tension was mounting last night on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium as the Crimson Tide, who dominated for many years, seemed vulnerable to an upset against USF. Throughout the first three plus quarters, any time the Crimson Tide looked to take command they either couldn’t execute on the run or were penalized.

The execution on offense became even more noticeable when quarterback Jalen Milroe seemingly couldn’t execute. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer hinted at the root cause of Milroe’s issue, “There are things we can help Jalen with. Jalen, I know how he is—he’s going to put it all on himself, and that’s the way he always is. But there are other things we can do to help him out. “

What helped Milroe in the 28-point scoring barrage late in the fourth quarter was when the ground attack came alive.

The Crimson Tide ground attack finished with 194 yards, but had 137 yards in the fourth quarter. This week's ground hero was Jamarion Miller, who rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown against South Florida.

What we saw against South Florida isn’t new to Alabama, but the Crimson Tide offense typically stalls and goes into giant lulls, especially in the passing game, when the ground attack isn’t effective.

Last season against Texas, the Longhorn defense kept the Crimson Tide rushing attack in check at roughly three yards per carry forcing Milroe to put it on himself. That decision by Milroe was proven disastrous in the 34-24 defeat as Nick Saban made Milroe think about how careless he was.

Again Arkansas, despite holding onto a 24-21 win, the Crimson Tide rushing attack was slowed by an aggressive Razorback defense. In the fourth quarter, Alabama was only able to muster 1.1 yards per rush.

In the Rose Bowl, Alabama only was able to rush for 43 yards on 17 carries against Michigan in the first half. The Crimson Tide offense didn’t spark until the fourth quarter, something familiar we saw again by Alabama against South Florida. If the Crimson Tide would like to avoid being knocked off before they want to, they need Milroe to not take it upon himself and distribute ownership to their running back duo of Jamarion Miller and Justice Haynes, they are the spark plugs for the Alabama offensive engine.