Alabama football running back Damien Harris is finally getting Heisman Trophy considerations, following this season’s excellent start.
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Who knew that cutting out honey buns would make a man reappear in front of a national audience?
In the 2016-2017 national championship, all of the talk was how the game might have gone in Alabama’s favor, instead of Clemson, if Bo Scarbrough had not gotten injured. Scarbrough was punishing the Clemson defensive line, rushing 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Damien Harris, on the other hand, was barely an afterthought.
Harris was used only five times during the game, earning a total of 24 yards. Clemson’s speed on defense seemed to keep Harris’ power on the sidelines.
Even to start this season, Harris was made aware that the running back position was going to be run by committee, including himself, Scarbrough, Josh Jacabs, and also starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. Yet, the national championship phased him more than this season’s opening strategy.
Yesterday, Alex Scarborough of ESPN wrote about how much Harris has bought into the team-first mentality: “He never would have picked Alabama over in-state Kentucky out of high school had he felt the need to be a so-called feature back.” However, he knew that he needed to lose weight, hence cutting out the honey buns, in order to be faster and more effective in his performances.
Harris’ effort and humility “also last year led to one of the quietest 1,000-yard rushing seasons you’ll ever find. He somehow was a forgotten star of a playoff team.”
Last Saturday, Harris finally broke through with the media, whom had kept him out of the national spotlight for the Heisman. Other running backs had more yards than Harris, but that was because Harris had far fewer carries than the rest. Against Tennessee, “it was his 10th trip to the end zone this season, and he’d reached that milestone on fewer than 80 carries. He would end the day with 697 yards rushing for the season and a spot in the Heisman Trophy conversation.”
Currently, Harris is ranked 27th in the country in rushing yards, while Stanford’s Bryce Love has 1387 yards on 135 attempts. Everyone in the top ten have more than 100 carries; however, only two of them have higher yards-per-carry averages than Harris (8.6 ypc).
It has not just been the yards that has made Harris a fundamental weapon for his team, it has also been his new-found versatility from losing the weight. Hurts said, “Damien makes plays […] He’s probably one of the top running backs in the country, and I get to watch it every Saturday.” His blocking was always good, but he can now find himself downfield faster to block the second tier or even roll out to the flats to make himself available for a pass.
The biggest improvement would be his ability to make a play much more dynamic. Harris could see what his teammate Scarbrough was doing to start the year, losing weight and making himself more available on every down, not just on short yardage situations. The Tide started turning more towards utility personnel, and Harris read it perfectly to match what his teammate did. Now, Harris relies on his feet, just as much as his power, to break free from D-Lines and escape the secondary.
That change explains the lengthy runs that Harris has had of late, including a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game two weeks ago against Arkansas.
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Harris is no longer the Invisible Man. Everyone, not just in Alabama, can see how good Harris is. Does that mean Harris can see the Heisman in his hands at the end of the season? Only time will tell. One this is for certain, however: Head Coach Nick Saban definitely will not forget Harris if the Crimson Tide need him in the next national championship game.