Alabama Football: The unstoppable force meets the immovable object

Alabama Football heads to Fayetteville this weekend for a top-25 matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game will feature a clash of strengths: the Arkansas running game versus the Alabama run defense.

Alabama Football: Hogs gashing opponents

Arkansas traditionally plays a physical brand of football and always makes it a point to establish the run. This season, the Razorbacks rank ninth nationally and second in the SEC with 243.8 yards per game. The Hogs also rank sixth in the country and lead the conference with 50 rushing attempts per game.

Arkansas was a run-heavy team last season as well, splitting carries fairly evenly between quarterback KJ Jefferson and running backs Trelon Smith, Raheim Sanders, and Dominique Johnson. After finishing seventh in the country in rushing in 2021, Arkansas has paired down its running back rotation and is on track to match, or even surpass, its production from last year.

Raheim Sanders has been the bellcow this season, having already racked up 508 yards on 83 carries. The big sophomore back has scored three touchdowns on the ground, and also notched a receiving touchdown. Sanders went over 100 yards in each of the Hogs’ first three games before being limited to 68 yards by Texas A&M. Still, he leads the SEC in rushing attempts, rushing yards, and yards from scrimmage.

Quarterback KJ Jefferson is a true dual-threat, and an absolute load at nearly 250 pounds. The redshirt junior is second on the team with 64 carries for 274 yards (4.3 YPC). He also leads the team with four rushing touchdowns. Last season, he led Arkansas with 664 rushing yards and scored six touchdowns.

Sophomore AJ Green and freshman Rashod Dubinion have been the primary backup running backs, combining for 37 carries, 153 yards, and two touchdowns. Junior Dominique Johnson is another big, physical back with a lot of experience.

Johnson was an important  piece of the Arkansas offense last season, running for 575 yards and seven touchdowns on almost 6.0 yards per carry before suffering a knee injury. In last week’s narrow loss to Texas A&M, Johnson made his season debut and ran five times for 32 yards. It remains to be seen how much he will be used against Alabama.

Alabama Football: Stout against the run

In contrast, the Alabama defense is extremely stingy against the run. Pete Golding’s unit has been progressively working towards this level of proficiency for years.

In 2019, Alabama football surrendered 137.4 yards per game (3.8 YPC) to rank 37th nationally. While this wasn’t a terrible number, it was far from the program standard. The 2020 team improved to allow 113.1 YPG (15th in the nation) on 3.3 YPC (11th). Last season, the Alabama run defense progressed to be one of the nation’s best. The Tide ranked fourth nationally giving up just 84.9 YPG, and ranked third allowing just 2.6 YPC.

This season, Alabama football has taken another step forward. The defense is giving up 62.5 rushing yards per game on just 1.8 yards per carry, ranking fourth and second in the country respectively. For comparison, the 2011 Alabama defense gave up 72.2 YPG and 2.4 YPC to lead the nation. The 2016 defense was the best of the Nick Saban era against the run, allowing 63.9 YPG on 2.0 YPC. In short, the 2022 Tide defense is on track to be the best run defense yet under Saban.

Of course, Alabama’s schedule has not been very tough to this point, with Utah State, ULM, and Vanderbilt presenting little competition. Interestingly, however, the Alabama run defense performed just as well against Texas as it did against these inferior opponents. The Tide held the Longhorns to 79 yards on 33 carries (2.4 YPC), and held All-American running back Bijan Robinson to just 57 yards.

Arkansas may present the toughest challenge yet for this unit, but Alabama football fans should be confident in this team’s ability to stop the run. If the Hogs can’t fare any better than the Horns on the ground, it may be a long day for Razorback nation.