Ty Simpson has the Alabama passing offense humming. He's been dynamic and cerebral, picking apart defenses over the Crimson Tide's last three games. But Alabama's offense remains pretty one-dimensional.
Saturday against Georgia was actually Alabama's most prolific rushing day against Power Four competition this season - a paltry 117 yards on a 3.1 yards per carry average. The return of Jam Miller didn't spark the run game like some hoped; the problems are bigger than any one player.
After four games, Alabama ranks 94th in the country in rushing yards per game at 122.5. That is counter-attacked by the Tide ranking 8th in the country in passing yards per game. Ryan Grubb has supplemented the lack of a run game with a quick passing game. The screen game has been just an extension of the run game, forcing opposing defenses to respect it.
And credit goes to Grubb for being stubborn running the football on Saturday night in Athens. He abandoned the run in the opener against Florida State, to the offense's detriment. Even though it never really got going against Georgia, he stuck with it. Alabama ran the ball 38 times versus 39 pass attempts.
His stubbornness running the football directly led to Alabama being able to finish the game with the football. They don't look like much on the stat sheet, but Miller had two key runs on the final drive of the game as the Tide ran the clock out. Miller broke a seven-yard run on the first play of the final possession, making the first of two needed first downs a lot easier. After converting, Miller picked up five yards on the next first down run, setting up the winning play-call with Simpson hitting Miller out of the backfield to ice it.
Those were massive plays in the game.
There were a few other runs during the game where it looked like Miller or backup Kevin Riley were close to breaking free for bigger gains, but got tripped up. That's perhaps the biggest reason for future optimism, and why Kalen DeBoer feels like they are close.
"We were close," DeBoer said about the running game on his radio show Wednesday night. "I feel like we were closer to hitting some runs, just kind of being, even the running back, being in sync. Felt like we were closer this last week than we probably showed, and just got to stick to stay the course and keep working.”
Kalen DeBoer wants Alabama to 'stay the course' with the run game
If Alabama can begin running the ball effectively, then this offense is going to be close to unstoppable. Simpson is so dialed in playing quarterback right now, even without a semblance of offensive balance, that the offense is still humming. But imagine if he could reliably hand the ball off to Miller, Riley, or one of the others and know they could get five or six yards?
Alabama's offensive line has gotten better as the weeks have progressed. The pass blocking against Georgia was exceptional; Simpson was only pressured twice and never sacked. Pressures were a problem against Florida State.
The rotation up front has continued as Alabama looks to find a combination up front that can not only pass block effectively, but can also get a push in the run game to spark it.
That won't be easy this week against Vanderbilt. The Commodores rank 15th in the country in run defense.
But Alabama will stick with the run as long as they can on Saturday, even if it's not working the way they want. Grubb learned his lesson in Tallahassee, and the offense is better for it.