Alabama rushing attack found some rhythm in blowout win

Nick Saban’s early appraisal of the Southern Miss touched on how stingy it had been in the ground game. Though playing sub-SEC competition, the Golden Eagles had the nation’s No. 3 rush defense allowing just 46.0 yards a game.

With Alabama’s backfield nibling but not biting off big chunk plays, this could’ve been spun into a test a week before the much-anticipated visit from Ole Miss.

Playing without starter Brian Robinson, the Crimson Tide backfield found its gear and a few big plays in the 63-14 pounding of Southern Miss. It finished with 213 rushing yards on 32 attempts after passing Southern Miss combined allowance for the first three games (138 yards) before halftime (151).

That paired with Bryce Young’s 20-for-22 night that included 313 passing yards and five touchdowns and Alabama was never threatened.

The pace slowed after halftime when Alabama was chewing clock in more obvious rushing situations. The Tide was averaging 9.0 yards per carry after the first drive of the third quarter before that number finished a 6.7 per attempt.

Roydell Williams, the second back in the rotation Saturday, became the first Alabama running back to hit the 100-yard mark this season and he did it by halftime. He needed nine carries to go 102 yards before the intermission and finished with 110 on 11 attempts.

Saban said Williams’ speed makes him a great changeof-pace player coming off the bench. He said Williams’ fumble in the Miami game “set him back a little bit,” in terms of confidence but this game helped fix that.

McClellan nearly joined him in the century club before finishing with 97 rushing yards on 12 carries. He also added a nine-yard receiving touchdown.