When a team has a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, it’s not a surprise the running game isn’t the focal point of the offense.
Alabama’s run game might be the one area where it wasn’t dominant in the final weeks of the regular season. The Tide didn’t rush for more than 115 yards against each of their last four SEC opponents, averaging 2.4 yards per attempt in those games against LSU, Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia.
Stopping the run will be integral for the Cincinnati Bearcats, which should already have their hands full with quarterback Bryce Young and star receiver Jameson Williams. The Bearcats rank 45th in the country in rushing yards allowed per game (137.5), but they’re the 13th-best team in rushing yards per attempt (3.33).
“They are very active, they are very aggressive,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Cincinnati’s defense. “They’re a good group. They play a 3-3 stack. They slide over to a four-down front sometimes. They plug a lot of backers. They have a lot of good pressures. They play a lot of man-to-man, but they change it up quite a bit. They play very well together as a team. They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Alabama senior running back Brian Robinson Jr., who has totaled 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns this year, was slowed a bit in the final two games of the regular season because of a strained hamstring. He totaled 32 carries for 126 yards and zero touchdowns against Auburn and Georgia, two schools that rank among the best run defenses in the country.
“There is a reason they’ve been in the playoffs seven out of the eight times that they’ve had the playoffs,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said. “Obviously, we all know about their skill. I think sometimes you don’t recognize what they’ve really got up front on both sides of the ball. To me, that’s where the big matchups have got to be.”
The Bearcats have allowed three 100-yard rushers this season and two of them came in the same game against Tulsa. They’ve been solid against the run when they’ve played Power Five opponents, holding Notre Dame to 84 yards on 28 carries (3.0 per attempt). Indiana had 152 yards on 37 attempts (4.1 average) and Georgia was limited to 45 yards on 24 carries in last year’s Peach Bowl.
Senior linebacker Joel Dublanko is key to their run-stopping efforts with a team-high 106 tackles. When the Bearcats pulled away from Houston in the third quarter of the AAC Championship, arguably their best quarter of football this season, it was Darrian Beavers and Myjai Sanders shutting down Houston’s run game.
“They do the things they need to do to have success together as a group and they’ve got some very talented guys,” Saban said. “They’ve got a good secondary. They’ve got some guys up front that can rush and have some quickness and their linebackers are very good players. All around, this is a really good defensive team.”
If the Bearcats, a 13-½ point underdog, can shut down the Tide’s rushing attack, it will at least afford them a better chance of aiming their focus on slowing Young.
“I think the legacy of any team is how you finish,” Saban said. “That's how you'll be remembered. So, it's a great opportunity that our players have and now it's time to focus on taking advantage of it.”
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