When the Cincinnati Bearcats were trading scores with Houston in the AAC Championship Game, Jerome Ford provided an early spark with a 79-yard touchdown run and a late dagger with a 42-yard touchdown run.
Those big plays were nothing new for Ford, who tied Michael Warren II for most rushing touchdowns in a season (19) in school history and he ranks ninth on the single-season list with 1,242 rushing yards. He’s recorded five 100-yard games on the ground this year and he’s scored three touchdowns of longer than 74 yards.
Ford, who transferred from Alabama after the 2019 season, will be one of the game’s key players when he faces his former school in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Dec. 31. The Bearcats have rushed for more than 200 yards as a team in three of their last four games, and they’ve averaged 5.4 yards per rush this season.
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“Jerome, he’s one of those guys who works his butt off,” Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. told reporters last week. “Fast guy, physical guy, knows how to finish plays well. It’s exciting to be able to play against Jerome on the other side of the ball on one of the biggest stages. I’m excited to see how he handles that.”
Alabama will be Cincinnati’s toughest test in establishing the run game. Alabama has one of the best run defenses in the country, permitting 82.8 yards per game. The Tide hasn’t given up more than 109 rushing yards since its third game of the season (Florida ran for 246 yards) and it hasn’t allowed a run longer than 37 yards.
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“(Ford) always ran hard,” Alabama defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis said. “He ran that ball pretty good. He still does. I know we’re going to have to stop the run when it comes down to him.”
Sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr. is the star of Alabama’s defense with a staggering 32½ tackles for a loss this season. Anderson and freshman linebacker Dallas Turner are key at containing running backs from the edge, and the Tide rotates through several defensive linemen. Georgia’s rushing attack, which was a key part of their dominant regular season, was limited to 109 yards on 30 carries in the SEC Championship Game.
Texas A&M, the one team that beat Alabama this season, and Florida were the only other teams besides Georgia to average more than three yards per carry against the Tide’s run defense.
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No defense has limited the Bearcats below three yards per carry this season, which is aided by Desmond Ridder’s ability to scramble. Ridder ranks second on the team with 371 rushing yards and he’s scored six touchdowns on the ground.
Houston ranks 11th in the country in run defense, allowing 105.7 yards per game, but Ford exploded for 187 yards on 18 carries to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. It was the first time Houston ceded more than 200 yards on the ground to a team all season (Navy ran for 190 yards on Sept. 25 and that was on 52 carries).
The Bearcats produced 93 yards on 30 carries (3.1 yards per rush) against Notre Dame, another team with a strong run defense, early in the season.
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“I have to give a lot of credit to Jerome,” UC head coach Luke Fickell said after the AAC Championship Game. “When he walked in here, when we were in a situation where we were winning, sometimes when new guys come into the program, they expect things to happen for them right away. I’m so proud of how it’s worked for him, meaning when he first came in, it didn’t just happen.”
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Establishing the run is essential to any offense, but Ford’s big-play ability can shift momentum at any time. It’ll be a challenging, yet important, task when he lines up against some of his former teammates in the Cotton Bowl.
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