Alabama defense again fails to slow option-based offensive attack

NORMAN, Okla. — When halftime came during Saturday night’s Alabama-Oklahoma game in Memorial Stadium, the stat sheet was jarring. The Sooners had amassed 242 yards of total offense at the break, garnering over 200 of them by way of the run game.

By the end of the game, Oklahoma’s rushing total ended up at 257, not the number you want to give up if you’re trying to go on the road and get a win in the SEC.

The offense reminded Alabama defenders of another game where the team struggled mightily to stop the run — the game against Vanderbilt in early September.

“I just know they were running the triple option a lot, like we’ve seen,” defensive back Malachi Moore said. “They probably got that from Vandy, and it was a sense of us being more physical than them, and us needing to be more physical than them. When a team rushes for that many yards, it’s hard to win the game.”

Back on Sept. 5, Alabama lost to Vanderbilt 40-35. The Commodores won that game by controlling the time of possession, and doing so by running the ball with immense effectiveness. Vanderbilt rushed for 166 yards in that game, less than Oklahoma did, but using a similar style.

“We anticipated them going into the game, kind of finding struggles that we had against Vanderbilt, and finding ways how they could implement that into their format of what they had going on,” Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell said.

Oklahoma utilized a number of formations that placed multiple running backs and fullbacks in the backfield, providing misdirection after the snap which causes the defense to second-guess where the ball is going.

“The wishbone, triple option, quarterback run game,” Moore said. “Just the different options they have out of it. The sliders, you can give it to the back. Play action of it. Just a lot of different things they can get out of it.”

Alabama was gashed all night, looking constantly unsure about who was getting the ball and how to defend it.

Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold, who isn’t even known as the best running quarterback on the Sooner roster, rushed for 131 yards on 25 attempts in the game. For context of how much of an outlier this performance was for him, Arnold came into the game with 107 rushing yards total on the season.

Arnold’s running mate in the backfield was running back Xavier Robinson, and he had an excellent game of his own. He also hit triple digits with his yardage total, going for 107 and two touchdowns on 18 carries.

“That was the story for them was those guys inside, outside, different ways,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Just moving the chains and hitting the explosives that they had. It seemed like they were always falling forward, and again, there was explosive plays that they had. You’ve gotta credit the toughness that they had. I think he carried it over 20 times in the game, both of them right around that. So credit to those guys on staying with their game plan, doing what they needed to do to win.”

To make matters worse, Alabama’s defensive captain and middle linebacker Deontae Lawson exited the game in the first half with a lower extremity injury and was unable to return. That left Alabama without one of its most experienced players, and its signal caller in the middle of its defense in a game where it was already struggling.

“Any time you lose a great player like Deontae, it’s gonna affect you,” DeBoer said. “His leadership, he is the guy that makes a lot of the calls on the football field. Just seems like he’s always in control. We have trust and belief in the guys that come in with JJ. Those guys take a lot of reps, and he’s played a lot this year, too. But Deontae, any of your captains, your top players, it’s gonna hurt you and it’s gonna hurt you just demeanor emotionally but also just the execution on the field.”

So what could Alabama have done differently to stop this rushing attack? The answer for Moore was frustratingly simple.

“When it comes to defending the run, it comes down to physicality. We needed to be more physical in this game, and that’s why we lost,” Moore said.

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