Grubb tells what happened on plays where Alabama running backs failed in pass protection

Nov 15, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) runs the ball and tires to evade Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Peyton Bowen (22) at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Oklahoma defeated Alabama 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

A big storyline that developed during Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma was the lack of pass protection from running backs Jam Miller and Daniel Hill against blitzing defenders.

Miller received the worst pass block grade after the Oklahoma game with a 23.1 rating.

A video is floating around the internet of Hill getting blown up by a blitzing Sooner player that weighs about 50 pounds less than Hill, a 244-pounder. That led to one of the four sacks that Oklahoma got on Ty Simpson in the game.

Miller and Hill have struggled in pass protection since SEC play began. Some of Simpson’s sack fumbles were caused by the running backs getting beat in pass protection.

On Monday, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was asked about the performance of Miller and Hill in pass protection and suggested that the solution is getting them more reps in practice.

“Jam’s normally a really dependable guy, and it doesn’t come down to against but balance and hand placement, and Jam just kind of got his weight out over his toes and lean on one,” Grubb said. “Daniel got his weight back inside, and the guy out leveraged him too quickly. Normally, those guys are pretty darn solid in that, so I think what we told the guys is making sure we’re putting them in enough positions during the week. Are we getting enough one-on-one reps with your true one linebackers at pass rush, and if we’re not doing enough of that for the guys, we got to supplement it because when you look at something happen on film and it’s not what you know you’re guys are capable of … the message we try to give to our guys is like, ‘what are we not giving you enough of in practice?’ Not get to the film and MF the guys for stuff they didn’t do. We want to fix the problem, and I know our defense, they’ll want to do more one-on-ones if that’s what we want, and we got to do a better job of that.”

Grubb is attacking this issue from the standpoint of giving the running backs more reps rather than cussing them up and down like an older high school football coach would, and that could prove to be very helpful for a guy like Hill whose fairly inexperienced. Oklahoma blitzed Alabama more than any team has blitzed the Crimson Tide this season, blitzing on 30 of Ty Simpson’s 48 drop backs.

If opposing teams watched the game last Saturday, then Alabama will need to take all the practice reps the team needs because Oklahoma gave everyone a blueprint on how to minimize the Crimson Tide offensively.