Kalen DeBoer tells what Tide needs to do to fix run game

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Establishing the run game is something Alabama has struggled with throughout the year, only managing to create a truly efficient rush attack in a couple of games earlier in the season, and Saturday evening was no exception.

In the Crimson Tide’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game on Saturday, it finished the game with negative three rushing yards. Although the six sacks that quarterback Ty Simpson took deeply affected that number.

Discounting the -28 rushing yards that Simpson accounted for, Daniel Hill and AK Dear were the only tailbacks to see action, and the pair only managed to record 21 rushing yards, with 11 and 10 rushing yards, respectively. Ryan Williams and Lotzeir Brooks each received a carry, but the pair of wideouts recorded a total of five yards.

It was the least amount of rushing yards recorded by the Tide since it finished with just six against LSU in 2021. However, the last time the Crimson Tide had a rushing performance as bad as the one on Saturday was 57 years ago, when Alabama finished the 1968 Gator Bowl with -45 rushing yards in its 35-10 loss to the Missouri Tigers.

Kalen DeBoer spoke on Sunday about what needed to happen if the Tide wanted to see a successful run game.

“A lot of that is getting some guys healthy,” DeBoer said. “Not just running backs, but the offensive line. I think that the next game, Kam Dewberry will be back. We lost Geno [VanDeMark] last night, but he’ll be back, just based on that evaluation there. And I think that Parker, where he’ll be, he improved quite a bit from the Auburn game. And with this time, I’d expect him pretty much at 100% going into the Oklahoma game. So, that’s a big deal there. So, I think those things you build off. The game gets away from you last night, and the second half, I know, wasn’t like we were moving it there in the first half either, like the way you want. It really gets away from you, then something that we didn’t have established in the first half just becomes something you really can’t get going at all in the second.”

DeBoer also mentioned how he’s seen improvement in the run game and that Alabama just has to stay consistent.

“We just need to keep chipping away,” DeBoer said. “Like I talked about weeks ago with the run game, I know it didn’t show it last night, but there was a lot of improvement when I look at the Oklahoma game and the Auburn game. You know, we were one of the top three teams in rushing in SEC games against both of those teams. So, you know, just staying persistent, just staying the course, addressing things. You do have to acknowledge and address, and be truthful. But, you know, small things, and sometimes it’s not just you, it’s everyone around you, just everyone picking up their game and doing their part, that can go a long way.”

With the Tide now set to face the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman for the First Round of the College Football Playoff, Alabama is now set for its second rematch of the season, but this time with much more at stake.

When the two met just three weeks ago, Hill was the leading rusher for the Tide, even though starting running back Jam Miller was healthy, unlike in the game against Georgia, which meant that Hill had to play the role of the lead back.

The Crimson Tide will now hope that, after weeks of Hill getting the majority of the carries, he’ll be more experienced and ready to lead a lethal running back duo into Norman, with Miller likely to return from injury.