Alabama football running back returns to practice ahead of Rose Bowl

Alabama football’s running back, Kevin Riley is back in practice ahead of the Tide taking on Indiana in the Rose Bowl.

Riley has not played since the Crimson Tide defeated Eastern Illinois in a game where he had two touchdowns and 36 rushing yards. The Alabama native has essentially served as a nice change of pace back alongside Jam Miller and Daniel Hill in the Tide’s backfield. He has rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries this season.

Alabama turned to Riley to be its starting running back early in the season when Jam Miller was sidelined with an injury because he took bigs steps forward during fall camp.

”He’s done a good job the last probably three weeks, four weeks, middle of camp,” DeBoer said after Riley started against ULM. “He really kind of turned it up and there’s some things that he can do that are a little different than the rest of the group there, like where he picks up his knees and runs hard, inside, outside, and it got a little burst. He does a nice job catching the ball in the backfield. I think he’s really picked up the understanding and responsibility when it comes to pass protection, too.”

Potentially having Riley back in the playoff could be huge for the Tide.